<rant>I must disagree with Wikipedia's claim that the most prominent genre is ska. For me, it is a pop-punk album which happens to be tongue-in-cheek and have horns at times. Similar to The Police, there is a strong ska influence, but I wouldn't say many of the songs are actually ska.</rant> World Go 'Round is the only ska song on the album, which has very nice verses, but I find the chorus clunky and lets it down.
The album has wonderful variety, but No Doubt's staple (back then) of punk-lite with wonderfully chorused female vocals, funky bassline and smart use of horns/keyboard is a great starting point. Gwen's vocals are a highlight, with huge range being shown throughout the album. Possibly the jumps in vocal style within songs are comically overdone at times, but each style (from mourning ballad to power-rock to snarly rebellion) is very well delivered. I really like the strange metaphore lyrics, for example I have no idea what "You've been a juvenile, with a dolphin smile" actually means, but the imagery is great! And the unusual pronounciation means I often can't understand what the words are (for some strange reason I really like lyrics I don't properly understand!).
The hits of Just a Girl and Sixteen, have been relegated to the scrapyard of shooting star teen anthems, but I think there's more to these songs and they have lasting appeal. There are flashes of brilliance from all members of the band, it seems the players often resist the urge to show off their talent and instead sit back as a "team player" for the good of the song. To me, Sunday Morning is a great summary for what No Doubt were doing at the time. And Don't Speak is a very moving ballad.
As for the recording quality, some gripes are that guitar and snare can sound a bit "90s garage band". But the balance between instruments is very good, and the chorusing of the female vocals is absolutely incredible.
The cheesy lite-funk songs are a bit hit and miss. Different People has great instrumental work but I find the lyrics too banal. However, You Can Do It hits the spot for cheese-funk, complete with overdone plastic strings! There is also some brave experimentation on the album, such as the 6/8 time signature for The Climb and some random circus-inspired cameos in some songs. The song Tragic Kingdom brings this experimentation together brilliantly for an epic bonus track.
This album is probably too tongue-in-cheek for any "serious" critics to include in Best Ever album lists. But in my book, it's an absolute classic.
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