Billboard Magazine (March 11th 2000)
No Doubt Returns With ‘Saturn’
After 5 Years, Band To Issue Follow-Up To ‘Tragic Kingdom’
In the fickle world of pop music, waiting five years to release a new album can be risky— even for a multi-platinum act. Will the act’s fans stay loyal? Or will they ignore the act and move on to the next big thing?
That question surrounds No Doubt, the Orange County, Calif.- based, ska-influenced rock band whose new album, “Return Of Saturn” (due April 11 on Interscope), is the long-anticipated follow-up to 1995’s hugely successful “Tragic Kingdom.” The members of No Doubt say that taking years to reach a goal is nothing new for them.
“It took us nine years to become successful,” says lead singer Gwen Stefani. “It’s such a magical time right now, because we accomplished the goal of doing this record exactly how we wanted to do it, I think we’re all really surprised at how much we’ve grown as songwriters.”
No Doubt’s other albums include the band’s 1992 self-titled debut and 1995’s “Beacon Street Incident.” Those albums did little to catapult No Doubt to mainstream acceptance, but the group developed a core following, especially in California, through constant touring.
No Doubt reached a new plateau in its career with “Tragic Kingdom,” which has sold 15 million copies worldwide, according to Interscope. The album yielded the hit singles “Don't Speak,” “Just A Girl,” and “Spiderwebs.” During the course of “Tragic Kingdom’s” run on the charts, No Doubt toured for more than two years and went from playing clubs to headlining arenas.
Guitarist Tom Dumont notes, “Some people work well under pressure, but we realized we work better with no pressure, so we did away with the idea of having deadlines. We didn’t want to put out a half-assed record to capitalize on this or that.” No Doubt whose other members are bass player Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young—returned to the public eye in 1999 with the release of the radio single and video for “New” from the “Go” soundtrack. “New” which is included on “Return Of Saturn,” was produced by Jerry Harrison and No Doubt. The rest of “Return Of Saturn” was produced by Glen Ballard.
The 14-song “Return Of Saturn” finds No Doubt steering away from the melodic pop of “Don’t Speak” and more toward its alternative roots. The song lyrics, written primarily by Stefani, express self-reflection, vulnerability, and romance, with the subject matter mainly being about relationships. No Doubt’s songs are published by Universal Music Publishing (ASCAP).
“It was a hard couple of years,” admits Stefani about the time it took to write and record the album. “Writing an album is draining. When you’re writing an album, it can get really personal, and we made more of an effort on this record to make the lyrics mean more than just putting words together.”
“Ex-Girlfriend,” the first single from “Return Of Saturn,” was released to modern rock radio in January. The song has risen into the top 10 of the Modern Rock Tracks chart, where it stands this issue at No. 3.
The “Ex-Girlfriend” video, directed by Hype Williams and inspired by the Japanese film “Kite,” has Stefani stalking and confronting bandmate Kanal. The video is currently among the top 10 most-played videos on MTV and VH1, according to Broadcast Data Systems.
Because of the song’s hook—“I kinda always knew I'd end up your ex-girlfriend”—and the fact that Stefani and Kanal dated for several years before breaking up during the making of “Tragic Kingdom,” it may be easy to assume that the song is about their relationship.
But, as Stefani reveals, “the song’s not about Tony. I’ve been in a relationship for about four years,” she says of her romance with Bush leader Gavin Rossdale. “And when you’re in a relationship, you have your ups and downs. That song was written during a down moment. All I can say about the lyrics on this album are that they are very honest and real. I don’t know any other way to write.”
She adds, “The hard part was doing this record. Now the fun part comes: We get to play live. We’ve always been a live band, and that’s what we do best. We can’t wail to go out there and play the new album for people.”
No Doubt launches a U.S. tour March 24 in Chicago. The band is managed by Jim Guerinot of Rebel Waltz Management and booked by Mitch Okmin of the Mob Agency.
