The American people didn’t take too long to get bored with the ska boom of 1996, which came and went even faster than ska booms usually do. But we still haven’t gotten over No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani, who lingers around the radio like the last of the hot-pink rock chicks. Stefani wears her all-American vulnerabilities and anxieties in public not because it’s a fashionably alienated pose but because she’s vulnerable and anxious. She’s a pure product of the American girl factory: blunt and guileless in detailing the ways that femininity has screwed her up and screwed her over. She’s not coy about her pleasures, either; she’s a loudmouth party girl in the grand Eighties lineage of Pat Benatar, Dale Bozzio and Debbie Gibson. Her let’s-go enthusiasm makes her an excellent sound effect on other people’s records: First, she added the right tone of gum-snapping Valley Girl sass to Moby’s “South Side,” and then she blew ya mind with Eve in “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” which showed just how much trouble a hip-hop girl and a New Wave girl can get each other into if the beat is right.

美國人沒過多久便對1996年復興的ska風潮厭倦了，這次ska浪潮來了又去的速度比往常更快。但我們仍沒忘記來自No Doubt的Gwen Stefani，她在電臺的熱度如同最后一代的搖滾巨星。雞瘟在公眾展現(xiàn)出美國式的脆弱和焦慮，不因這是在時尚上較冷門的造型，而是因為她自身就是脆弱而焦慮的。她是典型純粹的美國女孩：坦誠直言不諱地講著自身所帶的強烈女人味將她搞砸的事。談起讓自己開心的事情也不帶羞澀，她是80年代Pat Benatar, Dale Bozzio，Debbie Gibson家族的交際花。她的活力熱情對后人的唱片具啟發(fā)性：首先以如同嚼口香糖粗魯?shù)那徽{助陣了Moby的“South Side,”?之后在Eve的歌曲“Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” 中也大放光彩，證明了在正確的節(jié)拍下，New Wave與Hippop也能水乳交融。

It was only a matter of time before Miss G and the boys in her band addressed the obvious question: Why can’t they have this much fun on their own records? And so they finally do on Rock Steady, No Doubt’s fifth album. They bash away at reggae and funk and New Wave party grooves with a light touch that was sorely missing on 2000’s Return of Saturn. On that album, No Doubt tried to show how mature they could be, and unlike so many other bands with similar goals, they worked on some music that was actually worth the trouble: “Simple Kind of Life” was a flat-out excellent song, with massive folk-rock guitars ringing out as Stefani sang about her pushing-thirty issues sincerely enough to make you squirm. But while the album was heartfelt and subtle, it was a little overcooked. Rock Steady is looser and friskier, recorded in L.A., London and Kingston, Jamaica, among other places, with a revolving-door of producers: reggae vets Sly and Robbie, dance-hall hitmakers Steely and Clevie, techno geezer William Orbit, U.K. hip-hop avatar Nellee Hooper, New Wave oracle Ric Ocasek and some guy named Prince.

雞小姐與樂隊里的男性成員心中難免會想：為什么自己的樂隊不能做出這樣有趣的東西呢？但他們終于在五專《Rock Steady》中做到了。在雷鬼，放克，新浪潮領域的小試牛刀便大放異彩，這也正是2000年發(fā)行的《Return of Saturn》所缺失的。在《Return Of Saturn》中，No Doubt展示了他們極具成熟的一面，不同于其他樂隊的原地踏步，他們在一些歌曲中嘗試了些成效卓越的新東西，“Simple Kind of Life”是首實實在在的好歌，歌曲在大量民謠吉他聲下，雞瘟赤城地訴說著年近30的難題，足以讓你感同身受。盡管上張專輯感人肺腑，精湛，但卻有點過度加工。相比之下，Rock Steady則顯得更活躍輕松，專輯錄制于洛杉磯，倫敦，牙買加金斯頓，也有一大批制作人加持：雷鬼老將Sly與Robbie，舞廳熱單制造者Steely與Clevie，techno老頭William Orbit，英國Hip-pop大神Neilee Hooper，新浪潮“祭司”Ric Ocasek，還有一個名叫Prince的家伙。

As you’d expect from titles like “Hella Good,” “Hey Baby” and “Start the Fire,” the music on Rock Steady is simple and propulsive, which in the time-honored rock & roll manner forces the songs to improve; chord changes and turns of phrase that would have obfuscated themselves to death on Return of Saturn have no choice here but to get hot or go home. “Don’t Let Me Down” is the obvious jewel, the song that breaks away from the pack like “Spiderwebs” on Tragic Kingdom or “Simple Kind of Life” on Return of Saturn. It zooms on jerky Devo rhythms and juicy guitar hooks, along with a synth solo straight from the Cars’ “Just What I Needed” — Ocasek’s production jobs rarely, if ever, sound anything like his old band, but he’s definitely on some serious Candy-O shit here. “Hey Baby” cranks up the dance-hall-style party beats, with guest toasting from Bounty Killer. “Platinum Blonde Life” takes Elastica to funk school, while the gorgeous ballad “Running” kicks off with a two-finger synth riff that’ll keep you awake nights trying to figure out which Yaz or Erasure or early Depeche Mode song it came from.

