is the debut solo studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani, released on November 12, 2004, by Interscope Records.

Stefani, who had previously released five studio albums as lead singer of the rock band No Doubt, began recording solo material in early 2003.

Stefani co-wrote every song on the album, collaborating with various songwriters and producers including André 3000, Dallas Austin, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the Neptunes and Linda Perry.

The album incorporates a diverse range of genres, including electropop, dance-rock, new wave, and soul, while lyrically, it explores themes of fashion, wealth and relationships.

was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, and received a total of six Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year, during the 2006 ceremony.

While the band was on tour to promote the album, Stefani listened to Club Nouveau's 1987 song "Why You Treat Me So Bad" and considered recording material that modernized 1980s music.

[4] On the second day of her sessions with Linda Perry, the two wrote a song about Stefani's writer's block and fears about the solo album.

They did not return to work until six months later, when Stefani began collaborating with other artists, commenting, "If I were to write the chorus of 'Yesterday' by the Beatles, and that's all I wrote, that would be good enough to be part of that history."

Stefani resumed work with Linda Perry, who invited Dallas Austin, and many other artists, including Outkast's André 3000, the Neptunes, and Dr.

[12] The album takes influence from a variety of 1980s genres to the extent that one reviewer commented, "The only significant '80s radio style skipped is the ska punk revival that No Doubt rode to success.

[16] The album contains several references to Stefani's clothing line, L.A.M.B.,[16] and alludes to contemporary fashion designers such as John Galliano, Rei Kawakubo, and Vivienne Westwood.

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporate new jack swing, a fusion genre of R&B that the pair had developed and popularized during the mid-1980s.

[30] It was written as a response to a derogatory comment that grunge musician Courtney Love made, referring to Stefani as a cheerleader.

[31] The fourth track "Cool" chronicles Stefani's previous relationship with Tony Kanal,[19] featuring a new wave and synth-pop production.

[35][36] The seventh track, "Harajuku Girls", is a synth-pop song that was described as a tribute to Tokyo's street culture,[37] produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

[14][38] "The Real Thing" was described as a vintage Europop song,[14] and features guest appearances from New Order vocalist Bernard Sumner and bassist Peter Hook.

The hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas, rapper M.I.A., and singer Ciara accompanied Stefani as opening acts for her tour.

[49][50] "Rich Girl", featuring Eve, was released as the album's second single on December 14, 2004, becoming Stefani's first top-10 entry as a solo artist in the US when it peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100.

[64] Stylus Magazine's Charles Merwin opined that Stefani was a contender to fill Madonna's role, "[b]ut not enough to get seriously excited about her as the next great solo female careerist.

"[24] Lisa Haines of BBC Music was more emphatic, stating that Stefani rivaled Madonna and Kelis, while dubbing the album a "stunning and stylish effort that showcases Gwen's credentials as a bonafide pop goddess.

"[41] Despite stating that Stefani "shamelessly plunders" 1980s music, Krissi Murison of the NME referred to the album as "one of the most frivolously brilliant slabs of shiny retro-pop anyone's had the chuzpah to release all year.

[65] Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield described the album as "an irresistible party: trashy, hedonistic and deeply weird.

[66] Robert Christgau gave the album a three-star honorable mention () and wrote, "Turns out the problem wasn't ska per se—it was No Doubt.

"[69] Entertainment Weekly's David Browne shared this opinion, stating that the album "is like one of those au courant retail magazines that resembles a catalog more than an old-fashioned collection of, say, articles.

[14] The Guardian disagreed with this perspective, arguing that "her affinity with Japanese pop culture [...] yields a synthetic sheen [...] that works well with the other point of reference, hip-hop.

[75] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album quintuple platinum in March 2021,[76] and had sold four million copies by May 2009.

[79] The album was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on September 16, 2005,[80] and had sold 1,068,242 copies in the United Kingdom as of March 2016.

[83][84] The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) certified the album platinum in May 2005, denoting sales in excess of one million copies across Europe.

[86] It ended 2005 as the fourth-best-selling album[87] and was certified quadruple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 280,000 copies.

[93] In his review of Loose, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone stated that Timbaland aimed to "produce an omnipop multiformat blockbuster in the style of [Love.