POP!
Let the light in
So how do we feel about the comeback that never quite happened. I feel as if no matter how good the actual album was, all the goodwill for a band's comeback album was squandered by years of delays, lack of visibility and a changing musical landscape where Gwen's solo career/hit-making was a stale concept from a few years back and No Doubt's legacy was not yet cemented in nostalgia.
The songs, IMO, were all there. Classic No Doubt sunny choruses, new wave and ska influences shifting to a more reggae meets pop aesthetic as Rock Steady hinted where they had left off. "Settle Down", though overlong in its full album form, had a beaming feel-good pop chorus that revisited that carefree Summer, celebratory sound of a classic No Doubt record. Even radio started to play "Settle Down" pretty fervently but all of that excitement quickly evaporated by the time of the album's release and it was instantly written off of history it seemed until that "Looking Hot" video/Native American controversy in teacup.
Anyway how do we feel about this album? I think there genuinely isn't a bad song on it. All of them have their charms, hooks, classic No Doubt quirks. It does occasionally veer into samey territory by the end before it gets into the 80s-nostalgia glitz of "Dreaming the Same Dream" but generally a wonderful affair and I'd thoroughly welcome a follow-up.
Settle Down
Looking Hot
One More Summer
Push and Shove
Easy
Gravity
Undercover
Undone
Sparkle
Heaven
Dreaming the Same Dream
The songs, IMO, were all there. Classic No Doubt sunny choruses, new wave and ska influences shifting to a more reggae meets pop aesthetic as Rock Steady hinted where they had left off. "Settle Down", though overlong in its full album form, had a beaming feel-good pop chorus that revisited that carefree Summer, celebratory sound of a classic No Doubt record. Even radio started to play "Settle Down" pretty fervently but all of that excitement quickly evaporated by the time of the album's release and it was instantly written off of history it seemed until that "Looking Hot" video/Native American controversy in teacup.
Anyway how do we feel about this album? I think there genuinely isn't a bad song on it. All of them have their charms, hooks, classic No Doubt quirks. It does occasionally veer into samey territory by the end before it gets into the 80s-nostalgia glitz of "Dreaming the Same Dream" but generally a wonderful affair and I'd thoroughly welcome a follow-up.
Settle Down
Looking Hot
One More Summer
Push and Shove
Easy
Gravity
Undercover
Undone
Sparkle
Heaven
Dreaming the Same Dream
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