The Sweet Escape

The Sweet Escape
Studio album by Gwen Stefani
Released December 1, 2006 (2006-12-01)
Recorded 2005–06; Capitol Studios, Chalice Recording Studios, Doppler Studios, Electric Lady Studios, Grandmaster Recorders Ltd., Henson Recording Studios, Home Recordings, Interscope Studios, Kingsbury Studios, The Nook Studio, The Record Plant, Right Track Recording, Sony Music Studios, South Beach Studios
Genre Pop, dance-pop, electropop, synthpop, pop rock, R&B
Length 47:46
Label Interscope
Producer Akon, Sean Garrett, Nellee Hooper, Tony Kanal, The Neptunes, Tim Rice-Oxley, Swizz Beatz, Giorgio Tuinfort
Gwen Stefani chronology
Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
(2004)		 The Sweet Escape
(2006)
Singles from The Sweet Escape
  1. "Wind It Up"
    Released: October 31, 2006
  2. "The Sweet Escape"
    Released: January 1, 2007
  3. "4 in the Morning"
    Released: June 22, 2007
  4. "Now That You Got It"
    Released: September 17, 2007
  5. "Early Winter"
    Released: January 18, 2008

The Sweet Escape is the second and final[1] solo studio album by American recording artist Gwen Stefani, released in the United States on December 5, 2006 by Interscope Records. Having originally intended to return to No Doubt after her 2004 solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., Stefani decided to record a second album as a way to release some of the material left over from the L.A.M.B. writing sessions. The album musically resembles its predecessor while exploring more modern pop sounds. It was released to generally mixed reviews from contemporary music critics, receiving criticism for its strong similarities to L.A.M.B.

It was preceded by the lead single "Wind It Up", which charted moderately across the world, and produced the follow-up single "The Sweet Escape", which proved more successful worldwide. The Sweet Escape reached the top five in the US, Canada, and Australia and peaked inside the top twenty in the United Kingdom. The Sweet Escape Tour, started in April 2007, covered North America, Central America, Australia, Asia, and Europe.

Contents

Conception

Background

Following the release of her debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., Stefani announced that she had intended to return to No Doubt and record a sixth studio album with the band.[2] After the commercial success of L.A.M.B., she decided to release several leftover tracks from the album as an EP or as extra tracks on a DVD.[3] However, Pharrell Williams, with whom she had collaborated to write "Hollaback Girl", convinced Stefani to create "a L.A.M.B. part two",[3] and the two recorded several songs during sessions in Miami, Florida in July 2005.[4]

The two produced "Wind It Up", "Orange County Girl", "U Started It", "Yummy", "Breaking Up", and "Candyland" during these sessions, and the songs were used for a fashion show premiering the 2006 collection of Stefani's fashion line L.A.M.B.[5] She included performances of "Wind It Up" and "Orange County Girl" when she embarked on the Harajuku Lovers Tour in October 2005.[6] Stefani put the project on hold in December 2005 when she discovered that she was pregnant,[7] but returned to the studio in August 2006.[8] The album's working title was Candyland, sharing its name with an unreleased track that has only been looped via her fashion show soundtrack. The title was changed to The Sweet Escape, the title of the second track, to emphasize the album's themes of wanting to escape to a better life.[9]

Album cover

The album cover was taken by photographer Jill Greenberg. The image was part of a series of promotional images taken by Greenberg, inspired by her previous End Times exhibition. To create End Times, Greenberg gave lollipops to toddlers but took them back after several moments, provoking emotional outbursts. Greenberg used the images as a representation of American politics and society.[10] Greenberg was accused of child abuse for the photo shoots; Stefani, however, commented, "I didn't think 'child abuse'—I just thought, 'That's beautiful.' Every kid cries," she asserts, and as if on cue, Kingston pipes up in the next room. " Other people reacted like, 'Oh my God. That's so disturbing,' or 'That's so sad.' I guess that's what art's all about. It's supposed to make you think."[11]

