There’s nothing more exciting than a new album from an artist who likes to party. Gwen Stefani likes to party and it shows. “The Sweet Escape,” released December 5, definitely surpasses her first solo album, 2004’s “Love.Angel.Music.Baby.”
  With the first single being as energetic as “Wind It Up” there should have been no doubt the rest of the album would be just as pulsating. It’s about time someone made an album filled with singles ripe for the picking.
  Although the first album was purely fun to dance around to, “The Sweet Escape” takes Stefani back to her original ingenuity and well-thought-out focus she had when she was climbing the charts with No Doubt.
  While Love.Angel.Music.Baby took fans on a tour of couture, bubble-gumish pop beats and playfulness, “The Sweet Escape,” plays for a more mature audience. The album’s hip-hop influenced rhythm perfectly underlines beats made-ready to be spun at any club. If Stefani’s goal was to make an up-tempo album to play loud – she’s done it.
  Songs like “The Sweet Escape” “4 In The Morning” and “Wonderful Life” are the type of lyrical masterworks we’ve grown to expect from Stefani, while “Yummy” and “Orange County Girl” are the new-creative personas of the pop star we’re currently enjoying while she treks across the world solo.
  And if you’d like to expand the 12-track album to one more song, download off of iTunes and receive an exclusive Neptunes remix of “Wind It Up.”