The Sweet Escape is the second studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani, released on December 1, 2006 by Interscope Records. Having originally intended to return to No Doubt after her debut solo album, Love. Baby., Stefani decided to record a second album as a way to release some of the material left over from the. Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape [www iPodNova tv]. Gwen Stefanie - Love Angel 2005.rar. Moby feat Gwen Stefani - Southside mkv torrent [music dungeon com]. Download Free Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape [Album] [iTunes Plus AAC M4A] [Mp3 Version] from m4aLibrary.com. It's free and. Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape Quentin. 2006-12-05 UK Release Date: 2006-12-04 Amazon iTunes. What happened with The Sweet Escape, I believe Stefani. The Sweet Escape is the second studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani. It was released on December 1, 2006, by Interscope Records. Having originally intended to return to No Doubt after her debut solo album, Love. (2004), Stefani decided to record a second album as a way to release some of the material left over.
'The Sweet Escape' is a song by American singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani from her second studio album of the same name (2006). It was written by Stefani, Akon, and Giorgio Tuinfort. Akon, who is also a featured artist, developed the song's beat before collaborating with Stefani. He designed it based on her previous work with No Doubt, and Stefani later commented that it put her 'on the yellow brick road to the No Doubt record I might do'.[1] 'The Sweet Escape' is an apology for a fight between two lovers and describes a dream of a pleasant life for them. As the album's title track, its title was chosen to help market Stefani's music and fashion lines.
'The Sweet Escape' was released as the album's second single on December 19, 2006 and was commercially successful in mainstream and adult contemporary markets. It reached the top 10 of most singles charts and topped the New Zealand Singles Chart. The song was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Grammy Awards. In the song's accompanying music video, Stefani attempts to escape from a golden prison.
Background and writing[edit]
Interscope Records' CEO Jimmy Iovine, who helped with A&R for The Sweet Escape, arranged the collaboration between Stefani and Akon.[2] Interscope sent Stefani a copy of Akon's 2004 debut album Trouble and repeatedly encouraged her to work with him.[3] Akon readily accepted,[2] and Stefani accepted after several people had pushed her to work with him.[4]
When Akon was asked to work with Stefani, he reviewed her work, ranging from her music with No Doubt to her solo career. He noted that the sound Stefani had cultivated with No Doubt was missing from her solo work.[2] Stefani, preoccupied with her baby Kingston Rossdale, cancelled their session and commented that she 'didn't want to go through the pain of trying to work with someone [she] didn't know'.[3] Iovine called Stefani, telling her, 'You can cancel everything else in your life, but don't cancel this session.'[5] She decided to work with Akon and expected that they would work on writing a write a generic hip hop song,[5] one that would not fit her well.[4]
When they met, Akon played some of his tracks for her.[4] They thought about words that would suit the marketing of Stefani's music and her clothing lines L.A.M.B. and Harajuku Lovers, settling on 'Sweet Escape'. Akon played her the beat he had developed, and they began working on the song.[2] They wrote it in 10 minutes,[3] coming up with a doo-wop song rather than the hip hop sound Stefani had expected.[5]
Music and lyrics[edit]
'The Sweet Escape' is a ska and doo-wop song composed in the key of Bâ minor.[6] It is written in compound quadruple meter, commonly used in doo-wop, and has a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. Stefani's vocal range covers nearly two octaves, from G3 to F5.[6]
The song uses two-measurephrases that, aside from the choruses, use a iâIIIâIVâVIchord progression. The Bâ minor chord is held for 1â
of a beat, and a relative transformation is then used to produce a second-inversionDâ major chord, which is held for 1â
of a beat. In the second measure, a first-inversionEâ major chord with an added ninth precedes a Gâ majormajor seventh chord; the chords are held for the same durations as the previous two.[6]
The song opens with an introduction which consists of eight measures of instrumentals, followed by eight measures in which Akon sings 'Woohoo, yeehoo'. The introduction has been claimed to be similar to that in the 1986 song 'Sweet Sweet Gwendoline' by German band Die Ãrzte.[7]Overdubbing is introduced in the middle of the first verse to produce a sequence of eighth note Bâ minor chords from Stefani's vocals. Stefani's voice is overdubbed again when she sings the chorus twice. Akon performs, and Stefani then sings the second verse and the choruses again. She returns to the latter part of the first verse and repeats the choruses. The song closes as Akon repeats the lines 'Woohoo, yeehoo' and 'I wanna get away to our sweet escape' as the song fades.[6]
