Try and fit No Doubt into the musical Universe and honestly you draw a blank. Where in the scheme of things does No Doubt fit? Nowhere, and it doesn't help that the band has just released an album with just one really good number on it. Rock Steady is an album that can best be defined as musical androgyny since it has no defined style to it at all. This is because the only real talent that exists in No Doubt is bassist Tony Kanal who does a really good job with his four strings but that's all you can expect.

The Album starts off with an Intro that last for a half minute and then comes Hella Good, which is probably for all useful purposes a Rock song by definition. For any newcomer and aspiring bassist, Kanal's basswork is noteworthy. Then comes the only really good number on the album called Hey Baby. Since the videos are pretty rampant, most of you already know what to expect but be warned that you have exhausted most of the tolerable numbers on the album already! Making Out comes next and makes an equally prompt exit. Underneath it all is a reggae influenced number with Kanal's bass work at its best. This is a pretty good number, even if it lasts a whole 5 minutes.

Now the bad part comes in. The next few numbers like Detective, Don't let me down and Start the fire are Gwen's "Expressions." These numbers are musically inept, lyrical comatose and creatively empty-Something like the UK 80s Disco Scene. The most laughable yet being Running, which is Gwen's idea of a love song with a sort of a Tracy Chapman-Depressed outlook. Another forgettable number is In My Head but relief finally comes in the form of a guitar riff that is actually good! This is the start of Platinum Blonde Life. This is more the No Doubt I remember from their early days. But somewhere you feel that this might be a song on some Teenage movie Soundtrack. That's fine though because again even if the song has no sensible lyrics, it is still pretty ok. The Album goes into two last songs, Waiting Room and Rock Steady before stepping into the grave.

For all Bassists, who have just started out, to buy the album and master some of the works in here because Kanal seems to follow the Flea school of bass, but a lot simpler. For the rest of you, its back to classics or Boy bands!