Don’t wind up this music box, please.

Gwen Stefani’s second solo album titled The Sweet Escape unfortunately is not an escape from the numbing beats and middle school level poetry Stefani offered on her last album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Shamelessly plugging L.A.M.B., her clothing line, in every album doesn’t soothe the headache, either.

No Doubt has comfortably reigned atop my playlist since I was a bespectacled, tomboyish six year old who found No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” to be her anthem. I appreciated the more poetic tone of No Doubt’s 2000 Album the Return of Saturn. Heck, I even embraced the dance beats of “Hey Baby” and “Hella Good” from Rock Steady. I was delighted in 2004 when I discovered that my favorite platinum blonde was ready to release a solo album that November.

When I found out a second album was to follow, I groaned and tried my hardest to avoid the newest single.

Gwen Stefani’s first solo album struck a strange note with me. I fell in love with the song “What You Waiting For?” and its Alice in Wonderland inspired video. I cannot stand to listen to any other track on the album. The Sweet Escape follows this trend.

Stefani, a lifelong fan of The Sound of Music, adapted a song from the musical for her single “Wind It Up.” I personally cannot appreciate a dance song paired with yodeling. This song should make Julie Andrews cringe more than her involvement with The Princess Diaries.

Following Stefani’s yodeling debut is the title track “The Sweet Escape.” I imagine the album was named after this song because it is the only song worth listening to more than once on the entire album. “The Sweet Escape” has a gentle, swinging sixties sound to it that starkly contrasts the rest of the mediocre album. I sat back and snapped my fingers the first time I heard this song.

The lyrics are simple and depict a couple living in a romantic fantasy world for two. This song relies on swinging melodies and Stefani’s melodic and speedy delivery rather than bombastic words and unbelievable metaphors.

If the rest of the album was like “The Sweet Escape,” it could be salvaged. Good thing I didn’t hold my breath.

On came “Orange County Girl,” a song claiming that Gwen is still close to her Anaheim, Calif. upbringing. Stefani confesses to being an average girl “selling makeup at the mall” and “making out to Purple Rain.” I think I could appreciate this song more, however, if it didn’t sound like the music video would imitate Chamillionaire’s “Ridin.” Stefani’s diverse tracks may aim to entertain all, but “Orange County Girl”’s modest lyrics are nullified by her attempt to squeeze as many dance hits out of this album as possible.

She would have better luck squeezing coal into a diamond.

“Early Winter” is a sweetly melancholy song that most closely resembles her work with No Doubt. Stefani interjects her natural, off-beat poetry with her unique vocals. “It’s sad the map of the world is on you/ The moon gravitates around you/ The seasons escape you.”

Listeners are disappointed again after “Early Winter” ends. Songs no longer fluctuate from graceful to gaudy. The rollercoaster ride halted just as I was about to reach for the Dramamine.

“The Sweet Escape” boasts little more than two worthwhile tracks unless you are a cheerleading coach looking to use “Wind It Up” after “Hollaback Girl” has grown stale. Shoppers are better off purchasing the singles of “The Sweet Escape” and “Early Winter” rather than honoring this “so low” album another sale.