CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Music

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

60 31Knots
82 Abe Vigoda
71 The Academy Is...
53 The Airborne Toxic Event
79 Alias
77 Theresa Andersson
78 Annuals
76 Apollo Sunshine
47 The Automatic
79 Azeda Booth
75 Joan Baez
84 Bajofondo
56 David Banner
76 The Baseball Project
77 Beck
77 Black Affair
59 Black Ghosts
74 Black Kids
79 Blitzen Trapper
74 Bodies Of Water
71 Brazilian Girls
72 Brightblack Morning Light
66 The Broken West
50 Buckcherry
79 Lindsey Buckingham
90 The Bug
56 Caesars
78 Calexico
70 Glen Campbell
70 Brendan Canning
74 Castanets
63 Cats In Paris
74 The Chemical Brothers
65 Cold War Kids
69 Alice Cooper
79 Rodney Crowell
63 CSS
67 Miley Cyrus
46 Dandy Warhols
65 Kimya Dawson
73 Dead Confederate
72 Death Vessel
83 Deerhoof
78 Delta Spirit
79 Damien Dempsey
79 Ani DiFranco
58 DJ Khaled
66 The Donkeys
72 Dr. Dog
80 DragonForce
78 The Duhks
77 Dungen
92 Bob Dylan
73 Brian Eno + David Byrne
62 The Faint
67 The Fiery Furnaces
63 Ben Folds
64 iForward, Russia!
72 Friendly Fires
71 Fujiya & Miyagi
65 The Game
74 Inara George With Van Dyke Parks
74 Giant Sand
79 Girl Talk
83 Glasvegas
61 Golden Animals
64 Mike Gordon
68 Gym Class Heroes
77 GZA
66 Neil Halstead
64 Albert Hammond, Jr.
72 Juliana Hatfield
61 Hawthorne Heights
81 High Places
77 High Places
73 Zach Hill
85 The Hold Steady
80 Jolie Holland
83 David Holmes
81 Horse Feathers
68 Howling Hex
58 Jennifer Hudson
71 Human Highway
70 Ice Cube
66 Ida Maria
68 Jack's Mannequin
69 Jaguar Love
73 James
81 Jamey Johnson
70 Jonas Brothers
78 Damien Jurado
83 Kasai Allstars
57 Kerli
89 B.B. King
65 Kings Of Leon
67 Ladyhawke
77 Lambchop
73 Leila
54 Levellers
74 Jenny Lewis
76 Lykke Li
82 Lindstrom
72 Little Jackie
58 The Little Ones
57 LL Cool J
60 Lloyd
60 The Lord Dog Bird
81 Patty Loveless
76 John Mellencamp
71 The Melvins
69 Mercury Rev
78 Metallica
71 Metronomy
74 Mirah
75 Mogwai
64 Motorhead
66 Mugison
78 Nico Muhly
75 Murs
84 The Music Tapes
71 Nas
65 Nelly
79 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
50 New Kids On The Block
77 The New Year
85 Randy Newman
80 Ne-Yo
57 Nightmares On Wax
65 The Nightwatchman
78 Nine Inch Nails
62 Noah And The Whale
68 Oasis
75 Conor Oberst
78 Okkervil River
77 Old Crow Medicine Show
80 One Day As A Lion
75 Oneida
73 Joan Osborne
75 Oxford Collapse
85 Paavoharju
78 Amanda Palmer
65 Parenthetical Girls
89 Aaron Parks
73 Lee "Scratch" Perry
51 Kellie Pickler
70 Pivot
58 Plain White T's
89 Plush
78 The Pretenders
64 Primal Scream
52 Pussycat Dolls
75 Ra Ra Riot
71 Ratatat
62 Re-Up Gang
62 Rex The Dog
68 Rise Against
76 Roots Manuva
71 Darius Rucker
72 The Rumble Strips
81 Raphael Saadiq
57 Sam Champion
73 Scars On Broadway
81 Pete Seeger
70 Ron Sexsmith
68 The Shaky Hands
39 Shwayze
58 Jessica Simpson
69 Slipknot
80 Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
73 Solange
69 Son, Ambulance
59 Spinto Band
65 Rick Springfield
65 Staind
47 Stereo MC's
72 Stereolab
82 Marnie Stern
71 The Stills
63 The Streets
73 The Subways
83 Sugarland
70 Matthew Sweet
75 T.I.
72 Robin Thicke
71 Thievery Corporation
77 Irma Thomas
79 Tindersticks
71 Tittsworth
90 Shugo Tokumaru
74 Emiliana Torrini
67 James Jackson Toth
72 Randy Travis
70 Tricky
89 TV On The Radio
78 The Uglysuit
92 Underoath
56 UNKLE
61 David Vandervelde
77 Chad VanGaalen
71 The Verve
75 Vivian Girls
78 Volcano!
68 Loudon Wainwright III
81 The Walkmen
66 Ben Weaver
83 The Week That Was
77 Paul Weller
70 Brian Wilson
76 Wire
63 XX Teens
60 Yo Majesty
71 Young Jeezy
55 Yung Berg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Love, Angel, Music, Baby
by Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 71 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.6 out of 10
based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 119 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The solo debut for the No Doubt vocalist features an eclectic group of guests, including Martin Gore, Andre 3000, The Neptunes, New Order, Wendy & Lisa and Dr. Dre.

