Crash

"Crash"
Single by Gwen Stefani
from the album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
Released	January 1, 2006
Format	Airplay (North America) 12" single
Recorded	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genre	Pop[1]
Length	4:06
Label	Interscope
Writer(s)	Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal
Producer	Tony Kanal
Gwen Stefani singles chronology
"Luxurious" (2005) "Crash" (2006) "Wind It Up" (2006)

"Crash" is a pop song written by Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal for Stefani's debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby (2004). The song uses automobile metaphors to describe a relationship,^[2] and it received mixed reviews from critics. Not originally planned as a single, the song was released as the album's sixth single in early 2006 (see 2006 in music) during Stefani's pregnancy.

Background and writing

Stefani had been working on her solo project with Linda Perry. The two penned several songs, including lead single "What You Waiting For?", but Stefani found the process difficult, commenting, "It's humiliating and intimidating even if they're sweet and excited, because you're drowning in their creativity."^[3] When the two began working on a song about a deceased friend of Stefani's, Perry began writing the lyrics and Stefani, feeling that Perry was encroaching on her territory, broke down and left.^[3]

	"Crash" The song takes influence from old school hip hop and has an automobile theme.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Stefani's No Doubt bandmate Tony Kanal invited her to his house so that the two could go out with friends.^[4] When she arrived, however, Kanal surprised her by playing some tracks on which he had been working and revealed that he had prepared some for Stefani.^[4] Though Stefani had wanted to work with Kanal, she was concerned that his work would not fit with her dance-oriented album; however, she called it her "favorite track that [she had] written so far", and the two worked on the track, modeling it after hip hop trio Salt-N-Pepa.^[3][4]

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews from critics. The New York Times said the track successfully conjured up the infectious spirit of early Madonna.^[5] Entertainment Weekly called the song "a pricey retro fashion blurb in which Stefani appears as "an old-school, gold-chained rapper".^[6] NME disagreed, calling it one of "the best bits of the decade of decadence" and referring to it as a "cartoon rap".^[7] About.com stated that the song's "great Narada Michael Walden bleepy synth noises...pop out of the mix like the car stereo just decided to sing along",^[8] and LAUNCHcast commented that the track had "icy-cool schoolyard sass".^[9] Drawer B Media said that the track "revisits Stefani's blatant fondness for 80's pop, but not even...Tony Kanal can save her from lifeless retreads like these."^[10] The Washington Post compared it to Salt-N-Pepa's 1987 single "Push It" and commented that "she pushes it real good".^[11] PopMatters gave it a very strong review, stating that "Stefani nails all the vocal mannerisms" and that Kanal "reveals a major mainstream pop jones here, especially in the way he layers the cut...with dozens of orchestra hits...which have been absent from almost all pop albums for a decade or more now."^[12] Slant magazine gave the song a mixed review, stating that it "features some near-fatal car metaphors" but that Stefani "maintains her signature sass throughout".^[2]

Release and chart performance

Stefani (far right) performing "Crash" accompanied by her Harajuku Girls and b-boys.

"Crash" had originally not been planned as a major single-release from Love. Angel. Music. Baby.^[13] In late 2005 Stefani announced that she was pregnant (while performing this song) and would be delaying her second solo album,^[14] and the song was announced as the sixth single in January 2006.^[15] Because it was released as the sixth single, success was very limited since many consumers had already purchased the album, which at the time had been certified triple platinum in the U.S.^[16] and Canada.^[17] It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 11, 2006 at number ninety-five.^[18] It reached number forty-nine for two weeks on the chart and remained on the chart for a total of eight weeks.^[18] The single was somewhat more successful on the pop charts, reaching number twenty on the Top 40 Mainstream and number twenty-eight on the Pop 100, and had some crossover success, reaching number thirty-eight on the Rhythmic Top 40.^[19]

Stefani wore a racecar-style track suit for performances of "Crash" on the Harajuku Lovers Tour.^[20]

"Crash" was the only single from Love. Angel. Music. Baby. that did not receive a CD single solicitation in Canada; in addition, the track experienced minimal radio success, and peaked at number eighty-seven on the BDS Airplay Chart.^[21]

Because of Stefani's pregnancy, a live music video was released instead of a narrative video.^[22] The video was directed by Sophie Muller at a performance in Anaheim, California during Stefani's Harajuku Lovers Tour.^[22]

Track listing

US (Promo) 12" vinyl single

1. "Crash" (Album Version) -4:06
2. "Crash" (Instrumental) -4:05
3. "Crash" (A Cappella) -4:06

Promo CD^[23]

1. "Crash" (Album Version) -4:06

Credits and personnel

• Lead vocals: Gwen Stefani
• Producer: Tony Kanal
• Recording engineer: Colin "Dog" Mitchell
• Audio programmer: Tony Kanal
• Keyboards: Tony Kanal, Lee Groves
• Synthesizers: Tony Kanal
• Audio mixing: Mark "Spike" Stent
• Assistant engineer: David Treaheam
• Mix programmer: Lee Groves
• Second assistant engineer: Rob Haggett

Charts

Stefani performing "Crash" in a kerchief.

References

External links

• Gwen Stefani's official site
  • "Crash" lyrics
  • Love. Angel. Music. Baby. audio
• "Crash" music video at YouTube (Adobe Flash video)