Yup, well, she won't be going back to No Doubt anytime soon:

It seems the "Hollaback Girl" is getting ready to do just that — twelve months after its release, Gwen Stefani's planning a sequel to her solo album, Love, Angel, Music, Baby. She hopes to have it out by the holidays and thinks that deadline is doable since she has so many leftovers from her original recording sessions.

"Me and Pharrell are going in the studio again, and we just started talking about doing a whole 'nother album with the tracks that never made it on this record and maybe writing a few more," she said. "It's going to be kind of like 'part two.' "

After her initial sessions with Pharrell Williams, who produced "Hollaback Girl" (see "Gwen Stefani Answers No Doubt Fans With 'Attitude Song' "), Stefani realized that she overshot her mark. "The next day, I was like, 'Now I have to put out two records, I got too many tracks,' " she said. "There was a moment where I almost did, but it didn't work out."

Much like before, now her dilemma is trying to decide which tracks to pick. There's the first song she wrote with Linda Perry, "Fine by You." "It's cute, but not what I was looking for," Gwen said. "But it always feels good to write a song." There's also "Wonderful Life for Him," featuring Depeche Mode's Martin Gore on guitar, which was one of the last songs Stefani wrote with Perry and freaked the singer out so much she had to flee from the session (see "Gwen Stefani Turns To Bandmate For Aid After Freak-Out"). "It's a great track," Stefani said. "I wanted to write this deep song for a friend who had passed away, but I came in the next day and [Perry] had already written lyrics."

Stefani also has plenty of tracks she's already written with other producers, such as "Parental Advisory" with Rich Harrison and "You Started It" with Pharrell. Of the latter she said, "It has these great chords, and to me, it doesn't sound anything like the Neptunes. It sounds like an early, early No Doubt song. "There are a lot of songs to choose from," she laughed. "It's really hard to choose, just because I want everyone to hear all the songs."

For an in-depth feature on Gwen and the recording of Love, Angel, Music, Baby, check out "Gwen Stefani: Scared Solo."
[Edited 5/16/05 18:27pm]

That's cool. I'm looking forward to it.

D*mn. Gwen is ON FIRE*!

.
[Edited 5/16/05 19:49pm]

Except Beyonce never did put out her 2nd solo album and went back to Destiny's Child.

i'm ready for it. i just hope she doesn't release some crap just to capitalize on the hype. if its only a 2nd rate record, people will say she just got lucky with the 1st record. if she can make a good record in such a short time i say go for it! if she's gonna sacrifice a 2nd great record in order to release "anything", she should go back to no doubt for a bit and hold off on a 2nd solo record.

or tour first!

VoicesCarry said:

linda sounds like a control freak but all these girls want to work with her. i read kelly osborne worked with her recently....and kelly now she says her new album "is her". funny i coulda sore that "loud punk rock chick" thing was her a few yrs ago?

This time, I'll be smart enough to save my money.

am listening!!

Yes! I'm so happy to hear this news. I really would love to hear a few more solo albums before she goes back to No Doubt. Gwen is much hotter as a solo artist. Rock on Gwen!

jayaredee said:

Good for you J. I'm with you on that one

I thought for sure she would run back to No Doubt.

Perhaps this has been a more positive experience for her than previously described.

kisscamille said:

CinisterCee said:

I think after "Hollaback" shot to #1, she saw stars in her eyes — her people were probably pushing her to keep at the solo thing, too.

She's still cool with the boys. Don't fret.

VoicesCarry said:

Pharrell would probably choose similar chords from an old No Doubt song.

Pharrell was talking about using minor 7th chords on a track for Jay-Z's Black Album because that's the chordtype on "Dead Presidents" from 1996.

Oh yeah! This is gonna be good! Pharrell Williams... what can I say?

New article on Gwen, Tony Kanal (LOVE HIM!) and fate of No Doubt...looks like Tony is doing a remix of Hollaback girl...see below

No Doubt's Tony Kanal Spends Band's Hiatus Producing Reggae LP, Remixing Gwen
05.16.2005 8:19 PM EDT

Bassist says No Doubt will start writing next album later this year. Tony

No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal could be taking it easy while singer Gwen Stefani does her solo thing. And for the most part, he is.

But after getting his feet wet with production on the band's albums over the past 15 years, Kanal decided that he'd spend the group's sabbatical getting more experience behind the board.

