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 Melanie C - 'Reason', 2003 • 2nd Album - 20 years since 'On the Horizon' |
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 13th September 2020, 03:39 PM
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#1
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 "Jayrusaleminians" - Umi.
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 4 April 2007 Posts: 41,448 User: 3,217 
          
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 'Reason' 10th March 2003 1. Here It Comes Again 2. Reason 3. Lose Myself in You 4. On the Horizon 5. Positively Somewhere 6. Melt 7. Do I 8. Soul Boy 9. Water 10. Home 11. Let's Love 12. Yeh Yeh Yeh + Independence Day [Japanese Bonus Track] + Love to You [Japanese Bonus Track] --------------- A thread dedicated to discussion about Melanie C's second album 'Reason'! 'Here It Comes Again' served as the album's launch single and peaked at #7 in the UK in February 2003. 'Reason' entered at #5 with 30,876 first week sales. Follow up singles 'On the Horizon' and 'Melt'/'Yeh Yeh Yeh' fared less well, peaking at #14 and #27 in the UK respectively. 'Lets Love' was also released exclusively in Japan. Total sales exceeded 100,000, but this was a significant comedown from Melanie's very successful debut album 'Northern Star'. This led Melanie C and Virgin Records to part company with each other in 2004. What are your thoughts and opinions on this album? Which tracks do you like, love, hate? What's your favourite? Were the singles the correct choices? Rate the tracks in order of favourite to least favourite. ---------------     |
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13th September 2020, 03:44 PM
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#2
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"Jayrusaleminians" - Umi.
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 4 April 2007 Posts: 41,448 User: 3,217
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I haven't heard this album front to back in years, but here are a few thoughts! -
I've never been keen on the artwork. I've always thought it was an odd choice to make this album come across like it's self-titled, with 'Reason' relegated to the back cover. Or it could even look like it's called 'