No Doubt: Return of Saturn (2LP) [INTERSCOPE]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set spreads Return of Saturn over four sides and includes a two-sided 12-inch photo and lyric insert. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.

This edition

• 2LP set
• 12-inch photo and lyric insert

About the album

After two and a half years on the road with Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt wrote dozens of songs, tried out a couple of producers and finally settled on Glen Ballard, the man behind Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill. Working through some 40 demos, they took two years to get it right, and the record that came out is their most personal by a distance.

The ska and reggae bounce is still there, but slowed down and shaded in, with Gwen Stefani writing frankly about wanting a home life alongside a life on stage. "Ex-Girlfriend" is a punchy, jerky rocker, "Simple Kind Of Life" is a gorgeous, wistful ballad, and "Bathwater" swings like an old dance-hall tune. "Marry Me," "Six Feet Under" and "Magic's In The Makeup" dig into the same push and pull, and Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont co-write much of the album.

It was their first album as a quartet, and critics praised its new depth. The title refers to the astrological Saturn return, said to bring big changes at around 29, which is roughly the age most of us first wonder whether we own too many records. We don't, for the record.

Also at Kops: more No Doubt on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Trauma / Interscope (cat# 0694904411), the 2000 album.