Mar 15, 2001 02:28 PM
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I’m a little sheepish about submitting this review <blush>, especially as some of you may know me as a FAIRLY intelligent person with a modicum of taste! So why the embarrassment you may ask? Well not only do I own a copy of the Spice CD by the Spice Girls, but what’s more, I love it to bits!
The Spice Girls were originally very popular solely with young wee things and teenyboppers and they were the start of the whole ‘girl power’ thing as we know it today. But being that I’m a respectable (?) married woman aged over 30, I really should know better!
I can’t even say that it’s down to the incredible singing talent of these five (as were!) young girls, as most of us know, the Spice Girls weren’t originally hailed as the most talented artists on the scene. Neither can I say my love of the CD is down to their incredible beauty, much as I feel that they are a very good-looking group of girls. No, the reason I love the CD so much is plain and simple. This is my ‘happy’ CD that never ever fails to cheer me up on days when I’m grumpy or a little down. I can pop this into the CD player, turn up the volume and squawk along happily to it whilst getting on with my chores. Dusting is never as boring when you can jig and sing along to Wannabe!
The tracks on the CD are never going to be considered the most deep and thought provoking, or be remembered for their inspired https://lyrics. But I can practically guarantee that before too long you won’t be able to help yourself, your foot will start tapping along with the beat and you won’t be able to resist the odd leg shake or hip wriggle or two! It’s just lighthearted stuff, modern bubblegum dance music that is easy to sing along to and ideal for getting people on to the dance floor at parties.
Now of course, all the girls have moved on to bigger and better things. Gone are the days of their rather ‘vampish’ image although the group continue to produce tracks to this day and they seem to be taking themselves much more seriously in the music industry.
Melanie Chisholm (Mel C - Sporty Spice) has managed to mark out a very lucrative solo career for herself, aided along by her duet with the wonderful and incredibly talented Bryan Adams and her surprisingly good ‘Northern Star’ album.
Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), who left the group very early under a cloud of ‘OLD spice’, has released her own album and singles as well as a new career as UN ambassador and is determined to prove many of her critics wrong.
Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) married David Beckham and their marriage, subsequent birth of baby Brooklyn and slightly strange lifestyle can be read about in just about every tabloid newspaper available on a practically daily basis as well as still performing as part of the group and launching her own solo career. It is rumoured that she will be duetting with Janet Jackson on one track on her forthcoming album but nobody seems able to confirm this as fact or speculation.
Melanie B (Scary Spice) is heading in the same direction, enjoying a solo career too in the style of Mami Bass sound and beat and also relishing her new role as a mother.
Finally, Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), probably the least talented (?!) of the bunch is about to launch her first solo single entitled (appropriately!) ‘What Took You So Long’ in April and is to follow it up with an album too. Anybody wanting a sneak preview of the single can check it out at her official website at emmabunton.net.
The CD itself has ten tracks, including their huge debut hit ‘Wannabe’ (which sat at number 1 in the UK charts for 7 consecutive weeks), which most would say was either their best or their very worst. You may knock it, but is there anybody alive in the UK (or anywhere?) who hasn’t heard this and really really wanted to zigazag ha? And even today, there are cries of…’So tell me what you want, what you really really want’, heck, its even an emoticon in the Yahoo Groups chat room! Its basically a fun and silly dance song, but the kind of happy beat that will have most of you jumping up ready to swing a leg!
‘Say You’ll Be There’ was another huge hit for the girls when released as a single and another chart topper. This is another light and frothy dance track and always a popular choice at parties and clubs. ‘2 Become 1’ was also released as a single, and yet again topped the UK charts. A slightly different style this time, much slower and more of a love ballad with some slightly unusual https://lyrics.
Two other tracks on the album also reached number one in the UK charts (talk about cashing in!), being ‘Mama’ and ‘Who Do You Think You Are’, the first being a rather sickly tribute to ‘mum’ and sung in a very sweet and girlie way. Who Do is better, much more ooomph to it, easy to dance along to, and scores highly on my squawkometer. Of all the tracks tho, this has to have the strangest and most meaningless lyrics! But like so many of the songs included, is fun to sing to, easy on the ears and never to be taken too seriously.
Five other tracks appear on the CD, all very ‘samey’, and mostly of the fun and light hearted variety, all over produced, but all pretty harmless. They include ‘Love Thing’, ‘Last Time Lover’, Something Kinda Funny’, ‘Naked’ and ‘If U Can’t Dance’. I’m the first to admit that these tracks will not leave you breathless with admiration and awed by the sheer ‘talent’ of these then very raw singers. But, they work for me as my ‘happy’ songs, lighthearted frothy girlie stuff and my own personal tonic!
Incidentally, anybody wanting to rush out and buy this album ha ha, might be interested to know that you can purchase it as a double CD to include another album offering, Spiceworld. This should save you a few good pennies if you’re wanting both albums, but I’m not expecting a mad rush in the record stores somehow…!!
