I am going to come right out and admit it, as a eight or nine year old, who struggled with identifiable strong women to connect with who weren't my mother or my teachers at school, so when five young women appeared on ABC's Rage on one Saturday morning, I was transfixed, there was something about these five bold, brash, loud and confident women that made me take note especially as "zig a zag ahh!" was annoyingly catchy enough to be stuck in my head for the months ahead and to me it was jaw dropping that one of these young women could backflip on a table where there were food and drinks!
The music video I was so transfixed by was of course "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls, the sort of debut single that brought Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Victoria Adams and Emma Bunton to the attention of the world with "Wannabe" going on top charts around the world and suddenly "GIRL POWER" was thing for much of 1997 and 1998 as most Spice Girls singles surged to number one in the UK and had a reasonable amount of success in Australia as the band tapped into the young girls market out there normally taken up by the boy bands of the time.
I was one of those young girls, I know the words to "Say You'll Be There" and could even give impromptu performances of the choreography to the chorus of "Stop" when I was younger. Hell, I was always semi annoyed TV Hits always switched between Hanson and Leonardo DiCaprio on their covers rather than having five vivacious young women on the cover but regardless of all that I want to go back to 1996 and talk about the Spice Girls debut album which was released off the back of the success of ''Wannabe" and would feature several more singles and given they've just released a 25th anniversary edition of "Spice", I thought it would be fun to go track by track and see how the songs on "Spice" have held up.
"Wannabe"
The lead single that started everything, I still stand by this as being the ninth best hit song of 1996 because it's got that sweet dance pop groove with the Spice Girls being utterly in your face and really kind of just overtly obnoxious in this introduction to what the Spice Girls were about and it's up to people to take them as they are or leave and even if I think the rapping is a little unconvincing, I still enjoy this song a fair bit.
"Say You'll Be There"
The second single and wow, this one is as in your face as "Wannabe" as the girls want their partners to say they'll be there for them no matter what they are going through and promise to be there in return. I will say the harmonica solo in the middle was a nice touch. The chorus is catchy and while not as punchy at "Wannabe", the lyrics hold up fine just a shame some of the production on the first half of the song doesn't,...that squealing noise hurt my ears.
"2 Become 1"
Well we go from two uptempo in your face songs to a ballad where the girls basically have had a taste of sex and now want more. I will note that the lyrics of the song were changed during during a re record so to make it more LGBTQIA friendly but yeah I do like this song a fair bit because it proves the girls can harmonise and both Mel B and Mel C sound fantastic here.
"Love Thing"
Okay, we're back to bratty uptempo 90s pop where the girls declare they are sick and tired of guys pushing and shoving them around to the point they don't want to know about that love thing. Emma Bunton can sell that anger and frustration pretty well in her verse, Mel C is like...well at least I've got my friends so I don't need you in her verse. I will say the rap verse on this song is confusing here as to who is taking the lead there but ehh, the song is a bit of fun.
"Last Time Lover"
So I have my issues with song mostly how the vocals feel like they are toward the back of the mix which makes it really hard to understand the verses especially when it sounds like the lyrics are being whispered, I get the song is trying to be sexy but it sounds like nonsense when you can barely hear what's being said...anyway it's a sex song that's got a decent guitar line but yeah, this isn't the Spice Girls best song.
'Mama"
Feels weird to go from a blatant sex song to a song dedicated to the mothers of the Spice Girls. "Mama" was a single and is probably objectively the best song on this album where the girls sound great on the hook singing sincerely that they love their mothers and telling the mums that they realize that Mum parented the way she did out of love not because she wanted to ruin the child's life. Also it's good that the three best singers in the group that being Mel C, Mel B and Emma are given the most to do here. I do think it does drag on a little on the final chorus especially as it's a little repetitive but hey, the song is designed to make you cry...lol.
"Who Do You Think You Are?"
So here's the last of the singles for this album and it's a horn laden song where the girls lyrically are focussed on the trappings of fame and how fame can lead to a person forgetting who helped them get to that level of fame along the way, the song is an interesting wake up call perhaps to themselves to keep their feet on the ground and remain connected to those who helped them, its simply saying show your talent but don't forget the people who helped you especially as you are likely to see those same people when the fall inevitably comes. Sound wise I don't think this song has aged well especially with the horns on the song. Ouch.
"Something Kinda Funny"
So a guitar driven R'n'B song where Mel C and Mel B share vocal responsibilities and yeah it works well here even though the song feels like another "You can take us or leave us" song only to imply that they have a connection. It's a weird song but hey overall I don't mind as it is well performed.
"Naked"
Another song that has an R'n'B flavour is "Naked", the song where the production is dark and mysterious with the lyrics warning that this woman in the lyrics will see right through you and be able to identify and know what guys are before she dates them and even if she wanted to sleep with them, she isn't going to have sex with the guy because she knows it won't be worth and leave both of them worse off.
'If U Can't Dance"
So over the course of their first two albums the Spice Girls saved their worst track for last and this song is an example of that especially that annoying as hell clunky and repetitive hook. Sure the verses and bridge are performed well but that hook is so god damn nasal and the production flat that the song pretty much does nothing for me.
So this surprised me in terms of which cuts from the album have aged well,,,songs like '"Mama" and 'Naked" are pretty great while a song like "Say You'll Be There" just doesn't do as much for me as it used to. I think when the album gave more for Mel C and Mel B to do vocally the songs sounded good. I still like the album but I wouldn't say I love it as I did when I was a kid.
Best: Mama, 2 Become 1, Naked, Love Thing, Wannabe
Worst: If U Can't Dance, Last Time Lover
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