Back in December, No Doubt, the Ska/punk band that stormed onto the music scene with the lead vocals of Gwen Stefani, released their fifth studio album, entitled Rock Steady. The band thus far has received minor criticism for this album, many people saying it is far too “poppy”; (whatever the hell that means) and is a long way from the heavy Ska people are used to from this band. I will choose to ignore those people for the remainder of my review.

If No Doubt and Garbage had a party, followed by a mass orgy, this would be the album that would result. This album combines both the sounds found on Garbage’s new album Beautiful Garbage and the intensity that lives within Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont, and Adrian Young.

Although No Doubt does stray a bit from their usual musical tones and influences, Rock Steady is a wonderful follow-up to Return of Saturn, their previous release. It is packed with dance hits such as the first single “Hey Baby,”; which features the reggae artist Bounty Hunter, “Hella Good,”; and “In My Head.”;

The band collaborated with several artists for this album and incorporated a lot of reggae sounds into their songs. An example of this is the song “Underneath it All.”; This sound features heavy reggae influence and features Jamaican singer Lady Saw. For me, this song most resembles the old school No Doubt people are used too along with “Don’t Let Me Down.”; However, above all, the best song on the album is “Detective.”; This song is a totally new type of new sound for No Doubt, but it definitely proves that this pant does not need to stick to one thing to make it work.

This album gives Return of Saturn a run for its money in my liking, and was a kick-ass follow-up. But, I urge those closed-minded No Doubt followers who criticize this album to beware of their fragile little asses. It’s definitely something different and you might not be able to handle it. But, keep in mind, change isn’t always bad. Look at Madonna: She turned in her virgin wedding attire for a cowboy outfit, and I don’t see her losing momentum. Keep your negativity somewhere else. No Doubt about it.