Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Appreciation Thread

[27monster27 11,085]

My No Doubt/Gwen Stefani discography reaction continued this week with Love. Angel. Music. Baby. This album is amazing. From beginning to end it is a diverse array of bangers that you can tell influenced music in the 2000's. This and In The Zone were definitely at the top of most influential albums of the mid-2000's, among others. Gwen Stefani's experimentation with Electro-Pop, Electro-clash, Rock, R&B, etc. really made a fantastic record.

Here is my top five (this was NOT easy since I love so many tracks):

"What You Waiting For?" (Amazing):

"Bubble Pop Electric" (Virality spoiled the surprise of this song for me, but it hasn't lost its charm at all)

"Crash" (Choosing between this and "Serious" wasn't easy lol)

"The Real Thing" (This Euro-Pop/Disco banger took me off guard)

"Danger Zone" (UH SHE ATEEEEE)

----

I already had a feeling this album would be good from the "Bubble Pop Electric" viral moment, but I was honestly blown away, especially by the second half of the album. Also I can definitely see how 2006 - 2007 Lady Gaga was inspired by Gwen Stefani from this.

[Guillaume Hamon 5,939]

40 minutes ago, 27monster27 said:

Also I can definitely see how 2006 - 2007 Lady Gaga was inspired by Gwen Stefani from this.

I remember thinking even the weird voice she later made on the "bluffing with my muffin" part in Poker Face was quite Gwen-like back then.

[River 104,537]

Long Way To Go is a masterpiece, the sample of Martin Luther King is just mind blowing

[skaxboy 4,366]

This is one of my favorite albums ever. The era was so fun and campy. 
 

I remember her saying she was inspired by Debbie Deb’s “Lookout Weekend” and was ever supposed to sing it for the Harajuku Lovers tour. 

 

“Harajuku Girls” is one of my favorites because of how gaudy it is. I became obsessed with finding a Hysteric Glamour shirt and I did. The song also made me more open to checking out thrift stores because of the “Is it Comme Des Garcons, A Vivienne Westwood can't go wrong, Mixed up with second-hand clothes.” 
 

“Danger Zone” is such a good song and I related so much to it when things weren’t going to well with a previous relationship when we were in “the danger zone, what will happen next, we never know.” Gavin did her so wrong. 
 

Oddly enough, the song “Cool” was so helpful when getting over the same guy. Just seeing how much she loved Tony in the past but now they can be good friends. 
 

“The Real Thing” is so good! She would sing a toned down version as an encore for the Sweet Escape tour and at one show said she would sing it to baby Kingston as a lullaby. 
 

Try and check out the Harajuku Lovers Live tour. You can see how fun she is and how humbled she was that the album did as good as it did.

There are definitely some stand outs on Sweet Escape plus a few good songs on This Is What The Truth Feels Like, but Love.Angel.Music.Baby is her best solo album hands down. 
 

 

[Reject False Icons 4,596]

Do you do reactions on youtube or here? 

That album is an absolute pop delight  it made me romanticize the year 2004 to an insane level, I really hope Gwen does something for it's 20th anniversary 

I only listened the singles but I read here that this album was a precursor for The Fame, since then I listened to it and started to grow a great obsession for it

What you waiting for is a timeless banger, Serious NEEDS to have its music video released, I miss this Gwen 

[27monster27 11,085]

17 hours ago, Reject False Icons said:

Do you do reactions on youtube or here? 

That album is an absolute pop delight  it made me romanticize the year 2004 to an insane level, I really hope Gwen does something for it's 20th anniversary 

I only listened the singles but I read here that this album was a precursor for The Fame, since then I listened to it and started to grow a great obsession for it

What you waiting for is a timeless banger, Serious NEEDS to have its music video released, I miss this Gwen 

I don't do reactions but I every time I listen to something I feel like I should lol. I've listened to so much stuff now that that it would be mainly re-reactions/reviews at this point. Although I have thought of something similar for eras. 👀

[ProfessionalClown 10,639]

CRASHHHH YESSS

This album is a true pop bible. It’s perfection and literally ahead of it’s time. 

Edited August 12 by ProfessionalClown

[HermesGr 1,100]

Back then i thought she will be the next Madonna 🤷🏻‍♂️ but..

[Franch Toast 25,900]

20 hours ago, 27monster27 said:

Also I can definitely see how 2006 - 2007 Lady Gaga was inspired by Gwen Stefani from this.

Yes––"Summerboy" says hi! It could easily be a Gwen song. 

LAMB is a practically perfect, no-skips pop album. I really wish she'd play more of the non-singles in her shows. 

"Cool" will always be that bitch for me as a continuation of "Don't Speak," especially the video, which is a gorgeous short film (and the other woman in the video is played by Tony Kanal's wife, Erin). 

