WikiPortallus: Tragic Kingdom.html

Following the release of the band's debut album, No Doubt (1992), Interscope Records paired the band with producer Matthew Wilder and rejected much of the band's material, refusing to let them record a second album under Interscope. This alienated songwriter Eric Stefani, who withdrew from and eventually left the band in 1994. Frustrated by their lack of progress with Interscope, No Doubt recorded and released their second album, The Beacon Street Collection (1995), independently. It sold 100,000 copies and ensured that Interscope would finance another album. During one of the recording sessions for Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt met Paul Palmer, owner of Trauma Records, who persuaded Interscope to sign No Doubt to him and released the album under his own label.

Upon its release, Tragic Kingdom received mixed reviews from music critics. It sold over sixteen million copies worldwide and was certified Diamond in the U.S. and Canada, Platinum in the UK and triple Platinum in Australia. At the 39th Grammy Awards, No Doubt earned nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rock Album. The album's sales helped to initiate the ska revival of the 1990s, persuading record labels to sign more ska bands and helping them attract mainstream attention. Tragic Kingdom yielded seven singles from 1995 to 1998, including "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", "Excuse Me Mr.", "Sunday Morning" and "Don't Speak".

Background

No Doubt released its self-titled debut album in 1992, a year after being signed to Interscope. The group's commercial sound came at a time when most of the United States was in the thrall of grunge music, a genre which sharply contrasted with the songs on No Doubt's pop-orientated album.¹ The album sold 30,000 copies;²³ in the words of the program director of KROQ, a Californian radio station on which it was one of the band's driving ambitions to be played: "It would take an act of God for this band to get on the radio."³⁴

No Doubt started to work on its second album in 1993, but Interscope rejected most of the material⁵⁶ and paired the band with producer Matthew Wilder. Eric Stefani did not want to relinquish creative control to someone outside the band and eventually stopped recording and rehearsing.⁷ He encouraged other members of the band to write songs but sometimes felt threatened when that happened. Eric became increasingly depressed, and in September 1994, he stopped going to rehearsals, though they were usually held at his house.⁸ He soon left No Doubt to pursue an animation career on the popular TV series The Simpsons.⁷ Bassist Tony Kanal then ended his seven-year relationship with Gwen Stefani, saying that he needed "space".⁹ Interscope still would not let No Doubt into a studio to record their next album, which frustrated them.⁵

The band decided to produce their next album independently and recorded their second album, The Beacon Street Collection, in a homemade studio.³ No Doubt's first two singles were released for The Beacon Street Collection: "Squeal" and "Doghouse", under their own record label, Beacon Street Records. Despite limited availability, the album sold 100,000 copies in the year of its release, over three times as many as No Doubt.³ Their independence attracted Interscope's attention and ensured that they would fund a third album.⁵

Music

Since most of the songs on Tragic Kingdom were written by lead vocalist Gwen Stefani, and were about her experiences in life, and those from No Doubt's previous album were written mainly by Eric Stefani, who left the group before Tragic Kingdom was recorded, the style of music changed from what No Doubt had previously produced. Guitarist Tom Dumont explained the change in sound in an interview for Backstage Online:

The songs on Tragic Kingdom use dance rhythms influenced by reggae, ska, punk rock, and Tejano, among others.¹¹

Production

Tragic Kingdom was recorded in eleven different studios in Los Angeles, "wherever [Interscope] could get a deal on a studio,"⁵ starting in March 1993 and finally being released two-and-a-half years later in October 1995.³ During one of these recording sessions, the band was introduced to Paul Palmer, who had previously worked with Bush and was interested in mixing No Doubt's new album. After mixing the first single, "Just a Girl", Palmer went on to mix the rest of the record. He wanted to release the album on his own label, Trauma Records, which was already associated with Interscope, and succeeded in getting the contract. This ensured that Tragic Kingdom got the focus that comes from a small company.⁵¹²

The album is named after the nickname Dumont's 7th grade teacher had for Disneyland, which is located in Anaheim, California, where the band members grew up. It is a pun on the popular nickname for Disneyland - "The Magic Kingdom".¹³ The album cover features Gwen in the foreground and the rest of the band members standing in an orange grove in the background. Although it was a source of tension for the band, Gwen pushed for Eric to be included on the album cover, reasoning that although he had left the band, he had still contributed substantially to the album. Eric is seen near the back of the picture, looking away from the camera.⁸ The pictures on the cover and in the liner notes were taken on California city streets and in orange groves. The red dress Gwen wears on the cover was loaned to the Hard Rock Cafe and was later displayed at the Fullerton Museum Center in an exhibit titled "The Orange Groove: Orange County's Rock n' Roll History".¹⁴ The dress, appraised as high as US $5,000, was stolen from the exhibit in January 2005.¹⁵

Singles

The first single released from Tragic Kingdom was "Just a Girl", which details Gwen Stefani's exasperation with female stereotypes and her father's concerned reaction to her driving home late from her boyfriend's house.⁵ It peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and 10 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.¹⁶ The song also charted on the UK Singles Chart, where its original release peaked at number 38 and its re-issue at number three.¹⁷

