Will you STOP playing that FREAKING song already?!

Haven't most of us had that reaction to a No Doubt song at some point in our lives? Sure, they're hardly the only band to get overplayed on modern rock radio, but given their poppy, zany, and thoroughly addictive nature, as well as their penchant for morphing styles, it's no surprise that their music has crossed over into pop-land a few times, and that Gwen Stefani has even turned a few heads in the dance and urban crowds thanks to her helium-laced vocals cropping up on hit songs by Moby and Eve. There was simply a point sooner or later when most of us wanted No Doubt to just go away.

For me, that point was the fall of 1996, during my sophomore year of college. Not only was No Doubt all over the radio waves, but they were about all I heard from one room across the hallway in my dorm. The guys who lived there must have plastered pictures of Gwen on every spare inch of their wall, and the band's smash hit album Tragic Kingdom seemed to be on repeat infinity play over there. It got to the point where I contemplated committing first-degree murder whenever I heard the little steel drum riff and bouncy horns that signaled the beginning of "Spiderwebs". I was sick of "Spiderwebs", and "Just a Girl", and "Excuse Me Mr.", and "Sunday Morning", and pretty much every other darn song that I caught snatches of in the breaks between the music I would blast to drown it out. Apparently a lot of my neighbors felt the same way, since Gwen and, uh, whoever those other guys were found themselves competing with such diverse acts as Coolio and the Bee Gees to see who could annoy the neighbors most frequently. It may as well have been Hell on Earth.

But then something happened. "Don't Speak", the song that everyone else got sick of that year, somehow managed to get its hooks in me. I didn't want to admit it, but I loved that song. Something about its moody melody just snagged me, and over the next few years when there was a lull in Gwen Stefani saturation due to how long it took the group to produce a proper follow-up, I was able to go back and revisit Tragic Kingdom (amusingly, my first listen was on a ride back from a trip to Disneyland). I found that I liked the album. Musically, it was pretty tasty stuff, much more bright and bold and colorful than most of the rock bands who rose to popularity during the 90's. Lyrically, even though it was rife with breakup songs, I found it to be pretty clever, even motivational at times. That album stuck with me, and I found myself actually eager to hear the results when The Return of Saturn finally showed up in 2000. And I ended up liking that album's singles and everything, but at the time, I didn't really get into at as a whole, and I proceeded to forget about No Doubt until they decided to make a left turn on their next album.

Rock Steady came a long in late 2001, and to be honest, I thought the timing was all wrong. Here our nation was, mourning the tragedy of 9/11, and I was facing the wake of that while nursing a highly bruised ego after a breakup, and suddenly, here was No Doubt, morphing from a rock band into a dance and reggae and 80's (shudder) influenced pop act. I saw them perform "Hey Baby" on Saturday Night Live, and I figured it had to be a joke. Had they lost all of their creativity and resorting to writing inane teenybopper songs? Did anybody in the band but Gwen matter any more? And why did she have the right to be so darn optimistic all of a sudden?

I guess I've grown to appreciate the band's most recent singles after all, but it took some time, as it always has with No Doubt. My appreciation for this Orange County, California band has definitely been a delayed reaction. And in late 2003, the group tossed out a greatest hits package that seems to be perfect designed for fans like me who lagged behind in terms of actually buying an album. In a shocking move, The Singles 1992-2003 actually features just that - all 14 of their biggest hits between their first album and now. I'm not about to say that these are the only No Doubt songs worth having, of course, since they've got a fair amount of tracks buried deeper in their albums that I enjoy ("The Climb" being my favorite, and it'll be a cold day in Hades before a radio station ever plays a song like that one), but such a collection is actually quite sufficient to show off the talents and varying tastes of the band members. It flows extremely well from start to end (something that most greatest hits compilations fail at miserably), and I can't think of a single omission in terms of popular songs - nobody insisted on conveniently leaving out those few hits from their most recent album in order to preserve its chances of moving more units. This album flies through a barrage of styles like there's no tomorrow, and yet it never feels like you're listening to more than one band on the same CD. Most amazingly, the extensive liner notes, which detail the history of the band and offer insights on the creation of each song, don't pimp out Gwen as the sole focal point of the band, choosing instead to note the contributions of each band member (without them, Gwen could've likely been a one-trick pop act) and even admit points where the bands had tried experiments that failed, or where they had taken themselves a bit too seriously.

