The Sweet Escape

Not long ago, when she went solo, the music world was in love with Gwen Stefani. A couple of years down the line and, judging by the universally bad reviews her second opus has collected, the romance is over. Neither her debut was so praiseworthy, nor this follow-up so terrible. The wrong choice of a first single may have been to blame; "Wind it up", that Trapp Family meets "Hollaback Girl" yodelling nightmare, was hard to stomach and put everyone but hardcore fans off. The album's title track comes now to the rescue with its bubblegum pop chorus; Akon throwing in some "woo-hoos" and a billion dollar video to help it get into your brain by any possible means. Will that be enough to stop "The Great Escape" falling into oblivion? Place your bets.  shazam