The second single was "Spiderwebs", written about an uninterested woman who is trying to avoid the constant phone calls of a persistent man. It peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart,¹⁶ at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay chart.¹⁸, and at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.¹⁷

The third single was "Don't Speak", a ballad about the breakup of Stefani and Kanal's relationship. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay,¹⁹ and maintained that position for sixteen consecutive weeks, a record at the time, although it was broken in 1998 by the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" with eighteen weeks.²⁰ The song was not eligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 because no commercial single was released, which was a requirement at the time.²¹ However, the song performed well on other Billboard charts¹⁶²²²³ and reached number one on many international charts.¹⁷²⁴²⁵²⁶²⁷

"Excuse Me Mr." and "Happy Now?" were released as the album's fourth and fifth singles, respectively. "Excuse Me Mr." charted in the top twenty on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and in New Zealand¹⁶²⁸ while "Happy Now?" failed to chart anywhere.¹⁶²⁹ "Sunday Morning" was released as the album's sixth single. It peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart,³⁰ number 55 in Sweden, number 21 in Australia, and number 42 in New Zealand.³¹ Composing the song began when Kanal was having a fight with Stefani, then his girlfriend, through the bathroom door of his parents' house in Yorba Linda, California. Stefani later changed the lyrics to discuss dealing with her breakup with Kanal.³² Finally, "Hey You!" was released as the seventh and final single from Tragic Kingdom, but it only charted in New Zealand.³³

Reception

Release and impact

Tragic Kingdom was first released by Trauma/Interscope on October 10, 1995. The album did not appear on the Billboard 200 chart until the first week of January 1996.³⁴ To promote the album, Trauma launched a street campaign targeting high school students and the skateboarding community. No Doubt performed on the Warped Tour, which was sponsored by several skateboarding companies, and at several skateboarding festivals. The album remained low on the Billboard 200 and did not enter the top hundred until February 1996, when it jumped twenty-seven positions to number 89. Palmer attributed the jump to a Channel One News program that Stefani hosted in January 1996, which was broadcast in twelve thousand classrooms, and the band's subsequent performance at a Blockbuster store in Fresno, California.³⁵

In May 1996, the band worked with HMV, MuchMusic, and the Universal Music Group to put on a global in-store promotion. The band performed and answered questions in MuchMusic's studios in Toronto, Ontario. The session was broadcast live to HMV stores worldwide and on a webcast so that fans could watch and ask the band questions through MuchMusic's VJs. Sales of Tragic Kingdom doubled the week after the event. The event's sponsors lobbied Guinness World Records to create a category for the largest virtual in-store promotion to recognize the event.³⁶

Tragic Kingdom eventually reached the top of the chart in December 1996, and it remained there for eight weeks.³⁴ It was listed second on the 1997 year-end Billboard 200, behind the Spice Girls' Spice.³⁷ In February 1999, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album diamond for shipping ten million copies.³⁸ It eventually sold a total of sixteen million copies worldwide.³⁹ The commercial success of Tragic Kingdom prompted record labels to sign ska bands, and more independent labels released ska records and compilations. Save Ferris' guitarist and vocalist Brian Mashburn stated that No Doubt helped allow bands like his receive attention from the mainstream.⁴⁰

Tragic Kingdom topped the Canadian Albums Chart in 1996,⁴¹ and it was certified diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association in August 1997.⁴² In Europe, the album topped the albums chart in Belgium, Finland, and Norway; reached the top five in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom; and placed in the top twenty in France.⁴³¹⁷⁴⁴

Critical reception

The album received mixed reviews from critics. Allmusic called it "pure fun" and described the music as something "between '90s punk, third-wave ska, and pop sensibility" and a mix of "new wave melodicism, post-grunge rock, and West Coast sunshine", indicating the songs "Spiderwebs", "Just a Girl" and "Don't Speak" as "postively [ruling] the airwaves".⁴⁵ Entertainment Weekly gave the album a C+ rating. Reviewer David Browne attributed the album's sales to Gwen Stefani's "leggy, bleached-blond calling card" and concluded that "sex still sells". Browne, however, described the music as "a hefty chunk of new-wave party bounce and Chili Peppers-style white-boy funk, with dashes of reggae, squealing hair-metal guitar, disco, ska-band horns" and the band as sounding like "savvy, lounge-bred pros". Individual songs were singled out and commented on: "Just a Girl" was described as "a chirpy, ska-tinged bopper", "Don't Speak" as "an old-fangled power ballad" and "Sixteen" as a "song of solidarity with misunderstood teenage girls".⁴⁶ David Fricke of Rolling Stone gave a mostly positive review, describing Tragic Kingdom as "ear candy with good beats, not just bludgeon-by-numbers guitars" and its music as "a spry, white-suburban take on ska and Blondieesque pop". Fricke however described "Don't Speak" as "irritating swill" with "high-pitched rippling" from Gwen Stefani.⁴⁷ In 2003, the album was ranked number 441 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.⁴⁸ Yahoo! Music reviewer Bill Holdship called the album a "phenomenon" containing "hit after hit", and describing "Spiderwebs" as "a terrific opener".⁴⁹ At the 1997 Grammy Awards, No Doubt were nominated for Best New Artist and Best Rock Album.⁵⁰

