Melissa Kacar

"Just A Girl" was a massive breakthrough moment for No Doubt and became a defining anthem for the group, exuding a strong feminist message - even though it was never necessarily intended to be. It was the lead single off No Doubt's third album Tragic Kingdom and echoed many of the feelings Gwen Stefani was experiencing, with her own personal perspective at the forefront for the first time.  This song marked the beginning of a new era for the band in many ways as well. "Just A Girl" was the first song Gwen wrote on her own without her brother, Eric, who was a founding member of the band and the primary songwriter for their music prior to his departure from No Doubt earlier that year. She co-wrote the song with the band's guitarist Tom Dumont, who said in a 1996 interview with  Backstage  that Gwen and the rest of the band taking creative control led their sound and artistic output in a new direction than they were headed prior when Eric was mainly writing ...

"Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call" // Bleachers Is it too soon to say this is one of Bleachers ' best songs yet? Because it is! "Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call" is a song draped in nostalgia and really captures some of the melancholy feelings this season can bring. I never heard a song quite like this though, it evokes such a specific emotion in me that I don't even know if I can fully describe, but just feels like something that I needed to hear. All of the best Bleachers music does that for me though. While it is technically a Christmas song, it isn't overtly festive, which is a genre that is so hard to pull off but Jack and the rest of the band did it perfectly. I have been looking forward to finally hearing this song for a couple of years and it came at the perfect time. I have been listening to it on repeat every single day ever since it was released, I truly cannot get enough of it! "Defying Gravity" // Cynthia Erivo & A...

Tragic Kingdom is the hit breakthrough album by  No Doubt , released in 1995 to widespread critical acclaim. Blending a mix of pop, punk, rock and ska, it was a groundbreaking album for the music landscape of the mid-90's and instantly became a timeless classic. It was the band's third album together, which differed quite a bit from their first two lesser-known records, partly because of the interpersonal drama within the lives of the members at the time. For the first time, No Doubt's music was mainly written from the perspective of the band's frontwoman  Gwen Stefani . This album was just the start of Gwen becoming the major force in pop music that she was for much of the next decade to follow. This record still is just as relevant now as it was then, I hear the influences of  Tragic Kingdom and Gwen's emblematic attitude try to be replicated by so many modern pop and rock records released today.  This album spawned several massive hits for them, including "S...