 Love . Angel . Music . Baby. received generally positive reviews from contemporary pop music critics . At Metacritic , which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics , the album received an average score of 71 , based on 22 reviews . Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the album " intermittently exciting and embarrassing " , concluding that it is " stranger and often more entertaining than nearly any other mainstream pop album of 2004 . " Jennifer Nine of Yahoo ! Music praised the album as " the hottest , coolest , best @-@ dressed pop album of the year " and found it to be " sleek , shimmery , and dripping with all @-@ killer @-@ no @-@ filler musical bling " . 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 . " 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 . " 