The song's lyrics discuss an argument between spouses.[8] Stefani apologizes 'for acting stank' to her lover. She asks her lover for forgiveness and describes wanting to be a better wife.[9] Although Stefani acknowledges her misdeeds, she nonetheless pushes off some of the blame in a manner that drew comparisons to Monica's 1995 single 'Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)' and TLC's 1999 single 'I'm Good at Being Bad'.[10] In contrast to her songwriting on No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom (1995), Stefani intimates a desire for a pleasant domestic life, most extensively during the chorus.[11]
Critical reception[edit]
'The Sweet Escape' received generally positive reviews from contemporary pop music critics. In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the song as 'an irresistible [..] track, driven by a giddy 'wee-oh!' hook and supported by a nearly anthemic summertime chorus'.[12] John Murphy of musicOMH referred to 'The Sweet Escape' as 'a lovely, summery bouncy pop song with a very infectious chorus'.[13] Murphy compared the song to Weezer's 2002 single 'Keep Fishin',[13] and Blender's Ben Sisario compared it to the work of The Beach Boys.[11] Alex Miller from the NME compared the song to Madonna's early work but added that it sounded 'cringey and saccharine'.[14] Anna Britten from Yahoo! Music commented that it sounded like music from 1970, specifically that of soul group Chairmen of the Board.[15] Bill Lamb of About.com called the song 'a welcome change from the over-produced 'Wind It Up', but noted that it 'easily jets in one ear and out the other leaving little trace of its presence'.[16]MuchMusic's video review program Video on Trial referred to the song as 'incredibly intoxicating'.[17]
Akon's presence as a featured artist on the track received negative reviews. Quentin B. Huff of PopMatters found that Akon contributed too few vocals to the song and that they were wasted.[10]Rolling Stone reviewer Rob Sheffield agreed, viewing the song as a fumbled attempt to capitalize on the success of Akon's 'Smack That' featuring Eminem.[8]The Observer's Paul Flynn was displeased with his presence in lieu of higher profile hip hop artists such as Dr. Dre and André 3000 on Stefani's previous album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004). He added that the song sounded like a 'weirdly flat' version of Madonna's 1986 single 'True Blue'.[18] Charles Merwin of Stylus Magazine described his vocals as 'yelping'.[19]
Commercial performance[edit]
Akon and Stefani performing 'The Sweet Escape' on The Sweet Escape Tour
In the United States, 'The Sweet Escape' debuted at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated December 30, 2006.[20] Following Stefani and Akon's performance of the song on American Idol in late March 2007, it peaked at number two on the chart dated April 14 behind Akon's subsequent single 'Don't Matter', selling 140,200 downloads during that week.[21] The song spent 15 consecutive weeks in the top 10 and remained on the chart for over nine months, listed at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart.[22] The single was successful in mainstream music, topping the Pop 100 and Pop 100 Airplay charts and reaching number two on the Mainstream Top 40 chart. It had strong airplay on adult contemporary stations and reached the top five of the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks and Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks charts.[23] The song was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 2008 Grammy Awards, but lost to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' 'Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)'.[24] At over 2.1 million downloads, 'The Sweet Escape' was the third best-selling digital track of 2007, and Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems listed it as the fifth most played song of the year.[25] The song had equal success on Billboard's Canadian Hot 100; it reached number two on unpublished versions of the chart, and debuted at number 14 when the chart was introduced during the week of June 2, 2007, the 10th week that 'The Sweet Escape' had been listed.[26] The song remained on the Canadian Hot 100 for over six months after the chart was officially introduced.[27]
'The Sweet Escape' was similarly successful in Europe, topping the BillboardEuropean Hot 100 Singles chart for three weeks in March 2007.[28] In the United Kingdom, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, selling 30,000 copies in its first week.[29] The following week, the track peaked at number two behind Take That's 'Shine',[30] giving Stefani her highest-charting solo single in the UK.[31] It spent a second consecutive week at number two behind Sugababes and Girls Aloud's cover of 'Walk This Way', selling 23,500 copies.[32] The single was successful across continental Europe as well, reaching the top five in France, Hungary, Norway, the Netherlands, and Romania, and the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland.[33][34][35][36][37]Keygen showcase 2014.
