Rock Steady (album) - Release and Impact

Release and Impact

Rock Steady sold approximately three million copies. NME reviewer Alex Needham compared the album's revival of No Doubt's popularity to the performance of Madonna's 1998 album Ray of Light. The album debuted and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200, selling 255,000 copies in its first week. By 2002 it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album but lost to Norah Jones' Come Away with Me. The lead single "Hey Baby" and third single "Underneath It All" won the award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 2003 and 2004 Grammy Awards, respectively.

The album did not perform as strongly outside the United States. In September 2002, Rock Steady was certified platinum in Canada, and in the United Kingdom, the album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. It peaked at number fifteen on the ARIA Albums Chart and spent nine non-consecutive weeks in the top forty. The album was listed at number ninety-seven on the 2002 Australian Recording Industry Association end-of-year chart, and was certified gold by the ARIA.

Following the success of the regular edition, Rock Steady had two special edition re-releases in October 2002, each of which had a bonus CD. The two-song CD features acoustic live performances of "Underneath It All" and "Just a Girl" recorded at 1Live in Cologne, Germany in June 2002 as well as the music video for "Underneath It All". The four-song CD includes a remix of "Hey Baby" featuring OutKast and Killer Mike; another remix by F.A.B.Z.; Roger Sanchez's remix of "Hella Good", which won a Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical; and a remix of Return of Saturn's lead single "Ex-Girlfriend" made by Philip Steir, who helped produce "Hey Baby". The songs from the two-song bonus disc were released in North American iTunes Stores, and those from the four-song bonus disc were released in other countries. Rock Steady Live, a live DVD of No Doubt performing in 2002 in support of Rock Steady, was released in November 2003.

Rock Steady produced the band's most successful singles. "Hey Baby" preceded the album with an October 2001 release. It set a record for the band when it reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. The positive response to "Hey Baby" from radio stations and video channels prompted the band to push forward the release of Rock Steady from December 18 to December 11. The next single, "Hella Good", was released in April 2002. It was somewhat less successful and peaked at number thirteen. It was followed by "Underneath It All", which was released that August. The single is No Doubt's most successful American single to date, peaking at number three on the Hot 100, and like "Hey Baby", it managed to top the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart. The fourth and final single was "Running" in April 2003. Peaking at number sixty-two, "Running" became No Doubt's lowest position on the Hot 100 to date.

When singer-songwriter Jewel released her fifth album 0304 in June 2003, reinventing and sexualizing her public image, music critics identified Rock Steady and Ray of Light as influences on the album. Slant Magazine compared 0304's retro tribute to New Wave music with that on Rock Steady. Blender commented that Jewel had "brushed up on two sacred pop texts, the Manual of Madonna and the Gospel According to Gwen". The magazine compared her use of a more restrained, throaty purr to Stefani's vocals and noted 0304's use of "jumpy bubblegum choruses and boop-boop-beeping keyboards" as descendants of No Doubt's production.