Saturday apparently marked the fifteenth anniversary of No Doubt’s Return of Saturn. *Ahem* excuse me, fifteen years??
Return of Saturn was the album that turned me into a diehard No Doubt fan. I was already familiar and in favor of Tragic Kingdom, their breakthrough and most memorable album, but ROS really brought me there. I think it was a mixture of their newfound rock sound and Gwen Stefani’s pink hair’d attitude. I loved their image during that time; they reached a whole level of natural-cool. Their rock-ska sound was just perfect. It was exactly what I was into at that time as I started developing a love for rock music.
I became known as the “No Doubt superfan” in school. Everyone knew I loved the band, and I was not afraid to talk about it.
Mostly because of Gwen, I was inspired to further develop my interests and hobbies. It’s a known fact that Gwen used to make her own clothes and accessories when she was young. I wanted to do just that. So, I taught myself to sew. I started off making fun wristbands, eventually graduating to resizing large shirts, to figuring out how to construct clothes from scratch. I developed my own style, and to this day, I no longer check sizes as I shop, because I always make it work for me.
(My Return of Saturn sneakers I painted back in ’09. ⤴ I bought these from the little boys section in KMART, which explains why they’re so strange.)
Bottom line is that Return of Saturn means a great deal to me because of the domino effect that occurred after No Doubt entered my life full time. They appeared as I was entering my teens and going through the awkward years; they helped me fight my way through middle + high school with “WHAT WOULD GWEN DO?” as a sort of proverb on repeat in the back of my head. They were important, and gave me a justified reason to express myself in any which way I wanted to. They made it acceptable, and they were, and still are awesome role models.
I saw them for the first time in 2009 and it was the most fantastic and memorable experience seeing them live. Nine years late, but better late than never.
I’m lucky to say that I’ll also be seeing them in New Orleans at Jazzfest and I couldn’t be more excited.
They will forever have a deep place in my heart. Happy birthday, Return of Saturn!
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