Rock Steady
Encyclopedia
Rock Steady is the fifth album by American rock
band No Doubt
. It was released on December 11, 2001 on 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.
As a result of these collaborations, Rock Steady touches on many musical styles, focusing on dub
, synthpop
, and dance
styles more so than in the past. The band attempted to capture the vibe of Jamaican dancehall
music, and experimented with writing songs without its standard instrumentation. Singer 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 music critics, and it was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album
at the 45th Grammy Awards. The album was a commercial comeback for the band, surpassing sales of their previous offering, Return of Saturn
, released in 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
".
, 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. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Bounty Killer
, Cutty Ranks
, and Mr. Vegas, 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. It worked with producer Philip Steir
at Toast Studios in San Francisco during this time, where the beginnings of "Hey Baby
" emerged. 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." 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.
The next month, Stefani left Los Angeles for London to visit boyfriend Gavin Rossdale, and the band traveled with her to finish recording "Detective". There, they worked with Eurythmics
member David A. Stewart
and wrote the song "Underneath It All
" in only ten minutes. In March, No Doubt traveled to Jamaica, staying at the Blue Lagoon in Port Antonio
. The band "spent most of the time swimming and getting sunburned and drinking and smoking and recording a little music", according to Dumont. The group would often have Red Stripe
beers or rum and cokes with jerk
food for breakfast; on one occasion, Dumont passed out from heavy drinking
while recording a track. They began work in the mid-afternoon and worked into the night, with an after-party following the session. 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, collaborating with producers Nellee Hooper
and Timbaland
. 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. The band then worked with producer and former Cars
frontman Ric Ocasek
in late June. 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. 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. In late August, the band returned to London for Mark "Spike" Stent to polish off the songs with audio mixing
.
and bass guitar
than the band's previous work. Many of the album's sounds come from electronic keyboard
effects, which bassist Tony Kanal
called "Devo
-y bleeps and Star Wars
noises". Dumont commented that many of the effects came from being unfamiliar with the equipment and "just twiddling knobs". 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
. Richard B. Simon of MTV News
asserted that the sound of Rock Steady was part of the decade nostalgia of the 1980s retro movement.
Rock Steady 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. The latter, written using backward string samples
, also contains the band's traditional ska
and reggae sounds. 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". "Platinum Blonde Life" was so strongly influenced by The Cars' work that Kanal apologized to Ocasek, though Ocasek apologized back that he hadn't seen the similarity. The synthpop
ballad "Running
" was composed on a Yamaha
keyboard purchased for Kanal in the 1980s and drew inspiration from the Thompson Twins
. Its simple keyboard riff
drew comparisons to the work of Depeche Mode
, Erasure
, and Yazoo
.
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. "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
". William Orbit, best known for his work on Madonna's
electronica
-oriented 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
. The album's title track closes the album by tying together the many musical themes. It is slow dub
song, with acid house
-style bleeps and moans.
Stefani's vocals range from innocent to seductive, sometimes transitioning from one to the other within a song. Her lyrics are based on her relationship with Rossdale, whom she married less than a year after the album's release. Stefani is openhearted and unreserved as on Return of Saturn, but her approach becomes more immediate and instinctive. The lyrics are more youthful than those on Return of Saturn and detail partying and feelings of lust. 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". On "Hey Baby" she gives an innocuous account of the debauchery between her bandmates and their groupies during parties, as she observes the party. The lyrics of "Underneath It All" question whether or not Rossdale is a good match for her, 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.
said it was "impressive to hear No Doubt summon the musical imagination to transcend the formula that used to imprison them" and ranked Rock Steady number 316 on its 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Despite this, in 2009 Rolling Stone neglected to include the album in its Top 100 Albums of the 2000s. Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic referred to the album as "a good, hooky, stylish mainstream pop record". Entertainment Weekly
remarked that there was "something oddly flimsy" about No Doubt that prevented it from becoming a milestone in pop music, but that the band's "party-throwing skills improve with each new gathering." Stylus Magazine
commented that the band sounded like it had "growing pains" and was unsure of its place in mainstream rock, predicting that No Doubt would either become a singles band "or go all Radiohead
on us and make an album of avant
-jazz
-electro-acid-funk-polka
."
