Ice (December 2001)

Steady As They Rock

No Doubt solicit flurry of producers on fifth release

For a band that had floundered in Los Angeles’ independent music scene since 1987, no one would have expected the stunning fruition of 1995’s Tragic Kingdom. No Doubt’s third release and second for Interscope, the pop classic sold 10 million copies and earned the band two Grammy nominations and a nest atop the Billboard album chart. After eight years, the previously unknown New Wave/ska act had become local heroes virtually overnight.

The Tragic Kingdom ballad “Don’t Speak” soared to the #1 slot and granted the band three more Grammy noms. The hit even ranked #81 on Rolling Stone/MTV’s “100 Greatest Pop Songs” list. No Doubt’s follow-up, 2000’s Return of Saturn, took a startling four years to record.

Despite the critical acclaim, record sales dipped significantly with Return of Saturn, down to the single platinum level. Following the release, lead singer Gwen Stefani rebounded with further Top 10 acclaim in duets with Moby (“Southside”) and Eve (“Let Me Blow Ya Mind”), which generated a combined four MTV Video Music Awards.

With Rock Steady, due December 11 from Interscope, No Doubt look to reclaim their regal status. Twelve tracks comprise the release, augmented by the production skills of some of today’s finest: Sly & Robbie (Shabba Ranks. Beenie Man), William Orbit (Madonna. Blur), Nellee Hooper (Bjork, Soul II Soul), The Cars’ Ric Ocasek (Weezer, Guided by Voices), Steely & Clevie (Buju Banton, Heavy D & the Boyz) and Prince (Madonna, Chaka Khan).

The full track list, with outside producers in parentheses: “Intro,” “Hella Good” (Nellee Hooper), “Hey Baby” (Sly &JRobbie), “Making Out” (William Orbit), “Underneath It All” (Sly & Robbie), “Detective,” “Don’t Let Me Down” (Ocasek), “Start the Fire” (Steely & Clevie), “Running” (Hooper), “Platinum Blonde” (Ocasek), “Waiting Room" (Prince) and “Rock Steady.” No Doubt are credited as Rock Steady’s co-producers.

Cofounder and bassist Tony Kanal tells ICE, “We made this record on a very day-to-day basis. There was never any blueprint or plan. It just kind of happened naturally and organically.... Return to Saturn was a very labored record to make; this was free flowing, fun, easy. Our intention was to make a record that we could dance to.”

Also speaking with ICE, manager Jim Guerinot corroborates: “They had a blast. If the record is big... that’s great. But in the meantime they finally found a place where it’s like, ‘You know what? We’re having a really good time doing this.’” He adds, “Tell me the last time you saw Sly & Robbie on the first single of a major release from an American record company. I think on every level, they [No Doubt] took some major risks and chances, pursuing their muse just to find what was fun for them.”

The title Rock Steady implies two ideas, both of which relate directly to No Doubt’s current outlook. On the one hand, “The fact that we’ve been together for over 14 years, our vibe is still really good as a band. We’re rocking steady together,” explains Kanal. On the other hand, “rock steady” is also a sub-genre of reggae music - such as ska, lovers rock, etc.

Rounded out by guitarist Tom Dumont and drummer Adrian Young, No Doubt traveled far and wide to unite with the various album participants. They met with dancehall legends Sly & Robbie and Steely & Clevie in Jamaica, Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics - who cowrote “Underneath It All” - in London, and others in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

According to Kanal, the heavy traveling coincided with Rock Steady’s mission: “It was about getting rid of any restrictions we had in the past. Before, we never would have gone into the studio with hip-hop producers... in the past, we’ve never really cowritten songs with people, and we opened ourselves up to that.” In addition to the Stewart collaboration, No Doubt co-wrote “Hella Good” with The Neptunes and “Waiting Room” with Prince.

No Doubt began brainstorming about their new album in November 2000 after extensive touring in support of Return to Saturn, but didn’t actually begin work until January 2 of this year. The band used Pro Tools to lay down initial demos on their computer hard drive, which in turn allowed them to travel with the cuts in hand while meeting with remote affiliates. Kanal says the producers then built on top of the original takes, helping to fine-tune them.

In step with Rock Steady’s easygoing vibe, coordinating instrumentation was a relaxed process. Says Kanal, “The instrumentation was whatever made sense at the time. Tom and I sat down and said, ‘If there’s songs that don’t need bass guitar or another electric guitar, it’s fine. Whatever lends itself to that song.’”

