Gwen Stefani?
 

Yeah, do you guys love her? I think she's one of the greatest American singer-songwriters ever. I mean, how could you not love her? Her songs are so good. Here's some news on her..

NEWS UPDATE!!!
Chart Positions in the US!

What You Waiting For was way too weird for the people there, so it only reached a dissapointing number #47. Americans... sigh.
In the UK it reached #4.

Rich Girl was easier to listen eventhough it was bloody irritating, so it reached number #7. Quite an achievement.
In the UK it reached #4.

Hollaback Girl is the major scorer, it hit number #1 for 4 weeks and it is a record breaking song, the first song to reach 1 million downloads!
In the UK it reached #8.

Cool did well too despite being a ballad and a really different song, it reached number #13.
In the UK it reached #11.

Luxurious was the 5th single, and probably everyone bought L.A.M.B. already. The song did ok, it reached number #25 and is amazingly successful as a 5th single.
In the UK it failed to reach the Top 40 because of tha lack of attention and airplay given, its position was #44.

Crash is the latest single, it just entered the Billboard charts at number #103, quite good for a first week. Currently burning up the Pop charts at number 29 in Airplay, expect another hit!

Worldwide, L.A.M.B has sold around 6.4 million copies already! It has gone gold and platinum almost everywhere, even gold in Malaysia! In the US sales have already reached 3.5 million copies. It reached #4 in the UK and #5 in the US.

hrm...

i dunno...i'm still torn on gwen.

is she using the japanese culture to make a buck, or is she really that into it?

whooo CARES?! She is so awesome! The Japanese she chucks in her songs are so cool!

:P Seriously though, I think she is just going through a short obsession with Japanese culture. Because the whole Harajuku thing didn't go down well with US audiences. Look at What You Waiting For's disspointing chart position.

hrm...she has her clothing line though, i heard that was doing pretty well all in all.

Words can not express how disappointed I was with Love Angel Music Baby. I liked No Doubt for a while (but got bored with them quite quickly), but that solo album of Gwen's strikes me as being a musical crime. Plus, I agree with what touchedstar's saying - the obsession with things Japanese seems to be a bit calculated.

I enjoy some of her music yet I'm not a huge fan of hers.. also yeah the Japanese thing sounds gimmicky. I think she just uses it to show something which is not typical and thus attracting more attention. Luxurious and Cool didn't impress me much though I enjoyed Rich Girl and Hollaback Girl.

I like the whole she's into Japan thing, but I don't like the fact she has an ENTIRE Japanese posse with her. Okay, I find nothing wrong with flaunting clothes from Japan, or dressing like your favorite idol, but uh .. okay. It's bothersome to me, not because I'm Asian -_- ;; It's just distrubing.

I like LAMB .. it's a great album. Luxurious isn't my favorite song. I'm more into the more fast paced songs on the album. I especially like "Serious" and the love song "The Real Thing."

:yes

I like her. Her LAMB stuff and hermusic is hot. Luxurious and Hollaback Girl were my two faves on her album so i was happy she released them as singles.

Yes, it is a gimmick I think. And those girls are creepy instead of being cute. :laugh I love the album to death.

She did make the worst single choices in the world though. Bubble Pop Electric and Danger Zone being left out.. :dead2 Don't know what she was thinking when she put Crash as a single.

Yeah, her solo album makes me cry. I used to love No Doubt, but now I have absolutely NO respect for her whatsoever. The whole Harajuku Girls thing is just stupid ("LOOK AT ALL THESE JAPANESE GIRLS STANDING BEHIND ME DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!") and Hollaback Girl is quite possibly the most annoying song EVER written.

Wow. o___o Why do all of you hate the album that much? Its perfect pop. Its even better than the No Doubt stuff whice were also great.

Gwen was okay being part of No Doubt; now she's just weird..and apparently she won't let any of "her" Japanese girls speak English, even though they speak fluent English eh (or is this a rumour?) If she really does do that to those girls then I don't really have much respect for her.

But hey, whatever floats your boat; she's just not one of my favorite artists.

I ended up buying the album after one listen! :laugh

Seriously, that's exactly my kind of music. I liked No Doubt, not enough really to be a fan, but I definitely like LAMB. This sort of reminds me of The Brilliant Green --> Tommy going solo thing.

But I wish her Harajuku girls kinda looked more like real ones. --;

oh, thanks for the news on those chart positions, i never heard of crash though

Perfect pop? If only. Just because it was one of the few pop albums of which people had relatively high expectations prior to its release doesn't mean it actually delivered. Because it didn't. Ununspired beats copied from what's hot at the moment, an unfunny and annoying gimmick, and just a lack of good song material. Strangely, the best pop music today can be found in indie circles - the 'real' pop artists just don't seem to hold up. Of course, I'm not saying you shouldn't like it, but I'm personally glad I didn't shell out fifteen bucks when it came out purely because of my expectations.

I think ayu3657 just hit the nail on the head right there.

'My **** is bananas', lmfao.

To each his own I guess.. x___x Although she's way better than artistes like The Veronicas and all those similar ones. I'm more of a Calico kind of person I think, except I'm a fan on No Doubt too.

Clefjuston, don't bother listening to Crash eventhough its a single. Bubble Pop Electric is worthier.

Anyway, if anyone wants any tracks, just request here! I don't think I can upload it here, but I'll send it in PMs, since the RIAA rules are on.

LOL! :laugh

seriously though, i do admit that some of her songs are extremely catchy. i can see how they would be annoying but "this ***** is bananas" was SUCH a catchy song to me, well, the remixes anyhow, the original was kinda bland. and Rich Girl was also super catchy. They're fun to dance to...but they're definitely not something that I want to actually lay down my money to purchase.

edit:
oh and i found the link to her clothing line. http://www.harajuku-lovers.com/

I don't like how she treats her little asian entourage as an accessory. She just took Harajuku fashion and made it seem like she discovered it and she's sooo innovative. Whatever.

I liked her better in No Doubt.

EXACTLY.

and i'm like...i've known about that fashion for years, why am *I* not getting rich off it!?!?!?!? :laugh

Yeah, apparently she doesn't let them speak English or go out of character at all. It's just really...lame. I think Gwen Stefani is giving Japanese people a bad name. It makes me ache whenever I see her go "Super kawaii!" at the beginning of the Hollaback Girl video. And her clothing line makes me want to punch her. It seems to me that she's just selling Japanese fashion clothes in the US and making loads of money off it. Way to be original.