MTV News (April 5th 2000)

No Doubt Pushed Themselves For Latest LP, Return of Saturn

Surely No Doubt could have capitalized on the mammoth success of 1995's multiplatinum Tragic Kingdom by releasing an album that would ride comfortably in its wake.

But the Southern California pop band instead opted to take its time and craft an album that not only showed how far it had come since its breakthrough LP, but how far it could go, said guitarist and co-songwriter Tom Dumont.

The result, Return of Saturn, due Tuesday, is a testament to two years of hard work, he said.

"We kept pushing and pushing and pushing until it was unpleasant and painful," Dumont said Friday from his hotel room in Atlanta. "We just didn't want to half-ass it, basically. ... It could have been out in six months but it probably would have been pretty mediocre, and what's the point in putting out a mediocre record? It would be a bummer to everybody and a disappointment to ourselves."

Though Dumont said he didn't mind the album's slow haul to completion, not everyone in the band shared his patience. "I was definitely getting really frustrated," drummer Adrian Young said. "I'm an impatient guy, though."

After coming off tour in late 1997, No Doubt — Dumont, Young, singer Gwen Stefani and bassist Tony Kanal — took the holidays off and began writing songs the following February. Before long they had 10 songs and headed into the studio with Tragic Kingdom producer Matthew Wilder. They recorded several songs before realizing they weren't ready, Dumont said.

The bandmembers spent the next year writing and working on songs at each other's houses. They planned to work with producer Michael Beinhorn (Hole, the Cult), but grew impatient waiting for him to finish a project he was working on. Finally they signed with Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette), who produced 12 of the album's 13 songs. The exception is "New", produced by Talking Heads' Jerry Harrison for the soundtrack to the movie "Go."

"It was pretty cloudy the whole way through it, until the end," Young said. "There was a lot of, 'Is it good? Is it good enough?' "

Song Styles Vary

The album features tunes from No Doubt's earliest writing sessions all the way to the last day before they stepped into the studio with Ballard. Both the swaying pop song "Magic's in the Makeup" and ska-flavored "Home Now" came during the first two weeks of writing in February 1998, while "Bathwater" and "Simple Kind of Life" emerged the final week.

No Doubt recorded "Simple Kind of Life" — one of two songs on the album Stefani wrote alone — the first time they played it together. "It ended up being very spontaneous and true to the version that Gwen wrote on acoustic guitar, real strummy, and without us going too crazy over it," Dumont said.

The song serves as the emotional peak of the disc, with Stefani providing her most personal lyrics to date as she longs for a committed relationship and motherhood. "I always thought I'd be a mom/ Sometimes I hope for a mistake," she sings over a mechanical beat, acoustic guitars and violins.

"Gwen writes about things that are meaningful in her life. She's not the kind of writer that makes up stories or fictional accounts of things," Dumont said. "There's a certain risk to putting yourself out there, but at the same time, there's a certain reward to knowing that other people can identify with what she's going through, that she's not alone in these feelings."

The album's title refers to the astrological concept of people experiencing turmoil in their late 20s, a lyrical thread that runs through many of its songs as Stefani addresses heartbreak, growing up and uncertainty.

Latent Talent Comes To Light

Dumont said Stefani worked hard on her lyrics, wanting to improve on a talent that she never knew she had until Tragic Kingdom, which has sold 15 million copies worldwide. Stefani's brother, Eric Stefani, had been the band's primary lyricist but left the group for an animating job on "The Simpsons," shortly after the release of No Doubt's second album, Beacon Street Collection (1995).

"It was such a hard thing for her when he quit a band, but looking back on it, she wouldn't have discovered she had this talent," Dumont said. "She found that she could write music and have these songs work, and it was this exciting discovery for her as a person."

"Simple Kind of Life" will be the album's second single, following the hip-hop-flavored punk number "Ex-Girlfriend", which is at #3 on the Radio & Records Alternative chart.

The band initially wrote a mellower version of "Ex-Girlfriend" but decided to spice it up, feeling that the album needed more rock-oriented songs, Dumont said. But even after No Doubt revved it up, Ballard didn't think they had it nailed, and they gave it another whack, ending up with a hit.

The original version may appear as a B-side, Dumont said. Producer Rodney Jerkins recently remixed a hip-hop version of the song.

The group will play a string of overseas dates this spring, before returning to the U.S. for a full-scale tour in June and July.