Arizona Republic (27th July 2000)

If It Ain’t Broke

Tension still an inspiration for No Doubt

Although No Doubt has successfully (and finally) followed up on its monster breakthrough album, Tragic Kingdom, the edgy chemistry that both inspires and agitates the group remains.

Emotionally charged minidramas are what this California-based quartet has always done best.

"I think there's some tension that's always going to be there between the four of us," says bassist Tony Kanal, who inspired the megahit Don't Speak by breaking up with lead singer Gwen Stefani.

"On one hand, that tension is a very good thing. It's a creative tension that pushes you not to be complacent," Kanal says. "I think we are a fragile band, and we just have to take everything day by day and see how things go. Right now, they're going very well."

While it's clearly not going to enter the 15 million-selling stratosphere of Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt's new Return of Saturn album is holding steady on the charts and getting plenty of airplay courtesy of its second single, Simple Kind of Life.

That song finds Stefani at age 30 warming to the possibility of becoming a wife and mother. The pink-haired singer was given control of the band's lyrics during the making of Tragic Kingdom, and the move paid off in Kanal's eyes. "There's so much more power and sincerity when the person who's delivering the vocals is the person who wrote the lyrics.

"I think we have yet to see how amazing she can be as a lyricist."

Somehow, No Doubt has survived the 14 years since its bar-band days in Orange County, Calif., enduring the suicide of a singer, the exit of its former leader, Eric Stefani (Gwen's brother), the aforementioned romantic episode and unending media scrutiny.

The group, which will perform Wednesday in Mesa, also overcame the pressure of moving past that huge CD - pressure that initially gave Stefani a case of writer's block.

"I think we actually were quite surprised at how well we got along during the making of this (new) record - the amount of respect we gave each other, the room and space we gave each other to express what we needed to express," Kanal says.

Part of that process has required the band to pay less attention to its press coverage and more attention to its music, he adds. "This time, we know how to deal with that (media) stuff, and we also know what's important."

Fans finally have let Kanal off the hook as Stefani's ex-boyfriend, and the group insists that he did not inspire the new album's catchy debut single, Ex-Girlfriend. Stefani shed the label of ex-girlfriend nearly four years ago when she hooked up with Bush singer Gavin Rossdale.

She and Kanal remain close and are one of the group's two key songwriting duos, the bassist says. "I think it's more of a brother-sister relationship now. We look out for each other.

"Just the fact that we were able to overcome a breakup and still stay together in a band says a lot."

That sibling attitude extends to guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young, says Kanal, who is "happy and single." "I think we'll always be protective of her (Stefani), just like brothers who are protective of our sister."

Kanal is happy to have temporarily left the recording process behind in favor of a tour that lasts three more weeks. After that, who knows? Another CD will be in the works amid, one guesses, further personal and artistic drama.

"You have to have some of that creative tension," Kanal says. "Otherwise, you become just a bland piece of crap."