Many reviewers focused on the large number of styles that Rock Steady incorporates. PopMatters
, noting that Rock Steady maintains the introspection of Return of Saturn without the latter's "longing and wistfulness", stated that "it is to No Doubt's credit...that they manage to keep the album together with little more than their collective personalities." Blender
, however, called it "an intermittently engaging but overall shapeless collection...the product of happy-go-lucky musicians who once cavorted in bad track suits but now spend their days commuting between London, Jamaica and Los Angeles seeking the wisdom of expensive studio geeks." Nevertheless, Blender included the album in its 2003 list of "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die!". The NME
viewed the album's "enormous waterfront of styles" positively, noting that it had many strong potential singles, but found that some of the "empty-headed guitar pop" on the second half of the album spoiled the listening experience. Time
stated that Rock Steady was able to integrate ska, pop, New Wave, and dancehall "without sounding contrived or chaotic". It added that though the album lacked the energy and sales of No Doubt's 1995 breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom
, Rock Steady was "their greatest effort to date...the sound of band dropping pretense to realize its potential." Slant Magazine
included Rock Steady on its list of 50 Essential Pop Albums, commenting that "not since Blondie
...has a rock act so effortlessly, irreverently, and fashionably skidded across so many different genre boundaries at one time." LAUNCHcast
said that "even with so many producers attempting to steer this bus along the superstar highway, they end up in a better-than-most parking lot".
Rock Steady sold approximately three million copies. NME reviewer Alex Needham compared the album's revival of No Doubt's popularity to the performance of Madonna's 1998 album Ray of Light. The album debuted and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200
, selling 255,000 copies in its first week. By 2002 it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album
but lost to Norah Jones
' Come Away with Me
. The lead single "Hey Baby" and third single "Underneath It All" won the award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2003 and 2004 Grammy Awards, respectively.
The album did not perform as strongly outside the United States. In September 2002, Rock Steady was certified platinum in Canada, and in the United Kingdom, the album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry
. It peaked at number fifteen on the ARIA Albums Chart
and spent nine non-consecutive weeks in the top forty. The album was listed at number ninety-seven on the 2002 Australian Recording Industry Association
end-of-year chart, and was certified gold by the ARIA.
Following the success of the regular edition, Rock Steady had two special edition
re-releases in October 2002, each of which had a bonus CD. The two-song CD 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". The four-song CD includes a remix of "Hey Baby" featuring OutKast
and Killer Mike
; 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
; and a remix of Return of Saturns lead single "Ex-Girlfriend
" made by Philip Steir
, who helped produce "Hey Baby". The songs from the two-song bonus disc were released in North American iTunes Store
s, 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.
Rock Steady produced the band's most successful singles. "Hey Baby" preceded the album with an October 2001 release. It set a record for the band when it reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100
. 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. The next single, "Hella Good", was released in April 2002. It was somewhat less successful and peaked at number thirteen. It was followed by "Underneath It All", which was released that August. The single is No Doubt's most successful American single to date, peaking at number three on the Hot 100, and like "Hey Baby", it managed to top the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart. The fourth and final single was "Running" in April 2003. Peaking at number sixty-two, "Running" became No Doubt's lowest position on the Hot 100 to date.
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 0304s retro tribute to New Wave music with that on Rock Steady. 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 0304s use of "jumpy bubblegum choruses and boop-boop-beeping keyboards" as descendants of No Doubt's production.
