Originally published by L.S. Media. September 25th 2012.

L.S.Media Rating *****

Gwen Stefani is back where she really belongs, back behind the microphone of one of the most original bands to come out of America in the last 20 years and seemingly having fun again with her three No Doubt male members.

For a band that first surfaced out of the primordial soup that was the excess of heavy metal and the emergence of Grunge and who released their first album two decades ago, the fact that this is only the sixth album in all that time may catch the uninitiated a little by surprise. Despite the band being on hiatus since the release of the superb Rock Steady in 2001, Push and Shove retains some of the elements of that album, fuses them with the ideas behind Gwen Stefani’s two solo albums and yet throughout it all, the overwhelming realisation that the ten years away may have actually been good for all the members of the band.

Push and Shove is the most mature sounding album that the band have produced and whilst sounding developed to the extreme with no quarter given to any possible mistakes for fans to grasp upon and yearn for a simpler time, there is underneath a sense of fun that was obviously starting to be let adrift in the run up to the last couple of albums. It is this fun which was the trademark of the band in the very early years, a band that you could turn up to watch at a gig anywhere and be entertained and also enjoy. Being at a gig given by No Doubt was something special as it wasn’t co-ordinated as some of the worst excess of metal was becoming, nor was it the equivalent of social drudgery that elements of pop were in danger of becoming, it was pure and simple fun. Push and Shove brings that fun back and shows that No Doubt still have the power to produce excellent songs.

Even on songs where the tempo and lyrics take a turn for the bitter such as Undone, the music is intensely powerful. The despair in Gwen Stefani’s voice is enough to break your heart whilst wondering how you would ever cope with this talented woman if you were fortunate enough to be the one she was singing to. The lyrics to this song seem so very personal and the hopelessness she is suffering as she pleads not to be left behind is palpable and chilling.

No Doubt may have been away for ten years but that hasn’t stopped them coming together to bring out arguably the finest album of their career.

Ian D. Hall