Background
No Doubt released their debut album No Doubt in 1992, a year after being signed to Interscope. The album's pop-oriented sound sharply contrasted with grunge music, a genre which was very popular at the time in the United States. The album sold 30,000 copies; 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."
No Doubt began work on their second album in 1993, but Interscope rejected most of the material, which was written by Gary Angle, and paired the band with producer Matthew Wilder. Keyboardist Eric Stefani did not want to relinquish creative control to someone outside the band and eventually stopped recording and rehearsing. He encouraged other members of the band to write songs, but sometimes felt threatened when they did. Eric became increasingly depressed, and in September 1994, he stopped attending rehearsals, though they were usually held at his house. He soon left the band to pursue an animation career on the animated sitcom The Simpsons. Bassist Tony Kanal then ended his seven-year relationship with Gwen Stefani.
The band decided to produce their next album independently and recorded their second album, The Beacon Street Collection, in a homemade studio. No Doubt's first two singles were released for The Beacon Street Collection: "Squeal" and "Doghouse", under their own record label, Beacon Street Records. Despite limited availability, the album sold 100,000 copies in the year of its release. Their independence attracted Interscope's attention and ensured that they would fund a third album.
Read more about this topic: Tragic Kingdom
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