I hated "Hollaback Girl" when it first came out, but I love it now! It's so catchy and fun. 

I love every single track on that album. It's hard to pick a favorite. No Doubt Gwen will always be my favorite, but LAMB proved that she had what it takes to be a trend-setting pop queen. 

Fun fact: Tony co-wrote and co-produced several tracks on the LAMB (and also The Sweet Escape). 

[Controversiaga 9,219]

Hi yes I’m here

both LAMB and sweet escape are pop perfection examples 

but yes LAMB was so special. Sonically and aesthetically. I collect the Gwen fashion dolls from those eras 

[HausOfHarlow 377]

L.A.M.B. was the first full-length album I remember buying with my childhood allowance and I jammed out to the CD all the time. To this day, it still sounds so good and I listen to it every now and then. Cool will forever be my favorite song from the album (used to watch the music video like every day back then) followed by Luxurious, Serious, and The Real Thing. 

[Battle 4 Ur Life 6,330]

OMG IM THE BIGGEST GWEN STAN

I think What You Waiting for is just one of the most meta pop songs ever almost as much as ARTPOP. I love it so much, and the video omg bestest.

and I hate if anyone’s offended in case they see this collab as cultural appropriation, but I LOVE what they did with this song and this era with the Harajuku Girls. it was iconic imo.

this album is among one of Pharrell’s masterpieces imo.

Cool, Luxurious the singles and all these are my FAVORITE songs so that’s pretty much the whole album. this album is one of the best debut pop albums ever.

STAN GWEN

[Nemo 4,192]

2 hours ago, HermesGr said:

Back then i thought she will be the next Madonna 🤷🏻‍♂️ but..

Well, the most striking thing about this album is that it effectively began a whole new career for her, AFTER a decade of hitmaking with No Doubt, with completely new sounds, and just as good as any of those records. For most people, that first career would've been more than enough.

I gotta admit, I worried a little that she'd lost the plot in recent years. BUT my faith was restored when I saw the No Doubt performance at Coachella a few months ago. ****ing awesome, still.

[bowlsofbrett 375]

I was 14 when this album came out and it absolutely dominated the pop scene and our lives. “Cool” is such a beautiful pop record, “Hollaback Girl” is cemented in pop culture, “Rich Girl” got everyone on the dance floor, and “What You Waiting For?” was the perfect first single. This era was THE moment back then. A wild time to be alive and listening to pop music.

[27monster27 11,085]

1 hour ago, Franch Toast said:

Yes––"Summerboy" says hi! It could easily be a Gwen song. 

LAMB is a practically perfect, no-skips pop album. I really wish she'd play more of the non-singles in her shows. 

"Cool" will always be that bitch for me as a continuation of "Don't Speak," especially the video, which is a gorgeous short film (and the other woman in the video is played by Tony Kanal's wife, Erin). 

I hated "Hollaback Girl" when it first came out, but I love it now! It's so catchy and fun. 

I love every single track on that album. It's hard to pick a favorite. No Doubt Gwen will always be my favorite, but LAMB proved that she had what it takes to be a trend-setting pop queen. 

Fun fact: Tony co-wrote and co-produced several tracks on the LAMB (and also The Sweet Escape). 

Yes! Especially in the Beautiful, Dirty, Rich demo (@1:44):

 

1 hour ago, Nemo said:

Well, the most striking thing about this album is that it effectively began a whole new career for her, AFTER a decade of hitmaking with No Doubt, with completely new sounds, and just as good as any of those records. For most people, that first career would've been more than enough.

I gotta admit, I worried a little that she'd lost the plot in recent years. BUT my faith was restored when I saw the No Doubt performance at Coachella a few months ago. ****ing awesome, still.

 

48 minutes ago, bowlsofbrett said:

I was 14 when this album came out and it absolutely dominated the pop scene and our lives. “Cool” is such a beautiful pop record, “Hollaback Girl” is cemented in pop culture, “Rich Girl” got everyone on the dance floor, and “What You Waiting For?” was the perfect first single. This era was THE moment back then. A wild time to be alive and listening to pop music.

Yeah I noticed that a lot of No Doubt fans questioned this era, but it really made sense for her to go in this direction. A lot of people just look at Hollaback Girl, but the inspiration for the song is what makes it unique. Also the whole album is good too. Also I should note that the lead single was What You Waiting For.

As for me at the time, I was only three when the era started so I couldn't really experience it, BUT it is cool to learn about it. Since I was so young in the 2000's learning about this decades pop culture is cool because it reminds me of my earliest memories when I do remember some things, and it gives a "soundtrack/visual element" to parts of my life I don't remember as much.