4-song bonus CD
Additional personnel
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
. It was released on December 11, 2001 on Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
. The band began writing the album with initial recording sessions in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and San Francisco, then traveled to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
to work with various performers, songwriters, and producers. Sly & Robbie, The Neptunes
The Neptunes
The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
, and William Orbit
William Orbit
William Orbit is an English musician, composer and record producer, perhaps best known to most for his work on Madonna's album Ray of Light. He has also co-produced several unreleased Madonna songs originally recorded for other albums...
were among the many artists the band collaborated with on the album.
As a result of these collaborations, Rock Steady touches on many musical styles, focusing on dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
, and dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
styles more so than in the past. The band attempted to capture the vibe of Jamaican dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
music, and experimented with writing songs without its standard instrumentation. Singer Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
wrote her lyrics quickly in comparison to previous records, and dealt with topics ranging from partying to ruminations on her relationship with Gavin Rossdale
Gavin Rossdale
Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush as well as an actor. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He...
.
Rock Steady received mostly positive reviews from music critics, and it was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album
Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop music albums...
at the 45th Grammy Awards. The album was a commercial comeback for the band, surpassing sales of their previous offering, Return of Saturn
Return of Saturn
Return of Saturn is the fourth studio album by the American rock band No Doubt, released on April 11, 2000 by Interscope Records. After touring for two and a half years to promote their breakthrough third studio album, Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt wrote several dozen songs for its follow-up and...
, released in 2000. Rock Steady spawned four singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, two of which won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals was awarded between 1966 and 2011...
. Rolling Stone ranked Rock Steady number 316 on its 2003 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
".
Background and production
Every night on the tour to support their 2000 album Return of SaturnReturn of Saturn
Return of Saturn is the fourth studio album by the American rock band No Doubt, released on April 11, 2000 by Interscope Records. After touring for two and a half years to promote their breakthrough third studio album, Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt wrote several dozen songs for its follow-up and...
, No Doubt threw after-show parties where people danced to Jamaican dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
music. During a discussion over dinner in late 2000, the band members decided they wanted to explore dancehall-style rhythms for their next album. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Bounty Killer
Bounty Killer
Bounty Killer is a Grammy nominated Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. He is the founder of a dancehall collective known as The Alliance.-Early life and career:...
, Cutty Ranks
Cutty Ranks
Philip Thomas, , better known as Cutty Ranks is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist.-Biography:Thomas was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1965. He began his career as a reggae artist at the age of 14 with the Gemini sound system, before moving on to work with Tony Rebel's Rebel Tone and Papa Roots,...
, and Mr. Vegas, the band began work on the album in January 2001 by creating beats
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
on Pro Tools
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
at guitarist Tom Dumont
Tom Dumont
Tom Dumont is an American guitarist and producer. Dumont is a member of third wave ska band No Doubt, and during the band's hiatus, he began Invincible Overlord as a side project and produced Matt Costa's Songs We Sing.-Life and career:The Dumont family lived in Irvine, California...
's apartment. The group often tried recreating beats from other song files on the computer, which resulted in modified versions of the original rhythms. It worked with producer Philip Steir
Philip Steir
Philip Steir is a musician, remixer, composer and music producer.- Life and career :As a drummer, he played in the critically acclaimed band Consolidated he co-founded, which was signed to Nettwerk Records and later London Records. Consolidated released five albums between 1990-1996...
at Toast Studios in San Francisco during this time, where the beginnings of "Hey Baby
Hey Baby (No Doubt song)
"Hey Baby" is a song written by Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, and Bounty Killer for No Doubt's fifth studio album Rock Steady . Released as the album's lead single, the song is heavily influenced by the Jamaican dancehall music present at No Doubt's post-show parties and tour bus lounges...
" emerged. When writing lyrics for previous albums, Stefani typically read works by Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
that would make her depressed "or find different words that inspire me." 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
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
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.
