Toronto Star (Dec. 20th 2001)
No Doubt about it, Stefani is hot
If anyone has taken up the "Valley Girl" torch lit by Moon Unit Zappa 20 years ago, it is No Doubt's Gwen Stefani, an irrepressible bundle of bleached-blonde energy who never shies from letting her Southern California roots show through.
"How are you doin', dude?" the singer asks before launching into a description of an MTV promotion that she and her bandmates just finished. With cameras rolling, No Doubt played much of its new album, Rock Steady, before a high school crowd that had no idea the group was coming.
"It was so rad," Stefani says. "We just walked on campus and were sticking our heads into people's classes. It was so rad. Every day is, like, major awesome crazy."
Indeed, excitement is once again swirling around No Doubt, a band that went multi-platinum in 1995 with hits such as "Don't Speak" and "I'm Just A Girl." It took five years of toil to produce last year's relatively disappointing Return Of Saturn. But the band released Rock Steady this week, a mere 18 months after its predecessor.
The record's first single, "Hey Baby," has become a staple on radio and music channels. Stefani's saucy shout-out to the groupies who try to seduce her male bandmates - bassist Tony Kanal, drummer Adrian Young and guitarist Tom Dumont - is typical of Rock Steady's synth-driven pop.
A mix of New Wave sounds, hip-hop beats and Jamaican dancehall, the record marks a departure in No Doubt's creative process. Instead of hashing out the songs as a band, they collaborated with a series of producers and songwriters, including Bjork, red-hot producers the Neptunes, U2 mixman Nellee Hooper, the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, Prince and the Cars' Ric Ocasek.
"That was a really big step for us," Stefani says. "Because we never really let anyone into the family before. The experience of working with someone you totally idolized growing up - like Dave Stewart and 'Sweet Dreams' - was awesome. But even though it's fun, it's like, 'Whoa, this is pressure.' Because you want to be good in front of your idols."
The group also got hooked on dancehall music after Kanal started playing the likes of Bounty Killer, Beenie Man and Shabba Ranks at the band's after-concert parties. No Doubt got its start in 1987, playing a mix of Jamaican ska and punk, so it already had an affinity for the reggae-based music, which led members to record much of the album in Jamaica with drum-and-bass pioneers Sly & Robbie and the dancehall team of Steely & Clevie.
"We were totally inspired by dancehall," Stefani explains. "You've got this really simple music, but it's so infectious. I think rock over the past couple of years has been very uninspiring, especially for me - there has been a lot of testosterone-driven music. Also, we were going out dancing a lot and we wanted to write a record that would come on in the club."
In addition to the many collaborative efforts on Rock Steady, Stefani has kept busy on projects outside of the band. Her guest appearances on Eve's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" and Moby's remix of "South Side" landed her roles in two of 2001's high-profile singles.
"I don't think anybody involved thought that those things were going to end up what they were. The Moby thing was from, like, three years ago. Who would have thought that thing had legs that would not go away? Now I have a list of people who I actually sang on their records. It's so cool."
Stefani also took inspiration from Eve, who has managed to earn respect in a male-dominated field. Like Stefani, she balances her sex appeal with smart songs about independence and self-worth.