正如你從?“Hella Good,” “Hey Baby” “Start the Fire,”這些歌曲想的那樣，《Rock Steady》里的歌曲是簡單且具推進力的，這正是久負盛名的rock & roll逼迫歌曲不斷改進的地方；和弦的變化與樂句的轉向使他們從土星回來時暈頭轉向，要么選擇狂歡或灰溜回家。“Don’t Let Me Down” 是閃閃耀眼的寶石，這首歌如同《Tragic Kingdom》里的“Spiderwebs”或《Return of Saturn》中的“Simple Kind of Life” ，聚焦于不平穩(wěn)的Devo樂隊式的節(jié)奏與豐富的吉他hook，直接搬運了the Cars樂隊的合成器歌曲?“Just What I Needed”中的synth獨奏 — Ocasek的制作（如果有的話）很少像它的老樂隊，但他絕對是在做一些嚴肅很棒的工作?！癏ey Baby”加快了舞廳風的派對節(jié)奏，并由Bounty Killer的雷鬼說唱助陣，“Platinum Blonde Life”將Elastica樂隊風格帶入了funk學校中，而華麗的民謠“Running”以一段兩指合成的反復樂段開頭，讓你徹夜難眠并試圖找出它靈感來源于Yaz 或Erasure或早期Depeche Mode還是什么東西。

“Waiting Room” is a surprisingly juicy duet with Prince, who wanted to pay Stefani back for singing on his Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic album; it proves that whatever the little dude has lost as a producer and songwriter — which is just about everything, sad to say — he’s still some singer. There are a few lame tracks for sure on Rock Steady (“In My Head,” “Making Out”), and the extremely annoying “Underneath It All” reheats the stalest ska cliches while it revisits the question of whether Gavin Rossdale is really the right guy for Stefani, a topic that even Rossdale has to be way sick of by now (especially Rossdale, come to think of it). But it’s impressive to hear No Doubt summon the musical imagination to transcend the formula that used to imprison them — even if you liked “Just a Girl,” “Don’t Speak” and “Spiderwebs” in 1996, you wouldn’t have guessed they had “Running” or “Don’t Let Me Down” in them. And despite all the predictions that Stefani was a goner for a solo career, she still stands by her band, living the pop life while the boys take care of essential rock-star business, up to and including dangling naked from chandeliers at award-show parties. On Rock Steady, No Doubt get their yin and yang in balance, and after the finely wrought turmoil of Return of Saturn, it sounds like a relief.

“Waiting Room”是與Prince的二重唱驚喜之作，雞瘟也曾為Prince的專輯《Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic》獻唱；這也證明了 無論這個家伙失去了一些作為制作人與詞曲作家的東西 — 遺憾的說幾乎是全部—他仍然是一個歌手。專輯里有幾首質量拖后腿的歌曲?(“In My Head,” “Making Out”)與極度令人厭煩的“Underneath It All”炒冷飯“爛ska陳詞濫調之作”，與此同時歌曲再次討論Gavin Rossdale是否是雞瘟真命天子的問題，一個Gavin本人都厭煩了的話題（特別是Gavin因此的胡思亂想）。但令人印象深刻是 聽到No Doubt激發(fā)出音樂想象力，超出了過去囚禁他們的模式?！?即使你喜歡1996年的?“Just a Girl,” “Don’t Speak” 和 “Spiderwebs”，你也不會想到他們會在專輯中收錄“Running”或?“Don’t Let Me Down”。盡管當時人們都預測雞瘟即將開啟solo事業(yè)，但她仍支持著她的樂隊，過著流行明星的生活，其他男孩成員則經(jīng)管最本質的搖滾業(yè)務，包括在頒獎典禮派對上裸身懸掛在吊燈上?！禦ock Steady》中，No Doubt達到了陰陽平衡，在《Return Of Saturn》制造的騷亂后，這更像是一種解脫。