Evolution is a practice highly valued in the world of music. Dylan went electric, Blondie tried disco — even Michael Jackson started producing boring, mediocre music.
But I digress.
Now No Doubt has made an attempt to break free from its predicted sound. The resulting effort is seen in the band's latest album, Rock Steady. A raucous mix of synth beats and pop flair, the CD will leave listeners with one question: "wasn't No Doubt a ska band?"
To answer that question, yes — even though there is little that reflects the band's former style. Much of the album finds No Doubt forging ground in hip-hop and dance, adding a subtle yet deliberate hint of rock.
The idea is adventurous and the effort is apparent, but No Doubt does not pull off the transition completely unscathed.
"Hella Good" finds a nonchalant energy with a fluid bass line and guitar work. The song, however, does not go far beyond that and does not deliver a groove that listeners can sink into deeply.
Much of the remaining songs also have this quality of potential interest that simply falls short.
"Hey Baby," the first single from the album, comes as a surprise and may even intrigue at first gander. However, it does not take long before the phrase "hey baby" (repeated at least 50 times in the song) becomes too repetitive to tolerate.
Reggae — which is merely the decelerated antecedent of ska — has some presence on Rock Steady. The songs "Underneath It All" and "Start the Fire" rely on a strong reggae beat tinged with some keyboard effects that all in all get beaten to death on this CD.
The track "Running" is perhaps one of the most perplexing and the farthest thing from ska music that one could imagine. Centered around what sounds like a MIDI sample from an old video game, the song is not altogether terrible. "Running" is just not spectacular, and would make for a better lullaby. The following track "In My Head" will not do much more to excite listeners, and simply falls short of anything worth hearing.
Much of this can be due to the repeated trite song structure and fairly uneventful vocal melodies.
Singer, Gwen Stefani, would do well to put a little more thought into her lyrics than dwell on either writing party tunes or jaded love songs. In fact, the CD barely touches on the other members in the band thus making Rock Steady sound like the solo follow-up to Stefani's recent dabble in pop music.
Though No Doubt can now say they have moved past the sound of its past, newer is not always better.
No Doubt as a band does not do well to make cheesy '80s new wave pop — but then again who does?
And more so, who would want to?Apparently No Doubt does, even though they shouldn't.
— Reviewed by Dante DelVecchio
