Return of Saturn

"The bags are much too heavy/ In my insecure condition," No Doubt's Gwen Stefani sings early on Return of Saturn, the quartet's fourth album. She's singing about a relationship, as she does throughout the record's 14 songs, but she could just as easily be addressing the emotional state of her band, which, for the first time in its decade-long career, faces significant expectations. The group's last album, 1995's Tragic Kingdom, sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and launched a slew of hits, vaulting the once-unassuming band to pop mega-stardom. That certainly generates pressure, but Stefani, now a woman rather than "Just a Girl," has other things on her mind - romances in general, and specifically hers with Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale.

That lends a loosely conceptual unity to Return of Saturn as Stefani rides an emotional roller coaster, fretting one moment about a mate's "museum of lovers" before wondering, "Who will be the one to marry me?" in the next. Return of Saturn is filled with self-recriminations and grim admissions such as "There really isn't hope for the two of us/ But for now I give in," though at the same time Stefani still pleads, "Don't let it go away/ This feeling has got to stay." Clearly, there's still a lot of tragedy lurking in No Doubt's kingdom.

Following suit, the music on Return of Saturn - produced by Glen Ballard after a false start with Tragic Kingdom collaborator Matthew Wilder - is a bit darker than it was on Tragic Kingdom, but it's no less energetic. The chorus of "Ex-Girlfriend" and "Staring Problem" explode with in-your-face fury, while "Bathwater" is propelled by New Orleans-style horns, a bouncy rhythm, and a snaky guitar figure from Tom Dumont. "Six Feet Under" boasts an energetic, bop-till-you-drop '80s feel (they could have found this song in Missing Persons' storage locker), and ska-mongers No Doubt also dip into reggae ("Home Now," "Marry Me") and tango ("Comforting Lie") to good effect. But it's the lush melodicism of "A Simple Kind of Life" and "Magic's in the Makeup" and the ambient moodiness of "Suspension Without Suspense" and "Dark Blue" that really add resonance to the album. That, combined with the group's confident style-hopping throughout, makes Return of Saturn an assured step forward rather than a victim of follow-up pressures.