Gwen Stefani's appearance on the album cover is inspired by that of Elvira Hancock, a coke whore portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1983 film Scarface. Stefani first gained inspiration for the style while shooting the music video for "Cool" in Lake Como, Italy. During the shoot, Stefani saw her No Doubt bandmate Tony Kanal and his girlfriend, who had on a "long, peach, polyester [late-1970s style] dress". It was this dress that got Stefani thinking "about Michelle Pfeiffer and how amazingly styled she was [in Scarface]", which in turn drew inspiration for the cover.[12] The pair of oversized sunglasses on the album cover is intended to represent her "guarded exterior", and the other images symbolize her various emotions.[13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic (58/100)[14]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [15]
Entertainment Weekly (B+)[16]
The Guardian [17]
The New York Times (unfavorable)[18]
NME (4/10)[19]
The Observer [20]
Pitchfork Media (6.5/10)[21]
PopMatters (4/10)[22]
Rolling Stone [23]
Slant Magazine [24]

The Sweet Escape received mixed responses from critics.[25] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 58, based on 24 reviews.[14] Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for Allmusic: "From the stilted production to the fashion fetish, all the way down to her decision to rap on far too much of the album, all the dance-pop here seems like a pose."[15] Alex Miller's review for the NME was more emphatic, dubbing it "this year's bargain-bin fodder", and stated that "the majority of this record serves only to bury what made Gwen Stefani unique in the first place."[19] For Entertainment Weekly, Sia Michel said that the album "has a surprisingly moody, lightly autobiographical feel" but that "Stefani isn't convincing as a dissatisfied diva".[16] Pitchfork Media's Mark Pytlik described the album's oddities as a career risk for Stefani, where most of the "gonzo pop songs yield some degree of payout" but that Stefani's tight scheduling during production of the album leaves the result "somewhere between the vanguard and the insipid."[21] Paul Flynn of The Observer, however, characterized the album as less interesting than Fergie's The Dutchess and Nelly Furtado's Loose.[20]

The album received criticism for its similarities to Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine noted that "[h]istory will likely view The Sweet Escape as a retread of Stefani's well-received solo debut, but it shares that album's general inconsistency and, thus, its peaks and valleys".[24] In his review for Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield agreed, viewing it as "her hasty return" to music lacking the energy of L.A.M.B. and in which "she sounds exhausted."[23] The New York Times' Jon Pareles commented that Stefani "rebooks some of the same producers and repeats some of the old tricks with less flair", adding that "superficiality is more fun when it doesn't get so whiny."[18] Caroline Sullivan disagreed in her review for The Guardian, in which she stated that although some of the songs date back to the 2003 writing sessions for L.A.M.B., "generally The Sweet Escape feels minty-fresh."[17] PopMatters' review by Quentin B. Huff, however, referred to The Sweet Escape as L.A.M.B.: Reloaded and described The Sweet Escape and L.A.M.B. as "the same album, just add more rap, a glossy Next-Top-Model-ish photo for the cover, and a few more recent-sounding influences."[22]

Commercial performance

The Sweet Escape was moderately successful in North America, but did not achieve the success of its predecessor. The album sold 243,000 copies in the United States during its first week, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200,[26] It sold another 149,000 copies during its second week, falling to number fourteen.[27] The record has since been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America,[28] and has sold 1.7 million copies in the US.[29] The Canadian Recording Industry Association certified The Sweet Escape platinum eight days prior to the album's release, and double platinum on March 5, 2007.[30]

In the United Kingdom, the album was certified gold within three weeks of its release,[31] and peaked at number fourteen in March 2007.[32] It was less successful across Europe, peaking in the top ten in Norway and Switzerland; the top twenty in Austria, Finland, Germany, Ireland, and Sweden; and the top forty in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.[33] The Sweet Escape reached number two for two consecutive weeks on the ARIA Albums Chart,[34] and the Australian Recording Industry Association certified it double platinum.[35]

The Sweet Escape Tour

Main article: The Sweet Escape Tour

The Sweet Escape Tour was Stefani's follow-up to Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005. It went worldwide as compared to her previous tour which was constricted only to North America and had more than double the number of shows. It was Stefani's last solo effort as she rejoined her band No Doubt after the tour ended.[36] The main feature were usage of various props such as a prison for Stefani's opening act, a six-piece band and a large multimedia screen in the backdrop showing videos and animations.[37]