The song debuted at number two on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart and remained there for six weeks, behind Hinder's 'Lips of an Angel' and later Silverchair's 'Straight Lines'.[38] The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified 'The Sweet Escape' double platinum for shipping 140,000 copies.[39] In New Zealand, the single debuted atop the chart and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ).[40][41]
Music video[edit]
The song's music video premiered on January 10, 2007 on LAUNCHcast.[42] The video opens with scenes of Stefani and the Harajuku Girls in a golden jail. After obtaining the key from a dog, they escape. Stefani is then shown in a penthouse two hours later. She lets down two long braids, allowing the Harajuku Girls to scale the building and cut off the braids. They meet Akon at a parking lot, and Stefani drives off with him. They are pursued by two of the Harajuku Girls as police officers, and the video closes with Stefani back in jail after two hours of chasing. The video is intercut with sequences of Stefani and Akon in front of a letter G in lights.
Stefani performing 'The Sweet Escape' inside a gold cage on The Sweet Escape Tour
The video was filmed in December 2006, several days before Christmas.[43] It was directed by Joseph Kahn and produced by Maryann Tenado of H.S.I. Productions.[44] The jail and penthouse scenes in the video are symbolic of 'being jailed by love'. Stefani being unable to escape her metaphoric prisons represents how one cannot escape from oneself. The penthouse scene is an allusion to the 19th-century fairy tale 'Rapunzel'.[43] The video features product placement for two General Motors vehicles, the Chevrolet Tahoe, and the Buick Lucerne.
'The Sweet Escape' premiered on MTV's top-10 video chart program Total Request Live at number seven January 16, 2007,[45] and it peaked at number two the next month.[46] The video was nominated for Most Earthshattering Collaboration, one of four categories created for the reinvented 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to Beyoncé and Shakira's 'Beautiful Liar'.[47] After its January 20 debut on MuchMusic's Countdown, it reached number one for two weeks in March 2007.[48] In December 2007, MTV International introduced a certification system to recognize music videos that were successful on stations outside the US. Plays were totaled from February through June 2007, and with 11,000 plays, 'The Sweet Escape' was the most successful video, receiving a platinum award.[49]
Live performances[edit]
'The Sweet Escape' was featured on Stefani's The Sweet Escape Tour. She also performed the song with Akon at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards, American Idol, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
In popular culture[edit]
The song and video were parodied on the February 17, 2007 episode of Mad TV as 'Aren't Asians Great?'. The video features Nicole Parker as Stefani and discusses the singer's love of Asian culture as well as Asian contributions to the world.[50]
The song was also featured in the November 13, 2017 episode of Supergirl called 'Midvale'. The song is played in a scene where the characters Alex and Kara Danvers go on a road trip.[51]
Gwen Stefani The Sweet Escape Konvict RemixTrack listings[edit]
Credits and personnel[edit]
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Sweet Escape.[58]
Charts[edit]
Certifications[edit]
Release history[edit]
See also[edit]References[edit]
External links[edit]Gwen Stefani The Sweet Escape Torrent
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Sweet_Escape_(song)&oldid=912603568'
The Sweet Escape is the second studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani. It was released on December 1, 2006, by Interscope Records. Having originally intended to return to No Doubt after her debut solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004), Stefani decided to record a second album as a way to release some of the material left over from the Love. Angel. Music. Baby. writing sessions. The album musically resembles its predecessor while exploring more modern pop sounds. It was released to generally mixed reviews from contemporary music critics, receiving criticism for its strong similarities to Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
It was preceded by the lead single 'Wind It Up', which charted moderately across the world, and produced the follow-up single 'The Sweet Escape', which proved more successful worldwide. The Sweet Escape reached the top five in the United States, Canada, and Australia and peaked inside the top 20 in the United Kingdom. The album's supporting tour, The Sweet Escape Tour, kicked off in April 2007, covering North America, Colombia, Australia, Asia, and Europe.
