Gwen Stefani | The Thread

[Elvira]

Gwen Renée Stefani (born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and fashion designer. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak", from their 1995 breakthrough studio album Tragic Kingdom, as well as "Hey Baby" and "It's My Life" from later albums.

During the band's hiatus, Stefani embarked on a solo pop career in 2004 by releasing her debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Inspired by pop music from the 1980s, the album was a critical and commercial success. It spawned six singles, including "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", "Hollaback Girl", and "Cool". "Hollaback Girl" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while also becoming the first US download to sell one million copies. In 2006, Stefani released her second studio album, The Sweet Escape. Among the singles were "Wind It Up" and "The Sweet Escape", the latter of which was number three on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart of 2007. Her third solo album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016), was her first solo album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart.

Stefani has won three Grammy Awards. As a solo artist, she has received an American Music Award, Brit Award, World Music Award, and two Billboard Music Awards. In 2003, she debuted her clothing line L.A.M.B. and expanded her collection with the 2005 Harajuku Lovers line, inspired by Japanese culture and fashion. During this time Stefani performed and made public appearances with four back-up dancers known as the Harajuku Girls. She was married to British musician Gavin Rossdale from 2002 to 2016 and they have three sons. Billboard magazine ranked Stefani the 54th most successful artist and 37th most successful Hot 100 artist of the 2000–2009 decade. VH1 ranked her 13th on their "100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012. Including her work with No Doubt, Stefani has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

SOLO DISCOGRAPHY

 

 

✦ Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004)
✦ The Sweet Escape (2006)
✦ This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016)
✦ You Make It Feel Like Christmas (2017)

NO DOUBT DISCOGRAPHY

  

  

✦ No Doubt (1992)
✦ The Beacon Street Collection (1995)
✦ Tragic Kingdom (1995)
✦ Return of Saturn (2000)
✦ Rock Steady (2001)
✦ Push and Shove (2012)

 

Edited January 24, 2021 by Elvira

[Elvira]

2 minutes ago, Twitter said:

@Elvira thank you for making this. I really grown to love Gwen Stefani other than just being the Hollaback Girl.

You're welcome, darling!

And good for you!  She's way more than just the Platinum number-one worldwide smashing hit! 

[Franch Toast PronounsShe/her/hers]

One of my favorite performances of "Don't Speak"; you can really see her raw emotion and how much breaking up with Tony hurt her:

 

[Elvira]

44 minutes ago, Franch Toast said:

One of my favorite performances of "Don't Speak"; you can really see her raw emotion and how much breaking up with Tony hurt her:

 

This performance is EVERYTHING! I remember MTV used to air this live sometimes instead of the official music video 'cause it's too good to not be on air. Don't Speak is a classic, love it!

[blankpaper Pronounsshe/her]

I had an UNHEALTHY obsession with Gwen and No Doubt back in middle school, right around the time LAMB came out. I knew every word of every No Doubt song, knew their entire story down to a concerning level of detail, and was super active on the No Doubt fan forum back in like 2004. I even reworded one of their songs and turned it in for a poetry assignment for a class 

[Elvira]

46 minutes ago, Twitter said:

Yes! I been starting to get into her music more. Any suggestions on tracks or albums?

Of course!  I don't know which ones you know besides "Hollaback" so...

Her first album is pop perfection imo, L.A.M.B. has "What You Waiting For" that is one of my favorite pop songs of all time, a masterpiece imo, "Rich Girl", "Cool", "Luxurious", "Serious", "Danger Zone", "Crash", all bops + "Hollaback".

The second album has a R&B-ish influence so it's kinda dated sound but it has some good songs like "The Sweet Escape" (a ww hit), "Wind It Up", "Early Winter", "Wonderful Life" (the latter is my fave from the album).

 

And if you wanna check No Doubt, they have some rock/punk-ish and some pop/rock stuff:

- for rock/punk-ish, try "Just A Girl", "Sunday Morning", "Simple Kind of Life" and "Ex-Girlfriend"
- for pop/rock, go for "Hella Good", "Hey Baby", "It's My Life", "Settle Down" and "Looking Hot"

EDIT: I FORGOT TO MENTION "DON'T SPEAK"!!! But you definitely know this one

Edited January 24, 2021 by Elvira

[Elvira]

14 minutes ago, blankpaper said:

I had an UNHEALTHY obsession with Gwen and No Doubt back in middle school, right around the time LAMB came out. I knew every word of every No Doubt song, knew their entire story down to a concerning level of detail, and was super active on the No Doubt fan forum back in like 2004. I even reworded one of their songs and turned it in for a poetry assignment for a class 

The TASTE 

And omg you just described ME! That was me in my middle school years, LAMB came out when I was 11 and I was OBSESSED with the album, specially WYWF.

Since you're also a No Doubt fan: thots on Push and Shove album? 

