CD - The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani

5:00pm Monday 18th December 2006

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GWEN Stefani successfully managed a potentially disastrous transformation from the ska-punk star of No Doubt to the dance-club diva we all know her as today.

With the release of Love.Angel.Music.Baby she showed she was capable of being a mainstream solo artist.

The Sweet Escape continues in the same vein with several producers taking responsibility for different tracks but the results are not as effective.

The first single, Wind It Up, inspired by the musical the Sound Of Music, is an interesting piece that surprisingly works very well.

Unfortunately the rest of the album, while always maintaining a good beat, somehow forgets about the tune.

It is unfair to judge the CD on the lack of melody, it is dance music after all, but a few more notes here and there would not have gone amiss.

The Pharrell Williams produced efforts, Yummy and U Started It, stand out but you may find yourself hitting the fast forward button during the rest.

DS