On the mid 90´s the third album of an American band with some heavy ska influences hit the charts bringing fun and creativity, 25 years later we reflect on No Doubt´s Tragic Kingdom, which became quite the opposite, catapulting their career and being today a cult band given the hiatus they are currently on, so let´s speak about it.
The opening track Spiderwebs brings the ska feeling at the beginning, is a fun song where the mix with rock sounds so good and provides the initial taste of what the record could be with tracks like Excuse Me Mr., You Can Do It, Different People and End It On This. A powerful mix of sounds, a unique musical style with a frontwoman and singer that without a doubt was going to become someone big and important in the music industry, not just any girl; Gwen Stefani.
Just A Girl was indeed the title of the first single, a song that enlightened Gwen´s voice and presence, with lyrics speaking up about girls in the world, being tired from thinking about stereotyped girls, facing inequality; a constant fight women have face trough time. Still 25 years later they continue to fight that battle and hopefully that fight can soon be over.
After all that ska rhythm, a song that was completely different and became a trademark for the band was their hit Don´t Speak. An electric guitar with Gwen´s voice at the very beginning, setting up the stage for a heart breaking song where little by little the bass was incorporated and finally the drums hit the scene for the lyrics that we have in our memory, sang out loud during the nineties and became the band’s anthem: “Don´t Speak, I know just what you´re saying, So please stop explaining, Don´t tell me cause it hurts, Don´t speak I know what you are thinking, I don´t need your reasons, Don´t tell me cause it hurts”.
Nowadays the band is on a hiatus, as no official breakup has been announced. The band members took different ways with new projects, Gwen Stefani with a successful solo career and the rest on 2017 formed a group named Dreamcar. At this point in time seems far the possibility of a new No Doubt album or even a tour reunion. Nevertheless the impact of this album and remembering it 25 years later is a great milestone for them but most for the fans that continue listening to their songs having faith and waiting for that hush, hush, darling.