[Elvira]

1 minute ago, Twitter said:

100% will look into these tracks! Especially the tracks that have that R&B or pop/rock influence! I’m such a music geek so I’ll look past it sounding dated.

Hope you enjoy them! She worked with Pharrell for the second album so it's VERY Pharrell-esque. And the pop/rock ones from No Doubt are my favorite ones from their catalog, they're really catchy but not in a repetitive way.

[Elvira]

1 minute ago, Gypsy Guy Holland said:

I never got the chance to get into Gwen but I love Luxurious, Hollaback girl & Wind it up

Taste confirmed, specially Wind It Up that is definitely underrated!

[blankpaper Pronounsshe/her]

12 minutes ago, Elvira said:

The TASTE 

And omg you just described ME! That was me in my middle school years, LAMB came out when I was 11 and I was OBSESSED with the album, specially WYWF.

Since you're also a No Doubt fan: thots on Push and Shove album? 

I’m torn on Push and Shove...I love it, but it feels forced and is missing something their earlier albums had. One More Summer and Gravity are probably my favorite songs from it 

[blankpaper Pronounsshe/her]

Just now, Twitter said:

Mmmm interesting ... I’m gonna start with No Doubt then work my way down.

Make sure you listen to some of the album tracks too! The singles are not their best 

[Elvira]

10 minutes ago, blankpaper said:

I’m torn on Push and Shove...I love it, but it feels forced and is missing something their earlier albums had. One More Summer and Gravity are probably my favorite songs from it 

That's exactly how I feel about it, it feels like it's missing something. I love Looking Hot, Settle Down and One More Summer!

[blankpaper Pronounsshe/her]

1 minute ago, Elvira said:

That's exactly how I feel about it, it feels like it's missing something. I love Looking Hot, Settle Down and One More Summer!

I think they even said something along those lines in an interview. That things didn’t align right and it just didn’t feel the way they wanted it to feel 

[Elvira]

6 minutes ago, blankpaper said:

I think they even said something along those lines in an interview. That things didn’t align right and it just didn’t feel the way they wanted it to feel 

Yessss, I remember! I even googled it now and she mentioned in an interview that "The record finally came out and it just didn't feel exactly how we wanted it to", so yeah.

[Dirkje PronounsShe/her/hers]

Yaaassss I love her! I have the Gwen collection complete, but I need to work on No Doubt as I just have Tragic Kingdom!

[Franch Toast PronounsShe/her/hers]

I got into No Doubt in the late 90s, a couple years after Tragic Kingdom was released. Return of Saturn was my first real era, and so it holds a special place in my heart –– I watched all the performances at the VMAs/Teen Choice Awards/other shows and was obsessed with "Bathwater" and "Simple Kind of Life." I loved Gwen's fuchsia hair and braces during that time and even had my own fuchsia wig. So nostalgic! 

I was slow to warm up to her solo debut in the l.a.m.b. era, and I have to admit that her accessorizing herself with "Harajuku Girls" and appropriation of Japanese culture during that time made me uncomfortable. 

I still prefer No Doubt Gwen to solo Gwen, but some of her solo work has grown on me. I can't wait to see what she does next now that she's "reintroduced" herself. 

[Mario Spears PronounsHe/Him, 22 ☆🪩 Britney/Beyonce/GaGa/CBreezy/Shakira/Doja savior 🤠COWBOY CARTER🤠]

On 1/24/2021 at 4:34 AM, Elvira said:

 

Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is still my favourite Gwen album. It's literally full of bop 🤩🤩🤩🤩

Love it

[Elvira]

6 hours ago, BabyMario44 said:

Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is still my favourite Gwen album. It's literally full of bop 🤩🤩🤩🤩

Love it

The taste 

[Franch Toast PronounsShe/her/hers]

All of the Gwen threads plus the release of her new single have prompted me to revisit her and No Doubt's oeuvres, and I've been watching tons of videos. Anyway, I think this concert No Doubt did in 2015 in Vegas gives a pretty good overview of their work:

It doesn't have everything, and this isn't them at their heyday, but I still really enjoyed it, especially the acoustic versions of some of the songs. I prefer the raw energy of their early days though. 

I do appreciate Gwen's (non-country) solo stuff, but No Doubt will always be my first love. 

In contrast, here's a recording from one of their early performances pre-fame; many of these songs ended up on Tragic Kingdom: 

 

[Franch Toast PronounsShe/her/hers]

Just now, Twitter said:

Just started getting into her whole discography and she is really good! 

yes! I love her so much. I'd kind of forgotten about her because I didn't care for her country phase (no offense to country fans, but it's just not my thang), and I'm loving revisiting her performances, both solo and with No Doubt, and I keep getting pulled into watching various interviews. 

I'm a bit salty that the M&G for her Vegas show was half the price of Gaga's and included several minutes of conversation with her, plus two photos. Compare this with a 7-second glorified photo op. If concerts ever return, I need to get to a Gwen one.