[.ca] Rock Steady

From Amazon.co.uk:
As much as No Doubt have protested that they are a singular unit and not "Gwen and her guys", Gwen Stefani's much-touted duets with rapper Eve and techno mogul Moby in the run-up to Rock Steady did nothing to juice the boys' spotlight, which had been steadily dimming since the release of 2000s Return of Saturn. But all that banter is silenced with Rock Steady, on which the music is definitely the star, unfettered by Gwen's cutesy-clouded feminism or dumped-by-the-boyfriend woes. Having mostly departed from their ska home base, No Doubt's well-navigated exploration of hip-hop beats, reggae and the reunion of 1980s keyboards and guitars finds the group picking up the pop-rock baton that Garbage dropped with an unsettling thud. Rock Steady's delegate of stalwart producers perfectly decorate the disc with their respective expertise; Ric Ocasek (new wave), Prince (R & B), Nellee Hooper (trip-hop), Sly & Robbie (dub) and William Orbit (trance) offer some staying power to music that's always been on the edge of disposable. Despite their disparate styles, the songs complement each other like stars and stripes. This is No Doubt's best album to date, and as they continue to expand their influences, the party only gets bigger. --Beth Massa

Chronique amazon.fr:
Avec ce cinquième album studio, les trois musiciens de No Doubt ne prennent aucun risque : ils resteront loin des feux de la rampe, dans l'ombre de Gwen Stefani, leur emblématique chanteuse sexy aux cheveux roses ou blonds platine. Sous l'influence du duo formé par Gwen Stefani et Eve le temps d'un single "Let Me Blow Ya Mind", le combo canadien dédaigne désormais son attirance ska-punk, terreau de sa renommée depuis 1995 pour négocier d'autres virages sur des riffs new wave de guitares claires et des vocaux sucrés. Entre la Jamaïque et Los Angeles, No Doubt navigue entre hip-hop donc avec les producteurs de The Neptunes ("Hellagood"), reggae ("Hey Baby") enregistré avec la section rythmique légendaire Sly & Robbie et electro-pop sous les conseils avisés de William Orbit ("Making Out") ou de Prince qui prête même sa voix sur ("Waiting Around"). Avec cette flopée de producteurs émérites au service de hits-singles qui font le grand écart entre rock et hip-hop, Rock Steady transforme la simple chanteuse Gwen Stefani en diva pop. --Sabrina Silamo

So much fun!!!:
This was the best CD that I've bought in a long time. Fun music that makes you want to dance. It's great for roadtrips.

pretty good CD:
if you like the reggae/ska style with hints of new wave from the 80's, this CD is for you. There's a lot of great dance jams and guitar ballads on this CD that have a lot of energy, and this period for No Doubt stands as one of my favourites today. My favourite tracks are Hella Good, Underneath it All, Hey Baby, Running and lots of others.

Did I say I love this music?! I must have been crazy!:
I bought this CD because these people seemed better than all the other alternative rock bands that I've heard (which are horrible!). But I DO NOT love it. I said that at first, but that must have been wishful thinking. Alternative rock is NOT my type of music. Here is a review of all the tracks so you'll understand better what I think of this band. Intro - I always skip this track, there's no point to it. Hella Good - The jumpiness in the rhythm and the boringness in the melody make it not a song I enjoy. Hey Baby - The songs I listen to from the mid-twentieth century never have banging in the background. Making Out - The fact that part of this is really spoken instead of sung makes it even worse than it would be otherwise. Underneath it All - Nice song. At least it would be so if there wasn't as much going on with the instruments. Detective - Way to fast and loud for me. Don't Let Me Down - One of the most rocking songs on the album. Not a quality that I would choose for a song. Start the Fire - A strange title for the sound of the song. Running - Pretty sweet, it's one of the slower songs. It doesn't really need that many instruments, though. In My Head - Melody is catchy but ugly. Platinum Blonde Life - Worst song on the album. Annoying and very rocking! Waiting Room - What a strange beat! I can't believe any song could have a beat like this. Rock Steady - Tone it down with the bass!

Catastrophic and almost suicidally depressing:
I will not dwell much on "Rock Steady," simply because such a throw-away piece of trash does not merit too much of my consideration or time. I loved No Doubt ever since I heard "Don't Speak," a beautiful song which I still fondly play. "Tragic Kingdom" was a unique album that I likewise love, and I have a better opinion of "Return of Saturn" than most - Gwen's solo songwriting effort ("Simple Kind Of Life") is one of the best songs the band ever put out. No Doubt will always be for me the talented and raw ska band who once made it big with a great album. Fast-forward to the present. Unlike most negative reviewers here, I still love Gwen Stefani, and didn't mind her collaborations with Moby and Eve in the summer of 2001. They were insignificant side projects, not too bad for what they are. But "Rock Steady" is a disaster. I will give a pass to "Running" and "Underneath It All," they're quite nice slow songs, I might even say I like them a lot. But the title track and the abysmally named "Hella Good" (more aptly titled "The Death Of Songwriting"), to pick on the easiest targets in terms of airplay, are musical crimes. The lot of it is mindless, repetitive, and unforgiveably bland garbage, which will be dumped soon enough in favor of the next easily consumable and nicely packaged mass entertainment (I would not dare call it music or art). While some may be tempted to get up and dance by "Rock Steady," I am tempted to lie down and cry. P.S. No Doubt's new single "It's My Life" is surprisingly good (I still like this band, I cannot help it), and will hopefully foreshadow a departure far, far away from the dark, gaping hole that is "Rock Steady."

Bleh:
I only liked a couple songs like: Running, Makeout, In My head and one or two others. I cannot stand to listen to Hey BABY. I liked the Tragic Kingdom, Beacon Street and Return of Saturn cd's better. I thinked they rushed too fast to do this cd. They had just released Return of Saturn and a little over a year later, this cd came out. Hopefully, this was just one cd they just didn't care to take seriously and just wanted to have fun. Let's hope for the next cd's, that they'll get back to the real No Doubt ways. P.S- This might sound mean, but maybe Gwen needs to have some relationship problems in order to release another cd that would sound as good as their previous ones.

• Rock Steady (Intro)
• Hella Good
• Hey Baby
• Making Out
• Underneath It All
• Detective
• Don't Let Me Down
• Start the Fire
• Running
• In My Head
• Platinum Blonde Life
• Waiting Room
• Rock Steady