No Doubt was nominated for the 1997 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. TRAGIC KINGDOM was nominated for a 1997 Grammy for Best Rock Album. "Don't Speak" was nominated for 1998 Grammys for Song Of The Year and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
No Doubt's members cite a strange variety of musical influences: Kiss, Prince and Madness, to name a few. And it's easy to imagine that their hometown itself, Anaheim, California (home to Disneyland), may have played a part in forming the band's schizophrenic, high-energy sound, which took TRAGIC KINGDOM, the band's second album, on a slow, steady ride up the pop charts. It finally hit No. 1 in December 1996, 14 months after it was released.
This is ska-punk-new wave-dance music, with instrumentation ranging from hardcore guitar to mellow, reggae-style horns. Singer Gwen Stefani's voice is by turns peppy, almost adolescent ("Spiderwebs") and emotionally wailing; she can sound a lot like Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano ("Just A Girl"). When Stefani sings, "I'm just a girl, little ol' me/Don't let me out of your sight," she does so without a hint of girlishness; her voice is all attitude, with a warbling edge of melodrama. For the most part, these are happy songs, though No Doubt do get philosophical on "Different People": "Once in a while I sit back/And think about the planet/Most of the time I trip on it/To kick back and think of how massive it all is/And how many others are on it."
Engineers include: Matt Hyde, Phil Kaffel, George Landress.
Personnel: Gwen Stefani (vocals); Tom Dumont (guitar); Aloke Dasgupta (sitar); Melissa "Missy" Hasin (cello); Bill Bergman (saxophone); Greg Smith (baritone saxophone); Les Lovitt (trumpet); Gabrial McNair (trombone, percussion); Nick Lane (trombone); Eric Stefani (piano, keyboards); Matthew Wilder (keyboards); Adrian Young (drums, percussion); Stephen Perkins (steel drum).
Audio Mixer: Paul Palmer.
Recording information: Nrg; Record Plant, Hollywood, CA; Santa Monica Sound, Santa Monica, CA; Total Access Studios, Redondo Beach, CA.
Director: Albhy Galuten.
Photographers: Dan Arsenault; Shelly Robertson.
Unknown Contributor Role: Stephen Perkins.
No Doubt: Gwen Stefani (vocals); Tom Dumont (guitar); Eric Stefani (piano, keyboards); Tony Kanal (bass); Adrian Young (drums, percussion).
Additional personnel: Aloke DasGupta (sitar); Melissa Hasin (cello); Gerard Boisse, Bill Bergman (saxophone); Greg Smith (baritone saxophone); Phil Jordan, Les Lovitt (trumpet); Nick Lane (trombone); Gabe McNair (trombone, percussion); Matthew Wilder (keyboards); Stephen Perkins (steel drums).
Rolling Stone (12/26/96, p.195) - "...a platinum-blond peach of a female singer, Gwen Stefani, who breaks up the asexual baggy-shorts-and-balloon pants monotony of alt-nation guy rock....No Doubt have a spry, white-suburban take on ska and Blondie-esque pop..."
Great Cd Best cd ever recommended for any No Doubt Fan. Frania E # 1 Fan Woo Submitted by kornx99 (Lawndale Ca) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
This cd is classic. No Doubt releasing there best cd. I loved No Doubt, until It's My Life came out and Gwen Stephani pursued a solo career. Oh well, this cd suits me fine. Submitted by derekp8 (Toronto, ON, Canada) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Sweet! This album rocks! Don't Speak is on it- a very big hit and other big hits. The last track- Tragic Kingdom- is the best. I think she's singing partly about Disneyland in that song. There's the short speech thing in the beginning that you always hear before you get on rides at Disneyland and she mentions the electrical parade and dwarfs and if you listen carefully, you hear the Star Wars theme at the end. Seriously, you need to get this album Submitted by Ophelia (Los Angeles, CA, USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Everyone should own it. Even you, Bob. Amazing! This album was crafted from a little bit of every genre. It was perfectly blended to create an amazing set of tracks, without a single stinker. In my opinion, any No Doubt/Gwen Stefani fan should get this CD because it displays the band at its purest form. We all have heard "Just a Girl" and "Don't Speak" (they both are awesome). But Tragic Kingdom has many more great tracks. "Sunday Morning" uses a guitar and drum heavy tune to go with the slightly angry lyrics and is perfect. "Sixteen" truly captures the essence of being 16. Angst, anger, and desire for independence lead the powerful guitar and lyrics. "Different People" and "World Go 'Round" use unique sounds and provoking lyrics to leave a mark on you. "Tragic Kingdom", the album's namesake, is strange and crazy, but metaphorically fantastic as it displays the fall of a bad empire and rise of an equally worse one. Each song is packed lyrically and provides a new sound. Every track on this CD captures a moment in time. They seem to transcend age, intelligence, sex, and life to take you away and empower you. Submitted by Code (Pennsylvania) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Oh, my God! This is one of the best cds i've ever heard. given i'm a no doubt fan, but this is a good cd. my sister hates them. but she loves this cd. it has such a wide variety of styles. reggae, pop, rock, they have horns, drums, and even electric guitar. no matter what kind of music your'e into, their will be something on it for you. my mom hates today's pop culture and almost all of the music in it, but even she loves this cd. everyone in my family i can safely say that they all love this cd. all my sisters, my mom and dad, and if i had any brothers they would probably like it to. buy this cd. Submitted by Laura (Green Mountain, IA, USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
$13.69 The Story of The Beat Vibes.... Two friends (Mark and Brian) are huge fans of The Beatles and each love their own guitars very much. Mark was partial to Gretsch guitars (especially his 1969 model 6120) and Brian to Rickenbackers (1993 model 330/6). While both guitars are elite quality instruments, neither one was willing to admit that other had an equally fine choice of guitar. This rivalry lead to many discussions on how the earliest Beatle recordings were defined by the contrast of these two different sounding guitars, and how they had lost some of their "punch" when the Beatles switched to 2 Rickenbackers, or especially the two Epiphone Casinos. Their appreciation of how important the unique sound of the Hofner bass was to the early Beatle recordings wouldn't come until later at the first Beat Vibes recording session. One day Brian wrote most of a Beatle-ish sounding song (You Only Look Me Up). Having the idea that if John Lennon had written the part he had, it would have been very likely that Paul McCartney would have contributed a bridge. So he gave the partial song to Mark to write what ever occurred to him for a bridge and that when he was done, the two of them should record it using their "special" guitars. The idea was to make it sound as Beatle-ish as possible. So Mark wrote a bridge (later sung by Joe) and the song was complete. After a little thought on how to proceed, Brian called up friend Joe whom he had played in a duet with about 15 years earlier. Joe, having been a former Paul in Beatlemania, was asked to bring his 1963 Hofner 500/1 bass and join the recording session (He agreed). Drummer Scott, a child hood friend ...
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Great Cd
Sweet!
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