SPIN (September 1999)

Work In Progress

Who: No Doubt
Release Date: 11/16/99

No Doubt name-checked Disneyland for the title of 1995’s breakthrough Tragic Kingdom, but when it came time for a follow-up, they worried Tomorrowland held no place for them. "We felt like we'd outgrown everything we did before,” says Gwen Stefani.

To forge a less skankin’ sound, the band actually wrote new material on acoustic guitars. Identity crises are a running theme of the stiil-untitled album, set for an November release. "Full Circle " for example, is about whether it’s possible to play in a band with your ex-boyfriend while your current paramour is Bush’s Gavin Rossdale.

To make sure “our butts were kicked a little harder,” No Doubt recruited Aianis hitman Glen Ballard to produce the album. Much of the songwriting was done at Stefani’s home, located across a small valley from where the Red Hot Chili Peppers were recording their latest “We were thinking of taping their songs and putting them out ourselves," Stefani jokes. It’s a small world, after all.