No Doubt

The Singles 1992-2003

Definitely a "singles" band

Review Score:

(8/10)
I've never been a true fan of No Doubt. Meaning, I've never bought any of their albums. And since I didn't really listen to the radio in 1995-97, when the Tragic Kingdom singles were in rotation, and didn't really pay attention to their second album, Return Of Saturn, most of my opinions of No Doubt formed from the singles off Rock Steady. At the time, I thought No Doubt was a horrible band. "Hey Baby" remains an awful song, with an irritating, repetative hook, "Underneathe It All" was way too overplayed for my taste, and "Running" was just way too cheesy. "Hella Good" was a great song, but once again, it was overplayed. But I gave No Doubt a shot with their greatest hits album and was pleasantly surprised.

To me, the Tragic Kindgom singles are the best. Of the five tracks representing that album, the only one I don't like is "Don't Speak", that oh-so-overplayed ballad that remains No Doubt's greatest hit. I love the energetic "Excuse Me Mr.", the spunky "Just A Girl", the rocky romp of "Sunday Morning", and especially the ultra-catchy "Spiderwebs".

The Return Of Saturn singles are excellent - well, two of them are. The punky "Ex-Girlfriend" is a fast-paced rocker with lots of attitude. "Simple Kind Of Life" is a very pretty ballad complete with a nice, rainy-day arrangement and sighing vocals.

Elsewhere though, the album falls flat - as I mentioned before, the Rock Steady singles are just atrocious/overplayed. The expression used in "Bathwater" ('but I still love you bathe in your old bathwater'), while obviously just an expression, still makes me sick just when I think about it. Cold, clammy, old bathwater. Nice. And the actual song isn't anything special. "New" is a very mediocre song that apparently wasn't really a single off ROS - it was included on some soundtrack a year before that album was released. Either way, the song fails to grab my attention.

"It's My Life" is a great song (well, for a cover) but unfortunately, is played to death on the radio now. Still, in a few years I'll probably have the song on repeat, because it's just so damn good. "Trapped In A Box" is the oldest song on here, representing No Doubt's self-titled debut, which was, commercially, a flop. "Trapped In A Box" is interesting and features a quirky vocal performance from Gwen Stefani, but isn't remarkable in any way.

In the end, what I like, I really like, and what I don't like, well, I just skip the track and get on with my life. Not a big deal. I only like about half the tracks on here, but the ones I do like, I enjoy so much that I rated this album 4 stars. If you're a casual fan or just an avid music fan then get this album - it's worth it.

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