No Doubt - Icon (2011)

2014-02-21T16:45:33Z

No Doubt - Icon (2011)


1. Just a Girl
2. It's My Life
3. Hey Baby
4. Bathwater
5. Sunday Morning
6. Hella Good
7. New
8. Underneath It All
9. Excuse Me Mr.
10. Running
11. Spiderwebs
12. Simple Kind of Life
13. Don't Speak
14. Ex-Girlfriend
15. Trapped in a Box

No Doubt are:
Gwen Stefani – lead vocals 
Tom Dumont – guitar 
Tony Kanal – bass 
Adrian Young – drums, percussion

No Doubt’s 2010 installment in Universal’s ongoing Icon series is a retitled reissue of the excellent 2003 compilation The Singles 1992-2003. Spanning 15 tracks, the disc is sequenced like a concert, favoring forward momentum over chronological history, and that's a point in its favor since it shines a spotlight on individual songs, not eras. More than anything, this highlights No Doubt's consistency as a singles band, since the defining breakthrough single, "Just a Girl," is as exciting as both the band's pre-fame "Trapped in a Box" and the sexy neo-electro grind of "Hella Good." It also shows that even if lead singer Gwen Stefani grew increasingly assured and sexier over the years (compare the seductive "Underneath It All" to the breathy, naïve "Don't Speak") and even if she was always rightly the focal point, the band itself is a muscular, versatile, tuneful outfit, rooted in ska revivals like "Spiderwebs" but equally convincing when turning out spiky pop like the glorious "New," the hard-rocking "Sunday Morning" and "Ex-Girlfriend," the sighing ballad "Simple Kind of Life," or the rubbery, reggae-inflected "Hey Baby." All these hits are here on Icon, along with expertly selected album tracks and concert favorites, plus a fine cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life" that makes the group's new wave influences explicit. There's not one major song missing, and the whole package is solid proof that few post-alternative bands were as joyous a singles band as No Doubt. It's a great collection -- the kind of compilation that satisfies fans of all stripes and converts skeptics. It's the greatest-hits package that they deserve. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review

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No Doubt - Push And Shove [Deluxe Edition] (2012)

2015-03-27T16:46:44Z

No Doubt - Push And Shove [Deluxe Edition] (2012)


1-1 	Settle Down 	6:01
1-2 	Looking Hot 	4:43
1-3 	One More Summer 	4:39
1-4 	Push And Shove 	5:07
1-5 	Easy 	5:10
1-6 	Gravity 	4:25
1-7 	Undercover 	3:32
1-8 	Undone 	4:38
1-9 	Sparkle 	4:08
1-10 	Heaven 	4:06
1-11 	Dreaming The Same Dream 	5:27
2-1 	Stand And Deliver 	
2-2 	Settle Down (Acoustic - Santa Monica Sessions) 	
2-3 	Looking Hot (Acoustic - Santa Monica Sessions) 	
2-4 	One More Summer (Acoustic - Santa Monica Sessions) 	
2-5 	Easy (Acoustic - Santa Monica Sessions) 	
2-6 	Looking Hot (Jonas Quant Remix)
2-7 	One More Summer (Jonas Quant Remix)
2-8 	Push And Shove (Anthony Gorry Remix)

Gwen Stefani – vocals
Tom Dumont – guitar (all tracks); synthesizer (1); acoustic guitar (2.2–2.4); electric guitar (2.5)
Tony Kanal – bass guitar (all tracks); acoustic bass (2.2–2.5)
Adrian Young – drums, percussion (1–2.2); V-Drums (3, 4, 6, 9); trigger pad (2.2); tambourine (2.3, 2.4)
+
Busy Signal – featured performer (4, 2.8)
Stephen Bradley – trumpet (2, 4, 5, 9, 2.3–2.5); backing vocals (2.2, 2.3, 2.5); castanets (2.3)
David Emery – keyboards, programming (9)
Anthony Gorry – keyboards, programming (1–4, 6–9, 11); remix (2.8)
Stephen Hilton – strings (1); keyboards, programming (5); additional strings (11)
Major Lazer – featured performers, producers (4, 2.8)
Gabrial McNair – melodica (2); trombone (2, 4, 5, 9, 2.1, 2.3, 2.5); backing vocals, piano (2.2, 2.3, 2.5); strings (2.4)
David Moyer – baritone saxophone (4)
Jonas Quant – keyboards, programming (1–3); remix (2.6, 2.7)
Fabien Waltmann – programming (2.1)
Wayne Wilkins – keyboards (3); programming (3, 2.1)

Underneath it all, underneath all the glamour and stardom, No Doubt remain a group of SoCal kids enraptured by the ska revival and new wave. That's their common language, so when they reunited for 2012's Push and Shove, their first album in over ten years, they returned to this shared bond, using it as a back-to-roots template for an album that deftly weaves in contemporary sounds without ever pandering. Part of this dexterity is due to No Doubt expanding their love of ska outward toward reggae and dancehall, underlining their affection with bouncing elastic rhythms and a heavy dose of patois -- nowhere more so than on the Major Lazer-assisted single "Push and Shove" -- a self-conscious move toward musical maturity that does indeed pay off as it plays like an affirmation of roots. Similarly, the cool, glassy gloss of their pop tunes and ballads -- "Gravity," "Undercover," "Heaven" -- feel connected to their grounding in early MTV; perhaps their natural ebullience has been tempered by age, but this remains the same stylish, hooky pop that turned No Doubt into unexpected superstars in the back half of the '90s. It is also the portion of Push and Shove that sounds closest to either of Gwen Stefani's solo albums of the new millennium, bringing to mind not the thumping dance of "Hollaback Girl" but rather the breeziness of "Sweet Escape" and "Cool." And that's the interesting thing about Push and Shove, for as much as there are clever contemporary flourishes -- the most notable being a passing collaboration with dance sensation Diplo -- this is a modest, mature comeback, highlighted by the band's keen awareness of their strengths and subtle, unstated acknowledgment of encroaching middle age. Gwen tackles this subject on "Looking Hot," where she wonders how much longer she can indulge in skintight clothes, but her band has already acknowledged they're no longer the young ska-punks they once were. They've turned into savvy old pros who know when to flex their muscle and when to lay back, and that canny musicality and camouflaged maturity make Push and Shove a satisfying comeback. --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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Rock, Metal

No Doubt - Icon (2011)

No Doubt - Push And Shove [Deluxe Edition] (2012)