Conception[edit]Background[edit]
Following the release of her debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., Stefani announced that she had intended to return to No Doubt and record a sixth studio album with the band.[3] After the commercial success of L.A.M.B., she decided to release several leftover tracks from the album as an EP or as extra tracks on a DVD.[4] However, Pharrell Williams, with whom she had collaborated to write 'Hollaback Girl', convinced Stefani to create 'a L.A.M.B. part two',[4] and the two recorded several songs during sessions in Miami in July 2005.[5]
The two produced 'Wind It Up', 'Orange County Girl', 'U Started It', 'Yummy', 'Breaking Up', and 'Candyland' during these sessions, and the songs were used for a fashion show premiering the 2006 collection of Stefani's fashion line L.A.M.B.[6] She included performances of 'Wind It Up' and 'Orange County Girl' when she embarked on the Harajuku Lovers Tour in October 2005.[7] Stefani put the project on hold in December 2005 when she discovered that she was pregnant,[8] before returning to the studio in August 2006.[9] The album's working title was Candyland, sharing its name with an unreleased track that has only been looped via her fashion show soundtrack. The title was changed to The Sweet Escape, the title of the second track, to emphasize the album's themes of wanting to escape to a better life.[10]
Album cover[edit]
The album cover was taken by photographer Jill Greenberg. The image was part of a series of promotional images taken by Greenberg, inspired by her previous End Times exhibition. To create End Times, Greenberg gave lollipops to toddlers but took them back after several moments, provoking emotional outbursts. Greenberg used the images as a representation of American politics and society.[11] Greenberg was accused of child abuse for the photo shoots; Stefani, however, commented, 'I didn't think 'child abuse'âI just thought, 'That's beautiful.' Every kid cries [..] Other people reacted like, 'Oh my God. That's so disturbing,' or 'That's so sad.' I guess that's what art's all about. It's supposed to make you think.'[12]
Stefani's appearance on the album cover is inspired by that of Elvira Hancock, a cocaine addict portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1983 film Scarface. Stefani first gained inspiration for the style while shooting the music video for 'Cool' in Lake Como, Italy. During the shoot, Stefani saw her No Doubt bandmate Tony Kanal and his girlfriend, who had on a 'long, peach, polyester [late-1970s style] dress'. It was this dress that got Stefani thinking 'about Michelle Pfeiffer and how amazingly styled she was [in Scarface]', which in turn drew inspiration for the cover.[13] The pair of oversized sunglasses on the album cover is intended to represent her 'guarded exterior', and the other images symbolize her various emotions.[14]
Composition[edit]
Stefani performing 'Wind It Up' during the Sweet Escape Tour
The Sweet Escape has themes of romantic situations and details of her career and personal life, while sonically the album features 'sparsely rhythmic tracks where she chants as much as she sings' and 'pop songs that aim for choruses.'[15] It starts with 'Wind It Up', which features fanfares and samples from The Sound of Music's 'The Lonely Goatherd', having 'material-minded lyrics touting her fashion line and her shape.'[16] The second and title track, 'The Sweet Escape', is a dance-pop and doo wop song,[16][17][18] which features Akon providing a 'wee-oh!' hook,[16] with lyrics about a 'feisty sort of apology.'[17] 'Orange County Girl' is an autobiographical rap song,[16] where Stefani shows how she is 'grateful for her success while recalling the simpler days of her youth.'[19] The album's first ballad, 'Early Winter', has influences of 80's soft rock and lyrics about the need for fidelity and transparency in romantic relationship.[19] 'Now That You Got It' features military snare drums, loping hip-hop beat and a staccato piano sample.[15][18] Its lyrics has Stefani 'act[ing] as if she's doing a lover a favor and challenges him to come through.'[19]
The sixth track '4 in the Morning' is a 1980s-inspired synth-pop ballad,[20] that lyrically deals with a relationship on the edge,[21] while 'Yummy' is a dance song, with a tribal rhythm,[22] cameo by Pharrell Williams and lyrics that finds Stefani declaring that 'making babies leaves her eager to feel sexy again.'[19] 'Fluorescent' features Angelo Moore on saxophone,[23] and was compared to the works of Madonna and Prince,[16] while 'Breakin' Up' has influences of hip hop[22] and electronica[1] and it is 'a breakup song built on a dying cell phone metaphor.'[16] The tenth track, 'Don't Get It Twisted', talks about an unexpected pregnancy,[15] in a song influenced by reggaeton.[18][22] 'U Started It' was noted for having 'lilting melody, silken harmonies, and pizzicato strings',[16] while the final track, 'Wonderful Life', was named a Depeche Mode-style synth ballad about how much she misses her first love and how the person had a profound impact on her.[24][19]
Critical reception[edit]