The next month, Stefani left Los Angeles for London to visit boyfriend Gavin Rossdale, and the band traveled with her to finish recording "Detective". There, they worked with Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
member David A. Stewart
David A. Stewart
David Allan Stewart , often known as Dave Stewart, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics. He is usually credited as David A. Stewart, to avoid confusion with other musicians named "Dave Stewart".-Early life:Stewart was born in Sunderland,...
and wrote the song "Underneath It All
Underneath It All
The song is a love song composed in the key of E major. It is written in common time and moves slowly at 69 beats per minute. Stefani avoids the heavy vocal vibrato that she often uses. Her vocal range spans under an octave and a half during the song, from F#3 to B4.The song opens with a line...
" in only ten minutes. In March, No Doubt traveled to Jamaica, staying at the Blue Lagoon in Port Antonio
Port Antonio
Port Antonio is the capital of the parish of Portland on the northeastern coast of Jamaica, about 60 miles from Kingston. It had a population of 12,285 in 1982 and 13,246 in 1991...
. The band "spent most of the time swimming and getting sunburned and drinking and smoking and recording a little music", according to Dumont. The group would often have Red Stripe
Red Stripe
Red Stripe is a Jamaican lager beer whose logo is a bold, diagonal red stripe. It is brewed by Desnoes & Geddes Limited, originally a soft drink manufacturer incorporated on July 31, 1918, by Kingston, Jamaica natives Eugene Peter Desnoes and Thomas Hargreaves Geddes...
beers or rum and cokes with jerk
Jamaican jerk spice
Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. Jerk seasoning is traditionally applied to pork and chicken. Modern recipes also apply jerk spice mixes to fish, shrimp, shellfish, beef, sausage,...
food for breakfast; on one occasion, Dumont passed out from heavy drinking
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
while recording a track. They began work in the mid-afternoon and worked into the night, with an after-party following the session. The group collaborated with Sly & Robbie, who produced "Underneath It All" and "Hey Baby
Hey Baby (No Doubt song)
"Hey Baby" is a song written by Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, and Bounty Killer for No Doubt's fifth studio album Rock Steady . Released as the album's lead single, the song is heavily influenced by the Jamaican dancehall music present at No Doubt's post-show parties and tour bus lounges...
" and brought in dancehall toasters Lady Saw
Lady Saw
Lady Saw is a Jamaican reggae singer, known as the queen of dancehall.-Biography:...
and Bounty Killer, and Steely & Clevie
Steely & Clevie
Steely & Clevie, aka Wycliffe Johnson and Cleveland Browne, was a Jamaican dancehall reggae production duo. It worked with artists such as the Specials, Gregory Peck , Bounty Killer, Elephant Man and No Doubt....
, who produced "Start the Fire".
The band returned from Jamaica and resumed work in June, collaborating with producers Nellee Hooper
Nellee Hooper
Nellee Hooper is a British producer/remixer/composer best known for his work with Björk, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Sinéad O'Connor, Garbage, Andrea Corr, U2, Sneaker Pimps, Soul II Soul and Massive Attack...
and Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
. The Timbaland track, titled "It's a Fight", and a Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
-produced song titled "Wicked Day" were excluded from the album because their hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
sounds did not work well on the album. The band then worked with producer and former Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
frontman Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....
in late June. 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. The band and its A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
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. In late August, the band returned to London for Mark "Spike" Stent to polish off the songs with audio mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
.
Composition
The band members often did not play their standard instruments when working on the songs for Rock Steady. As a result, the album's instrumentation contains less guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
than the band's previous work. Many of the album's sounds come from electronic keyboard
Electronic keyboard
An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
effects, which bassist Tony Kanal
Tony Kanal
Tony Kanal is an English musician, record producer and songwriter. Kanal is the bassist for the American rock band No Doubt...
called "Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
-y bleeps and Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
noises". Dumont commented that many of the effects came from being unfamiliar with the equipment and "just twiddling knobs". Dumont created an effect similar to that of an echo chamber
Echo chamber
thumb|right|Echo chamber of the Dresden University of Technologythumb|right|Hamilton Mausoleum has a spectacularly long lasting unplanned echoAn echo chamber is a hollow enclosure used to produce echoing sounds, usually for recording purposes...
by placing a microphone inside a metal garbage can with the can's open end facing a drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. Richard B. Simon of MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
asserted that the sound of Rock Steady was part of the decade nostalgia of the 1980s retro movement.