To put it succinctly, this is one of the best greatest hits discs out there. Most don't do the artist justice, or they tack on too much random crap that was never really a hit or a fan favorite just to lure in the hardcore fans, but this one is an effective overview, and it's a blast to listen to from start to finish.

Just a Girl
The moment that I step outside
So many reasons for me to run and hide
I can't do the little things I hold so dear
'Cause it's all those little things that I fear...
It's not surprising that the song chosen to lead off the compilation is the big hit that put No Doubt on the map. Its bouncy, synthesized guitar opening and highly danceable, cymbal-heavy beat make for the perfect backdrop to Gwen's feminist quandary, and the band keeps things lively and spirited despite to protesting nature of the song. I actually didn't realize for quite a while that the song was written in defense of feminism - Gwen was simply sick of being overprotected and told she couldn't participate in things due to her sex when she co-wrote this one, and her frustration clearly pours out as she shrieks, "Ohhhhhhh! I've had it up to here!" Sure, with her high-pitched and slightly ditzy vocals, she's one step away from being a "Barbie Girl" (did that obnoxious song come before or after this one, anyway), but I think that just adds to the irony.

It's My Life
Funny how I blind myself, I never knew
If I was sometimes played upon, afraid to lose...
No Doubt's love for 80's music has been lurking underneath their music for longer than some people probably realize - it's been there in the wall-of-sound approach and the synthesized effects that have augmented their rock songs and their melancholy ballads ever since they decided that they shouldn't just be a ska band. But this is the most blatant example of their fondness for the era - they've covered a song by the group Talk Talk (which I know nothing about, but given the era, it wouldn't surprise me if this was the only song of theirs that anyone knew). It's a breezy, medium-paced song with a synthesized bass line that bumps along underneath the highly keyboard-driven surface - this thing could have easily fit into Rock Steady. It's an enjoyable addition to the band's repertoire, though its inclusion at track 2 interrupts the flow of the disc ever so slightly, and I don't know if it's enough on its own to make this album a worthwhile purchase to those who already own all of the previous hits on other discs. Lyrically it's a bit lightweight, so I kind of find the song to be a tad more empty when compared to most of the band's original work.

Hey Baby
I'm just sippin' on chamomile
Watching boys and girls and their sex appeal
With a stranger in my face who says he knows my mom
And went to my high school...
So like I said earlier, I thought this song was one of the most superficial and idiotic things I'd ever heard when I first saw the band performing it on Saturday Night Live. It was just weird to hear a live band playing while of the music coming out sounded incredibly processed. But in more recent months, I've come to appreciate the addictive beat of this song - part dance club and part reggae. It was essentially inspired by the kind of music that was often played at parties after some of the band's shows, so they decided to record their own take on it. What it took me forever to realize was that this song wasn't just about chicks and hunks picking up on each other at a bar - rather, it was Gwen's observation of said activity, and the realization that she just had to roll her eyes at all of the silliness. She's got dudes in her face who know nothing about her but are determined to get her number, and the boys and girls on the dance floor have to resort to jiggling their bodies around to get attention. It's all rather primal and silly, and certainly there must be better ways to find oneself a significant other... right Gwen? The guest "toasting" (I guess that's what it's called) by Bounty Killer seems to confirm my suspicion about the song's true meaning when he reminds us, "There is no need to be acting shady."

Bathwater
So why do we choose the boys that are naughty?
I don't fit in, so why do you want me?
And I know I can't tame you, but I just keep trying...
The way that the processed keyboard riffs of "Hey Baby" suddenly cut off and lead into the muted horn intro of this song make the transition sound like it was meant to be all along. This stompy, swinging, dizzying song took a lot of getting used to when it was first released as a single, especially since it featured a chorus where a woman details her fondness for bathing in her lover's previously used water and sharing his toothbrush (ick). Essentially, she's fallen head over heels and she's moved herself in, and yet she's too blind to see that he's got some major scams going on behind her back. "Why do the good girls always want the bad boys?" Gwen croons innocently, doing her darndest to turn the clock back about 60 years with her vocal approach. I get a strange visual of a rubber ducky bouncing up and down in a bubble bath when I listen to this song. It probably has something to do with the title and the way the drums pound out their jittery rhythm. I think No Doubt is at their best when they go for the zany approach like they have here.

