No - Some - Doubt ‘Tragic Kingdom’ A Huge Success, But No Doubt Faces A Few Obstacles If It Wnats To Hold Its Popularity

The record industry sounded alarms a few months ago.

Seems sales were in a slump. A major slump.

Naturally, the billion-dollar industry was seeking the deliverance of new albums from a handful of popular bands to lure consumers back to record stores.

And naturally, the bands it counted on - U2, Aerosmith and Live - failed to get the country excited about music again. All three of those new albums debuted atop the charts but fell out of the top 10 in a couple of weeks.

If you look back, the bands that really gave the industry a big boost were the ones that came virtually out of nowhere.

Nirvana did it with “Nevermind,” Green Day did it with “Dookie,” Alanis Morissette did it with her debut album. So did Hootie.

A little Southern California ska curiosity by the name of No Doubt did it with its third album, “Tragic Kingdom.” After 71 weeks on the charts, “Tragic Kingdom” remains firmly entrenched in the Top 20 and is rapidly approaching sales of 8 million copies.

“Tragic Kingdom’s” supremacy has culminated with No Doubt headlining a national tour of outdoor sheds with a supporting cast of Weezer and Ednaswap. The tour stops at The Gorge on Saturday.

No Doubt has achieved world domination in the land of pop music, which is cause for celebration. But once the promotional push behind “Tragic Kingdom” expires, the band will face a difficult future.

Will there be a backlash? History suggests there might be. After all, radio and MTV have liberally showered us with four singles, “Just a Girl,” “Spider Webs,” “Don’t Speak” and “Sunday Morning.” For a band just beginning to taste success, they’re teetering on over-exposure.

Also, does No Doubt have the songs to stay in it over the long haul? Despite its commercial appeal, “Tragic Kingdom” was not a great record. The slick production blurred the band’s rambunctiousness and spontaneity, resulting in over-produced pop songs that sound forced.

Which could explain why it took several months after the release of “Tragic Kingdom” for the 10-year-old No Doubt to find an audience wider than the all-ages scene of Orange County, Calif. At the time of its release, the album wasn’t heavily promoted by Interscope, which had its hands full with Bush, Primus and Nine Inch Nails.

Really, No Doubt has itself to thank for its success. It was the band’s persistent touring that garnered the four a massive following. (It also didn’t hurt that singer Gwen Stefani looked good, too.) From town to town, they made appearances at record stores before concerts and met with fans after shows.

Most important, they electrified audiences at concerts. No Doubt was the only band that mattered the night they opened for Bush and the Goo Goo Dolls last year at the Spokane Arena.

What “Tragic Kingdom” doesn’t emphasize and the reason the band is an unstoppable force on stage is the fact that No Doubt oscillates in and out of genres much like a motorcycle in traffic. Reinforced with the dynamic Stefani, a horn section and keyboard player, No Doubt fortifies its pop songs with ska, reggae, punk and new wave.

If No Doubt’s follow-up album gets off to a slow start (like many of the alternative nation’s follow-ups), bet on the band using live shows to kick-start it.

Weezer

Supporting band Weezer has already felt the effects of having lukewarm response to the successor (“Pinkerton”) of its blockbuster debut, despite being a better album.

But singer-guitarist Rivers Cuomo isn’t thinking about sales or the industry at the moment. Still, he’s a little harried. Cuomo, talking by phone, is in the midst of finals week at Harvard, where he studies English.

He’s just sucked down two pots of coffee and must run off to rehearse with the band. However, after being cooped up in Boston attending classes for several months, he’s itching to hop back on the concert trail.

“I’ve been in school for the last four months,” says Cuomo, who is one year from completing his bachelor’s degree. “I’m so … bored; I miss being a rock star. So, I’m going to have fun.”

Weezer will spend part of the summer with No Doubt. Then the rock combo will headline its own shows until Cuomo’s classes resume in the fall - unless “Pinkerton” gets a second wind.

“Everything is kind of up in the air depending on how ‘Pink Triangle’ does,” says Cuomo.

“Pink Triangle” is the third single from the band’s excellent sophomore album “Pinkerton.” The album, released last fall, has sold sluggishly (200,000 copies) in comparison to the band’s debut (3 million copies).

Cuomo says much of this is due to the limited amount of touring the band has done behind the album. Plus, the gimmicky “Buddy Holly” video from the last album - the one where Weezer is spliced into a “Happy Days” episode - pigeonholed the band as a lightweight goof.

So now, all bets are on “Pink Triangle,” a sincere yet clever song about unrequited love for a lesbian: “I’m dumb she’s a lesbian/I thought I had found the one/we were good as married in my mind/but married in my mind’s no good.” In one line, Cuomo pleas, “Everyone’s a little queer/oh can’t you be a little straight?”

“Pinkerton” is brimming with brilliant moments like this, both lyrically and musically. It’s a pop masterpiece, more so than the band’s first album. The music has been stripped of its varnish, uncovering 10 rough-hewn, yet skillfully melodic, rock songs. Plus, the lyrics are more direct, with Cuomo presenting his personal experiences from a unique angle. So it’s hard to believe that America hasn’t taken the bait.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT No Doubt, Weezer and Ednaswap will perform Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. at the Gorge. Tickets are $26, available at Ticketmaster outlets or call (509) 735-0500.