Rock Steady maintains many of the styles present in No Doubt's previous work, while introducing influences from the music of Jamaica
Music of Jamaica
The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles. Jamaica's music culture is a fusion of elements from the United States , Africa, and neighboring Caribbean islands such as...
. "Hey Baby", "Underneath It All" and "Start the Fire" all feature dancehall and ragga, an electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
-oriented subgenre, as well as guest toasters. The latter, written using backward string samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, also contains the band's traditional ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and reggae sounds. 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". "Platinum Blonde Life" was so strongly influenced by The Cars' work that Kanal apologized to Ocasek, though Ocasek apologized back that he hadn't seen the similarity. The synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
ballad "Running
Running (No Doubt song)
"Running" is a synthpop song written by Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani for No Doubt's fourth studio album Rock Steady and was released worldwide as the album's fourth and final single on July 1, 2003...
" was composed on a Yamaha
Yamaha
Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...
keyboard purchased for Kanal in the 1980s and drew inspiration from the Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
. Its simple keyboard riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
drew comparisons to the work of Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
, Erasure
Erasure
Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
, and Yazoo
Yazoo (band)
Yazoo are a British synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex. They had a number of Top 10 hits in the UK charts in the early 1980s...
.
Because of the number of collaborations, the album touches on several other styles. "Waiting Room", a song written and sung with Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
for Return of Saturn, evokes his R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
style over a drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
beat. "Hella Good
Hella Good
"Hella Good" is a song written by Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, and The Neptunes for No Doubt's fifth studio album Rock Steady . The song draws influence from electro, rock, and funk music...
", an electro rock song co-written with hip hop production
Hip hop production
Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music. Though the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music, it's most commonly used to refer to the instrumental, non-lyrical aspects of hip hop. This means that hip hop producers are the instrumentalists involved in a work...
duo The Neptunes
The Neptunes
The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
, is inspired by the funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
songs of the late 1970s such as Queen's
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
"Another One Bites the Dust
Another One Bites the Dust
"Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the English rock band Queen. Written by bass guitarist John Deacon, the song featured on the group's eighth studio album The Game . The song was a worldwide hit, charting number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100, number two on the R&B charts and...
" and the Commodores
Commodores
The Commodores are an American funk/soul band of the 1970s and 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for The Jackson 5 while on tour...
' "Brick House
Brick House (song)
"Brick House" is a funk song from the Commodores' 1977 album Commodores and is one of their most popular songs. The single peaked at #5 in the U.S. and #32 in the UK pop charts.-Creation and recording:...
". William Orbit, best known for his work on Madonna's
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
-oriented Ray of Light
Ray of Light
Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 3, 1998 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. After giving birth to her daughter Lourdes, Madonna collaborated with Patrick Leonard and William Orbit in developing the album...
, incorporates trance music
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
in the production of "Making Out". "Detective", one of the five tracks produced by Hooper, takes slight influence from pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. The album's title track closes the album by tying together the many musical themes. It is slow dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
song, with acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
-style bleeps and moans.
Stefani's vocals range from innocent to seductive, sometimes transitioning from one to the other within a song. Her lyrics are based on her relationship with Rossdale, whom she married less than a year after the album's release. Stefani is openhearted and unreserved as on Return of Saturn, but her approach becomes more immediate and instinctive. The lyrics are more youthful than those on Return of Saturn and detail partying and feelings of lust. An overarching theme on the album is Stefani's impatience in the couple's long-distance relationship
Long-distance relationship
A long-distance relationship is typically an intimate relationship that takes place when the partners are separated by a considerable distance....
. She discusses wanting to see Rossdale on "Making Out" and "Waiting Room", and she reveals her distrust in Rossdale on "In My Head". On "Hey Baby" she gives an innocuous account of the debauchery between her bandmates and their groupies during parties, as she observes the party. The lyrics of "Underneath It All" question whether or not Rossdale is a good match for her, 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.