The natural recording progression led the band to a strong emphasis on keyboards, epitomized by “Running,” on which Kanal ditched his bass guitar in favor of a vintage Yamaha organ his father purchased for him 15 years ago. Also, “Hey Baby” includes four keyboard parts.

A few weeks into the recording, Stefani announced her plans to travel to London to visit beau Gavin Rossdale of Bush. Because the other group members felt that the album was off to such a strong start, they headed with Stefani to the U.K. “We packed up and went with her, and got a flat right by Gavin’s place so we could work every day,” says Kanal. “I’m so glad we did it, because ‘Detective’ came out of those sessions.”

“Underneath It All” was also developed in London; No Doubt spent a few hours working on the song with Dave Stewart, then brought the track with them to Jamaica, where they invited producers Sly & Robbie and vocalist Lady Saw to enhance the track.

Another song the band took to Jamaica was “Hey Baby.” Kanal and Dumont recorded vocals and keyboards in the guitarist’s L.A. apartment, then invited Sly & Robbie to add some drum parts and bring in guest crooner Bounty Killer. Guerinot says that about 80% of the original Rock Steady demos were laid down in Dumont’s apartment, though Kanal edges that figure closer to 90%.

The reggae-infused “Hey Baby” is also an accurate portrayal of Rock Steady as a whole - a departure from the group’s primarily rock focus. Kanal asserts, “We’ve always tried to dabble in reggae, and when we first started out, we were playing a lot of ska music. But only last year did it really become a big part of our lives. After every show, we would have these dance hall parties, and we’d be playing this awesome Jamaican dance hall music.” The second song written for Rock Steady, “Start the Fire,” is a another reggae-charged number.

Rock Steady also bleeds into ’80s New Wave with the Ocasek-produced “Platinum Blonde Life” and “Don’t Let Me Down”; pop/R&B zones with the Orbit- and Hooper-produced tracks; and the hip-hop sphere with “Hella Good” and “Waiting Room.” Two major fall-outs hindered Rock Steady from an even heavier hip-hop focus: the tentatively titled “Fight Song” (originally called “Wicked Wicked Day”), produced by no less than Dr. Dre, went unfinished; and The Neptunes’ production skills were abandoned on “Hella Good.” Says Kanal of the Dre track: “I can almost guarantee you we’ll finish that one day and it’ll come out,” drawing comparisons to the Prince collaboration that had been initiated three years ago.

In fact, “Waiting Room” is the oldest offering in the Rock Steady tune stack. Says Kanal, “We had written that song - Gwen, Tom and myself - during the Return to Saturn sessions. Prince had called Gwen and said, ‘If you come and sing on my record, I’ll do anything you say.’ So we sent him the song and went out to Paisley Park. Gwen sang on his record [1999’s Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic] and then he had re-written and re-arranged our song.” Now, says Kanal, there’s “a jungle-type groove-beat that’s going through it.”

When finished with the tracks, No Doubt headed back to London and united with Spike Stent (U2, Bjork), who mixed Rock Steady over the course of six weeks. The role of mixer was key to this album, says Kanal; with so many outside parties adding their own creative twists, coherence was a focal point during production. No Doubt knew Stent “Would be one of those people who could... take the extra step beyond mixing, to make sure that the record made sense as an album,” as Kanal puts it.

Lyrically, Stefani strays mostly from the romantic themes that pepper previous releases; a large portion of early No Doubt songs were based around the defunct relationship between the singer and Kanal. This time around, says Kanal, Stefani embraces the fun, party-like tone of the album. “[It’s] less to do with personal relationships, although there’s a couple of songs, like ‘Detective,’ that still deal with that stuff. I don’t think she’ll ever get 100% away from it. [Rock Steady] is just more about having fun this time around. In ‘Hey Baby’ she’s observing the backstage parties that we have. ‘Hella Good’ is all about going into a dancehall and tearing it up.”

From what it appears, No Doubt won’t be putting on the brakes anytime soon. Guerinot sums up the band’s packed schedule, engulfed by rigorous touring over the course of the next 13 months: “They’re out on the road with U2 now. That will carry us all the way to Christmas, then we have three months of overseas work to do, and then we come back and tour America. We’re off to the races!”