Return of Saturn

Infobox Album |
Name = Return of Saturn
Type = studio
Artist = No Doubt


Released = April 11, 2000
Recorded = 1998–1999
Length = 60:42
Label = Interscope
Producer = Glen Ballard, Jerry Harrison, No Doubt
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5tf6zf01ehak~T1 link]
* "Entertainment Weekly" (B) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,64630,00.html link]
* "NME" (5/10) [http://www.nme.com/reviews/2119.htm link]
* "Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/nodoubt/albums/album/229542/review/5944400/return_of_saturn 4/27/2000]
* Robert Christgau (C+) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=No+Doubt link]
* "Slant Magazine" Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=145 link]
Last album = "Tragic Kingdom"
(1995)
This album = "Return of Saturn"
(2000)
Next album = "Rock Steady"
(2001)

"Return of Saturn" is the fourth album by American third wave ska band No Doubt, released by Interscope Records in April 2000 (see 2000 in music). After touring for two and a half years to promote its breakthrough 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 amongst 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 themes of the band's previous work. It is influenced by alternative rock. The lyrics 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" album was nominated for Best Rock Album.

Background

After the success of No Doubt's breakthrough album "Tragic Kingdom" (1995), the band wrote more than twenty songs for a new album, influenced by artists such as The Cure. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1432728/19981111/no_doubt.jhtml "No Doubt Ready To Record 'Tragic Kingdom' Follow-Up"] . MTV News. November 11, 1998. Retrieved April 6, 2007.] 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. [ [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427729/19980910/cure.jhtml "No Doubt To Get Goth For Next Album?"] . MTV News. September 10, 1998. Retrieved April 6, 2007.] Many of the songs were written in a rented house in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, where bassist Tony Kanal was living.Levitan, Corey. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/nodoubt/articles/story/5923145/gwen_speaks "Gwen Speaks"] . "Rolling Stone". May 19, 1998. Retrieved April 16, 2007.] 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. It planned on going to New York to work with producer Michael Beinhorn, who had produced for alternative rock acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hole, and Soundgarden. [Fischer, Blair R. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/nodoubt/articles/story/5927156/no_doubt_switch_to_manson_hole_producer "No Doubt Switch to Manson, Hole Producer"] . "Rolling Stone". November 4, 1998. Retrieved April 16, 2007.]

When scheduling conflicts arose with Beinhorn, [ [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1432722/19990823/no_doubt.jhtml "No Doubt Reschedules Release Date"] . MTV News. August 23, 1999. Retrieved May 3, 2007.] the band interviewed several producers and decided on Glen Ballard. It chose Ballard, who had produced Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" (1995), because of pressure from manager Jimmy IovineTyrangiel, Josh. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,42351,00.html "Two-Hit Wonders"] . "Time". April 2, 2000. Retrieved May 3, 2007.] and Ballard's belief in not using heavy production. [Uhelszki, Jaan. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/nodoubt/articles/story/5923347/just_a_producer "Just A Producer"] . "Rolling Stone". January 15, 1999. Retrieved April 16, 2007.] 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.Willman, Chris. [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,276102,00.html "Future Tense?"] . "Entertainment Weekly", issue 539. May 12, 2000. Retrieved August 22, 2007.] In early 1999, No Doubt released "New", co-produced by Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison, for the soundtrack of the film "Go" (1999).

By that July, the band stopped work on the album, intending to be done with the record.Laban, Linda. [http://weeklywire.com/ww/03-28-00/boston_music_1.html "Happy Returns"] . "Boston Herald". March 28, 2000. Retrieved from the Weekly Wire May 3, 2007.] 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. [ [http://www.nodoubt.com/band/ "Timeline"] . NoDoubt.com. Retrieved August 22, 2007.]

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.Manning, Kara. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1432718/19991116/no_doubt.jhtml "No Doubt Mulls Title As New Album Hits Home Stretch"] . MTV News. November 16, 1999. Retrieved April 7, 2007.] Lead singer Gwen 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.

Composition

The music of "Return of Saturn" further explores the No Doubt's New Wave 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.Montoya, Paris and Lanham, Tom. "" (liner notes). Interscope Records. November 25, 2003.] "Marry Me" is a reggae-influenced song featuring a staccato bassline and a horn part. [ [http://www.channel4.com/music/music-core/album.jsp?albumId=369082 "Return Of Saturn"] . Channel 4. Retrieved August 21, 2007. Inactive as of October 12, 2007.] "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.Walters, Barry. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/nodoubt/albums/album/229542/review/5944400/return_of_satur "No Doubt: Return of Saturn : Music Reviews"] . "Rolling Stone". April 27, 2000. Retrieved April 6, 2007.]

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.

The album's lyrics depict Stefani's maturation and femininity, 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. [ [http://www.nme.com/reviews/2119.htm "Return Of Saturn"] . "NME". Retrieved August 22, 2007.] "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, in "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:

Reception

The album received mixed reviews from music critics. "Entertainment Weekly" 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. [Browne, David. [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,64630,00.html "Return of Saturn | Music Review"] . "Entertainment Weekly". April 10, 2000. Retrieved September 4, 2007.] Robert Christgau, writing for "The Village Voice", described the emotions Stefani expressed as shallow, [Christgau, Robert. [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=No+Doubt "Where the Action Isn't"] . "The Village Voice". November 2000. Retrieved September 4, 2007.] and the "NME" stated that her preoccupation with Rossdale was distracting and weakened the intense, Madonna-like character she had established on "Tragic Kingdom". [ [http://www.nme.com/reviews/2119.htm "Return Of Saturn | Reviews"] . "NME". Retrieved September 4, 2007.] Allmusic, however, gave it four and a half stars, calling it "a terrific, layered record that exceeds any expectations set by "Tragic Kingdom". [Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5tf6zf01ehak~T1 "Return of Saturn > Review"] . Allmusic. Retrieved April 6, 2000.] Barry Walters of "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." [Walters, Barry. "The year in recordings: Top fifty albums of the year 2000". "Rolling Stone", issue 858/859. December 28, 2000–January 4, 2001.] "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." [Cinquemani, Sal. [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=145 "Music Review: No Doubt: Return Of Saturn"] . "Slant Magazine". 2002. Retrieved October 7, 2007.]

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. [Skanse, Richard. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/nodoubt/articles/story/5921970/no_doubt_make_strong_return_to_charts "No Doubt Make Strong Return to Charts"] . "Rolling Stone". April 19, 2000. Retrieved April 16, 2007.] The Recording Industry Association of America certified "Return of Saturn" platinum in May 2000, [ [http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH "Searchable Database"] . Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 12, 2007.] and the album went on to sell 1.4 million copies. [Edwards, Gavin. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/nodoubt/articles/story/5919655/no_doubt_make_party_music "No Doubt Make Party Music"] . "Rolling Stone". October 16, 2001. Retrieved October 13, 2007.] 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. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wbfixqlkld6e~T31 "Return of Saturn > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles"] . Allmusic. Retrieved October 12, 2007.] The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards but lost to Foo Fighters' "There Is Nothing Left to Lose". [ [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/21/grammy.winners/index.html "43rd Grammy Awards"] . CNN. February 21, 2007. Retrieved October 7, 2007.] In Canada it peaked at number four on the Canadian Albums Chart. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wbfixqlkld6e~T30 "Return of Saturn > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums"] . Allmusic. Retrieved April 6, 2007.] The Canadian Recording Industry Association awarded "Return of Saturn" a platinum certification. [ [http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php "Search Certification Database"] . Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 7, 2008.]

Track listing

tracklist
writing_credits = yes
title1 = Ex-Girlfriend
writer1 = Gwen Stefani, Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal
length1 = 3:32
title2 = Simple Kind of Life
writer2 = G. Stefani
length2 = 4:16
title3 = Bathwater
writer3 = G. Stefani, Kanal, Dumont
length3 = 4:02
title4 = Six Feet Under
writer4 = G. Stefani, Kanal
length4 = 2:28
title5 = Magic's in the Makeup
writer5 = G. Stefani, Dumont
length5 = 4:21
title6 = Artificial Sweetener
writer6 = G. Stefani, Dumont, Kanal
length6 = 3:54
title7 = Marry Me
writer7 = G. Stefani, Kanal
length7 = 4:38
title8 = New
writer8 = G. Stefani, Dumont
length8 = 4:26
title9 = Too Late
writer9 = G. Stefani, Dumont, Kanal
length9 = 4:16
title10 = Comforting Lie
writer10 = G. Stefani, Dumont, Kanal
length10 = 2:52
title11 = Suspension Without Suspense
writer11 = G. Stefani
length11 = 4:10
title12 = Staring Problem
writer12 = G. Stefani, Kanal, Eric Stefani
length12 = 2:43
title13 = Home Now
writer13 = G. Stefani, Kanal, Dumont
length13 = 4:34
title14 = Dark Blue
writer14 = G. Stefani, Dumont
length14 = 4:37:* "Too Late Instrumental" is a hidden track after "Dark Blue", a piano instrumental of "Too Late". On international versions, this is after the bonus track.

European/Australian bonus track

tracklist
writing_credits = yes
title15 = Big Distraction
writer15 = G. Stefani, Dumont
length15 = 3:34

Japanese bonus track

tracklist
writing_credits = yes
title15 = Full Circle
writer15 = G. Stefani, Kanal, Dumont
length15 = 3:16

Personnel

Performance credits

No Doubt
*Tom Dumont - guitar
*Tony Kanal - bass
*Gwen Stefani - vocals
*Adrian Young - percussion, drumsAdditional personnel
*Stephen Bradley - trombone, trumpet, keyboard
*Mike Garson - piano
*Gabrial McNair - synthesizer, piano, trombone, keyboard
*Theo Mondle - tabla

Technical credits

*Production: No Doubt, Glen Ballard, Jerry Harrison, Matthew Wilder
*Engineering: Sean Beavan, Scott Campbell, Bryan Carrigan, Karl Derfler, Alain Johannes, Thom Panunzio
*Mixing: Jack Joseph Puig
*Mastering: Bob Ludwig
*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

Charts

References

External links

* [http://www.nodoubt.com Official No Doubt website]