Tour

No Doubt embarked on the Tragic Kingdom Tour after the release of the album. It chose Project X, headed by Luc Lafortune and Michael Keeling, to design the stage. No Doubt suggested decorating the stage as a clearing in a forest. Project X created three anthropomorphic trees with glowing oranges. The show included clear and mylar confetti designed to look like rain. Lighting design was difficult because there were only four rehearsals, so the show was arranged to be flexible to allow for what Lafortune referred to as "a very kinetic performance."⁵¹ The band expected to tour for two months, but the tour ended up lasting two and a half years.³⁹

Track listing

Credits

Chart positions

Release history

References

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^ Vaziri, Aidin (December 1995). "Do You Believe in Tragic?". Mean Street (Whittier, CA: Mean Street Magazine, LLC.) 6 (6), http://www.nodoubt.com/press/articles/03MeanSt.asp.
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^ "Gwen Stefani". Born to Be. MuchMusic March 2000.
^ "Interview with Tom Dumont". No Doubt official website (October 31, 1996). Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
^ Eddy, Chuck (April 16, 1996). "She Bop". The Village Voice (New York: Village Voice Media) 41 (16): 60. ISSN 0042-6180. OCLC 1696813.
^ Sandler, Adam (May 28, 1997). "Interscope facing Trauma in $100 million lawsuit". Variety (New York: Reed Business Information). ISSN 0042-2738. OCLC 1768958, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1116677862.html?categoryid=16&cs=1.
^ "No Doubt's 'Tragic Kingdom'", MTV News (April 8, 1996). Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
^ Rashbaum, Alyssa; Jennifer Vineyard (January 12, 2005). "Gwen Stefani's Tragic Kingdom Dress Jacked From O.C. Museum", MTV News. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
^ "Pop star Stefani's dress stolen", BBC News (January 14, 2005). Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Artist Chart History - No Doubt". Billboard. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Warwick, Neil; Jon Kutner, Tony Brown (August 2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts, 3rd edition, London: Omnibus Press, pp. 788–789. ISBN 978-1844490585. OCLC 55529587.
^ "Hot 100 Airplay – Don't Speak". Billboard (February 22, 1997). Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay – Spiderwebs". Billboard (August 2, 1997). Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
^ Cummings, Jon (May 12, 2008). "Jesus of Cool: Talking Hot 100 Blues, with Geoff Mayfield". Popdose. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "Hot 100 50th Anniversary Charts FAQ". Billboard. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
^ "Hot Adult Top 40 Recurrents – Don't Speak". Billboard (March 6, 1999). Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "Rhythmic Top 40 – Don't Speak". Billboard (May 31, 1997). Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak (song)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak (song)". hitparade.ch. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak (song)". charts.org.nz. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "No Doubt – Don't Speak (chanson)". lescharts.com. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "No Doubt – Excuse Me Mr. (song)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "No Doubt – Happy Now? (song)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "Top 40 Mainstream – Sunday Morning". Billboard (June 21, 1997). Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ "No Doubt – Sunday Morning (song)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ Montoya, Paris (2003). Album notes for The Singles 1992–2003 by No Doubt [CD booklet]. Santa Monica, CA: Interscope Records (B0001495-02). The Singles 1992–2003 at MusicBrainz.
^ "No Doubt – Hey You! (song)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved on October 24, 2008.
^ ^a ^b Basham, David (March 14, 2002). "Got Charts? The Long Road To #1—And Those Who Rocked It", MTV News. Retrieved on September 16, 2008.
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^ Smallbridge, Justin (June 16, 1997). "Show and sell". Marketing (Toronto: Rogers Media, Inc) 102 (23): 15. ISSN 1196-4650. OCLC 67031423.
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^ "Diamond Awards". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on September 15, 2008.
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^ Bell, Carrie (October 18, 1997). "Ska fever surges into a new era". Billboard (New York: VNU, Inc) 109 (42). ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 1532948.
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^ "Search Certification Database". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on September 19, 2008.
^ ^a ^b "No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom (album)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved on October 27, 2008.
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^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Tragic Kingdom > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved on October 27, 2008.
^ Browne, David (August 2, 1996). "Music Review&nbsp– Tragic Kingdom (1995)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on October 27, 2008.
^ Fricke, David (December 9, 1996). "Album Reviews – No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom". Rolling Stone. Retrieved on October 27, 2008.
^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone (New York: Wenner Media, LLC) (937): 170. November 1, 2003. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 1787396.
^ Holdship, Bill (October 10, 1995). "Review of 'Tragic Kingdom'". Yahoo!. Retrieved on October 27, 2008.
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Tragic Kingdom.html

Contents

Background

Music

Production

Singles

Reception

Release and impact

Critical reception

Tour

Track listing

Credits

Additional personnel

Production

Chart positions

Release history

References

External links