Greener Pastures

''The Beacon Street Collection'' is the second studio album by American rock band No Doubt. It was released on March 25, 1995, by Beacon Street Records. Produced by the band and recorded in a homemade studio in the garage of their house on Beacon Avenue in Anaheim, California, from which the album takes its name, ''The Beacon Street Collection'' was released during a period when the band was receiving little attention from their label Interscope Records, and were not getting a chance to record a second album, as the label was disillusioned with them after the commercial failure of their 1992 eponymous debut. No Doubt had written large numbers of songs and knew that they would not make it onto any Interscope album, so they built their own studio and recorded the album there. Two singles were released: " Squeal" and " Doghouse".

The album sold over 100,000 copies, over three times as many as their first album sold. Its success ensured that Interscope financed the band's third album '' Tragic Kingdom'', which was a massive success, selling 16 million copies worldwide and attracting extensive interest in the band. ''The Beacon Street Collection'' was re-released in 1997 as part of the band's back catalog.

Background

No Doubt released their self-titled debut album in 1992, a year after being signed to Interscope. The group's blend of upbeat brass-dominated songs and funk-style bass riffs came at a time when most of the United States was in the thrall of grunge music, a genre whose angst-ridden lyrics and dirty sound could not have contrasted more with the atmosphere of most of the songs on No Doubt's pop-oriented album. Not surprisingly, the band lost out to the now-ubiquitous grunge music and the album was a commercial failure, with only 30,000 copies sold.Vineyard, Jennifer
"Tunes and 'Toons"
. ''OC Weekly''. February 26, 1998. Retrieved August 31, 2008. In the words of the program director of KROQ, a Los Angeles radio station on which it was one of the band's driving ambitions to be played: "It would take an act of God for this band to get on the radio."

The band started to work on its second album in 1993 but Interscope, having lost faith in the band, rejected most of its material and so it was paired with producer Matthew Wilder. Eric Stefani did not like to relinquish creative control to someone outside the band and eventually stopped recording or rehearsing. He left No Doubt in 1994 to pursue an animation career on the cartoon TV series '' The Simpsons''."No Doubt". '' Behind the Music''. VH1. April 9, 2000. Kanal then ended his seven-year relationship with Gwen, saying that he needed "space".

Music

A large number of songs on ''The Beacon Street Collection'' were written by Eric Stefani, who left the group before their third album was recorded. This gave the album a similar sound to their first album, ''No Doubt'', in which Eric Stefani had collaborated in the writing of all the songs. Because the lyrics in '' Tragic Kingdom'' were written mainly by Gwen Stefani about her experiences in life, the style of music changed from what No Doubt had previously produced. Tom Dumont explained the change in sound in an interview for Backstage Online:

Production

No Doubt became frustrated at the lack of progress they were making with Interscope, who were proving unreliable in their support of the band.Interview with the band
conducted by Wendy Hermanson for BAM magazine on November 17, 1995, archived on No Doubt's official website. Retrieved August 26, 2008. Instead, they built their own studio in their garage on Beacon Avenue in Anaheim, CaliforniaTimeline of the band's history
from No Doubt's official website. Although the band had knowledge that they didn't want any songs to be released in an Interscope-distributed album, they recorded ''The Beacon Street Collection'' in their studio and Clear Lake Audio in one long weekend. Their independence shocked their company representative, Tony Ferguson, who had assumed they were recording a third single.Without A Doubt
by Robert Kinsler for the ''Orange County Register'' on December 15, 1995. Retrieved August 31, 2008.

Singles

In 1994, before recording of the album had even begun, No Doubt released two seven-inch singles for their fans. The first was " Squeal", a song written by Eric Stefani, detailing a criminal's reaction to her partner's betrayal to the police. They had agreed to be "in this together" but, after he " squeals", she resolves to "kill the narc who wrote it and said it hat she was guilty of a crime. The single's B-side was "My Room Is Still Clean", written by Tony Kanal and recorded live at the Icehouse in Fullerton, California on February 13, 1993.Squeal and Doghouse
at No Doubt's official website.

