American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and mom Gwen Stefani, of ska band No Doubt releases her second offering after 'L.A.M.B' (2004) with new creative ideas and a host of collaborators too.

The album is a takeoff from her debut and contains tracks that she has heard or been influenced by. Her inlay has Stefani looking through oversized sunglasses, platinum hair and a blinged-out necklace. The sound on the album is sugary pop that fails to really reach the top, so it’s just a few good stars that take the album to a higher level. You also have an impressive lineup of collaborators like No Doubt's Tony Kanal, Akon, Swizz Beats, Sean Garrett, Pharell and Keane.

Stefani tries to pull off fun in all her tracks so there's never a dull moment from her, for she's gone completely experimental and thus original. Stefani has five producers handling her music which results in some very outlandish kind of production levels. But that sadly does not work on this album, compared to her debut that is still in memory. There's the funny Yummy and Don't Get It Twisted that are a must listen. The sound effects of moaning, cooing, whispering and yelling while she raps are packaged well, and this time she's tried some yodeling. Wind it up, the leadoff single is flavored with samples from the movie Sound of Music which is done tastefully well, with a satisfactory march past beat, drumbeats, and yes yodeling in between with a little rap interspersed for good measure and it's a runaway spinner. The song also talks about her clothing line. So much for promotion.

No fancy lyrics, but singling off a few would be Orange Country Girl very melodious and at the same time a song speaking about the difficulties of living in an extraordinary world. There's also 4 in the Morning with band mate Tony Kanal. Breakin' Up talks about a break up between cell phone connection and a human relationship. The haunting ballad Early Winter has Keane's Tim Rice – Oxley penning down thoughts for his label mate. It has a slight rock touch due to a combination of piano and drums.

Compared to the tracks here, it’s only Early Winter and 4 in the Morning that are the more audible tracks that bring out Gwen's vocals in full strength. Each track is different from one another and there's no overlapping, but sometimes her vocals do get loud like in her title song with Akon. By midway, the tracks are just about bearable. Stefani has no big catchy tunes out here and from the 12 tracks she also adds a fairly good acoustic version of ‘The Lonely Goatherd’ towards the end.

Don't Get It Twisted is a swingy danceable song and has a happy feel to it. There's  Candyland that has an almost eerie Arabic-like tune playing throughout which sounds decent for a replay again to really get the feel of it. The very catchy piano based ballad 'Wonderful Life' is a delight, very impressive and quite a mover. There's a lot of refreshing beats, different tunes and styles, and collated they bring out what this album is really all about.

The few standouts here kickoff the album in the right direction. While her debut was a blaster the effects don't seem to continue. She seems to have run out of luck and it’s time for her to make 'the sweet escape' back to where she belongs and take the band forward and pick up from where she left. The Von Trapp governess in Gwen tries hard to reach out to fans, but with little success. Includes lyrics.

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira