Track Listing

1. Intro
2. Hella Good
3. Hey Baby
4. Making Out
5. Underneath It All
6. Detective
7. Don't Let Me Down
8. Start The Fire
9. Running
10. In My Head
11. Platinum Blonde
12. Waiting Room
13. Rock Steady

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41795 in Music
• Released on: 2003-08-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 60 minutes

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

CD Description
'Rock Steady' is the fifth album from Californian ska punkers No Doubt. The album is produced by a varied selection of people including Sly & Robbie, Prince, Dr. Dre, and William Orbit. 'Rock Steady' is a more eclectic mix of rock, rap, pop and reggae, than previous No Doubt albums.

Customer Reviews

a welcome mix of ska, hip-hop and rock from a wonderful band
Very good new album by the established ska punkers 'no doubt', Gwen Stefani's work with Eve is evident with rapping being on two of the album's songs 'hey baby' and 'underneath it all', but these fit very well with the traditional no doubt sounds. The song produced by William Orbit (famous for input to Madonna's excellent 'Ray of Light'), (Making Out), is excellent, with Mr Orbit's influces very clearly shown here. Work with another Madonna producer Nellee Hooper (Bedtime Stories) is also fresh, with new unusual sounds, which do the whole band justice. But once again, Gwen Stefani's powerful vocals make the album, and her voice shifts smoothly for the different songs on the album. Working with new producers has been a good move for no doubt, and they even collaborate with 'the symbol' formally known as Prince, giving another excellent but different song. Overall, a fresh, funky album, No doubt doing what they do best, making music!

Not their best album, but still good.
I have all the no doubt albums and they are all fantastic.
NO DOUBT- A nice mixture of ska and jazz.
BEACON STREET COLLECTION- Very ska-punk , but with a bit of rock too.
TRAGIC KINGDOM- The best of the lot. It still has ska,punk and jazz, but they are also experimenting alittle bit with reggae.
RETURN OF SATURN-Tragic kingdom was a hard act to follow but they have made a good job of this album. It is more punk and rock than ska.

ROCK STEADY-The new album. On this album they have completely dropped their ska roots and are trying out reggae (which is just a slower version of ska). The reggae works very well. It sounds more chilled out and sexy.
I warn people not to be put off buying this album because of the single 'HEY BABY'. This album is not R+B or Hip-Hop. It is strictly rock and reggae.
Standout tracks are:
HELLA GOOD-A rocky track, but mixed with cool keyboard sounds.
MAKING OUT-The best track on the album. It it is so good to dance too.
START THE FIRE-A really chilled out reggae track. Ignore the title.
WAITING ROOM-Not necessarily a good track but,since Prince has helped them with it, it is very awkward and different.

All in all I really reccomend this album.

Rock Steady Baby!
No Doubt have returned with a different and uplifting album.
Instead of just coming back with the same album only with a different name and different lyrics, like some bands think is acceptable these days!(not mentioning any names!) they have re-entered our C.D player with an unusual and eclectic mix of brilliant music.
You cannot liken this to any other band. They may come under the same genre as Red Hot Chili Peppers and 311 but they have a trademark sound (gwen's voice) which they skillfully mould different styles of music around.
There are a lot more reggae influences in this album, for example the single 'Hey Baby' features Bounty Killer rapping. As the band says, during recording there were a lot of dancehall influences. Don't let this put you off (don't worry its not the type kids with neon yellow jackets and whistles rave to), its more subtle and No Doubt pulls it off brilliantly , exploring a new area of music but not losing what makes us love them!
Some songs are more reggae orientated than others i.e 'Underneath It All' and 'Rock Steady'. Standout tracks are 'Rock Steady', 'Making Out','Hey Baby' and 'Don't let Me Down'.
If I was to compare this to previous albums I would say it was more similar to parts of Tragic Kingdom,(like tracks 5&11) than any other, but there really is no obvious parallel.
Overall this is an excellent new C.D from the band. I'd definately recommend it to No Doubt fans and No Doubt virgins alike! KATE x