The difference between obscurity and overexposure is only one video and a few million Total Request Live votes. After languishing for years on the Orange County, California, ska scene, No Doubt sold 15 million copies worldwide of their 1995 album, Tragic Kingdom, largely on the strength of a power ballad that resembled nothing else on the album. Along the way, the band lost an early member to suicide, forfeited Gwen Stefani’s keyboardist brother, Eric (who co-wrote “Don’t Speak”), to a Simpsons animating job, weathered a breakup between its famous singer and bassist Tony Kanal, and revived pop-y New Wave styles when grunge was king.

從默默無聞到過度曝光的區(qū)別僅在于一支mv與Total Request Live 百萬級別的票數。在加州南部的橘子郡（老家）的ska舞臺上沉寂多年后，No Doubt的專輯《Tragic Kingdom》橫空出世，這張專輯的全球銷量達到1500萬張（截止當時），這很大程度上都歸功于一首在專輯里卓爾不群且充滿力量感的抒情曲。一路走來，這支樂隊失去了1名因自殺身亡的早期成員，失去了主動離隊的鍵盤手，也是雞瘟的哥哥Eric（與雞瘟一起寫出了 “Don’t Speak”），后來為動畫《辛普森一家》進行動畫制作。期間樂隊也經受住了主唱與貝斯手Tony Kanal的分手的打擊，還在以垃圾搖滾為王道的時代下復興了流行新浪潮風格。

Add the fact that ska has pranced back to cult status, and it would be understandable if No Doubt didn’t rise to the occasion of their sudden success. But Return of Saturn is a rare achievement: a superstar follow-up that not only betters its predecessor but also radically departs from it. If you liked Tragic Kingdom, you should love Return of Saturn. And if you didn’t, you should still love it.

外加ska風格躍返“邪教”地位的背景下，就算No Doubt沒有一夜爆紅那也是能理解的， 但《Return of Saturn》是一次罕見的成功：不僅是前作的更進一步，還是脫離了前者的框架，如果你喜歡前作《Tragic Kingdom》，你便會愛上《Return of Saturn》，如果不，那么你也會愛上《Return of Saturn》這張專輯的。

No Doubt’s roots range from reggae to Broadway; they’re a something-for-everybody band that has finally grasped the means to achieve that deceptively lightweight goal. Fueled by constant touring followed by failed studio sessions with Tragic Kingdom producer Matthew Wilder and more touring, Return of Saturn is a supremely confident concept album about insecurity. Like that “Don’t Speak” video in which No Doubt men battle with Stefani for the camera’s affections, the extraordinarily tight and authoritative instrumental performances insist this is a band record, one that rocks way harder than the production credit for Glen Ballard (the studio veteran behind Alanis Morissette) might imply. For her part, Stefani pulls a technicolor star turn full of unexpected depth and flattering self-deprecation. Both sides end up winning.

No Doubt的起源可從雷鬼擴展到百老匯風格，他們是那種很討人喜的樂隊，并實現了一個看似輕量級的目標。在不斷巡回演出與之后與《Tragic Kingdom》制作人Matthew Wilder談崩的推動下，《Return of Saturn》是張講述不安全感且概念非常頂級的專輯。就像“Don’t Speak”mv中的男性成員對女性成員雞瘟的焦點爭論不斷。特別緊湊而又嚴肅的器樂表現 體現出這是一張樂隊專輯 一張比Glen Ballard（Alanis Morissette之后的元老人物）的作品還要更搖滾的制作也許能暗示什么。在雞瘟的部分，她使得她扮演了一個色彩斑斕的明星角色 充滿了意想不到的深度和諂媚的自嘲。雞瘟與其他三位男性成員都贏了。

“Ex-Girlfriend” sets the tone. Punk, hip-hop and world beat collide as the mood swings from manic to meditative and back again. Stefani rap-speaks of a doomed, impulsive love, warbles a tricky bridge and spits out singalong choruses as rhythms shift and guitars roar. The unlikely combination jells so effortlessly, you miss its compressed complexity.

開場曲“Ex-Girlfriend”奠定了全專基調，朋克，嘻哈與世界節(jié)奏的碰撞 如同狂躁到沉思來回波動的心緒。雞瘟說唱了一段命中注定且沖動的愛情故事，用顫音吟唱出了bridge部分，還在吉他轟炸，節(jié)奏變化下厲聲高歌了幾曲。這樣不可能的組合如此輕松地結合在一起，是你錯過了它被壓縮的復雜性。

A second after “Ex-Girlfriend” ends with a whisper, a folk-guitar strum announces “Simple Kind of Life.” Like peak-era R.E.M., this symphonic rock ballad details the tension between a fantasy of romantic commitment and the reality of independence; it manages to be at once grand, fragile and very, very sad. By the time Stefani softly confesses, “I always thought I’d be a mom / Sometimes I wish for a mistake,” it’s clear this woman whom many desire but few regard as a serious artist has penned a song that can sit on the same shelf with the likes of Elliott Smith and Aimee Mann. Her cutesy vocal mannerisms are gone, replaced by a longing that haunts well after the final chorus fades.

