"I know you've been waiting but I've been off making babies," explains Gwen Stefani on The Sweet Escape. "Like a chef making donuts and pastries." Um, thanks for the visual, Gwen.

Truth be told, though, we weren't exactly waiting with bated breath for Stefani's comeback. Heck, it only seems like a nanosecond since we stopped hearing Hollaback Girl on the radio every five minutes (speaking of a sweet escape).

But just when we thought we were out, the No Doubtrix tries to pull us back in with this sophomore effort. Like many sequels, The Sweet Escape revisits the successful elements of its predecessor. And like many sequels, it's a case of diminishing returns. It's less original. Less risky. Less colourful. And it was created with less help.

While 2004's smash hit Love.Angel.Music.Baby had a huge cast of collaborators, this 47-minute disc trims the roster: Hollaback architect Pharrell Williams and his Neptunes, No Doubt bassist (and former Gwen beau) Tony Kanal and producer Nellee Hooper handle most cuts. That makes for a CD that is more consistent and focused -- but not nearly as exciting. The Sweet Escape basically comes in one groove -- midtempo -- and two flavours: The wobbly, clackity hip-pop of The Neptunes, and moody '80s dance fare that goes with the "coke whore" image of the Scarface-inspired cover art.

You've probably heard the yodelicious Wind it Up, which is this CD's Rich Girl, but with licks from The Sound of Music instead of Fiddler on the Roof. You probably won't mind hearing Early Winter, a lush romantic pop-rocker written with Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley; Yummy, a catchy bit of "disco Tetris" from Pharrell; the Madonna-esque Fluorescent and U Started It; and the pregnancy ode Don't Get it Twisted, which skanks to a circus calliope melody. But you probably don't need to hear filler like Wonderful Life, 4 in the Morning and the low-impact Orange County Girl, in which Gwen, like all rich superstars, claims "a lot of things have changed but I'm mostly the same." Right.

In fact, you can ignore a whole bunch of Gwen's lyrics, which seem to have been lifted from her DayTimer instead of her diary this time around. "I hate it when the signal drops on my cellphone," she complains on one song. "Let me check my itinerary," she says on another. Finally, she fesses up: "Don't know what I'm doing back in the studio."

OK, we get it -- she's a multi-tasking mom who's trying to do it all. And to her credit, she can -- this disc has enough irresistible ditties to squeak by. But if she had spent more time working on it and less making babies, Escape would be a lot sweeter.

Track Listing:

1. Wind It Up 3:09
2. The Sweet Escape 4:06
3. Orange County Girl 3:23
4. Early Winter 4:44
5. Now That You Got It 2:59
6. 4 in the Morning 4:51
7. Yummy / Pharrell 4:57
8. Fluorescent 4:18
9. Breakin' Up 3:46
10. Don't Get It Twisted 3:37
11. U Started It 3:08
12. Wonderful Life 3:58