Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt

Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt's third album, landed on October 10, 1995, through Trauma Records and Interscope, and it's the record that blew No Doubt wide open. It was a long haul getting there: producer Matthew Wilder cut it across 11 different studios around Greater Los Angeles between March 1993 and October 1995, and it was the last album to feature original keyboardist Eric Stefani, who quit the band in 1994.

The sound is a sugar rush of ska horns, punk bounce and big pop hooks. "Just a Girl" is a bratty, stomping blast with a snarl in its step, "Spiderwebs" skanks along with a nervy grin, and "Excuse Me Mr." and "Happy Now" keep the energy high. Then "Don't Speak" pulls the rug out: a hushed, aching ballad that went to number one on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart and into the top five across much of the world. "Sunday Morning" adds a loping groove, and all told seven singles came off the album between 1995 and 1998.

It became the band's biggest album by a mile, hitting number one on the Billboard 200 and topping the charts in Canada and New Zealand, on its way to sales of more than 16 million worldwide and Diamond status in the US and Canada. At the 39th Grammy Awards No Doubt were up for Best New Artist and Best Rock Album, and the album's success did plenty to push the '90s ska revival into the spotlight. A tour lasting two and a half years followed, and an early 1997 show at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim became the video Live in the Tragic Kingdom.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.