The Sweet Escape received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 58, based on 24 reviews.[25]Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, 'From the stilted production to the fashion fetish, all the way down to her decision to rap on far too much of the album, all the dance-pop here seems like a pose.'[16] Alex Miller of NME was more emphatic, dubbing it 'this year's bargain-bin fodder', and stated that 'the majority of this record serves only to bury what made Gwen Stefani unique in the first place.'[27] At Entertainment Weekly, Sia Michel noted that the album 'has a surprisingly moody, lightly autobiographical feel' but that 'Stefani isn't convincing as a dissatisfied diva'.[26]Pitchfork's Mark Pytlik described the album's oddities as a career risk for Stefani, where most of the 'gonzo pop songs yield some degree of payout' but that Stefani's tight scheduling during production of the album leaves the result 'somewhere between the vanguard and the insipid.'[18] Paul Flynn of The Observer characterized the album as less interesting than Fergie's The Dutchess and Nelly Furtado's Loose.[28]Robert Christgau cited the song 'Yummy' as a 'choice cut' ().[30]
The album received criticism for its similarities to Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine opined that '[h]istory will likely view The Sweet Escape as a retread of Stefani's well-received solo debut, but it shares that album's general inconsistency and, thus, its peaks and valleys'.[29]Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone agreed, viewing it as 'her hasty return' to music lacking the energy of L.A.M.B. and in which 'she sounds exhausted.'[24]The New York Times'Jon Pareles commented that Stefani 'rebooks some of the same producers and repeats some of the old tricks with less flair', adding that 'superficiality is more fun when it doesn't get so whiny.'[15] Caroline Sullivan disagreed in her review for The Guardian, in which she stated that although some of the songs date back to the 2003 writing sessions for L.A.M.B., 'generally The Sweet Escape feels minty-fresh.'[1] Quentin B. Huff of PopMatters, however, referred to The Sweet Escape as L.A.M.B.: Reloaded and described The Sweet Escape and L.A.M.B. as 'the same album, just add more rap, a glossy Next-Top-Model-ish photo for the cover, and a few more recent-sounding influences.'[17]
Commercial performance[edit]
The Sweet Escape debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 243,000 copies in its first week.[31] It sold another 149,000 copies during its second week, falling to number 14.[32] The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 25, 2007,[33] and had sold 1,733,000 copies in the United States by February 2016.[34] The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) certified The Sweet Escape platinum eight days prior to the album's release, and double platinum on March 5, 2007.[35]
In the United Kingdom, The Sweet Escape debuted at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 33,632 copies.[36] Three months later, on March 4, 2007, the album reached a new peak position of number 14.[37] It was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on July 22, 2013[38] and, as of March 2016, has sold 365,143 copies in the UK.[39] The album was moderately successful across Europe, peaking in the top 10 in Norway and Switzerland; the top 20 in Austria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, and Sweden; and the top 40 in Belgium, Denmark, France and the Netherlands.[40][41][42]The Sweet Escape reached number two for two consecutive weeks on the ARIA Albums Chart in Australia,[43] and was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[44]
The Sweet Escape Tour[edit]
Stefani and Akon performing title track 'The Sweet Escape' during The Sweet Escape Tour
The Sweet Escape Tour was Stefani's follow-up to the Harajuku Lovers Tour. It went worldwide as compared to her previous tour which was constricted only to North America and had more than double the number of shows. It was Stefani's last solo effort as she rejoined her band No Doubt after the tour ended.[45] The main feature were usage of various props such as a prison for Stefani's opening act, a six-piece band and a large multimedia screen in the backdrop showing videos and animations.[46]
The tour had its own set of controversies. A group of students making up for The National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students banned Stefani's concert that was slated to take place on August 21, 2007, at Putra Indoor Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. The union's vice president, Abdul Muntaqim, said, 'Her performance and her attire are not suitable for our culture. It promotes a certain degree of obscenity and will encourage youth to emulate the western lifestyle. The concert should be stopped.' The organizer of the event, Maxis Communications, later responded, 'Stefani has confirmed that her concert will not feature any revealing costumes. She will abide by the Malaysian authorities' guidelines to ensure that her show will not be offensive to local sensitivities.'[47] In April 2007, Akon, one of the tour's opening acts, drew criticism for engaging in on-stage dirty dancing with a 14-year-old girl at a club in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, as part of a fake contest.[48][49] As a result, Verizon Wireless terminated its sponsorship of the tour.[50]
Stefani donated $166,000 from her October 30, 2007, concert in San Diego to the San Diego Foundation, in benefit of the victims of the October 2007 California wildfires.[51] On her June 22 and June 23 concerts in Irvine, California, Stefani was joined onstage by her No Doubt bandmates. They performed the band's songs 'Just a Girl', 'Spiderwebs', 'Sunday Morning', 'Hella Good', and their cover of Talk Talk's 'It's My Life'.[52]
Track listing[edit]
Notes[59]
Personnel[edit]
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Sweet Escape.[59]
Charts[edit]
Certifications[edit]
Release history[edit]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
The Sweet Escape Lyrics
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Sweet_Escape&oldid=906350325'
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