Review by Dan:

After nearly a decade fronting punk rock outfit No Doubt, glamorous Gwen Stefani serves up mix of hip hop, R&B and electro disco as her first solo album. Demanding opener “What You Waiting For?” combines thumping, flaunty rhythms with Gwen’s considerable vocal talent. An Eve rap features on “Rich Girl”, which is produced by Dr Dre, and the strong start to the album continues with the percussion heavy “Hollaback Girl”. My favourite is the dreamy electronica of “Cool”, but I also enjoyed “Bubble Pop Electric”, which lives up to its moniker by bubbling along happily, a fun song; and the luscious ballad “Luxurious”. In my opinion the quality tails off towards the end, “Crash” being a particular example of a filler track – it’s still catchy and listenable, but there’s nothing in the second half of the album that caused my finger to jab the repeat button, despite Outkast’s Andre 3000 helping out on “Long Way To Go”. Whilst being a change from her previous experiences, this is a competent debut.