Critical reception
The album received generally positive reviews from critics. Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said it was "impressive to hear No Doubt summon the musical imagination to transcend the formula that used to imprison them" and ranked Rock Steady number 316 on its 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Despite this, in 2009 Rolling Stone neglected to include the album in its Top 100 Albums of the 2000s. Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic referred to the album as "a good, hooky, stylish mainstream pop record". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
remarked that there was "something oddly flimsy" about No Doubt that prevented it from becoming a milestone in pop music, but that the band's "party-throwing skills improve with each new gathering." Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
commented that the band sounded like it had "growing pains" and was unsure of its place in mainstream rock, predicting that No Doubt would either become a singles band "or go all Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
on us and make an album of avant
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
-jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
-electro-acid-funk-polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
."
Many reviewers focused on the large number of styles that Rock Steady incorporates. PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
, noting that Rock Steady maintains the introspection of Return of Saturn without the latter's "longing and wistfulness", stated that "it is to No Doubt's credit...that they manage to keep the album together with little more than their collective personalities." Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
, however, called it "an intermittently engaging but overall shapeless collection...the product of happy-go-lucky musicians who once cavorted in bad track suits but now spend their days commuting between London, Jamaica and Los Angeles seeking the wisdom of expensive studio geeks." Nevertheless, Blender included the album in its 2003 list of "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die!". The NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
viewed the album's "enormous waterfront of styles" positively, noting that it had many strong potential singles, but found that some of the "empty-headed guitar pop" on the second half of the album spoiled the listening experience. Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
stated that Rock Steady was able to integrate ska, pop, New Wave, and dancehall "without sounding contrived or chaotic". It added that though the album lacked the energy and sales of No Doubt's 1995 breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom
Tragic Kingdom
Tragic Kingdom is the third studio album by the American third wave ska band No Doubt. It was released on October 10, 1995, on Trauma Records, a division of Interscope Records. The album was produced by Matthew Wilder, mixed by Paul Palmer, and recorded in 11 studios in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
, Rock Steady was "their greatest effort to date...the sound of band dropping pretense to realize its potential." Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
included Rock Steady on its list of 50 Essential Pop Albums, commenting that "not since Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
...has a rock act so effortlessly, irreverently, and fashionably skidded across so many different genre boundaries at one time." LAUNCHcast
LAUNCHcast
Yahoo! Music Radio is an Internet radio service offered by CBS Radio through Yahoo! Music. The service, formerly offered by LAUNCH Media, and originally developed by Todd Beaupré and Jeff Boulter, debuted on November 11, 1999, and was purchased by Yahoo! in October, 2001...
said that "even with so many producers attempting to steer this bus along the superstar highway, they end up in a better-than-most parking lot".
Release and impact
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling 255,000 copies in its first week. By 2002 it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album
Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop music albums...
but lost to Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
' Come Away with Me
Come Away with Me
Come Away with Me is the debut album of pianist and singer Norah Jones, released February 26, 2002 on Blue Note Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at New York City's Sorcerer Sound Studio and Shokan's Allaire Studios in 2001...
. The lead single "Hey Baby" and third single "Underneath It All" won the award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2003 and 2004 Grammy Awards, respectively.
The album did not perform as strongly outside the United States. In September 2002, Rock Steady was certified platinum in Canada, and in the United Kingdom, the album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
. It peaked at number fifteen on the ARIA Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
and spent nine non-consecutive weeks in the top forty. The album was listed at number ninety-seven on the 2002 Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
end-of-year chart, and was certified gold by the ARIA.
Following the success of the regular edition, Rock Steady had two special edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
re-releases in October 2002, each of which had a bonus CD. The two-song CD features acoustic live performances of "Underneath It All" and "Just a Girl
Just a Girl
"Just a Girl" is a song written by Gwen Stefani and Tom Dumont for No Doubt's third album Tragic Kingdom. The song was released in 1995 as the album's lead single and helped the band break into mainstream music, peaking at number 23 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.Upon release in the UK in 1996 the...
