Tragic Kingdom

No Doubt released their self-titled debut album in 1992, a year after being signed to Interscope. The album's pop-oriented sound contrasted with grunge music, which was popular in the United States when No Doubt was released. The album sold 30,000 copies; the program director of KROQ radio station, on which the band aspired to be played, said, "It would take an act of God for this band to get on the radio." The band began work on Tragic Kingdom in 1993, and paired the band with producer Matthew Wilder. Keyboardist Eric Stefani eventually stopped recording with the band because he disliked having to relinquish creative control. He encouraged other members of the band to write songs but sometimes felt threatened when they did. Eric became increasingly depressed, and in September 1994, he stopped attending rehearsals, though they were usually held at his house. Bassist Tony Kanal then ended his seven-year relationship with Gwen Stefani. The band decided to produce their next album independently and recorded their second album, The Beacon Street Collection, in a homemade studio. No Doubt's first two singles were released for The Beacon Street Collection: "Squeal" and "Doghouse", under their own record label, Beacon Street Records. Despite limited availability, the album sold 100,000 copies in the year of its release. Their independence attracted Interscope's attention and ensured that the label would fund a third album. ==Production==

's nickname, The Magic Kingdom. Tragic Kingdom was recorded in 11 studios in the Greater Los Angeles area, The album is named after guitarist Tom Dumont's seventh-grade teacher's nickname for Disneyland, which is in Anaheim, California, where the band members grew up. The album photography and portraits were taken by photographer fine artist Daniel Arsenault. Gwen is featured in the foreground while the rest of the band members are standing in an orange grove in the background. Gwen pushed for Eric to be included on the album cover—a source of tension for the band—reasoning that although he had left the band, he had still contributed substantially to the album. Eric is seen near the back of the picture, looking away from the camera. The dress, appraised as high as US$5,000, was stolen from the exhibit in January 2005. ==Music and lyrics==

Tragic Kingdom has been described as pop rock, alternative rock, ska punk, new wave, The album also uses elements of pop, funk, punk, dancehall, disco, third-wave ska, post-grunge, ska, reggae, flamenco, and Tejano, among others. Many of the lyrics on Tragic Kingdom were written by lead vocalist Gwen Stefani and were about her experiences in life. Those from No Doubt and The Beacon Street Collection were written mainly by Eric Stefani, who left the band after Tragic Kingdom was finished. Therefore, the style of music changed from what the band had previously produced. Dumont explained the change in sound in an interview for Backstage Online: ==Singles==

The first single released from Tragic Kingdom was "Just a Girl", which details Gwen Stefani's exasperation with female stereotypes and her father's concerned reaction to her driving home late from her boyfriend's house. It peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 10 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song also charted on the UK Singles Chart, where its original release peaked at number 38 and its reissue at number three. The second single was "Spiderwebs", written about an uninterested woman who is trying to avoid the constant phone calls of a persistent man. It reached number five on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, The song was not eligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 because no commercial single was released, which was a requirement at the time. The song also peaked at number two on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, at number six on the Adult Contemporary chart, at number one on the Adult Top 40 chart, and at number nine on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. "Excuse Me Mr." and "Sunday Morning" were released as the album's fourth and fifth singles, respectively. "Excuse Me Mr." reached number 17 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart "Sunday Morning" peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart, Composing the song began when Kanal was having a fight with Stefani, then his girlfriend, through the bathroom door of his parents' house in Yorba Linda, California. Stefani later changed the lyrics to discuss dealing with her breakup with Kanal. "Happy Now?" was released as the album's sixth single on September 23, 1997, but failed to chart anywhere. "Hey You!" was released as the seventh and final single from Tragic Kingdom; it peaked at number 51 on the Dutch Single Top 100. Despite being a Dutch-only single, a Sophie Muller-directed music video was filmed to promote the single. ==Release and promotion==