"I think it will be really healthy to have taken this break, and we'll get inspired to work together again." — No Doubt's Tony Kanal


"With Rock Steady we did all the initial tracks and demos at [guitarist] Tom [Dumont]'s place. For us that was really hands-on, so it sparked a feeling that this is something I could do when we are on a break or after the band," Kanal said. "When we decided to take a break, for me it was about easing into it and working on projects I would enjoy."

Kanal's one rule: Only work on things that are fun and that don't feel like work. Which is why he's sticking close to home with his production gigs, doing a remix for Stefani and his boyhood idols Gang of Four and producing the debut album from his pal, reggae singer Elan Atias.

Kanal met Atias several years ago, and the two immediately bonded over their mutual love of reggae. When he was just 21, Atias was asked to join the legendary reggae group the Wailers, serving as their frontman from 1996 to 1999. "Here was this kid from Los Angeles going around the world with the Wailers singing all of Bob Marley's songs," said Kanal. The friends tested out their collaborative powers with a reggaefied cover of Roxy Music's "Slave to Love" for the "50 First Dates" soundtrack. The track, one of three Kanal produced on the album, featured a cameo from Stefani, who shows up again on Atias' debut.
Stefani sings background on the song "I Wanna Yell," and Kanal said she was a natural choice given that they live near each other in L.A. and see each other pretty regularly.

"We've gotten to the point where we've done so much together it's just like hanging out," Kanal said. "When she heard that song, she was like, 'Let me sing on it!' And with Elan, we both love reggae and we're friends, so it's never felt like work, either. I'm doing this to become a better songwriter and producer outside of the band."

In addition to roping in Stefani, Kanal and Atias cut tracks in Miami and Jamaica with Sly & Robbie and with reggae producers Tony "CD" Kelly (Sean Paul), Steven "Lenky" Marsden (Buju Banton) and Philip "Fattis" Burrell (Sizzla). Guests on the album include Tami Chin ("Don't You Go") and Italee ("Bad Man Don't Dance").
Kanal is also in the midst of finishing a remix of the Gang of Four song "Ether," which he calls a "labor of love." The influential British post-punk band (see "Music Geek: Gang Of Four, Forefathers Of Many"), who recently reunited and are in the midst of a U.S. tour, are slated to release a remix album in August. "I did that because the opportunity was there and it just felt right," Kanal said, adding that his project is a pure remix, not a re-recording of the song. "I took their original session and gave it a new interpretation," he said. "I added new beats and keyboards and changed the arrangement around" (see "No Doubt, Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Plan Gang Of Four Remixes").

The remix he's really excited about is the one he just completed for Stefani's current single, "Hollaback Girl." Returning the favor, Atias does a guest vocal on the dancehall version of the song, which Kanal said he spent an "embarrassingly" long time working on. "I expected to spend a week, but I had to find a reason for me to be doing it and not just throwing a new beat on it," Kanal said. "I had to be inspired, and I had a hard time starting it. I ended up spending three weeks on it."

While Stefani does the solo thing, No Doubt's Dumont has been recording atmospheric instrumentals with friend Ted Matson under the name Invincible Overlord. He will be touring this summer with singer Matt Costa, whose album he produced. Drummer Adrian Young has recorded with Unwritten Law and is playing live with Bow Wow Wow.

Don't fret, though. Stefani and Kanal say No Doubt have begun talking about getting together later this year to start writing their next album.

"We've been talking a lot about doing a new record, and it's going to be very interesting, now that we've all gone off on these different journeys, to come back together and see how that's gonna inspire this next record," Stefani said recently.
With the experience he's gained producing, Kanal thinks the band will be even stronger when it reconvenes. "I think it will be really healthy to have taken this break, and we'll get inspired to work together again," he said.

Poor Chris Stein, I mean Tony.

I really like Tony Kanal's production and songwriting. If I were an artist, I'd mess around in the studio with him on some stuff. That stuff he and the Neptunes did with Kelis' "Perfect Day" was ON FIRE.

JANFAN4L said:

some of the best track on LAMB were produced by TOny ... SERIOUS and CRASH

purplegypsy said:

'em.

Really, it's the synergy between Tony and Gwen that makes the best songs, whether group or solo material.

VoicesCarry said:

when will this bitch go away?????

Xavier23 said:

co-sign. i can't fucking stand her