Philadelphia Inquirer (Oct. 11th 2002)

No Doubt enjoys conflict, comfort zone

No Doubt has been together since 1987, been through inside-act relationships and breakups, watched its stock rise, fall, and rise again with the band's slinky new electro-dancehall-hopping Rock Steady (Interscope), and dealt with more rumors, hair colors and costume changes than Victor/Victoria.

"To be together 15 years is beyond anything we dreamed," bassist and cofounder Tony Kanal says. "We didn't have goals of super rock stardom. We were just trying to not be bored in high school."

Now, America's fave fab post-ska new wavers are about "the comfort zone" of making music that suits them; it's a place that allowed Kanal, on Rock Steady, to experiment with sequencers, Jamaican dance hall, dub, and producers Sly & Robbie, Ric Ocasek, and Nelee Hooper.

"The biggest accomplishment was that we wrote, recorded and released an album in one year. With nothing left to prove, this was the sound of us having fun with each other," Kanal says. "We came into this knowing that, on occasion, we wouldn't even be playing instruments. It became, always, about serving the songs."

Despite the skronky electro sheen, there's an organic, second-nature groove to "Running" and the title track, both penned by GwenStefani and Kanal and both containing the tension of push-pull personalities.

"We'd be doing ourselves a disservice if we underplayed that conflict," Kanal says with a laugh, joking that, though producers are often referees in the studio, the writing process has been simplified. The result is rugged but melodic music, in tandem with Stefani's taut, telling lyrics.

"There's a handful of writers who let themselves go as far as she does in terms of honesty," Kanal says. "That makes audiences relate to the sound of this record even more."