Brian's Thoughts About Things: #48: No Doubt

You wanna catch a peek but they look at you like you're such a freak

Next up is No Doubt. You wouldn't be surprised I like them if you heard their first three albums.

Wiki Says: No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album, No Doubt (1992), failed to make waves. The band's diamond-certified album Tragic Kingdom helped to launch the ska revival of the 1990s, and "Don't Speak", the third single from the album, set a record when it spent sixteen weeks at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart.

Following this the group released its next album, Return of Saturn, four years later. While a minor success commercially it could not match the success of their previous album and underperformed both commercially and critically. Fifteen months later, the band reappeared with Rock Steady, which incorporated reggae and dancehall music into their work. The album was primarily recorded in Jamaica and featured collaborations with Jamaican artists Bounty Killer, Sly and Robbie, and Lady Saw. The album produced two Grammy-winning singles, "Hey Baby" and "Underneath It All".

No Doubt released the compilation The Singles 1992–2003 and box set Boom Box in 2003, both of which contained a cover version of the Talk Talk synthpop song "It's My Life". Frontwoman Gwen Stefani launched her solo career the next year with several collaborations, including bandmate Tony Kanal as well as Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes, while guitarist Tom Dumont began his side project, Invincible Overlord. During its career, the band has won two Grammy Awards and sold 28 million records worldwide to date. The band embarked on a US national tour throughout the summer of 2009.

Discovery: No Doubt (1992)

The Beacon Street Collection (1994)

Tragic Kingdom (1995)

Return of Saturn (2000)

Rock Steady (2001)

TBA (2010?)

Other contributions: A Very Special Christmas 3 (1997)

Burning London: A Tribute to The Clash (1999)

The Singles 1992-2003 (2003)

Rock Against Bush volume 2 (2004)

Look At All the Love We've Found: A Tribute to Sublime (2005)

Favorite Songs: 10. Comforting line

9. Brad New Day

8. Paulina

7. Spiderwebs

6. Oi To the World (Vandals Cover)

5. Excuse Me Mr.

4. Hateful ft. Billy Idol (Clash Cover)

3. DJs (Sublime Cover)

2. Sixteen

1. Total Hate 95 ft. Bradley Nowell from Sublime

Years Active: 1986-Present

Never seen them live

No Doubt is received very differently amongst punk/ska fans. While they are, without question, the biggest band to make it out of the ska scene from the mid 90's, they did it by going to a much more pop-oriented way. But that doesn't really bother me. Their ska isn't amazing, but it is really enjoyable. In their older days they had a big "fuck you" attitude, and they still know where they came from. They still play live with horns, play both their old punk/ska songs, play punk/ska covers, and go pretty wild on stage.

I could not decide which music video and which live video I wanted to go with. So, I instead decided to post several of both since they really capture No Doubt's whole career. First is a music video from their first album (No Doubt), then one of their biggest hits from their first successful album (Tragic Kingdom), then a cover of a Vandals song from 1997.

For the live videos I have them from Warped Tour in 1995 with Bradley from Sublime (WHICH THEY PLAYED LAST SUMMER ON TOUR), covering the Beatles in 1997, covering Sublime in 2009, and playing a song from 1997 in 2009.