在 “Ex-Girlfriend”以耳語結束的一秒后，一聲民謠吉他的彈奏宣告著“Simple Kind of Life.”的到來，像頂峰時期的 R.E.M.這首交響樂似的搖滾抒情講述了幻想中的浪漫承諾與獨立現實間的緊張關系，它既偉大又脆弱且非常悲傷。隨著雞瘟的傾情坦白“I always thought I’d be a mom / Sometimes I wish for a mistake,”很明顯這個萬人崇拜的女人，但這個很少被視作嚴肅藝術家的女人寫出了一首能讓她與Elliott Smith， Aimee Mann這樣的藝術家相提并論的歌曲。她那一貫矯揉造作的嗓音消失了，取而代之的是在演唱結束后的流連忘返，縈繞心頭。

The improvements don’t end there. Two years spent writing, recording, trashing and rerecording Return of Saturn have paid off with a collection of uniformly well-crafted, vigorously performed tunes that run the gamut from grungy to giddy, playful to pensive. “Six Feet Under” and “Staring Problem” reference No Doubt’s Missing Persons-meets-Van Halen past, yet the results are less shrill, more self-aware. The domestic farce of “Bathwater” suggests the music-hall high jinks of their beloved 2-Tone ska heroes with some Gilbert and Sullivan slap-shtick thrown in, but it never drops the band’s signature blend of adrenaline and sugar.

專輯進步的地方不止于此。2年的創(chuàng)作，錄制，廢棄，重新錄音的《Return of Saturn》以統(tǒng)一，精良，活力的曲調，全方面跨越垃圾搖滾至嘻哈，玩鬧至憂郁，皆取得了卓越的成效。“Six Feet Under”與 “Staring Problem”參考了No Doubt的《Missing Persons》與《Van Halen》的過去，但制作出的成果卻不那么刺耳，帶有了更多自己的味道?！癇athwater”中的國內鬧劇讓人聯想到他們摯愛的二音ska偶像在音樂廳的狂歡，卷入了Gilbert與Sullivan的鬧劇，但卻沒有喪失樂隊標志性的“腺上激素與甜糖”的美妙交融的風格。

The rest of Return of Saturn ventures even further away from familiar territory. “Artificial Sweetener” evokes Hole’s acrid admissions. “Comforting Lie” hints at a more melodic Korn with its fragmented, frustrated lyrics and variations between rigidity and catharsis. The propulsion fathered by bassist Kanal and drummer Adrian Young now matches any rap-metal rhythm section’s bluster. But it’s never showy, always supportive, and Tom Dumont’s guitar attack has similarly sharpened. At a time when chart bands risk few experiments, No Doubt present a kaleidoscope of vivid arrangements that can still kick butt.

《Return of Saturn》剩余的部分則大膽嘗試了樂隊不熟悉的領域，“Artificial Sweetener”讓人想起霍爾辛辣的承認，“Comforting Lie”中沮喪的碎片化歌詞，冷酷死板與瘋狂發(fā)泄間的轉變預示著一個更有旋律感的Korn樂隊。貝斯手Tony Kanal與鼓手Adrian Young創(chuàng)造的推進力與說唱-金屬節(jié)奏部分的咆哮相匹配。但絕不奪人眼目，永遠是支撐歌曲的，還有Tom Dumont的吉他襲擊變得尖銳。這次的“榜單常客樂隊”嘗試了點一些實驗元素，No Doubt呈現了萬花筒般生動形象的驚世駭俗的演繹。

Stefani matches the guys’ power with a serious restless streak, laying out her ongoing relationship with Bush’s Gavin Rossdale with humor and humility. “I’d put you on like a diamond,” she admits in “Too Late,” “so I can sparkle and be the envy of my friends.” Yet as she depicts it in “Suspension Without Suspense” and “Home Now,” their long-distance alliance breeds jealousy, loneliness and lingering uncertainty. Below its polished surfaces, Return of Saturn is bittersweetly conflicted; those contradictions underscore its purity of intent. No Doubt want to live up to their name and believe in themselves. Stefani’s inability to do just that enables her to finally transcend the band’s cartoon persona. No longer just a girl, this skanking flirt has finally grown into a woman.

雞瘟的嚴肅且坐立不安的性格駕馭得了“男人”的力量，以詼諧謙遜的口吻展現出了她與Bush樂隊的主唱Gavin Rossdale的如火如荼的愛情關系（當時），她在“Too Late,”坦白“I’d put you on like a diamond,” “so I can sparkle and be the envy of my friends.” 但她也在“Suspension Without Suspense”與?“Home Now,”中描述道他們的異地戀關系滋生出了嫉妒，孤獨，揮之不去的不確定性。在光鮮亮麗的表面下的《Return of Saturn》是苦樂參半的矛盾，這些矛盾也正顯現出了其意圖的純粹性。No Doubt想要名副其實自身的名聲，且相信自己。雞瘟對戀情關系的無能為力也使她終突破了樂隊中的動畫人設，不再只是一個女孩，這個令人厭煩的調情者終于成長為一個成熟的女人。

翻譯人：我與UP主柏原Dellen

（超感謝他，有一句有疑惑的句子問了他惹?）