Sunday Morning
You're trying my shoes on for a change
They look so good, but fit so strange
Out of fashion, so I can't complain...
Fading in the kinetic drum rolls that open this song after the horns from "Bathwater" fade out was a good move. (Remember that on Tragic Kingdom, this song came bleeding in at the end of "Sixteen".) I've gotta give credit to drummer Adrian Young; he provides all manner of energetic rhythms to each of No Doubt's songs, and his work is always so crisp and clear and in-your-face (well, unless No Doubt's doing some sort of a programmed dance thing), and it seems that nobody but Gwen ever gets any credit. The same can be said for guitarist Tom Dumont, who shows a lot of versatility in this song, making hairpin turns between playing loud power chords and doing some electrified version of the downbeat reggae strum during the verses. It's a strange fusion of styles, making it even stranger when Gwen decides to deliver the bridge as spoken word, taunting an ex-lover like a little kid, and finally getting over the pity party she's been throwing for the rest of the song. The song is basically about how it's easy to feel sorry for yourself in the wake of a breakup, and not realize that the other person probably wasn't very good for you anyway. With the break of day, after having slept on it, Gwen starts to see the guy in a whole new light.

Hella Good
A performance deserving of standing ovations
And who would have thought it'd be the two of us?
Now this song might be guilty of the accusation of being a silly dance track made solely for the purpose of getting your body moving... leave it to No Doubt to come up with some of the slinkiest, most brain-invading grooves I've ever heard for their Rock Steady album. This one is really so simplistic and repetitive that whoever came up with it should be shot, and yet I find that I can't get it out of my head. The seductive bass line has this funny way of jumping up one note and then back down again for most of the song, allowing the rest of the instruments (again, mostly keyboard type stuff and some funk-derived guitar riff) to gain momentum, behaving like a good dance song should. The message right here is a no-brainer - "You got me feeling hella good, so let's just keep on dancing". Maybe there's some deeper meaning to finding some sort of a steady balance in a relationship, since the entire Rock Steady album seems to have come out of a more secure place in Gwen's love life, but screw it, I'm too busy bobbing my head and looking like a moron. The only thing I don't really like here is Gwen's repeated "dog panting" - well, that's what it sounds like she's doing, anyway, and it's kind of overkill on a song that's already rather sexy on its own terms. (By the way, I think we Californians can take credit for inventing the word "hella", though it does seem like one of those words that, no matter how you define it, is always grammatically incorrect. Does it mean "hell of a"? Or "a hell of a lot of"? It doesn't make sense either way!)

New
And you're consuming me violently
And your reverence shamelessly tempting me
Who sent this maniac?
'Cause I never had this taste in the past...
Now here's one that I wasn't familiar with. In all fairness, I've only given The Return of Saturn a cursory listen, and I found it to have too many songs that involved whining about not being married, so I passed on it, but I may need to reconsider that decision now. Anyway, "New" was technically released before the album as part of the soundtrack to the movie Go, but I think "Ex-Girlfriend" followed quickly on its heels, so I never heard it on the radio. This is one of those songs that fuses No Doubt's new wave roots with a bit of driving rock intensity, adding a weird keyboard riff that gives the listener this strange feeling, like they're being stalked. On the surface, it sounds like Gwen is singing about the giddiness of falling in love with someone new (and with the positive affirmation-type verbiage of some of Alanis Morissette's more recent stuff - "Recently discovered, and I'm learning about you" jumps out at me as an especially "warm and fuzzy line). But the thing is, there's that overall creepy feeling that makes it seem like she's just hunted down one more hapless guy to use up and cast aside once he's no longer "new". Isn't that how it works for a lot of people in the modern dating scene, though? We're in love with "newness" most of the time, not the actual person.

Underneath It All
You've used up all your coupons
And all you've got left is me
And somehow I'm full of forgiveness
I guess it's meant to be...
No Doubt has fused their style with reggae many times, but this may be the first time they've made a straight-faced attempt at a full-on reggae song. Not that I'm an expert on the genre, but it sounds to me like they've pulled it off nicely - the guest contribution from Lady Saw certainly is convincing to these ears. It's a pop-reggae hybrid, I guess, but pretty much everything No Doubt does is a hybrid. I've developed a special fondness for this laid-back number, probably the most relaxed thing on the record, mostly because it was used in the movie 50 First Dates, which was set in Hawaii, and which my girlfriend and I saw in Hawaii this past Valentine's Day. Gwen is basically singing about a guy who has a bit of a rough exterior, but having been given the chance to see what he's really like beneath it, she's been swept off her feet. Presumably she's talking about her now-husband Gavin Rossdale (frontman for Bush), but her description, despite a few awkward lyrics, is an apt description for any number of Adam Sandler characters, and it works for me as well. At least, my girlfriend seems to think so. I have to say that the Jamaican-sounding radio DJ that serves as the intro and outro is a bit out of place, but at the same time, it kind of makes for a fun transition into the frantic guitars that start off the next song.

