Serious (Gwen Stefani song)

The latter also produced the song with Mark "Spike" Stent, who Stefani and Kanal previously worked with on No Doubt's fifth studio album, Rock Steady (2001).

[1] After listening to songs recommended to her by No Doubt bassist and former boyfriend Tony Kanal, she considered recording material that "modernized 1980s music".

[2] After writing a series of several songs, including "Serious", "Crash", and "Luxurious", the pair gave up after Stefani didn't find anything worth recording from the sessions.

"[3][4] Due to Stefani's doubts, the project began a six-month hiatus, which resulted in the singer deciding to collaborate with various new musicians instead.

Baby.. "Serious" takes influence from the "'80s style" and dance music genres, which in turn drew frequent comparisons to the works of Madonna and Club Nouveau.

[7] Opening with "an orchestral [...] before diving into a Prince-ready bumping drum beat and ambient synth",[8] Stefani sings: "I think I'm coming down with something / I think I'm gonna need your medicine" in a provocative tone.

[7] Hazel Cills from Vice found the aforementioned lyric reminiscent of Carol Douglas' 1974 cover of "Doctor's Orders".

Jason Damas from PopMatters praised the track for being "a sure contender for future single release", in addition to calling it his "favorite song on the album".

He further added: "No Doubt fans who always secretly suspected that Stefani may someday move to become a Madonna-like dance diva will find their proof in this cut, which plagiarizes Kylie Minogue's "Fever" but makes the song even bigger and catchier.

[13] Lisa Haines, a music editor and columnist for BBC, was less favorable in her review, opining that "the cheeky upstart charm Madonna sported in the 80s is embraced to shrewd effect" for the track's duration.

Rosa noted that the video "is now virtually unfindable on the Web", and was disappointed by stating: "We wanted some Madonna realness, Gwen!