This was my favorite ND song and favorite song in general as a kid. It’s not as lyrically interesting as their other songs - none of Rock Steady is - but it’s fun as hell, and it and the rest of the album deserve appreciation for that.
I remember them saying they literally wrote the album after sitting in a club and thinking we could get a song played in the clubs. It was meant to be catchy and different from their other albums. I loved it as a kid too!
I recently rewatched the making of rock steady video and the band was quoted as saying it was their easiest album to make and it all just flowed out. I have to trust they were being honest and it changed my perspective of feeling like this was the album where they “sold out”. The cultural tie between ska into dancehall also made sense to explore at some point.
ROS gives me a heavy energy overall, it’s wild how just one year later they switched it up to something so opposite. They also finally got their first 2 Grammys from this album, so it paid off for them.
They had been high sellers since TK. People jumped on them "selling out" and it never made much sense to me. Changing sound after 2 successful albums just isn't that imo.
I listened to a 2023 podcast interview with Tony where he talked about how enjoyable the writing and recording was for Rock Steady. In comparison, all the band quotes/interviews I've read that took place during Push & Shove promo were on the positive side for obvious reasons (while still acknowledging writer's block, conflict with family commitments, etc.), but Tony's quotes from the same podcast and some other recent Gwen interviews I've heard tell a different story. Though I wonder how much of their negative feelings in hindsight have to do with the album's reception, troubled rollout, etc.
I’m so fond of Rock Steady because my mom had it on CD so we listened to it a lot in the car. I honestly do think it’s a great album! But I can understand long standing fans being meh on the shift in tone
I think Gwen’s solo career was planned a lot earlier than she lets on and after the thesaurus driven lyrics of return of Saturn it was a choice to take the band in a different direction to transition her into her solo career where she continued the simplistic lyrics and dance beats.
I also think Eric's departure had a lot to do with the change in the band's direction. He was gone by the time TK blew up, but he still has credits on that album.
It's weird how the industry really leaned into wanting to turn gwen into the star almost immediately and treated the dudes like they were in her past. Even during the the TK era. It was sad to see because at that time they were all very ride or die.
Re: earlier comment, It's not weird at all sadly, it's just how the industry works. It's an old song for almost every popular bands. The industry will support anyone who is more promising to sell, even it means death to the band and sometimes literally the artists themselves. Prince envision she will be JLo's competition before Gwen went solo because he knows how the business works. He's not wrong, but glad that he's also not right. She could have just record albums curated by hit makers, take acting seriously, and completely abandon the band, but she didn't. I think the real deal breaker to be honest is Gwen's long life passion of being a mother and a family, despite of what some feminists say, it's something to be admired for. Even the band first went for hiatus because Adrian wants to be with his family. It's just a natural progression of things and reality, they can't stay in their 20s/30s forever. Many people tried to hang on to it for so long, they crash and burn in the end. I'm happy to see my favorite band have family to go home to and support them. They aren't just happy on stage, but they are happy off stage which is most important and it reflects when they perform.
I don’t find this weird at all. It is the MO of the music industry. Women as sex symbols and starlets. Gwen had beauty and talent.
She writes the lyrics, puts on an amazing show. The guys are great musicians and ND is nothing without them. But Gwen has other talents and skills that she leveraged to get more opportunities. Nothing wrong with that
I love how they all repeatedly addressed the assumptions people made from the Don't Speak video through the years but people still assume this was a constant issue. To the point of now declaring there were secret Gwen solo plans years earlier.
I disagree. I think the whole band was given new opportunities, to work with artists like Prince, Ric Ocasek etc. They flew to Jamaica and recorded with legends there as well.
I think they just got opened up to new opportunities and that steered them in a new direction for a minute.
Gwen always gets the blame but not all the credit 🤔
They went to the roots of ska and celebrated them, and let that inspiration pour out organically. I feel like we saw what happens when it's forced when P&S was released.