Interscope head of marketing and sales Steve Berman says, “We’re doing a massive media and retail campaign for this record. The band will be on the cover of Spin’s May issue. We’re giving retail outlets over 100,000 promotional posters. We’re also going to conduct a very aggressive campaign on the Web. We’re looking to target not just traditional music Web sites but also any kind of lifestyle site that fits with the band, such as video-games sites, movie sites, and fashion sites.”
Last December, No Doubt performed on the telecast of MTV’s New Year’s Eve party. In early February, the band was featured on MTV’s “Making The Video” and made a live appearance on MTV to introduce the “Ex-Girlfriend” video.
The band has a slew of other TV appearances timed around the album’s release, including USA Network’s “Farmclub.com” April 10, NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” on April 12, and MTV’s “Total Request Live” during the network’s spring break programming. Michael Young, music director for modern rock station WRZK (X-103) Indianapolis, says, “No Doubt’s new album won’t be as huge as ‘Tragic Kingdom,’ but it won’t be ignored, either. It’s not one of the most anticipated albums of the year. I’m concerned that ‘Ex-Girlfriend’ isn’t being received that well by listener's. Phone requests for it are OK, but it’s not setting the world on fire.
“I really like the band, but No Doubt’s sound just isn’t as hot as it used to be,” Young continues. “I think sales for the new album will be strong the first week or two, but then it will drop off after that.”
Rob Sturma, assistant manager of the Wherehouse in Hollywood, says, “No Doubt has a strong fan base, and we’ve had a lot of people asking about this album. It will do well in terms of sales. I can see the album debuting in the top five for national sales in its first week.”
Interscope’s Berman says, “Do we think we’ll sell 14 million records as a follow-up to ‘Tragic Kingdom’? It’s unfair to put that kind of pressure on any artist. We have a long-term commitment to No Doubt and this project. Whatever ‘Return Of Saturn’ sells in its first week doesn’t matter as much as where the album ends up.
Regardless of record sales, Stefani and Dumont say that maintaining the camaraderie in the band has been one of their greatest accomplishments.
Dumont says one of the biggest misconceptions about No Doubt is that “people think that the guys in the band are jealous of Gwen, but we’re not. Being in this band is really like being in a family. You lore each other, but sometimes you also argue with each other. I’d rather be in this band with Gwen, Tony, and Adrian than with anyone else in the world. Probably the most important thing we’ve learned is that communication is the key to overcoming a lot of problems.”
Stefani adds, “I’m really proud that this band been committed to each other for 13 years. We’re not a manufactured band targeted to teenage girls. We’ve gotten to be even closer friends than we were before, because we’ve been through so much together. The people in this band hang out with each other. That hasn’t changed, and no matter what happens to this band, we want to keep it that way.”
The Modern Age
Bevies of single women can sense impending breakups after they’ve had a few failed relationships. To find solace, many share ex-boyfriend horror stories with each other.
This may explain why No Doubt’s single “Ex-Girlfriend” strikes such a chord with fans. Drummer Adrian Young says, “Girls can really relate to it. For the guys, it’s just an edgy song.”
Young says that lead singer Gwen Stefani, who wrote the lyrics to the track, “has been in relationships before where she knew that she would become the ex-girlfriend of the guy she was going out with. I probably had girlfriends who had that same feeling when they were dating me.”
Ironically, the song that rings so true almost didn’t get recorded. “It was the last track that was written at the end of the recording session. It was definitely kind of a last-minute idea. We felt that the album wasn’t quite complete and that we need ed another uptempo song. Oddly enough, it be¬
came the first single,” says Young.
He continues, “We did eight club dates in California where we played the song, and it just didn’t feel right. We changed it around and decided to give it a shot.”
No Doubt’s gamble worked, and “Ex-Girlfriend” is No. 3 in this issue’s Modern Rock Tracks. The single appears on the group’s Interscope album “Return Of Saturn,” its first full-length set since 1995’s “Tragic Kingdom.” “Return Of Saturn” refers to Saturn’s 29-vear orbit around the sun. Young says, “There weren’t any preconceived themes going into the album. We weren’t resting on any laurels when we recorded it. It ended up just being a reflection of being 29-ish, especially from Gwen. Everything kind of tied in. We’re all looking at both the past and the future at this point in our lives.”