LABEL: Interscope
RELEASE DATE: 23 November 2004
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Alternative, Rock

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90
Dot Music
Welcome to the hottest, coolest, best-dressed pop album of the year.
Read Full Review
80
New Musical Express
One of the most frivolously brilliant slabs of shiny retro-pop anyone's had the chutzpah to release all year. [20 Nov 2004, p.56]
80
All Music Guide
It's too club-centric, too fashion-obsessed, too willfully weird to be a No Doubt album... a glitzy, wild ride that's stranger and often more entertaining than nearly any other mainstream pop album of 2004.
Read Full Review
80
PopMatters
Love.Angel.Music.Baby. is big, brash, and divisive -- but as such it deserves to be heard and re-heard.
Read Full Review
80
Rolling Stone
It's an irresistible party: trashy, hedonistic and deeply weird.
Read Full Review
80
Q Magazine
A ferocious declaration of independence. [Jan 2005, p.124]
80
Uncut
When LAMB is good, it's very good indeed.... It's one of the most audacioius pop albums of the year. [Jan 2005, p.120]
75
E! Online
This is undoubtedly the best excuse for a solo outing since Justin Timberlake's Justified.
Read Full Review
70
Playlouder
An ultra sleek and, it has to be said, generally impressive, 80s-inspired party record.
Read Full Review
70
The Guardian
Only a pair of beefy co-writes with rock mauler Linda Perry detract from the overall tingliness.
Read Full Review
70
Village Voice
And while LAMB is adventurous and playful--with nary a ska-punk riddim to be found--it's when Gwen reaches back and goes totally '80s that the CD reverberates with unwavering charm.
Read Full Review
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
A few songs sound tossed-off, but a few of the stranger ones work.
Read Full Review
70
Billboard
Style trumps substance in Stefani's world, making "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" an ideal guilty pleasure.
Read Full Review
65
Neumu.net
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. has been acclaimed as a bright-and-shiny pop-music tour-de-force, but once the initial thrilling rush of the stylistic sheen and artistic conception has abated, the album seems too fragmented to be anointed as such.
Read Full Review
60
Blender
An only sometime thing. [Jan/Feb 2005, p.112]
60
Stylus Magazine
The fascinating thing about Gwen Stefani’s record is not how different it sounds from No Doubt, but how similar it sounds to the producers that she works with and how their collaborations usually fall flat because of the rehashing of tired ideas and plodding predictability of her arrangements.
Read Full Review
60
The New York Times
A clever and sometimes enticing solo debut that doesn't quite add up. [22 Nov 2004]
Read Full Review
58
Entertainment Weekly
The ostentatiousness of it all grows irritating. [3 Dec 2004, p.83]
51
Pitchfork
LAMB has one mega-hit, one okay song, three stillborns, and seven full-fledged embarrassments.
Read Full Review
38
Los Angeles Times
An exercise in pointless artifice. [23 Nov 2004]
Read Full Review
20
Tiny Mix Tapes
The subject matter on the indistinguishably titled Love, Angel, Music, Baby is painfully mainstream throughout.
Read Full Review
10
Drawer B
It is pure fluff. And pretty awful fluff at that.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 119 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jay M gave it a10:
An exceptional jewel of a pop album, each song is a different personality and a complete masterpiece in and of itself. Producers, Dr. Dre, Nelle Hooper, Tony Kanal, and the Neptunes have helped Stefani craft possibly the best album of the 2000s

ixat a gave it a10:
this is the type of album that needs alonger periods of time to indulge the pleasure... at first listen, i found this album crap and prodigal... but now that ive listened to it more and more, ts actually fun! i cant seem to undrstnd why "wut u waitin 4?" only peaked at #47 in the billboard hot100... it shud at least enter the top 10... its a great number, and stands out amongst other numbers in this album.. all upbeat tracks are dancy and logic(you wont think it is logic if u only listened to it one time!), and the best are the first cngle, "danger zone" and hollaback gurl... this album should win grammies..

Nick M gave it a7:
Usually I am not a fan of this type of music, but I found this cd to have a lot of catchy songs on it, and overall is just a fun cd to listen to. Maybe it isnt the most artistic cd, and its deffinatly not the most sophisticated, but it does provide some fun.

Boris f gave it a7:
though Gwen sometimes sounds like shes stretching her voice too far the album is a refreshing splash of color in todays black and white music scene she proves she can handle almost any type of music: hip hop. pop, dance, rock, & R&B

Lark S gave it a10:
The Best Cd of the whooole year. seriously.

Preston J gave it a9:
You have to take this album for what it was meant to be.... and fun project Gwen wanted to do for herself alone that ended up getting released. In a way this is much like rock steady in the fact that many of the songs were collaberations with other artists of varying genres to create an album that could be fun for all. Its not genious, nor is it crap, its not remarkable, but it wasn't supposed to be. It is alot of fun to listen to and dance to and relate to at times so why not back off Gwen' s back for wanting a to have a little fun with her time?

36Thoughtless gave it a0:
All I have to say is...Fuck you, Gwen Stefani for blaspheming Fiddler on the Roof with your whining, proboscised shit for vocals.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this album in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: Fantasy Football | Miley Cyrus | MLB | iPhone 3G | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use