Rock Steady (album)
Rock Steady is the fifth studio album by American rock band No Doubt, released on December 11, 2001, by Interscope Records. The band began writing the album with initial recording sessions in Los Angeles and San Francisco, then traveled to London and Jamaica to work with various performers, songwriters, and producers. Sly & Robbie, the Neptunes, and William Orbit were among the many artists the band collaborated with on the album.
Rock Steady
December 11, 2001
January–June 2001
- Record Plant (Los Angeles)[a]
- Home Recordings (London)[b]
- Toast (San Francisco)[c]
- The Sideshack (Los Angeles)[d]
- Geejam (Port Antonio, Jamaica)[e]
- One Pop (Kingston, Jamaica)[f]
- Westlake Audio (Los Angeles)[g]
- Guerilla Canyon (Los Angeles)[h]
- 7 Dials (London)[i]
- Rothwell Street Flat (London)[j]
- Paisley Park (Chanhassen, Minnesota)[k]
- 11AD (Los Angeles)[k]
- Olympic (London)[k]
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As a result of these collaborations, Rock Steady touches on many musical styles, focusing on electropop, dancehall, and new wave. The band attempted to capture the vibe of Jamaican dancehall music, and experimented with writing songs without its standard instrumentation. Lead vocalist Gwen Stefani wrote her lyrics quickly in comparison to previous records, and dealt with topics ranging from partying to ruminations on her relationship with Gavin Rossdale.
Rock Steady received mostly positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2003 Grammy Awards. The album was a commercial comeback for the band, surpassing sales of their previous album Return of Saturn (2000). Rock Steady spawned four singles, two of which won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Rolling Stone ranked Rock Steady number 316 on its 2003 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Background and production[edit]
Every night on the tour to support their 2000 album Return of Saturn, No Doubt threw after-show parties where people danced to Jamaican dancehall music. During a discussion over dinner in late 2000, the band members decided they wanted to explore dancehall-style rhythms for their next album.[1] Drawing inspiration from artists such as Bounty Killer, Cutty Ranks, and Mr. Vegas,[2] the band began work on the album in January 2001 by creating beats on Pro Tools at guitarist Tom Dumont's apartment. The group often tried recreating beats from other song files on the computer, which resulted in modified versions of the original rhythms.[1] They worked with producer Philip Steir at Toast Studios in San Francisco during this time, where the beginnings of "Hey Baby" emerged.[3] When writing lyrics for previous albums, Stefani typically read works by Sylvia Plath that would make her depressed "or find different words that inspire me."[1] In contrast, for Rock Steady she wrote the lyrics quicker and on the spot to meet the goal of writing a song a day. Many of the demos recorded during these early sessions were used in the final tracks, rather than completely reworking the songs. The band saw this as a way to preserve the "initial spark" from when the songs were conceived.[2]
The next month, Stefani left Los Angeles for London to visit boyfriend Rossdale, and the band traveled with her to finish recording "Detective".[1] There, they worked with Eurythmics member David A. Stewart and wrote the song "Underneath It All" in only 10 minutes.[4] In March, No Doubt traveled to Jamaica, staying at the Blue Lagoon in Port Antonio.[2] The band "spent most of the time swimming and getting sunburned and drinking and smoking and recording a little music", according to Dumont.[5] The group would often have Red Stripe beers or rum and cokes with jerk food for breakfast;[1][2] on one occasion, Dumont passed out from heavy drinking while recording a track.[1] They began work in the mid-afternoon and worked into the night, with an after-party following the session.[2] The group collaborated with Sly & Robbie, who produced "Underneath It All" and "Hey Baby" and brought in dancehall toasters Lady Saw and Bounty Killer, and Steely & Clevie, who produced "Start the Fire".
The band returned from Jamaica and resumed work in June 2001, collaborating with producers Nellee Hooper and Timbaland.[6] The Timbaland track, titled "It's a Fight", and a Dr. Dre-produced song titled "Wicked Day" were excluded from the album because their hip hop sounds did not work well on the album.[7][8] The band then worked with producer and former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek in late June.[5] Stefani commented that No Doubt worked with so many people for the record because none were available for the time needed to make an LP, but that she would have liked to work with Ocasek longer.[9] The band and its A&R manager Mark Williams chose collaborators based on how well they thought the person would fit the personality of the song that No Doubt had written.[2] In late August, the band returned to London for Mark "Spike" Stent to polish off the songs with audio mixing.[1]
Music and lyrics[edit]
The band members often did not play their standard instruments when working on the songs for Rock Steady.[10] As a result, the album's instrumentation contains less guitar and bass guitar than the band's previous work.[11] Many of the album's sounds come from electronic keyboard effects, which bassist Tony Kanal called "Devo-y bleeps and Star Wars noises".[1] Dumont commented that many of the effects came from being unfamiliar with the equipment and "just twiddling knobs".[12] Dumont created an effect similar to that of an echo chamber by placing a microphone inside a metal garbage can with the can's open end facing a drum kit.[13] Richard B. Simon of MTV News asserted that the sound of Rock Steady was part of the decade nostalgia of the 1980s retro movement.[14]