Excuse Me Mr.
For most love comes for free
They don't pay the high cost of mental custody
I'll pay bail for a guarantee
Please make space for me in the time yet to be...
In terms of pure bpm's, this has got to be one of the most frantic songs I've ever heard from No Doubt (the insane conclusion of "Tragic Kingdom" notwithstanding), rattling along with thrashing pop-punk energy as Gwen pines away over a lover who basically doesn't have any time for her. She sounds so pathetic, pleading with him for attention and saying "I'm in line to buy time". There's some clever wordplay in this one, and it's easy to miss since it all flies by so quickly. The weird, Dixieland jazz-type of sound that pops out of nowhere during the bridge is absolutely classic - you can just imagine her in some old, black-and-white silent film, tied to the train tracks, screaming for help while a villain with a curly moustache is cackling at her and her hero is nowhere to be found. I also can't hear the careening, rattling drums that end off the song without being reminded of one time when this song was played on KROQ, and after the song's conclusion, the DJ triumphantly announced, "Yahtzee!" Um... I guess you had to be there.

Running
Me, I'm the one you chose
Out of all the people, you wanted me the most...
Simplicity seemed to be No Doubt's M.O. on Rock Steady - here's another single that I don't recall hearing that bases itself around a simple keyboard line and a very basic melodic idea. I think they actually used some sort of a vintage toy keyboard to get the overall sound for this one - it's an addictive piece of ear candy. Lyrically, there isn't as much going on here - Gwen is basically singing a sweet song to someone she loves about running away from the bad stuff in order to stay together and nurse their affection for one another. A nice enough song, but probably one of the weaker offerings to be found on this disc.

Spiderwebs
You're intruding on what's mine
And you're taking up my time
Don't have the courage inside me
To tell you, please let me be...
I tell you, I still have an involuntary twitch every now and them when I hear that steel drum intro and those horns that lead into this song's ping-ponging beat. This is the classic "stalker song" about a guy who keeps calling Gwen and won't leave her alone despite clear indications that she's not interested - I had this song's chorus on my answering machine at one point, 'cause you know, that was a real original idea on my part. (Excuse me while I roll my eyes at my own stupidity.) While I never really understood what "walking into spiderwebs" had to do with the rest of the song (was she hiding from the guy in her closet or something?), and while this was never one of my favorites on Tragic Kingdom, I can see how it was able to build an effective bridge between the pop, rock and ska audiences with its peppy guitar riffs and sassy horns, and I can understand why it became such an addictive radio single. I guess I just see this one as foreshadowing even more brilliance to come.

Simple Kind of Life
I always thought I'd be a mom
Sometimes I wish for a mistake
The longer that I wait, the more selfish that I get
You seem like you'd be a good dad...
I actually didn't know until I finally picked up this greatest hits record that this was the first track that Gwen had written for the band all by herself. It's definitely one of her most personal, and one of the most melodically experimental tunes that the group has come up with - the main guitar riff seems to shift through an unpredictable series of moody chords that are similar to each other, but just ever so slightly off, while the bass rumbles along with it quite uncomfortably. It's tough to explain, but it's perfect for the melancholy, diary-like confession of how she's used men for her own gain, and how she can't reconcile the ticking of her biological clock with her fear of commitment. One feels her pain, while at the same time, one can't help but feel ever so slightly so shocked at how she'd go so far as to "wish for a mistake". Yep, more than a few women have pulled that one in a vain attempt to keep a guy around. It's enough to make us all feel like Gwen is on the verge of losing it completely, but with such a lovely and intriguing melody, her borderline insanity sure makes for a fulfilling listen.

