''Hollaback Girl,'' Gwen Stefani
I absolutely loved the last No Doubt album, Rock Steady. I thought its producers — especially reggae masters Sly & Robbie, the team behind the gizzorgeous ''Underneath It All'' — brought out the best in a band that, frankly, had only put out one song I ever truly liked (that would be ''Spiderwebs''). So when I first started hearing details about Gwen's album, namely that it was experimental and also would feature knob-twiddling by some top-notch folks (the Neptunes, Andre 3000, etc.), I dared to get excited.
First letdown: the exceedingly stupid title. (Love. Angel. Music. Baby. — was this music or a commercial for her clothing line?) Second letdown: Gwen started showing up everywhere with the ''harajuku girls,'' her mute Japanese sidekicks, who seemed more like fetish objects than real people. (Seriously, isn't that just a little bit questionable?) And then: this song. Oh, this song! The marching-band thing is sooo tired... plus, um, what is she talking about? Why is her totally lame rapping acceptable? And why — oh God, why — did this song have to go and spawn more annoying crap just like it (yes, I'm talking about you, Fergie)?
Sorry, Gwen. I do not buy that this is your ''s---.'' And the whole ''bananas'' thing? I-D-I-O-T-I-C. — Dawnie Walton, senior editor
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