Return of Saturn
Encyclopedia
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 eventually settled on working with producer Glen Ballard
. Creating the album became a tumultuous process lasting two years, during which there was dissension among band members and between the band and its label. The album was completed after the band returned to the studio and recorded what became two of the album's singles.
The album maintains the ska punk
and reggae
influences of the band's previous work, but with slower, more ballad-like songs. The lyrics to many of the songs describe singer Gwen Stefani
's pining for a more domestic life, contrasting that with her commitment to a music career.
Upon release, Return of Saturn received mixed reviews from music critics. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200
but was unable to measure up to the sales of Tragic Kingdom. The album produced four singles, only one of which charted on the Billboard Hot 100
. At the 43rd Grammy Awards, Return of Saturn was nominated for Best Rock Album
.
(1995), the band wrote more than twenty songs for a new album, influenced by artists such as The Cure
. Having toured extensively for two and a half years since the release of Tragic Kingdom, they initially had trouble producing material and decided to experiment with new sounds. Many of the songs were written in a rented house in Hollywood Hills
, Los Angeles
, California
, where bassist
Tony Kanal
was living. During early production in mid-1998 the band worked on seven tracks in Los Angeles with Matthew Wilder
, who had produced Tragic Kingdom, but had creative differences with him. They planned on going to New York
to work with producer Michael Beinhorn
, who had produced for alternative rock acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers
, Hole
, and Soundgarden
.
When scheduling conflicts arose with Beinhorn, the band interviewed several producers and decided on Glen Ballard
, who had produced Alanis Morissette
's Jagged Little Pill
(1995), because of pressure from manager Jimmy Iovine
and Ballard's belief in not using heavy production techniques. Ballard went through the band's forty demos
and ruled out half of them. They frequently missed due dates, arguing that hurrying the album to cash in on the success of Tragic Kingdom was unwise since three years had passed. In early 1999, No Doubt released "New
", co-produced by Talking Heads
member Jerry Harrison
, for the soundtrack to the 1999 film Go
.
By that July, the band stopped work on the album, intending to be done with the record. Interscope, however, recommended that they continue writing so they would have a more marketable single. The band was split when singer Gwen Stefani
offered to do so but drummer Adrian Young
and guitarist Tom Dumont
did not want to, hesitant to trust Interscope after it had sublicensed Tragic Kingdom to Trauma Records
. After a brief break, Dumont sent Stefani some of his demos as a peace offering. The band returned to the studio to create more upbeat songs and penned "Ex-Girlfriend
" and "Simple Kind of Life
". More recording, audio mixing
and audio mastering
were done late that year, and David LaChapelle
photographed the band for the album cover in January 2000.
The album's working title was originally announced as Magic's in the Makeup in May 1998 and later as Saturn Returns in November 1999. Stefani was confused by her feelings of depression and interest in Sylvia Plath
while recording the album. Her boyfriend Gavin Rossdale
told her that she was going through her Saturn return
. Saturn
's orbit takes 29.4 Earth years and, in astrology
, the time when Saturn returns to its position during a person's birth is believed to be a period of self-evaluation. Stefani was born October 3, 1969, and many of the songs were written during her Saturn return.
influences, while adding an alternative rock
feel and maintaining some of the band's ska
and reggae
sounds. Adrian Young
's drum part on "Simple Kind of Life" was mixed through low fidelity
filters to give it the sound of a lo-fi
power ballad. "Six Feet Under" and "Staring Problem" were described as a more self-aware return to the band's earlier material, a combination of work by New Wave band Missing Persons
and hard rock
band Van Halen
.
No Doubt experiments with several new styles on the album. "Ex-Girlfriend", which originally featured a Prince
-style funk
sound, was rewritten and includes rapped
vocals over piano and flamenco
guitar parts. After opening with Gabrial McNair
's jazz funeral
horn part over Young's beatboxing
, "Bathwater
" proceeds into a song written in swing time
. It was described as a combination of the band's 2 Tone
roots with the operatic slapstick
of Gilbert and Sullivan
. "Marry Me" features use of the tabla
, a pair of tuned hand drums prominent in India. Young and bassist Tony Kanal
's contributions were compared to the rhythm
of nu metal
music, and the fragmented progression of "Comforting Lie" was likened to the work of Korn
.