Don't Speak
Our memories, well, they can be inviting
But some are altogether mighty frightening...
Show of hands... How many of you, after breaking up with a girlfriend or boyfriend who was in the same band as you, would remain in the band with him or her? OK, now let's try this question... How many of you that the album Tragic Kingdom was basically written to document the breakup of Gwen and No Doubt's bass player Tony Kanal? Yep, he's still in the band. I just don't know how some people do it. Anyway, their split may have given us one of the most indelible, and drastically overplayed, but still lovable, breakup songs in the history of rock music. Sure, it's kind of cliché for such a cartoonish rock band to suddenly mellow out and do a serious ballad that seemed to guarantee phone lines being lit up at rock and adult contemporary radio stations nationwide, but give No Doubt credit - Gwen and her brother Eric Stefani (a former member of the band) have composed a killer minor-key melody here. Something about the way the notes turn downward when she assures the guy, "If it's real, then I don't want to know" just makes it possible to feel the bottom dropping out under us all as we realize that we've lost not just a lover, but a best friend. Man, that hurts. And No Doubt has summed it up beautifully here with mournful electric guitar strumming, powerful drums that kick in at just the right moment, a delicious classical guitar interlude, and a muted trumpet. (Actually, the trumpet blurts out all of one note when the bridge segues into Gwen's last verse - I never did figure out what the point of that was.) It's one of those quintessential pop songs that, despite my contempt for how much the radio overplays stuff, I don't think I'll ever get tired of.

Ex-Girlfriend
Your wildness scares me, so does your freedom
You say you can't stand the restrictions
I find myself trying to change you
If you were meant to be my lover, I wouldn't have to...
No Doubt's style is clearly best understood as a collage of their collective influences, but that's never been more clear than on this Frankenstein of a song - the one that more officially announced No Doubt's return after a long hiatus (and that sent public opinion of her relationship with Gavin into a tailspin, no doubt). One minute, Latin-style guitar picking is leading us in peacefully, the next minute a rocking, bitter chorus, breaks out, and then we're left with little other than drum beats and Gwen's spoken ranting against a guy that how counts her as one more accomplishment on his list. This song is just all over the map, and dizzyingly so at first - "Excuse Me Mr." seems tame by comparison. Even if one feels sorry for Gwen for falling for guys that just seem to cast her aside, you can tell from her self-deprecating observations that she seems to be learning something valuable through it all - namely, that she needs to stop choosing unacceptable men and trying to "fix" them. More than anything else, it's those observations (and the ultra-fun music, of course) that have kept me coming back to No Doubt through all of their stylistic morphing over the years. Shoot, Gwen might as well be the female equivalent of Rob Thomas; you know what I'm saying?

Trapped in a Box
Always wanting a different view
Instant gratification for you
Reality gone with a single click
Just hope that that switch won't stick...
Ha ha. I remember this song. I got a job at a music store not long after No Doubt broke out into the mainstream, and that resulted in a lot of purchases of their older material, and subsequent returns by a lot of folks who just plain didn't get it. A co-worker of mine grabbed one of the used CD's that we were re-selling one night after closing, and proceeded to play this feisty little song on repeat. If you thought the bridge on "Excuse Me Mr." was odd, imagine multiplying that by like ten, and you'll have an idea of what this song - technically No Doubt's first "single" - sounds like. Gwen sounds notably younger on this one, and completely out of synch with the early 90's, but that's part of what makes it so admirable. The gleeful horns and manic guitar work are the nuts and bolts of this song, and is rattles along like it's about to fall apart at the seams, as Gwen once again does her "jazz throwback on caffeine" vocal thing, basically complaining about how no one will let her have any rights. If that sounds familiar, it's because the group perfected their take on that subject with "Just a Girl", and it's absurdly appropriate that this disc careens to a halt on this song when it started with that one.

So there you have it - a veritable crash course through the history of a hella fun band. A highly recommended purchase for new fans, and probably a worthwhile one for existing fans who have all the songs (save one) and are too lazy to use a CD burner. Hopefully this won't be the closing chapter in No Doubt's career (I have heard that Gwen is thinking about a solo gig, so we'll see), because I'm quite curious to see where they'll take it from here, both musically and lyrically. Hopefully, the band's management and the general public will have the common sense to see that it's the entire group that makes No Doubt a special entity, and not just Gwen by herself. But time will tell.

ALBUM WORTH:
Just a Girl $2
It's My Life $1
Hey Baby $1.50
Bathwater $1.50
Sunday Morning $1.50
Hella Good $1.50
New $1.50
Underneath It All $2
Excuse Me Mr. $2
Running $1
Spiderwebs $1.50
Simple Kind of Life $2
Don't Speak $2
Ex-Girlfriend $2
Trapped in a Box $1.50
TOTAL: $24.50

CONCLUSION: It's practically a steal, since it's stuffed with this many good songs - assuming you don't already have 'em all, of course.

Band Members:
Gwen Stefani: Lead vocals
Tom Dumont: Guitar
Tony Kanal: Bass
Adrian Young: Drums

Website: http://www.nodoubt.com

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving