Newsday (April 5th 2000)

Self-Assured

After selling 15 million copies of its last record, No Doubt confidently prepares for its new release and to deal with fame

The members of No Doubt have a big number in front of them: 15 million. That's how many copies the band's last album, "Tragic Kingdom," has sold worldwide since its release nearly five years ago. No Doubt's new record, "Return of Saturn," is slated for release Tuesday, and the group has an enviable problem of following up one of the most popular albums of the '90s.

"Of course, I'd be lying if I said we don't think about that stuff," says Tony Kanal, No Doubt's bass player. "I can honestly say that during the making of this record we were able to keep all those unrealistic expectations in the distance. You can only write good songs if you're concentrating on the art. We felt completely fulfilled."

With the video and record for the band's first single, "Ex- Girlfriend," in heavy rotation on MTV and radio, No Doubt is clearly gearing up for another mega-hit. So before the group begins another numbing round of arena tours and superstar madness, it has scheduled a round of smaller, more intimate gigs, including one at Manhattan's Roseland Ballroom Thursday, April 6.

With such a large gap of time between records, the pressure on No Doubt has increased. Only a handful of artists has ever sold more than 10 million copies of a single record, and in the '90s, Garth Brooks and Mariah Carey were the only artists to do it on consecutive releases. That's why the band made a contract with itself when it started recording "Return of Saturn" two years ago.

"We put 'Tragic Kingdom' out in October, 1995," Kanal says. "We were on the road for that record for 27 months and then we took two months off. Then we just told ourselves that we were going to go as long as it took to make the record we wanted."

The record the band-which also includes singer Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young-wanted is filled with references to the radio playlists of their Orange County, Calif., youth. A distinctly Nu Wave bounce has been added to the group's lexicon of ska, reggae, punk and pop.

"We grew up in the '80s. We were teens in the '80s," Kanal says. "It was inevitable. The Cure and Duran Duran and Oingo Boingo and all those bands that really influenced us. All that '80s stuff was so important to us. I think it's very evident on this new recording."

Also evident is a new outlook from singer Stefani. "Tragic Kingdom" ranged from weepy love ballads, such as "Don't Speak," to the girl-power anthem "Just A Girl." Writing in anticipation of her 30th birthday-"Return of Saturn" is a reference to the quasi- astrological concept that Saturn's 29-year orbit corresponds to a major life change-Stefani takes a more visceral look at love, family and growing up.

"I always thought I'd be a mom," she sings on "Simple Kind of Life." "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."

"She really dug deep in her soul to extract these themes and these lyrics," Kanal says. "It was the first time she was keeping a journal. She only sings about things that she's familiar with. I think they're general enough so that anyone can relate, anyone who's been in a relationship at least."

For his part, Kanal says he's taken stock of his life and made adjustments for the bizarre rituals of fame. Now that he knows what to expect from the pressures of being on the road, he hopes that he'll be better prepared to savor his time in the band.

"Essentially, it's the same goal, to really enjoy the process instead of thinking about the final destination," he says. "As corny as it sounds, it's kind of Zen-like. It's always something that I believed in, but it was never something that I really practiced. That maturity just kind of comes with being 29 years old and having the benefit of hindsight."