THROWBACK: No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom The Native Sound

Monday, January 23, 2012

THROWBACK: No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom

Format: 12” LP
Label: Interscope/ Trauma Records

Easily the biggest album of their career, No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom took the ska revival of the ’90s to places few were ever expecting it to go. While not truly a ska album in the way their prior albums were, Tragic Kingdom showed the band exploring the pop sensibilities that Gwen Stefani would later make into her solo career nearly a decade later.

Released by Interscope, in association with Trauma Records, Tragic Kingdom is an album that I admittedly didn’t listen to until a few years ago after picking up the bands greatest hits compilation. Now reissued on vinyl, an interesting bit I noticed while spinning it for the first time in years is just how top heavy this album is. Though fantastic from start to finish, Side A is packed with hit-single quality material. Side B has its share of great tracks with “Don’t Speak” and “Sunday Morning,” but one listen to the first half of this record reminds me why this album was as successful as it was.

Packed in a single pocket sleeve with nothing more than a two-sided insert displaying the song lyrics and album credits, the packaging was simple, but still nice; reminiscent to what an original pressing may have looked like. Seeing as this album was released just over fifteen years ago with what was state-of-the-art equipment then, I don’t think this pressing saw a full remastering as some might have been expecting, but I also don’t think it particularly needed one. With that said, listening to the songs now, nearly a decade and a half removed from their inception is a completely new and fresh experience; especially with the depth that vinyl inevitably adds to a recording.

Definitely a great album to have in your collection, and a seminal one at that, No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom is currently available from RevHQ and Insound.

Throwback is a feature that showcases albums at least ten years old. Whether still in it’s original pressing or now reissued, I write about my thoughts on the album when I first listened to it, and now.