The Musical Tragedy Of Tragic Kingdom

The Good: Fairly unique sound, Some lyrics
The Bad: Vocals, Some uninspired lyrics, Over-the-top instrumentals on some tracks.
The Basics: Not as friendly as the singles were, noisy and trying too hard to be something different, Tragic Kingdom does not hold up over the years.


Most of the time when something different comes along, I applaud it, especially when it's music. Pop-rock music, as a genre, is filled to the gills with garbage and finding real quality in it today is like finding your toenail clippings a year after you flushed them down the toilet. So, when a single or an album stands out as different, it tends to be good but every rule has its exception.

No Doubt's album Tragic Kingdom is a pretty fine example of trying too hard to be different. Defined as ska, or some pop-bastardization of ska, No Doubt's breakout pop album is frequently frenetic in the instrumental accompaniment and the sound is so much more energetic than most of the songs that had been radio hits. In the process of trying to make their own sound, a lot of the drums sound noisy, the guitars sound confused and the vocals sound whiny and nasal. It becomes less a debate over whether the album is ska or pop-rock and more a debate over whether the album is good or not. My final analysis is the album is not.

The unique sound of "I'm Just A Girl" is not mirrored in any other track on the album and nothing else here comes anywhere close to being as wrenching or empathy-evoking as the radio-friendly "Don't Speak." While some radio stations actually put on the album's fourth single (the fast singing avoidance anthem "Spiderwebs" came sometime before "Don't Speak") "Sunday Morning," most didn't pop because it's loud and bad. "Sunday Morning" is indicative of the bulk of the album: poorly written, loudly accompanied, ultimately noisy and confused. The title track, "Tragic Kingdom" succeeds in bolstering the album at the end by at least having interesting lyrics.

Despite the radio friendly first three singles, which were enough of a hook to buy the album, this is not a keeper and not worth purchasing. The best song is "Don't Speak," the weakest link is "Sixteen."

For other works by female-driven bands, please check out my reviews of:
The Bird And The Bee - Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall & John Oates

4/10

For other music reviews, please check out my index page!

2010, 2001 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


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