TORONTO -- Confused is probably not the mood No Doubt's Gwen Stefani was going for at the Guvernment Monday night.

But the sprightly singer couldn't help but marvel as the front row of the sold-out house insisted on singing along with tunes from No Doubt's long-awaited Return Of Saturn, an album that won't hit stores for another two weeks.

"How can you know the words?!" Stefani queried, mid-way through the special pre-release gig.

She went on to jokingly blame drummer Adrian Young for leaking the material online. Deep down, Stefani, Young, guitarist Tom Dumont and bassist Tony Kanal -- plus the auxiliary horn/keyboard section of Gabe McNair and Phil Jordan -- must have been relieved by this little breach of security.

The crowd of 1,200 may have just been reeling in excitement over the new album's unveiling, but rather than look on in expectation, they were bouncing participants throughout.

Return Of Saturn, out April 11 in Canada, is No Doubt's first album since their 1995 smash Tragic Kingdom, which took them from being regional, Southern Californian pop-punk-ska curiosity to international stardom.

Monday marked the band's third actual gig since packing up in 1997 after two years of touring. Surprisingly, they showed none of the rust that often slows down groups on the eve of a major album push.

Stefani's apologetic comment that No Doubt "didn't mean to take so long" in the studio aside, the quartet must have wisely whipped themselves into terrific shape before emerging to play for paying audiences again.

Stefani -- she of the shapely arms and famous bare belly -- was tirelessly cheerleader-like, from appropriately titled show opener New through the pre-encore closer, new single Ex-Girlfriend.

No Doubt buoyed the set with requisite Tragic Kingdom hits Sunday Morning and Spiderwebs, pop confection that has actually stood the test of time well over the past half-decade, though the maudlin, '80s era Madonna-ness of hit ballad Don't Speak came close to spoiling the party.

The echoey confines of the Guvernment didn't make for the best listening booth for the new stuff. Stand-out new tune Bathwater was instantly recognizable, while upcoming single Simple Kind Of Life diverged bravely into dreamy, power-pop space.

No guarantee on how well Return Of Saturn will hold up without No Doubt's ample live charm, but judging on crowd response, it'll probably be far from tragic.

JAM! Rating: 4 out of 5