N o D o u b t
TRAGIC KINGDOM
(1995)
(http://perso.wanadoo.fr/cobalt14/images/musique/nodoubt.jpg) (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=24R0R8JM)
No Doubt popped up at a weird time. In 1995, grunge was on the verge of dying, gangsta rap was huge and bubblegum pop bands were becoming as abundant as fish in the sea, taking over the airwaves. Somewhere in between of all this, a Californian ska group climbed up the billboard charts rapidly with a tune that has remained part of every radio DJīs standard repertoire up to this day.
"Donīt Speak" was the one hit single that brought the band national and, quite soon, worldwide attention almost overnight. "Tragic Kingdom" was the album that gave the new American ska scene a tremendous boost and popularized a whole genre. Hailed by critics and fans equally, the LP that is in hindsight arguably one of the most important records of the 90īs scored an impressive number of hits - the aforementioned no. 1 single "Donīt Speak", its single release follow-up "Just A Girl", "Spiderwebs", "Sunday Morning" and "Different People" - and sold 21 million copies in its first two years.
"Tragic Kingdom" is the best one-hour introduction to 3rd wave ska you could possibly get; The opening tune "Spiderwebs" is a comparatively slow reggae song that puts up the pace as its catchy chorus kicks in, "Excuse Me Mister" and "Just A Girl", under the undeniable influence of punk rock, take it up another level, the you-shouldnīt-have-dumped-me anthem "Happy Now?" merges ska with a beautiful Blondie riff and after you have heard Gwen Stefani extolling the virtues of diversity on "Different People" youīre probably sold. The album continues on an equally high level; the growing-pains lyrics of "Sixteen" being as convincing as the sing-along chorus on "World Go Round" or the disdainful words of rebuke of "Sunday Morning".
The title track finally puts a cease to all this by hyping up the listener with ferocious riffs, dissonant trumpets and almost apolyptical background vocals at a punkrock high-speed level right before its end. It looked like No Doubt were quite hungry for more. Yet, after their huge success, they took a certain amount of time to come back with albums number 4 and 5, "Return Of Saturn" and "Rock Steady". While both records were successful, the group could never live up to their third, ground-breaking album anymore. It was just too much. Or, like Gwen Stefani said shortly after "Tragic Kingdom" came out: "I never thought this could happen to this loser band."