No Doubt’s “Settle Down” Video: Review Revue

Robbie Daw | July 17, 2012 8:48 am

If you got in line and settled down to watch No Doubt‘s “Settle Down” video, then you’re well aware that the Orange County band are back in a big way, thanks to their party-packed, trucker-themed clip. It’s the first offering from Gwen Stefani & Co.’s upcoming album Push And Shove — their first in 11 years (it’s out September 25) — and critics are raving, for the most part, over the Sophie Muller-directed vid. In fact, judging by the reviews we rounded up below, this could be the most welcome comeback of the year.

:: Says The Hollywood Reporter, “The video is chock full of colorful visuals, wild fashion and outrageous antics, with Stefani jumping, kicking, partying and applying lipgloss (she is a L’Oreal spokesmodel, after all.)”

:: The Huffington Post got teary-eyed over the band’s first new video in a decade: “The reunion that happens a minute and a half in is particularly memorable, as Stefani, Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal and Adrian Young — together with their touring trumpeter Stephen Bradley and trombonist Gabrial McNair — are happily reunited. It’s a heartwarming moment that will make even the toughest rockers get a little verklempt.”

:: Spin gives the band props: “Directed by Sophie Muller, who has previously helmed some of the band’s best videos, the well-executed clip feels like a homecoming of sorts, as the band members embrace each other, and Stefani struts around in those kinds of tank tops she once made her signature. But it also, in a way that Stefani’s most recent solo album — and, frankly, most new music by ’90s standbys — does not, looks remarkably of the moment.”

:: Ology is having a flashback: “Apart from the fancy big rigs, it’s sort of a Build-A-Bear version of a No Doubt video; all the old staples are here, from Gwen Stefani’s impressive collection of tank tops to Adrian Young’s dependable oddball-ness. The set pieces begin to wear a little thin towards the end (how many different shots of Gwen Stefani smothered in a crowd of people do we need?) but, in tone and execution, at least, this could have been a No Doubt video in 2001.”

:: Chart Rigger feels Gwen is hella good in the visual: “I already flipped my lid earlier today over the song itself. All I can add about the video is that Gwen is looking pretty flawless.”

:: The Prophet Blog concurs: “I’m dead and buried at Gwen Stefani still looking virtually the same as she did over fifteen years ago. Whatever anti-aging products she and Jennifer Lopez are using, I need them. When I turned Sweet Sixteen I still looked older and more haggard than Gwen does now.”

:: TwentyFourBit summed it up with this: “All told, it’s a fine reunion tune complete with an appropriately reunion-themed clip, in which the 11-year gap feels nearly vanished after a mere 6-minute jam.”

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