The second single was " Doghouse", written by Eric Stefani. It is about a man who is bullied and dominated by his girlfriend and is unwilling to force the situation to change. The song uses the metaphor of a dog and its master to illustrate the nature of the relationship, saying that she had got him "by the reins" and he has been " conditioned" by her. The single's B-side was "You Can't Teach an Ol' Dog New Tricks", written by Eric Stefani.

Reception

Significance

On its original release in March 1995, ''The Beacon Street Collection'' was only available in local record stores in Orange County, California and at No Doubt's shows. Its rawer sound proved popular with the band's fans and the band's first batch of one thousand copies sold out within only a few months after its release. Interscope realized the band's potential and allowed them to record their third album, '' Tragic Kingdom'' in various Los Angeles studios, "wherever they could get a deal on a studio". During a recording session, the band was introduced to Paul Palmer, who was interested in mixing the new album. He owned his own record label Trauma Records, which was associated with Interscope. Interscope willingly sublicensed the project to Trauma Records in 1995 and ''Tragic Kingdom'' got the personal focus that comes from a small company.Sandler, Adam
"Interscope facing Trauma in $100 million lawsuit"
'' Variety''. May 28, 1997. Retrieved December 30, 2006.

By the end of the year, 100,000 copies of ''The Beacon Street Collection'' had been sold, over three times as many as their first album, ''No Doubt''. These sales were mostly due to the release of ''Tragic Kingdom'', which was released seven months after ''The Beacon Street Collection'' in October 1995. ''Tragic Kingdom'' was a massive commercial success, reaching sales of over 10 million in the United States and 16 million worldwide,Van Meter, Jonathan
"The First Lady of Rock"
'' Vogue'' (April 2004). Retrieved from Style.com July 1, 2007. peaking at number one on several charts and being certified Diamond (10,000,000 units) in the US''Tragic Kingdom''
at RIAA. and Canada and Platinum in the UK and Australia.''Tragic Kingdom''
at ARIA. This success created an extensive interest in the band's back catalog so, in October 1997, ''The Beacon Street Collection'' was re-released on Interscope.

In an interview with Axcess Magazine in April 1996, Gwen Stefani described the release of ''The Beacon Street Collection'' as "one of the best things heyever did because heywere able to take some songs that would have probably gotten lost and document them".Bursting into stardom
interview with Axcess Magazine on April/May 1996.

Critical

AllMusic called the album "finer than the and'sdebut", and described it as containing more of a "raw sound inspired ..by punk" than the style of No Doubt's first album, which was heavily " synth and new wave". '' Entertainment Weekly'', in 1997, called it "more focused than ''Tragic Kingdom''" with " reggae frat-house grooves and perky horns", and complimented "Gwen's feisty Kewpie-doll wail" and the "swaying ballads", attributing it to "the band's willing spirit". Rock on the Net retrospectively called the album "a raw expression of their sound" and describing it as "80s punk with 90s grunge.No Doubt
at Rock on the Net.

Track listing

Credits

Personnel

* Gwen Stefani – vocals
* Tom Dumont – guitar
* Tony Kanal – bass
* Adrian Young – percussion, drums
* Eric Stefani – keyboard
* Phil Jordan – trumpet
* Eric Carpenter – saxophone

Additional personnel
* Bradley Nowell – vocals
* Gabrial McNair – percussion, trombone
* Gerard Boisse- baritone, tenor, soprano saxophones

Production

* Producer: No Doubt
* Engineers: Ray Blair, Tom Dumont, Colin "Dog" Mitchell
* Mixing: Tom Dumont, Nicholas Hexum, Colin "Dog" Mitchell, No Doubt, Scott Ralston, Adrian Young
* Mixing assistants: Nick Hexum, Scott Ralston, Adrian Young
* Mastering: Robert Vosgien
* Advisor: Albhy Galuten
* Design: Gwen Stefani
* Layout design: Matt Wignall
* Liner notes: No Doubt

Release history

All information is from the AllMusic pageand No Doubt's officia
website discography

References

External links

Official No Doubt website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beacon Street Collection, The
1995 albums
No Doubt albums
Interscope Records albums
Self-released albums
Grunge albums