Tragic Kingdom

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. more...

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".

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..."