The tour had its own set of controversies. A group of students making up for The National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students, banned Stefani's concert that was slated to take place August 21, 2007 at Putra Indoor Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. The union's vice president, Abdul Muntaqim, said, "Her performance and her attire are not suitable for our culture. It promotes a certain degree of obscenity and will encourage youth to emulate the western lifestyle. The concert should be stopped." The organizer of the event, Maxis Communications, later responded, "Stefani has confirmed that her concert will not feature any revealing costumes. She will abide by the Malaysian authorities' guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities."[38] In April, Akon drew criticism for engaging in on-stage dirty dancing with a fifteen-year-old preacher's daughter, at a club in Trinidad and Tobago, as part of a fake contest.[39][40] As a result, the tour's sponsor Verizon Wireless decided not to sponsor the tour.[41]

Stefani donated $166,000 from her October 30, 2007 concert in San Diego to the San Diego Foundation, in benefit of the victims of the October 2007 California wildfires.[42] On her June 22 and June 23 concerts in Irvine, California, Stefani was joined onstage by her No Doubt bandmates. They performed the band's songs "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", "Sunday Morning", "Hella Good" and their cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life".[43]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "Wind It Up"   Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II The Neptunes,
Mark "Spike" Stent*		 3:09
2. "The Sweet Escape" (featuring Akon) Stefani, Aliaune Thiam, Giorgio Tuinfort Akon 4:06
3. "Orange County Girl"   Stefani, Williams The Neptunes 3:23
4. "Early Winter"   Stefani, Tim Rice-Oxley Nellee Hooper, Stent* 4:44
5. "Now That You Got It"   Stefani, Sean Garrett, Kaseem Dean Swizz Beatz 2:59
6. "4 in the Morning"   Stefani, Tony Kanal Kanal, Stent* 4:51
7. "Yummy" (featuring Pharrell) Stefani, Williams The Neptunes 4:57
8. "Fluorescent"   Stefani, Kanal Kanal, Stent* 4:18
9. "Breakin' Up"   Stefani, Williams The Neptunes 3:46
10. "Don't Get It Twisted"   Stefani, Kanal Kanal, Stent* 3:37
11. "U Started It"   Stefani, Williams The Neptunes, Stent* 3:08
12. "Wonderful Life"   Stefani, Linda Perry Hooper, Stent* 3:58