, reflected by images of oral contraceptives, a wedding cake and makeup on the album cover, as well as her romantic relationship with Rossdale. Her lyrics drew comparisons to the bitter, confessional styling of Hole
frontwoman Courtney Love
. "New" was written while the band was touring about the excitement of meeting Rossdale and her infatuation with him. Later compositions, however, discuss the problems that the two had maintaining a long-distance relationship
. "Ex-Girlfriend" discusses a failing relationship, and "Suspension Without Suspense" and "Home Now" detail feelings of resentment, loneliness, and indecision. On "Simple Kind of Life", she confesses to hoping for a mistake with her birth control
and a desire to leaving music for a domestic life. She contrasts this, however, with her need for independence:
s David Browne
characterized the album as filled with "smoother, layered mid-tempo ballads as creamily textured as extra-thick napoleon pastries
", but stated that Stefani's lyrics were too much of a throwback to the alternative rock scene of the early 1990s and contrasted with the boom of teen pop
. Robert Christgau
, writing for The Village Voice
, described the emotions Stefani expressed as shallow, and the NME
stated that her preoccupation with Rossdale was distracting and weakened the intense, Madonna
-like character she had established on Tragic Kingdom. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine
, however, gave it four and a half stars, calling it "a terrific, layered record that exceeds any expectations set by Tragic Kingdom". Barry Walters from Rolling Stone
referred to it as "a superstar follow-up that not only betters its predecessor but also radically departs from it." The publication included the album in its list of the top fifty albums of the year, describing it as "a record that charges ahead like gangbusters while biting its nails." Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine
commented that although the album did not have any successful singles, Return of Saturn was "a solid album and proof of a healthy, genre-breaking future for No Doubt."
In the United States the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200
, behind 'N Sync
's No Strings Attached, and sold 202,000 copies in its first week. The Recording Industry Association of America
certified Return of Saturn platinum in May 2000, and the album went on to sell 1.4 million copies. The album was successful in the modern rock
market and its first two singles, "New" and "Ex-Girlfriend" reached the top ten of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was less successful in the mainstream market, and "Simple Kind of Life" was the only single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100
, where it peaked at number thirty-eight. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album
at the 2001 Grammy Awards, but lost out to Foo Fighters
' There Is Nothing Left to Lose
. In Canada it peaked at number four on the Canadian Albums Chart
. The Canadian Recording Industry Association
awarded Return of Saturn a platinum certification in June 2000, denoting sales in excess of 100,000 copies.
Additional
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by the American rock
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...
, released on April 11, 2000 by 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:...
. After touring for two and a half years to promote their breakthrough third studio 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...
, No Doubt wrote several dozen songs for its follow-up and eventually settled on working with producer Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
. Creating the album became a tumultuous process lasting two years, during which there was dissension among band members and between the band and its label. The album was completed after the band returned to the studio and recorded what became two of the album's singles.
The album maintains the ska punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
influences of the band's previous work, but with slower, more ballad-like songs. The lyrics to many of the songs describe 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...
's pining for a more domestic life, contrasting that with her commitment to a music career.
Upon release, Return of Saturn received mixed reviews from music critics. It debuted at number two on the 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...
but was unable to measure up to the sales of Tragic Kingdom. The album produced four singles, only one of which charted 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...
. At the 43rd Grammy Awards, Return of Saturn was nominated for Best Rock Album
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre...
.
Background
After the success of No Doubt's breakthrough album Tragic KingdomTragic 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...
(1995), the band wrote more than twenty songs for a new album, influenced by artists such as The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
. Having toured extensively for two and a half years since the release of Tragic Kingdom, they initially had trouble producing material and decided to experiment with new sounds. Many of the songs were written in a rented house in Hollywood Hills
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
, 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...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
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...
was living. During early production in mid-1998 the band worked on seven tracks in Los Angeles with Matthew Wilder
Matthew Wilder
Matthew Wilder is an American musician, composer and record producer, best known for his 1983 Top 5 hit, "Break My Stride"....
