Hella Good

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“Hella Good”
“Hella Good” cover
Single by No Doubt
from the album Rock Steady
Released April 2002 (North America)
Format CD
Genre Rock, Electro
Length 4:02
Label Interscope
Writer(s) Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, Chad Hugo, Pharrel Williams
Producer Nellee Hooper, No Doubt
Certification Gold (ARIA)
No Doubt singles chronology
"Hey Baby"
(2001)		 "Hella Good"
(2002)		 "Underneath It All"
(2002)

"Hella Good" is an electro/rock song written by Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal, and The Neptunes for No Doubt's fifth studio album Rock Steady (2001). The song draws influence from electro, rock, and funk music. It received positive reviews from music critics, who made comparisons to the work of a diverse range of artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and Madonna.

"Hella Good" was released as the album's second single in April 2002 (see 2002 in music). It was moderately successful, and Roger Sanchez's remix of the song topped the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play. At the 45th Grammy Awards, "Hella Good" was nominated for Best Dance Recording, and Sanchez's remix won for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. A black-and-white music video was produced, featuring the band squatting in an abandoned ship.

Contents

[edit] Background and writing

No Doubt decided to work with hip hop production duo The Neptunes as a sort of "cultural collision".[1] Lead singer Gwen Stefani wanted to write a high-spirited and celebratory song about the positive things in her life, so they wrote an optimistic club song. The word hella is a slang term used in the San Francisco Bay Area to mean very. Having toured in the Bay Area, Stefani borrowed the term to describe her mood.[2] Stefani wanted to use the word dance in a chorus, so she decided to end each line of "Hella Good"'s chorus with the phrase "keep on dancing".[3] The song's funk sound is based on songs such as Queen's 1980 single "Another One Bites the Dust" and The Commodores' 1977 single "Brick House".[4]

 

"Hella Good" is a rock song composed in the key of G minor. It is written in common time and moves at a moderately fast 120 beats per minute.[5] The song's beat drew several comparisons to that of Michael Jackson's 1983 single "Billie Jean".[6][7] Its hook comes from a simple progression of power chords alternating between G and A flat. "Hella Good" follows a verse-chorus form with a chorus following each of the two verses. Following the bridge, the chorus is repeated and the song closes with an outro.[5]

[edit] Critical reception

"Hella Good" generally received positive reviews from music critics. About.com ranked the song number one in a list of the top five singles from Stefani's career, with the band as well as solo, reasoning by saying that the song's "bumping contemporary beat pushes along 80's style keyboards making it nearly impossible to keep from moving your body."[8] Blender described it as a "blazing start" to Rock Steady and compared it to the work of pop group Was (Not Was), rapper and producer Timbaland, ska punk band Fishbone, and electro DJ Afrika Bambaataa.[9] The NME also compared the song to Bambaataa's music as well as that of Britney Spears and Duran Duran.[10] PlayLouder called the track outstanding and compared Nellee Hooper's production to the electroclash style of Chicago house DJ Felix da Housecat.[11] Entertainment Weekly characterized the song as a sequel to Madonna's 1985 synthpop single "Into the Groove".[12] It went on to include "Hella Good" in its list of the top five No Doubt songs, in which it described the song as "a dance-pop delight irresistible enough to make you forget that ''hella'' is one of history's most irritating slang terms."[7] Stylus Magazine was pleased with the use of overdubbing in the song's "anthemic rock chorus", but referred to its lyrics as stupid.[13] The song was listed at number twenty-six on the 2002 Pazz & Jop list, a survey of several hundred music critics conducted by Robert Christgau.[14]

[edit] Chart performance

In the United States, "Hella Good" reached number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was more successful in mainstream markets, reaching number three on the Top 40 Mainstream and number nine on the Top 40 Tracks and in clubs, topping the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. It had success on adult contemporary stations, peaking at number nine on the Adult Top 40 and later appearing at number three on the Top 40 Adult Recurrents. It had some crossover success in urban contemporary markets and reached number twenty-nine on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart.[15] Interscope Records approached house DJ Roger Sanchez to produce a remix of the song,[16] which went on to top the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.[15] The song was less successful on the Canadian Singles Chart, where it peaked at number twenty-six for three non-consecutive weeks.[15]

For the 2003 Grammy Awards, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences introduced new categories for Best Dance Recording and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. "Hella Good" was nominated for Best Dance Recording at but lost to Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By", and Sanchez's remix won for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical.[17] No Doubt performed a medley of "Underneath It All" and "Hella Good" at the show.[18]

On the UK Singles Chart, "Hella Good" debuted at number twelve but was unable to reach a higher position.[19] The song peaked at number eight on the ARIA Singles Chart in June 2002 and remained on the chart for three months.[20] It was listed at number sixty-four on the 2002 end of year chart,[21] and it was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association.[22] "Hella Good" was successful in South America and reached the top five in Argentina and Chile.[19]

The song was feathured in the opening sequence of the 2005 film The Longest Yard

[edit] Music video

A waterjet scene from the music video.
A waterjet scene from the music video.