(*) denotes additional producer

Personnel

  • Gwen Stefani – lead vocals
  • Akon – producer, vocals, programming, keyboards (track 2)
  • Andrew Alekel – engineer (tracks 6, 8, 10)
  • Angel Aponte – additional engineer (track 5)
  • Trinka Baggetta – A&R coordination
  • Matt Beck – guitar (track 6)
  • Yvan Bing – assistant engineer (track 2)
  • Stephen Bradley – baritone, trumpet (track 10)
  • Julian Chan – engineer (track 8)
  • Jolie Clemens – art direction, layout
  • Andrew Coleman – engineer (tracks 7, 11)
  • Greg Collins – bass (track 4); engineer (tracks 4, 6, 8, 10, 12); guitar (track 6); additional vocal producer (tracks 6, 10); additional vocals engineer (track 11)
  • Cindy Cooper – photography, art and packaging coordination
  • Pete Davis – additional programming, additional keyboards (tracks 1, 4–6, 8, 10–12)
  • Loren Dawson – keyboards (track 5)
  • Alex Dromgoole – assistant engineer (track 1, 2, 4–6, 8–12); guitar (tracks 8, 10); bass (track 10)
  • Bojan Dugic – engineer (track 2)
  • David Emery – assistant engineer (track 1, 2, 4–6, 8–12); guitar (track 8)
  • Ron Fair – orchestra producer (track 1)
  • Jason Finkel – assistant engineer (track 11)
  • Nicole Frantz – photography, art and packaging coordination
  • Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering
  • Sean Garrett – co-producer, backing vocals (track 5)
  • Brian Garten – engineer (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9)
  • Simon Gogerly – engineer (track 12)
  • Mark "Exit" Goodchild – engineer (track 2)
  • Scheila Gonzalez – saxophone, flute, clarinet (track 10)
  • Martin Gore – guitar (track 12)
  • Jill Greenberg – photography, fine art concept
  • Keith Gretlein – engineer (track 2)
  • Hart Gunther – assistant engineer (tracks 1, 3, 9)
  • Richard Hawley – guitar (track 12)
  • Nellee Hooper – producer (tracks 4, 12)
  • Jimmy Iovine – A&R direction
  • Neil Kanal – engineer, programming (tracks 6, 8, 10); keyboards (track 10)
  • Tony Kanal – producer, programming, keyboards (tracks 6, 8, 10)
  • Ryan Kennedy – assistant engineer (track 7)
  • Anthony LoGerfo – percussion (track 10)
  • Aidan Love – programming (track 4)
  • Tony Love – guitar (track 2)
  • Gabrial McNair – keyboards (tracks 6, 8); trombone, baritone (track 10)
  • Jonathan Merritt – engineer (track 8)
  • Kevin Mills – engineer (tracks 2, 5); assistant engineer (track 12)
  • Colin Mitchell – engineer (tracks 6, 8, 10)
  • Dror Mohar – assistant engineer (tracks 6, 8, 10)
  • Angelo Moore – saxophone (track 8)
  • The Neptunes – producers (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9, 11)
  • Ewan Pearson – programming (track 12)
  • Pharrell – rap (track 7)
  • Glenn Pittman – assistant engineer (track 5)
  • Mark Ralph – guitar (track 4)
  • Tim Rice-Oxley – piano, keyboards (track 4)
  • Kingston James McGregor Rossdale – baby sounds (track 7)
  • Ian Rossiter – assistant engineer (tracks 4, 12)
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (track 1, 2, 4–6, 8–12); additional producer (tracks 1, 4, 6, 8, 10–12)
  • Swizz Beatz – producer (track 5)
  • Talent Bootcamp Kids – additional vocals (track 1)
  • Phil Tan – mixing (track 7)
  • Steve Tolle – assistant engineer (track 5)
  • Rich Travali – mixing (track 3)
  • Giorgio Tuinfort – co-producer, programming, keyboards (track 2)
  • Mark Williams – A&R direction

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2006–07) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[34] 2
Austrian Albums Chart[49] 18
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[33] 40
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[50] 42
Canadian Albums Chart[51] 3
Danish Albums Chart[52] 23
Dutch Albums Chart[53] 35
European Top 100 Albums[54] 23
Finnish Albums Chart[55] 15
French Albums Chart[56] 33
German Albums Chart[57] 17
Greek Foreign Albums Chart[58] 8
Hungarian Albums Chart[59] 20
Irish Albums Chart[60] 16
Italian Albums Chart[61] 78
Japanese Albums Chart[62] 7
Mexican Albums Chart[63] 39
New Zealand Albums Chart[64] 4
Norwegian Albums Chart[65] 5
Polish Albums Chart[66] 29
Swedish Albums Chart[67] 19
Swiss Albums Chart[68] 8
UK Albums Chart[32] 14
US Billboard 200[51] 3

Certifications

Country Certification
Australia 2× Platinum[35]
Canada 2× Platinum[30]
Denmark Gold[69]
Germany Gold[70]
Hungary Gold[71]
Japan Gold[72]
New Zealand Platinum[73]
Norway Gold[74]
Poland Gold[75]
Russia 2× Platinum[76]
Switzerland Platinum[77]
United Kingdom Gold[31]
United States Platinum[28]

Year-end charts

Chart (2006) Position
Worldwide[78] 37
Chart (2007) Position
Australian Albums Chart[79] 21
Austrian Albums Chart[80] 58
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[81] 90
European Top 100 Albums[82] 42
French Albums Chart[83] 118
German Albums Chart[84] 71
Hungarian Albums Chart[85] 87
Swiss Albums Chart[86] 47
US Billboard 200[87] 15

Release history

Country Date Label
Australia[47] December 1, 2006 Universal Music
Germany[88]
Netherlands[89]
France[90] December 4, 2006
United Kingdom[46] Polydor
United States[91] December 5, 2006 Interscope
Sweden[92] December 6, 2006 Universal Music
Italy[93] December 7, 2006
Japan[48] January 31, 2007

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External links

Gwen Stefani
Studio albums
and singles
The Sweet Escape
Featured singles
Video albums
Tours
Related articles