, who had produced Tragic Kingdom, but had creative differences with him. They planned on going to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to work with producer Michael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn is an American musician and record producer.Beinhorn started his professional career as a musician, playing keyboards in Bill Laswell's Material during the 1980s...
, who had produced for alternative rock acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
, and Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
.
When scheduling conflicts arose with Beinhorn, the band interviewed several producers and decided on Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill , which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" amongst others, and is ranked by the Rolling Stone amongst The 500 Greatest Albums of...
, who had produced Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
's Jagged Little Pill
Jagged Little Pill
Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album by Canadian recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette. It was Morissette's first internationally released album, and her first studio album after the three year hiatus following her break with MCA Records. The album marked a shift from her style...
(1995), because of pressure from manager Jimmy Iovine
Jimmy Iovine
James "Jimmy" Iovine is an American music producer, entrepreneur and chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M.-Biography:...
and Ballard's belief in not using heavy production techniques. Ballard went through the band's forty 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...
and ruled out half of them. They frequently missed due dates, arguing that hurrying the album to cash in on the success of Tragic Kingdom was unwise since three years had passed. In early 1999, No Doubt released "New
New (song)
"New" is a song by the rock band No Doubt, written by Tom Dumont and Gwen Stefani for the Go soundtrack . It was later included on No Doubt's fourth studio album Return of Saturn .The song is heavily influenced by New Wave music...
", co-produced by Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
member Jerry Harrison
Jerry Harrison
Jerry Harrison is an American songwriter, musician and producer...
, for the soundtrack to the 1999 film Go
Go (1999 film)
Go is a 1999 comedy thriller film written by John August and directed by Doug Liman, with three intertwining plots that happen to involve one drug deal. The film stars William Fichtner, Katie Holmes, Jay Mohr, Sarah Polley and Scott Wolf and features Taye Diggs, Breckin Meyer, Timothy Olyphant,...
.
By that July, the band stopped work on the album, intending to be done with the record. Interscope, however, recommended that they continue writing so they would have a more marketable single. The band was split when 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...
offered to do so but drummer Adrian Young
Adrian Young
Adrian 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...
and 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...
did not want to, hesitant to trust Interscope after it had sublicensed Tragic Kingdom to Trauma Records
Trauma Records
Trauma Records is a Los Angeles independent record label created in 1993 by Paul Palmer and Rob Kahane. Trauma Records had a Joint Venture Agreement with Interscope Records that included financing and distribution through Interscope Records....
. After a brief break, Dumont sent Stefani some of his demos as a peace offering. The band returned to the studio to create more upbeat songs and penned "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...
" and "Simple Kind of Life
Simple Kind of Life
"Simple Kind of Life" is a pop rock ballad written by Gwen Stefani for No Doubt's fourth album Return of Saturn . The song contrasts Stefani's desire to settle down and start a family with her commitment to the band...
". More recording, 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...
and audio mastering
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
were done late that year, and David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.-Early life:...
photographed the band for the album cover in January 2000.
The album's working title was originally announced as Magic's in the Makeup in May 1998 and later as Saturn Returns in November 1999. Stefani was confused by her feelings of depression and interest in 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...
while recording the album. Her boyfriend 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...
told her that she was going through her Saturn return
Saturn return
In astrology, the Saturn return is an alleged phenomenon which is described as influencing a person's life development at 27 to 29 or 30-year intervals. These intervals or "returns" coincide with the approximate time it takes the planet Saturn to make one orbit around the sun, i.e. 29.4 years...
. Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
's orbit takes 29.4 Earth years and, in astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, the time when Saturn returns to its position during a person's birth is believed to be a period of self-evaluation. Stefani was born October 3, 1969, and many of the songs were written during her Saturn return.
Composition
Music
The music of Return of Saturn further explores No Doubt's New WaveNew Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
influences, while adding an alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
feel and maintaining some of the band's 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
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
sounds. Adrian Young
Adrian Young
Adrian 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...