The song's music video was directed by Mark Romanek. Not following any plot, the video depicts the band as a group of punk rockers squatting in an abandoned ship. During the course of the video, the band members perform the song, using bodyboards to float electronic equipment, and they and their friends explore and dance throughout the ship. There are also sequences of people riding on personal water crafts, Stefani performing on a coiled rope, people playing Jet Set Radio Future, and Stefani broadcasting on a pirate radio station.[2]

Romanek came up with the video's concept it and e-mailed it to the band. He based it off of a black-and-white Italian Vogue fashion shoot from the mid 1990s which featured models on waverunners. The video was then filmed over three days in March 2002 in Long Beach, California. The scenes inside the ship were filmed from man-made sets at South Bay Studios.[2]

The music video was moderately successful. Following a premiere on an episode of MTV's Making the Video, it reached number four on the network's video countdown Total Request Live.[23] The video debuted on MuchMusic's Countdown in April 2002 and peaked at number six, spending over four months on the program.[24]

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Hella Good" (album version) – 4:04
  2. "Hey Baby" (Stank Remix) – 4:07
  3. "Hey Baby" (Kelly G's Bumpin' Baby Club Mix) – 4:13
  4. "Hella Good" (video) – 4:02

[edit] Charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[20] 8
Austrian Singles Chart[25] 44
Canadian Singles Chart[15] 26
New Zealand Singles Chart[26] 17
Swiss Singles Chart[27] 78
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[15] 13
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40[15] 9
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play[15] 1
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40[15] 29
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Adult Recurrents[15] 3
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[15] 3
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks[15] 9
United World Chart [28] 7

[edit] References

  1. ^ Grant, Kieran. "No doubts at all". Jam!. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "Hella Good". Making the Video. MTV. March 30, 2002.
  3. ^ Montoya, Paris and Lanham, Tom. "Hella Good". The Singles 1992-2003. November 25, 2003. Interscope Records.
  4. ^ Orshoski, Wes. "No Doubt Feels 'Rock Steady'". Billboard. November 21, 2001. July 12, 2007.
  5. ^ a b Sheet music for "Hella Good". Hal Leonard Corporation. 2001.
  6. ^
  7. ^ a b Hiatt, Brian. "Reasonable Doubt". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
  8. ^ Lamb, Bill. "Top 5 Gwen Stefani / No Doubt Singles". About.com. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  9. ^ Howe, Rupert. "No Doubt : Rock Steady Review". Blender. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  10. ^ Needham, Alex. "No Doubt : Rock Steady". NME. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  11. ^ Perry, Dan. "No Doubt: Rock Steady (2002) review". PlayLouder. January 16, 2002. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  12. ^ Browne, David. "Rock Steady (Music - No Doubt) | Music Review". Entertainment Weekly. December 10, 2007. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  13. ^ Delaney, Colleen. "No Doubt - Rock Steady - Review". Stylus Magazine. September 1, 2003. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  14. ^ "Pazz & Jop 2002: Critics' List". The Village Voice. February 18, 2003. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Rock Steady". All Music Guide. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  16. ^ Thomas, Misty. "A Quick Little Chat with Roger Sanchez". JIVE. October 3, 2003. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
  17. ^ "45th Annual Grammy Awards - 2003". Rock on the Net. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
  18. ^ D'angelo, Joe. "Norah Jones Sweeps Grammys, Boss Wins Three, Avril Shut Out". MTV News. February 24, 2003. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
  19. ^ a b "No Doubt Hella Good". Top40-Charts.com. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
  20. ^ a b "No Doubt - Hella Good". Australian-Charts.com. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
  21. ^ "End of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2002". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
  22. ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2002 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
  23. ^ "The TRL Archive - Recap - April 2002". ATRL. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  24. ^ "MuchMusic Countdown". MuchMusic. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  25. ^ "No Doubt - Hella Good". AustrianCharts.at. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
  26. ^ "No Doubt - Hella Good". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
  27. ^ "No Doubt - Hella Good". SwissCharts.com. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
  28. ^ [1]. United World Chart. Retrieved March 30, 2008.

[edit] External links

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