GWEN STEFANI
The Sweet Escape
Producers: various
Interscope
Release Date: Dec. 5

There can be no doubt Gwen Stefani feels the allure of being a solo artist-and who can blame her after selling 7 million copies of 2004's "Love.Angel.Music.Baby." Its follow-up comes more quickly than anticipated-especially since a return to No Doubt was expected first-and doesn't stray too far from the heavily referential terrain she mined the first time. Stefani and the Neptunes work the "Hollaback Girl" route again on the rhythm-driven "disco Tetris" of "Yummy" and incorporate a bit of mid-'80s vintage Prince into "U Started It," while she and No Doubt's Tony Kanal revisit the group's "Hella Good" on "Fluorescent." Stefani's Madonna reverence remains intact on "Early Winter" (co-written with Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley) and "4 in the Morning," and her collaboration with Linda Perry on the album-closing "Wonderful Life" channels the distinct influence of Depeche Mode. All spun together it works well, and maybe even better than on the debut. There is a dark and melancholy lyrical bent that is surprising for someone who is enjoying marriage, motherhood and millions of album sales. But Stefani knows she's got it good, too, from "The Sound of Music" yodels in "Wind It Up" to the buoyant "whee-hoos" of the title track team-up with Akon. -- Gary Graff