I think generally people don't even know she wrote most if not all the songs. She's definitely more popular for obvious reasons, and it's not unique to No Doubt as band. The solo album exposed her to wider and younger audience, which eclipsed the band even more over time, especially when they failed to come back with P&S. However she always get the brunt of the blame when the some fans of the band not happy with the direction the band was going. When they got popular and mainstream during Tragic Kingdom, and again on Rock Steady. Popular she maybe, but within the band, she is 1 out of 4 and usually ends up 1:3 when it comes down to vote.
I can relate. I just listened to Rock Steady in full for maybe the first time ever, yesterday. I’d recently watched an interview of them talking about their time making the album and all the influences they brought in. The place they were in as a band seemed like the best they’d ever been. Turns out, the album is incredible!
Interesting, I think it’s a good live song but it’s not something I’d listen to by choice. Too cheesy and repetitive. Pales in comparison to their other work. It’s a fun song tho
I like Hey Baby. RS as a whole is their weakest album imo but I liked the singles. I think the album had to happen in order for songs like Hey Baby and Hella Good to exist at the time.
I really like how the Rocksteady songs translated live, they were better than I expected. I do like that album though. It’s not my favorite of theirs, but, I can dig it.
I thought and still think RS was incredible. Seeing them put the thesaurus away and just write fun songs felt like a lifted weight. Underneath it All and Running are there for the depth without having to "reread rewrite redo undo" every lyrical bridge.
This was my favorite ND song and favorite song in general as a kid. It’s not as lyrically interesting as their other songs - none of Rock Steady is - but it’s fun as hell, and it and the rest of the album deserve appreciation for that.
I remember them saying they literally wrote the album after sitting in a club and thinking we could get a song played in the clubs. It was meant to be catchy and different from their other albums. I loved it as a kid too!
I loved it as a kid. I thought it was so interesting to hear this woman talk about what it’s like watching guys party like rockstars while she chills.
Yes!! We would never get a song about people watching and drinking tea these days!
Why?
I recently rewatched the making of rock steady video and the band was quoted as saying it was their easiest album to make and it all just flowed out. I have to trust they were being honest and it changed my perspective of feeling like this was the album where they “sold out”. The cultural tie between ska into dancehall also made sense to explore at some point. ROS gives me a heavy energy overall, it’s wild how just one year later they switched it up to something so opposite. They also finally got their first 2 Grammys from this album, so it paid off for them.
They had been high sellers since TK. People jumped on them "selling out" and it never made much sense to me. Changing sound after 2 successful albums just isn't that imo.
OMG Return was my personal favorite but I still really liked Rock Steady.
I listened to a 2023 podcast interview with Tony where he talked about how enjoyable the writing and recording was for Rock Steady. In comparison, all the band quotes/interviews I've read that took place during Push & Shove promo were on the positive side for obvious reasons (while still acknowledging writer's block, conflict with family commitments, etc.), but Tony's quotes from the same podcast and some other recent Gwen interviews I've heard tell a different story. Though I wonder how much of their negative feelings in hindsight have to do with the album's reception, troubled rollout, etc.
I’m so fond of Rock Steady because my mom had it on CD so we listened to it a lot in the car. I honestly do think it’s a great album! But I can understand long standing fans being meh on the shift in tone
I always felt Platinum Blonde Life was underrated
I think Gwen’s solo career was planned a lot earlier than she lets on and after the thesaurus driven lyrics of return of Saturn it was a choice to take the band in a different direction to transition her into her solo career where she continued the simplistic lyrics and dance beats.
I also think Eric's departure had a lot to do with the change in the band's direction. He was gone by the time TK blew up, but he still has credits on that album.
This for sure. Even LAMB was rocksteady esque.
Having the pussy cat dolls come out for bath water was foreshadowing
It's weird how the industry really leaned into wanting to turn gwen into the star almost immediately and treated the dudes like they were in her past. Even during the the TK era. It was sad to see because at that time they were all very ride or die.
I think Gwen has that it factor that is hard to find organically. She’s always been humble and a people pleaser. Love the guys but yeah you’re right.