" recorded at 1Live
1LIVE
1LIVE is a radio network by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting corporation in Germany. It specialises in popular music aimed at the 14-39 age bracket. The average age of listeners is 34.- History :...
in Cologne, Germany in June 2002 as well as the music video for "Underneath It All". The four-song CD includes a remix of "Hey Baby" featuring OutKast
OutKast
Outkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
and Killer Mike
Killer Mike
Michael Render , better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, signed to Grind Time Official through the SMC/Fontana Distribution...
; another remix by F.A.B.Z.; Roger Sanchez
Roger Sanchez
Roger Sanchez, also known as Roger S. and The S Man, is a Grammy award-winning American House music DJ who has scored many hits in the European and World Charts...
's remix of "Hella Good", which won a Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
The Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical is an honor presented to producers for quality remixed recordings at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
; and a remix of Return of Saturns lead single "Ex-Girlfriend
Ex-Girlfriend (song)
"Ex-Girlfriend" is a song written by Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani for No Doubt's fourth studio album Return of Saturn . The song was released as the album's first official single in mid-2000 and it was moderately successful, reaching the top 40 in most countries.-Background and...
" made by Philip Steir
Philip Steir
Philip Steir is a musician, remixer, composer and music producer.- Life and career :As a drummer, he played in the critically acclaimed band Consolidated he co-founded, which was signed to Nettwerk Records and later London Records. Consolidated released five albums between 1990-1996...
, who helped produce "Hey Baby". The songs from the two-song bonus disc were released in North American iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
s, and those from the four-song bonus disc were released in other countries. Rock Steady Live
Rock Steady Live
Rock Steady Live is a video album by American ska punk band No Doubt, released on DVD on November 25, 2003 under the Interscope records label. The DVD was directed by Sophie Muller. It is a recording of two of No Doubt's concerts during their Rock Steady Tour in 2002 to promote their fifth studio...
, a live DVD of No Doubt performing in 2002 in support of Rock Steady, was released in November 2003.
Rock Steady produced the band's most successful singles. "Hey Baby" preceded the album with an October 2001 release. It set a record for the band when it reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. 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. The next single, "Hella Good", was released in April 2002. It was somewhat less successful and peaked at number thirteen. It was followed by "Underneath It All", which was released that August. The single is No Doubt's most successful American single to date, peaking at number three on the Hot 100, and like "Hey Baby", it managed to top the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart. The fourth and final single was "Running" in April 2003. Peaking at number sixty-two, "Running" became No Doubt's lowest position on the Hot 100 to date.
When singer-songwriter Jewel
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...
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 0304s retro tribute to New Wave music with that on Rock Steady. Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
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 0304s use of "jumpy bubblegum choruses and boop-boop-beeping keyboards" as descendants of No Doubt's production.
Track listing
2-song bonus CD- "Underneath It All" (live) – 3:44
- "Just a Girl" (live) – 3:32
- "Underneath It All" (video)
4-song bonus CD
- "Hey Baby" featuring OutKastOutKastOutkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
and Killer MikeKiller MikeMichael Render , better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, signed to Grind Time Official through the SMC/Fontana Distribution...
(dirty version) – 4:10 - "Hey Baby" (The Homeboy Mix) – 3:50
- "Hella Good" (Roger'sRoger SanchezRoger Sanchez, also known as Roger S. and The S Man, is a Grammy award-winning American House music DJ who has scored many hits in the European and World Charts...
Release Yourself Mix) – 7:16 - "Ex-GirlfriendEx-Girlfriend (song)"Ex-Girlfriend" is a song written by Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani for No Doubt's fourth studio album Return of Saturn . The song was released as the album's first official single in mid-2000 and it was moderately successful, reaching the top 40 in most countries.-Background and...
