Deep Album Cuts Vol. 275: No Doubt
I gave a little thought to combining No Doubt's catalog with Gwen Stefani's solo career for this playlist, but I think they really belong as separate playlists, although I really don't like her solo stuff as much, so I may never do that one.
No Doubt deep album cuts (Spotify Playlist):
1. Move On
2. Paulina
3. Total Hate '95 with Bradley Nowell
4. Open The Gate
5. Happy Now?
6. Different People
7. Hey You
8. Sixteen
9. End It On This
10. Magic's In The Makeup
11. Staring Problem
12. Marry Me
13. Too Late
14. Too Late (instrumental)
15. In My Head
16. Waiting Room
17. Rock Steady
18. Platinum Blonde Life
19. Undone
20. One More Summer
Tracks 1 and 2 from No Doubt (1992)
Tracks 3 and 4 from the The Beacon Street Collection (1995)
Tracks 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 from Tragic Kingdom (1995)
Tracks 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 from Return Of Saturn (2000)
Tracks 15, 16, 17 and 18 from Rock Steady (2001)
Tracks 19 and 20 from Push And Shove (2012)
No Doubt's early history is interesting. Keyboardist Eric Stefani and lead singer John Spence formed the band in 1986, about a decade before No Doubt became a household name, with Gwen Stefani as a backing vocalist, and the other three members of what would become the definitive No Doubt lineup joining gradually by the end of the '80s. But John Spence committed suicide in 1987, and on social media people occasionally blow each other's minds with the revelation that No Doubt's original singer was a Black man. The band's early sets with John Spence included a couple of songs that later lineups of the band would record, "Paulina" (co-written by Spence) and "Total Hate," which became "Total Hate '95" featuring Sublime's Bradley Nowell.
After the failure of their first major label album, No Doubt did something kind of impressive, which was self-record and self-release a more successful record, The Beacon Street Collection, that helped them regain the confidence of Interscope and get everything in place to make and release their blockbuster breakthrough Tragic Kingdom. The band's pre-fame stuff is better than I expected based on the awful single "Trapped In A Box." Eric Stefani wrote or co-wrote half the songs on Tragic Kingdom, but by the time the album was out he'd left the band to focus on his animation career. And honestly, a lot of people have left a band just before it became hugely successful, and working on some of the best seasons of "The Simpsons" is by far the best reason anyone's had to do that.
I have a lot more affection for No Doubt now than I did during their hitmaking peak. They were still sort of stuck in the new wave era, and had a lot more in common with Oingo Boingo or Fishbone than the bands they were on the radio alongside in the '90s. The band's most played deep cuts include "Different People," "Happy Now?," "End It On This," "Total Hate '95," "Rock Steady," "Magic's In The Makeup," "Hey You," "In My Head," and "Move On."
Return of Saturn wasn't nearly as successful as the albums released directly before and after it, but it's the only No Doubt album with no songs I dislike. There's not a lot of major label rock from the year 2000 that has aged well, but Return of Saturn sounds really good today. There's even a hidden track, a beautiful instrumental reprise of "Too Late," that prominently features piano by Mike Garson and a string arrangement by Paul Buckmaster (both of whom known for their work on David Bowie classics). Rock Steady is an alright album, I had a promo copy when it was new that I got some enjoyment out of.
A song co-written and co-produced by Prince didn't have as much prestige in 2001 as it did in earlier years (or even in later years), but "Waiting Room" is a pretty cool, weird little song despite being one of the least streamed tracks on any of No Doubt's successful albums. It's interesting to think that it's one of the few instances of Prince having any kind of engagement with the '90s/2000s alternative rock scene (alongside his Foo Fighters and Radiohead covers).
One thing that doesn't sit well with me about No Doubt is that they're pretty much the only mainstream ska band who treats their horn section as secondary members -- trombonist Gabrial McNair has been recording with No Doubt since 1993, and trumpeter Stephen Bradley since 1995, pretty much the band's whole existence as mainstream stars. Of course, there isn't much brass on No Doubt's biggest hits besides "Spiderwebs," but you can hear their horns on a lot of deep cuts, including "Happy Now?," "Different People," "Sixteen," "Staring Problem," and "Marry Me" and McNair played a lot of the keyboards on albums after Eric Stefani left the band.
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