Tragic Kingdom was first released by Trauma and Interscope on October 10, 1995. To promote the album, Trauma launched a street campaign that targeted high school students and the skateboarding community. No Doubt performed on the Warped Tour, which was sponsored by several skateboarding companies, and at several skateboarding festivals. The album entered the Billboard 200 on January 20, 1996, at No. 175 and did not enter the top 100 until February 3, 1996, when it jumped to number 89. Palmer attributed the jump to a Channel One News program that Stefani hosted in January 1996, which was broadcast in 12,000 classrooms, and the band's subsequent performance at a Blockbuster store in Fresno, California. In May 1996, the band worked with HMV, MuchMusic, and the Universal Music Group to put on a global in-store promotion. The band performed and answered questions in MuchMusic's studios in Toronto, Ontario. The session was broadcast live to HMV stores worldwide and on a webcast so that fans could watch and ask the band questions through MuchMusic's VJs. Sales of Tragic Kingdom doubled the week after the event. The event's sponsors lobbied Guinness World Records to create a category for the largest virtual in-store promotion to recognize the event. No Doubt embarked on the Tragic Kingdom Tour after the release of the album. It chose Project X, headed by Luc Lafortune and Michael Keeling, to design the stage. No Doubt suggested decorating the stage as a clearing in a forest. Project X created three anthropomorphic trees with glowing oranges. The show included clear and mylar confetti designed to look like rain. Lighting design was difficult because there were only four rehearsals, so the show was arranged to be flexible to allow for what Lafortune referred to as "a very kinetic performance". The band expected to tour for two months, but the tour ended up lasting two and a half years. and was released as Live in the Tragic Kingdom on VHS on November 11, 1997. It was re-released on November 25, 2003, on DVD as part of the box set Boom Box, which also contained The Singles 1992–2003, Everything in Time, and The Videos 1992–2003; and again on June 13, 2006, as a stand-alone DVD, containing bonus material of extra songs, a photo gallery, and an alternative version of "Don't Speak". ==Critical reception==

Tragic Kingdom received generally positive reviews from critics. David Fricke of Rolling Stone was mostly enthused by the album, describing it as "ear candy with good beats, not just bludgeon-by-numbers guitars" and its music as "a spry, white-suburban take on ska and Blondieesque pop". Entertainment Weeklys David Browne was more critical, attributing the album's sales to Stefani's "leggy, bleached-blond calling card" and concluding that "sex still sells". Browne described the music as "a hefty chunk of new-wave party bounce and Chili Peppers-style white-boy funk, with dashes of reggae, squealing hair-metal guitar, disco, ska-band horns", and the band as sounding like "savvy, lounge-bred pros". Individual songs were singled out and commented on: "Just a Girl" was described as "a chirpy, ska-tinged bopper", "Don't Speak" as "an old-fangled power ballad", "Sixteen" as a "song of solidarity with misunderstood teenage girls", and "Spiderwebs" and "End It on This" as "[Stefani] acknowledg[ing] obsessions with losers and tr[ying] to break free". At the 1997 Grammy Awards, No Doubt was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Rock Album. In 2000, Tragic Kingdom was voted number 436 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums, while in 2003, it was ranked number 441 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. NME included Tragic Kingdom on its 2020 list of "The best new wave albums ever". ==Commercial performance==

After entering the Billboard 200 at number 175 in January 1996, Tragic Kingdom eventually reached number one in December 1996, with 229,000 copies sold, spending nine non-consecutive weeks atop the chart. it sold an additional 1.32 million copies through BMG Music Club. Tragic Kingdom topped the Canadian Albums Chart in December 1996, The commercial success of Tragic Kingdom prompted record labels to sign ska bands, and more independent labels released ska records and compilations. Save Ferris's guitarist and vocalist Brian Mashburn stated that No Doubt helped allow bands like his to receive attention from the mainstream. ==Track listing==

All tracks produced by Matthew Wilder. ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Tragic Kingdom. No Doubt • Gwen Stefani – vocals • Tom Dumont – guitar • Tony Kanal – bass • Adrian Young – drums, percussion • Eric Stefani – piano, keyboards Additional musicians • Phil Jordan – trumpet and flugelhorn • Gabrial McNair – trombone, additional percussion • Gerard Boisse – saxophone • Stephen Perkins – steel drum • Aloke Dasgupta – sitar • Melissa Hasin – cello • Bill Bergman – saxophone • Les Lovitt – trumpet • Greg Smith – baritone saxophone • Nick Lane – trombone • Matthew Wilder – additional keyboards • Albhy Galuten – director of paradigm Technical • Matthew Wilder – production • Phil Kaffel – recording • George Landress – recording • Matt Hyde – recording • John "Tokes" Potoker – recording • Ray Blair – recording • David J. Holman – mixing at Cactus Studios (Hollywood) • Paul Palmer – mixing at Cactus Studios (Hollywood) • Robert Vosgien – mastering at CMS Digital (Pasadena) Artwork • Morbido / Bizarrio – creative direction, design, digital imaging • Dan Arsenault – photography • Shelly Robertson – photography • Patrick Miller – photography ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts All-time charts ==Certifications and sales==