's drum part on "Simple Kind of Life" was mixed through low fidelity
Low fidelity
Low fidelity or lo-fi describes a sound recording which contains technical flaws such as distortion, hum, or background noise, or limited frequency response...
filters to give it the sound of a lo-fi
Lo-fi music
Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...
power ballad. "Six Feet Under" and "Staring Problem" were described as a more self-aware return to the band's earlier material, a combination of work by New Wave band Missing Persons
Missing Persons
Missing Persons is an American band who plays a blend of New Wave and Pop rock. The band was founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, vocalist Dale Bozzio, and drummer Terry Bozzio. They went on to add bassist Patrick O'Hearn and keyboardist Chuck Wild. Dale's quirky voice...
and hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
.
No Doubt experiments with several new styles on the album. "Ex-Girlfriend", which originally featured a 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...
-style 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...
sound, was rewritten and includes rapped
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
vocals over piano and flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
guitar parts. After opening with Gabrial McNair
Gabrial McNair
Gabrial "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...
's jazz funeral
Jazz funeral
Jazz funeral is a common name for a funeral tradition with music which developed in New Orleans, Louisiana.The term "jazz funeral" was long in use by observers from elsewhere, but was generally disdained as inappropriate by most New Orleans musicians and practitioners of the tradition...
horn part over Young's beatboxing
Beatboxing
Beatboxing is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, and the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments...
, "Bathwater
Bathwater
"Bathwater" is a ska punk song written by Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, and Gwen Stefani for No Doubt's fourth studio album Return of Saturn . It was released as the album's fourth and final single on November 14, 2000.-Background and writing:...
" proceeds into a song written in swing time
Swing (jazz performance style)
In jazz and related musical styles, the term swing is used to describe the sense of propulsive rhythmic "feel" or "groove" created by the musical interaction between the performers, especially when the music creates a "visceral response" such as feet-tapping or head-nodding...
. It was described as a combination of the band's 2 Tone
2 Tone
2 Tone is a music genre created in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae, and New Wave. It was called 2 Tone because most of the bands were signed to 2 Tone Records at some point. Other labels associated with the 2 Tone sound were Stiff...
roots with the operatic slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
of Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
. "Marry Me" features use of the tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
, a pair of tuned hand drums prominent in India. Young and 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...
's contributions were compared to the rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
of nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
music, and the fragmented progression of "Comforting Lie" was likened to the work of Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
.
Lyrics
The album's lyrics depict Stefani's maturation and femininityFemininity
Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Though socially constructed, femininity is made up of both socially defined and biologically created factors...
, reflected by images of oral contraceptives, a wedding cake and makeup on the album cover, as well as her romantic relationship with Rossdale. Her lyrics drew comparisons to the bitter, confessional styling of Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
frontwoman Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
. "New" was written while the band was touring about the excitement of meeting Rossdale and her infatuation with him. Later compositions, however, discuss the problems that the two had maintaining a 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....
. "Ex-Girlfriend" discusses a failing relationship, and "Suspension Without Suspense" and "Home Now" detail feelings of resentment, loneliness, and indecision. On "Simple Kind of Life", she confesses to hoping for a mistake with her birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
and a desire to leaving music for a domestic life. She contrasts this, however, with her need for independence:
Reception
The album received positive reviews from music critics. Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment 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...
s David Browne
David Browne
David Browne is an American journalist and author. He was the resident music critic at Entertainment Weekly between 1990 and 2006. He was an editor at Music & Sound Output magazine and a music critic at the New York Daily News before EW...
characterized the album as filled with "smoother, layered mid-tempo ballads as creamily textured as extra-thick napoleon pastries
Mille-feuille
The mille-feuille , vanilla slice, cream slice, custard slice, also known as the Napoleon, is a pastry originating in France.Traditionally, a mille-feuille is made up of three layers of puff pastry , alternating with two layers of pastry cream , but sometimes whipped cream, or jam are substituted...
", but stated that Stefani's lyrics were too much of a throwback to the alternative rock scene of the early 1990s and contrasted with the boom of teen pop
Teen pop
Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards teenagers. Teen pop copies genres and styles such as pop, dance, R&B, hip hop, country and rock....
. Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
, writing for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, described the emotions Stefani expressed as shallow, and 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...
stated that her preoccupation with Rossdale was distracting and weakened the intense, Madonna
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...
