Rocksteady

(Interscope)

Pop music is getting better, mostly due to the artists choosing innovative producers who are more interested in creating new sounds than creating the next Total Request Live hit. Take Britney Spears, for example, who used hip-hop production team The Neptunes for her slithery, Prince-like single, "I'm a Slave 4 U."

No Doubt ain't Britney Spears. For one thing, they've always written their own songs. But Rocksteady does feature an impressive array of producers, including William Orbit, who produced Madonna's Music and Blur's last album, Weezer producer Ric Ocasek and Sly and Robbie. Even the Artist Formerly Known As Prince produces a track.

Usually too many producers spoil an album, but the variety works surprisingly well here. The upbeat tracks work best, especially the Jamaican dancehall-infused, "Hey Baby." Things aren't so good when No Doubt slows down - that's when lead singer Gwen Stefani's often-insipid lyrics get the most painful.

The album's title is not just a song on the album, it's a reference to the sort of down-tempo ska music that influenced No Doubt's early albums. Rocksteady isn't No Doubt's return to ska, however. The touches of Rocksteady and dancehall music are subtle and their old horn section is still MIA. But No Doubt's choice of producers only seems to point in new directions for the band anyway.