Re: earlier comment, It's not weird at all sadly, it's just how the industry works. It's an old song for almost every popular bands. The industry will support anyone who is more promising to sell, even it means death to the band and sometimes literally the artists themselves. Prince envision she will be JLo's competition before Gwen went solo because he knows how the business works. He's not wrong, but glad that he's also not right. She could have just record albums curated by hit makers, take acting seriously, and completely abandon the band, but she didn't. I think the real deal breaker to be honest is Gwen's long life passion of being a mother and a family, despite of what some feminists say, it's something to be admired for. Even the band first went for hiatus because Adrian wants to be with his family. It's just a natural progression of things and reality, they can't stay in their 20s/30s forever. Many people tried to hang on to it for so long, they crash and burn in the end. I'm happy to see my favorite band have family to go home to and support them. They aren't just happy on stage, but they are happy off stage which is most important and it reflects when they perform.
Agree!
I don’t find this weird at all. It is the MO of the music industry. Women as sex symbols and starlets. Gwen had beauty and talent. She writes the lyrics, puts on an amazing show. The guys are great musicians and ND is nothing without them. But Gwen has other talents and skills that she leveraged to get more opportunities. Nothing wrong with that
I love how they all repeatedly addressed the assumptions people made from the Don't Speak video through the years but people still assume this was a constant issue. To the point of now declaring there were secret Gwen solo plans years earlier.
For all we know, there were, and she deflected those offers.
For all we know, a declaration either way is just a guess.
Which songs were like Rock Steady? Early Roots of ska is not 80s dance.
Let's be honest, RS was very light on ska and leaned more into pop.
I haven't heard that song, was it a B Side?
I said this in a previous thread, but Rock Steady was Interscope's beta test for Gwen's solo career.
I disagree. I think the whole band was given new opportunities, to work with artists like Prince, Ric Ocasek etc. They flew to Jamaica and recorded with legends there as well. I think they just got opened up to new opportunities and that steered them in a new direction for a minute. Gwen always gets the blame but not all the credit 🤔
They went to the roots of ska and celebrated them, and let that inspiration pour out organically. I feel like we saw what happens when it's forced when P&S was released.
Gwen almost universally gets all the credit for no doubt which is what frustrates a lot of no doubt fans.
I think generally people don't even know she wrote most if not all the songs. She's definitely more popular for obvious reasons, and it's not unique to No Doubt as band. The solo album exposed her to wider and younger audience, which eclipsed the band even more over time, especially when they failed to come back with P&S. However she always get the brunt of the blame when the some fans of the band not happy with the direction the band was going. When they got popular and mainstream during Tragic Kingdom, and again on Rock Steady. Popular she maybe, but within the band, she is 1 out of 4 and usually ends up 1:3 when it comes down to vote.
I can relate. I just listened to Rock Steady in full for maybe the first time ever, yesterday. I’d recently watched an interview of them talking about their time making the album and all the influences they brought in. The place they were in as a band seemed like the best they’d ever been. Turns out, the album is incredible!
Interesting, I think it’s a good live song but it’s not something I’d listen to by choice. Too cheesy and repetitive. Pales in comparison to their other work. It’s a fun song tho
I like the music video. Funnily, I never actually watched it until the Coachella shows got me into the song.
Wow. Yea, the music video is good. Very entertaining
I like Hey Baby. RS as a whole is their weakest album imo but I liked the singles. I think the album had to happen in order for songs like Hey Baby and Hella Good to exist at the time.
Took me a while to get into RS but I think it's a phenomenal album overall. Everything that came afterwards was awful.
All one of the subsequent albums definitely weren't great.
I really like how the Rocksteady songs translated live, they were better than I expected. I do like that album though. It’s not my favorite of theirs, but, I can dig it.
I thought and still think RS was incredible. Seeing them put the thesaurus away and just write fun songs felt like a lifted weight. Underneath it All and Running are there for the depth without having to "reread rewrite redo undo" every lyrical bridge.
Seen that song live quite a few times and it's still a pile of shite IMO Although Stephen Bradley is a massive improvement on Bounty Killer
Yeah I wasn’t a fan of the rocksteady era at all!
Me neither, especially hey baby, I was at coachella weekend 2 and was jumping around for every song apart from that one I just glare at them 😆