Stefani's vocals range from innocent to seductive, sometimes transitioning from one to the other within a song.[15] Her lyrics are based on her relationship with Rossdale, whom she married less than a year after the album's release.[16] Stefani is openhearted and unreserved as on Return of Saturn, but her approach becomes more immediate and instinctive.[15] The lyrics are more youthful than those on Return of Saturn and detail partying and feelings of lust.[17] An overarching theme on the album is Stefani's impatience in the couple's long-distance relationship. She discusses wanting to see Rossdale on "Making Out" and "Waiting Room", and she reveals her distrust in Rossdale on "In My Head".[16] On "Hey Baby" she gives an innocuous account of the debauchery between her bandmates and their groupies during parties, as she observes the party.[9] The lyrics of "Underneath It All" question whether or not Rossdale is a good match for her,[18] an issue resolved in the chorus, which was written based on a journal entry where Stefani wrote the line "You're lovely underneath it all" about Rossdale.[19]
Composition[edit]
Musically, Rock Steady incorporates electropop,[16][20] dancehall,[16][20] new wave,[16] reggae,[20] and dance-pop.[21] The album maintains many of the styles present in No Doubt's previous work, while introducing influences from the music of Jamaica. "Hey Baby", "Underneath It All" and "Start the Fire" all feature dancehall and ragga, an electronic-oriented subgenre, as well as guest toasters.[22] The latter, written using backward string samples, also contains the band's traditional ska and reggae sounds.[3] Ocasek produced the new wave-influenced tracks "Don't Let Me Down" and "Platinum Blonde Life", the former of which was described as sounding "more like the Cars than the Cars".[23] "Platinum Blonde Life" was so strongly influenced by the Cars' work that Kanal apologized to Ocasek, though Ocasek apologized back that he had not seen the similarity.[10] The synth-pop ballad "Running" was composed on a Yamaha keyboard purchased for Kanal in the 1980s and drew inspiration from the Thompson Twins.[3] Its simple keyboard riff drew comparisons to the work of Depeche Mode, Erasure, and Yazoo.[18]
Because of the number of collaborations, the album touches on several other styles. "Waiting Room", a song written and sung with Prince for Return of Saturn, evokes his R&B style over a drum and bass beat.[1][24] "Hella Good", an electro-rock song co-written with hip hop production duo the Neptunes, is inspired by the funk songs of the late 1970s such as Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" and the Commodores' "Brick House".[2] William Orbit, best known for his work on Madonna's electronica-oriented 1998 album Ray of Light, incorporates trance music in the production of "Making Out". "Detective", one of the five tracks produced by Hooper, takes slight influence from pop music.[15] The album's title track closes the album by tying together the many musical themes.[16] It is a slow dub song,[16] with acid house-style bleeps and moans.[25]
Release and promotion[edit]
"Hey Baby" was released as the lead single from Rock Steady in October 2001.[26] The song peaked number at five on the Billboard Hot 100,[27] while reaching the top five in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the top 10 in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Norway.[28][29] The positive response to "Hey Baby" from radio stations and video channels prompted the band to push forward the release of Rock Steady from December 18 to December 11.[30] The album's second single, "Hella Good", was released on April 13, 2002, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.[27] It also charted at number eight in Australia and number 12 in the UK.[29][31]
"Underneath It All" was released as the third single on August 15, 2002. It became No Doubt's highest-peaking single in the US to date, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100.[27] Internationally, the single saw limited success, reaching number eight in New Zealand, number 18 in the UK and number 28 in Australia.[29][32] "Running" was released as the album's fourth and final single on July 1, 2003. Peaking at number 62, "Running" became the band's lowest-peaking single on the Billboard Hot 100 to date.[27]
Following the success of the standard edition, two reissues of Rock Steady—a limited edition and a special edition—were released in October 2002, each of which including a bonus disc. The limited edition, released in North America, features acoustic live performances of "Underneath It All" and "Just a Girl" recorded at 1LIVE in Cologne, Germany, in June 2002, as well as the music video for "Underneath It All".[33] The special edition, released in Europe, includes a remix of "Hey Baby" featuring Outkast and Killer Mike and another remix by F.A.B.Z.; Roger Sanchez's remix of "Hella Good", which won a Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical in 2003;[34] and a remix of Return of Saturn's lead single "Ex-Girlfriend" by Philip Steir, who helped produce "Hey Baby".[35] The songs from the two-song bonus disc were released through North American iTunes Stores, and those from the four-song bonus disc were released in other countries. Rock Steady Live, a live DVD of No Doubt performing in 2002 in support of Rock Steady, was released in November 2003.
Accolades[edit]
Rock Steady was ranked number 316 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in November 2003.[23] Blender included the album on its April 2003 list of "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die!".[45] In June 2003, it was included on Slant Magazine's list of "50 Essential Pop Albums"[46]
"Hey Baby" won the award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards, while Rock Steady and "Hella Good" received nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Dance Recording, respectively.[34][47] At the following year's ceremony, "Underneath It All" earned the band their second consecutive Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[48]
Legacy and influence[edit]
When singer-songwriter Jewel released her fifth album 0304 in June 2003, reinventing and sexualizing her public image, music critics identified Rock Steady and Ray of Light as influences on the album. Slant Magazine compared 0304's retro tribute to new wave music with that on Rock Steady.[57] Blender commented that Jewel had "brushed up on two sacred pop texts, the Manual of Madonna and the Gospel According to Gwen". The magazine compared her use of a more restrained, throaty purr to Stefani's vocals and noted 0304's use of "jumpy bubblegum choruses and boop-boop-beeping keyboards" as descendants of No Doubt's production.[58]