" (The Psycho Ex Mix) – 7:42 - "Hey Baby" (video)
- "Hella Good" (video)
- "Underneath It All" (video)
Enhanced content
- "Hey Baby" Video
- Rock Steady Screensaver
- The Making of Rock Steady
Personnel
No Doubt- Tom DumontTom DumontTom Dumont is an American guitarist and producer. Dumont is a member of third wave ska band No Doubt, and during the band's hiatus, he began Invincible Overlord as a side project and produced Matt Costa's Songs We Sing.-Life and career:The Dumont family lived in Irvine, California...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Tony KanalTony KanalTony Kanal is an English musician, record producer and songwriter. Kanal is the bassist for the American rock band No Doubt...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Gwen StefaniGwen StefaniGwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
– vocals - Adrian YoungAdrian YoungAdrian Samuel Young is the drummer for the rock band No Doubt.-Biography:Young's parents were hippies. He has four brothers: Alex, Damian, Jeff and Aaron. His father is a teacher in Cypress CA and his stepmother, Jeanne, is currently suffering from ALS...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Additional personnel
- Bounty Killer – performer
- Lady Saw – performer
- Gabrial McNairGabrial McNairGabrial "Gabe" McNair is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, most famous for his work in No Doubt since 1993 as a trombonist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist. He recorded and toured with Green Day during the Nimrod and Warning tours, playing trombone and tenor saxophone...
– tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Ric OcasekRic OcasekRic Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....
– keyboards - Andy Potts – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- PrincePrince (musician)Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
– keyboards, vocals - Robbie Shakespeare – bass
- Django Stewart – saxophone
Production
- Producers: No Doubt, Nellee Hooper, Ric Ocasek, William Orbit, Prince, Sly & Robbie, Steely & Clevie, Philip Steir, Mark "Spike" Stent
- Executive producers: Brian Jobson, Wayne JobsonWayne JobsonWayne Jobson , also known as Native Wayne, is a Jamaican-American Grammy-winning record producer of European ancestry. He has worked with such artists as No Doubt, Gregory Isaacs and Toots & the Maytals. He hosts the weekly radio show "Alter Native" every Sunday afternoon 4pm - 6pm on Indie 103.1...
- Engineers: Rory Baker, Hans Buff, Daniel Chase, Greg Collins, Count, Karl Derfler, Tom Dumont, Simon Gogerly, Alain JohannesAlain JohannesAlain Johannes Moschulski is a guitarist and, along with his late partner Natasha Shneider and drummer Jack Irons, a founding member of the band Eleven...
, Tony Kanal, Tkae Mendez - Assistant engineers: Jeff Kanan, Anthony Kilhoffer, Steve Mandel, Ian Rossiter, Juan Pablo Velasco, Jennifer Young
- Mixing: Matt Fields, Mark "Spike" Stent, David Treahearn, Keith Uddin
- Mixing programmers: John Gould, Wayne Wilkins
- Mastering: Brian Gardner
- A&R: Mark Williams
- Programming: Ned Douglas, Tom Dumont, Sly Dunbar, Tony Kanal, Sean Spuehler, Gwen Stefani, Philip Steir
- Art conception: Gwen Stefani
- Design: Jolie Clemens
- Layout design: Jolie Clemens
- Photography: Shawn Mortenson, Frank Ockenfels
- Package coordinators: Cindy Cooper, Ekaterina Kenney
Weekly charts
| Chart (2001–03) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
15 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 12 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
21 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
66 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 34 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
79 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
13 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary.... |
30 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
53 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
17 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
8 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
52 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
33 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
43 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
9 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
Gold |
| Canada Music Canada Music Canada was a Canadian music television miniseries which aired approximately monthly on CBC Television from 1966 to 1967.-Premise:This series featured various special productions of music and dance, from classical to modern styles.-Scheduling:... |
Platinum |
| United Kingdom British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Silver |
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
2× Platinum |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 97 |
| US Billboard 200 | 25 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (2000–09) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 166 |