If you didn't know better-- and perhaps you don't-- you just might assume that vocalist/guitarist Rossdale, guitarist Nigel Pulsford, bassist Dave Parsons and drummer Robin Goodridge actually enjoy making people openly wonder about their open lifestyle-- as well as their equally unusual album titles. In recent months alone, the rock wires have been filled with rumors concerning man-about-town Rossdale's supposed dalliances with everyone from Hole's Courtney Love to No Doubt's Gwen Stafani-- rumors he has never pointedly confirmed, nor steadfastly denied. And speculation concerning the moniker attached to Bush's second consecutive platinum platter has ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime-- including one guess that Razorblade Suitcase made a reference to a guarded "suicide message", while another scribe half-seriously surmised that it was a "hidden drug reference".

Sometimes it seems as if Bush take particular in creating a wall of mystery and intrigue around themselves, a wall that serves to partially obliterate-- or at least obscure-- their true backgrounds, their true feelings and their true intentions. No matter how many albums they sell, no matter how many tabloid covers they generate and no matter how many tours they headline, these boys want to keep their ambiguous smirks firmly in place. Indeed, no matter how much the rock world may want to lay bare the facts surrounding Bush's incredible rise to fame and fortune, these London lads continue to hold on to every last shred of privacy that they can.

"We realized early on that if we couldn’t enjoy all of this it wasn't particularly worth doing," Rossdale said. "If we didn't want a bit of notice we probably could have stayed in the same London pubs that we played in three years ago-- the kind of places that were there would be a robbery right in the middle of our set. There has been a bit more attention on us over the last year or so than we could have imagined, but it hasn't bothered us in the least-- we've all kink of enjoyed it; most of it anyway."

Unquestionably there has been much for Bush to enjoy over the last two years. With critical and commercial kudos coming their way from all corners, and such songs as Glycerine, Everything Zen and Little Things keeping Sixteen Stone in the Top 100 of the sales charts for an incredible 90 consecutive weeks, there is indeed much for Rossdale and his loyal rock and roll troops to be smiling about. Yet, a dark, if not particularly ominous cloud continues to hang over Bush as response to Razorblade Suitcase continues to roll in. Talk of their continuing overdependence on the "Sounds Of Seattle" and charges that the group still relies too heavily on a "style over substance" approach continue to scar the band-- through no one in or around Bush would ever actually admit it. While their second disc has already proven to posses both the quantity and quality of material exhibited on their multi-platnum debut, this time around the heat has been turned up even higher on Bush from those who insist that they're little more than a media made (and MTV fueled) commercial aberration.

"People can say what they want," Parsons explained. It's really not out job to try and make everyone happy. We're more than content if we can just make some people happy. I don't know why it is, but it always seems to be that the more popular a band gets, the more some people enjoy sniping at them. Perhaps that's just human nature; they want to build you up just so they can knock you down. It surprises me a bit-- especially how seriously people take what we do. Well we take it seriously too, but we know where to draw the line. We're never going to make ourselves sick worrying about what others think about us."

It's been well documented that not only are Bush far from the favorite band of certain high-brow segments of the media (many of whom foolishly view them as little more than a "singles" band), but they've become a favorite target of other musical groups as well. In fact, a running war of words has erupted between Rossdale and certain other members of the British rock and roll hierarchy-- particularly the members of Oasis and Blur-- who insist that Bush's Nirvana inspired second just isn't "British" enough. True to his nature, Rossdale admits that he's enjoyed most of the verbal sparring with his countrymen, while steadfastly rejecting their ridiculous notions.

"I really don't want to get into any sort of shouting match with them," he said. "The only reason I can find for what they're saying is jealousy. It's true that they've had great success in Europe, but they look at the success we've had in America-- which they haven't yet enjoyed-- and perhaps that bothers them. Just because I don't sing in what they may perceive as being a particularly English way, whatever that means, I don't think that they should cast any stones at us."

Certainly the few rock and roll negativists who have taken potshots at Bush since their emergence in 1995 have been more than effectively offset by the millions of fans that have continued to embrace the band around the world. Now Bush once again heads out on the highway to promote their new disc, they feel more confident than ever that their success is indeed going to last for the long haul. Rossdale insists that this has never been a band designed for quick obsolescence-- indeed, they plan on creating a legacy filled with great rock and roll (and perhaps more than a bit of ambiguity) for many years to come.

"There's nothing in my life I'd rather be doing than writing, recording, and playing music with this band," the vocalist said. "What has happened to us is like a dream, but it's our intention on making that dream last for as long as possible."