-like character she had established on Tragic Kingdom. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
, however, gave it four and a half stars, calling it "a terrific, layered record that exceeds any expectations set by Tragic Kingdom". Barry Walters from Rolling Stone
Rolling 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...
referred to it as "a superstar follow-up that not only betters its predecessor but also radically departs from it." The publication included the album in its list of the top fifty albums of the year, describing it as "a record that charges ahead like gangbusters while biting its nails." Sal Cinquemani from 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 :...
commented that although the album did not have any successful singles, Return of Saturn was "a solid album and proof of a healthy, genre-breaking future for No Doubt."
In the United States the album debuted at number two on the 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...
, behind 'N Sync
'N Sync
N Sync was an American boy band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich, *NSYNC consisted of JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick...
's No Strings Attached, and sold 202,000 copies in its first week. 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...
certified Return of Saturn platinum in May 2000, and the album went on to sell 1.4 million copies. The album was successful in the modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
market and its first two singles, "New" and "Ex-Girlfriend" reached the top ten of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was less successful in the mainstream market, and "Simple Kind of Life" was the only single to chart 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...
, where it peaked at number thirty-eight. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album
Grammy Award for Best Rock Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre...
at the 2001 Grammy Awards, but lost out to Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
' There Is Nothing Left to Lose
There Is Nothing Left to Lose
Reviews for There Is Nothing Left to Lose have generally been positive. Rolling Stones Greg Kot rated the album three-and-a-half out of five stars. He started by explaining that "the first thirty seconds [...] are a bridge to singer Dave Grohl's past"...
. In Canada it peaked at number four on the 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...
. The Canadian Recording Industry Association
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:...
awarded Return of Saturn a platinum certification in June 2000, denoting sales in excess of 100,000 copies.
Track listing
- "Too Late Instrumental" is a hidden trackHidden trackIn the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
after "Dark Blue", a piano instrumental of "Too Late". On international versions, this is after the bonus track.
Performance credits
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...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - 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...
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, 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
- Stephen Bradley – 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...
, trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, 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... - Mike GarsonMike GarsonMike Garson is an American pianist, most notable for his work with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Billy Corgan, Free Flight, and The Smashing Pumpkins.- Early career :...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - 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...
– synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, piano, trombone, keyboard - Theo Mondle – tablaTablaThe tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
Technical credits
- Production: No Doubt, Glen Ballard, Jerry Harrison, Matthew Wilder
- Engineering: Sean Beavan, Scott Campbell, Bryan Carrigan, Karl Derfler, 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...
, Thom Panunzio - Mixing: Jack Joseph PuigJack Joseph PuigJack Joseph Puig is a Grammy Award-winning music engineer and producer with a long track record of successful productions, including the mid-1990s production of Tonic. Puig also worked with Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Green Day, The Counting Crows, No Doubt,...
- Mastering: Bob LudwigBob LudwigBob Ludwig is an American mastering engineer.He is a well known and respected figure within the music industry. His name is credited on the covers of albums released across the world, and he has won numerous awards....
- A&R: Tom Whalley
- Synthesizer programming: Michael Boddicker, Bryan Carrigan, Gabrial McNair
- String arrangements: Paul Buckmaster
- Horn arrangements: Gabrial McNair
- Production coordination: Jolie Levine-Aller
- Production assistance: Rachel Cleverley
- Package coordination: Cindy Cooper
- Web service: Ray Ibe
- Chart preparation: Orion Crawford
- Art coordination: Joe Mama-Nitzberg
- Design: Robert Fisher
- Photography: David LaChapelle, Joe Mama-Nitzberg
- Personal assistant: Chris Fenn
Weekly charts
| Chart (2000) | 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... |
11 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 18 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... (Flanders) |
44 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... (Wallonia) |
45 |
| 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... |
4 |
| 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... |
24 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 5 |
| 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... |
21 |
| 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... |
5 |
| 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... |
14 |
| 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... |
35 |
| 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 .... |
7 |
| 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... |
8 |
| 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... |
31 |
| 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... |
2 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| 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 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... |
Platinum |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 73 |