(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
No Doubt were veterans of the Los Angeles ska-punk scene, formed in 1986 by John Spence. After Spences suicide, Gwen Stefani was promoted from backing vocalist to lead singer, with her brother Eric Stefani on keyboards and Adrian Young on percussion. Their sound shifted toward the exuberant, energetic style of Madness and the Go-Gosmore pop than rock, more soul than ska.
Their first album, No Doubt (Interscope, 1992), found success with Californias rude boys, but tracks like BND and Trapped In A Box struggled nationally.
Gwen Stefani became the absolute driving force behind the sound starting with the mini-album Beacon Street Collection (Interscope, 1994), after both her brother and her boyfriend had left the band. Open The Gate and Total Hate '95 were still too raw to attract mainstream media attention.
The new lineup found the right balance on Tragic Kingdom (Trauma, 1995), the album that brought them international success (it took over a year to chart, but eventually sold fifteen million copies in five years). Just A Girl, blending ska, pop, Concrete Blonde, and Joan Jett; Spiderwebs, mixing heavy metal, Blondie, and Knack; and Excuse Me Mr., a wild soul number, showcased a tight, noisy band led by a masculine, intense frontwoman. But the track that made them international stars was the solemn, desperate ballad Don't Speak, which feels like it belongs on a completely different album. The rest of the album is a confused hodgepodge of genres. Very little ska remains, and punk is completely missing.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Return of Saturn (Interscope, 2000) has a homey feeling.
Continuing the trend that led them to the multi-million seller
Tragic Kingdom,
No Doubt deliver a sophisticated pop effort that has little in common with their ska-punk roots.
Catchy refrains (catchiest Simple Kind Of Life, but also
Magic's In The Makeup) and atmospheric arrangements sketch a cross between Fleetwood Mac and Cars.
But Gwen Stefani indulges in too many
mid-tempo ballads (Life, New).
The Cars-soundalike Ex-Girlfriend could be the standout.
Too Late
Dark Blue
Cars and Blondie
Rock Steady (Interscope, 2001) is being produced by a team of
distinguished producers, including
Sly And Robbie (Hey Baby),
Prince (Waiting Room) and
Ric Ocasek (Don't Let Me Down).
The Singles 1992-2002 (Interscope, 2003) contains all that matters.
It also contains a cover of
Talk Talk"s
It's My Life that went on to become another hit single.
By then, Stefani had become a pop icon.
She started a solo career with
Love Angel Music Baby (2004),
containing Hollaback Girl
(the first US download to sell one million copies),
and
The Sweet Escape (2006), containing
The Sweet Escape.
She then reformed
No Doubt for Push and Shove (2012).
Her third solo album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016), was another hit.
