Tragic Kingdom

Tragic Kingdom is an album released in 1995 by alternative rock/ska band No Doubt. It is their third studio album and the last one featuring founding member and keyboardist Eric Stefani, who left the previous year during recording.

The album noted a change in sound compared to previous efforts, leading to something simpler and leaning towards pop. This is a result of Eric Stefani (who wrote most of the band’s early songs) leaving the band in 1994 during production, which in turn left the rest of the band (especially his sister Gwen) to adapt and fill in the songwriting hole he left behind. Nonetheless, he still left his songwriting mark in some way via the album’s title track, as well as several others.

Tragic Kingdom eventually became the band’s biggest commercial success, reaching the top of the Billboard Top 200 in December 1996 and staying there for eight weeks, as well as selling over 16 million copies worldwide (as of 2004). It became No Doubt’s big mainstream breakthrough thanks to their #1 hit Don’t Speak, among other hit singles such as Just a Girl, Spiderwebs, Excuse Me Mr., and Sunday Morning. Other singles included Happy Now? and Hey You.

The album’s success has led to it being credited for initiating the Ska Revival movement of the 90s, persuading record labels to sign more ska bands and helping them attract more mainstream attention.