Turn It Up!: No Doubt - Underneath It All (Music Video)

  "You see the colors in me like no one else!"

 How to even start this post. I was kinda coaxed into adding this video to the blog at this particular time (in the nicest possible way), because I added it to my facebook page as my chosen "Song Of The Day" and my friend Jordanna suggested I add it here, and even gave the blog a little shout out on her time line! Sweet!

 So here it is! I love almost everything by No Doubt, but I truly have an affinity for their more reggae/ska infused material, like this song from their 4th studio album "Rock Steady" (2001), and when it came on my i-pod today, I listened to it about 4 times. Underneath It All was the 3rd single from Rock Steady, and though it did well commercially in the US (including taking the award for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group at the 2004 Grammy Awards), the song was trashed by most reviewers as being too cheesy and predictable. I happen to like things that are cheesy and predictable though lol. To me it's more simplistic and low key than a lot of their other material, but isn't the bulk of reggae styled music meant to be simplistic? Plus, the love story element of the lyrics is very simplistic so I feel the music compliments this well. Lead singer Gwen Stefani wrote this song about her relationship with (now husband) Gavin Rossdale, because although their relationship had its ups and downs, she believed they were meant for each other. So far, she appears to be right.

 The video has a very Jamaican style to it as well in terms of the color scheme in the scenes with the entire band. The director, Sophie Muller decided to go with orange, green, and red tones for the scenes in which the band is biking through a Jamaican background while featured artist, Lady Saw, toasts during the bridge. The video also features Gwen in several scenes alone, a couple with her made up and heavily styled, and ultimately stripped down to nothing (her underneath as it were) in simple undergarments and limited make-up.

 So, if you enjoy the simplistic and low-key, then watch away. "Damn The Critics!"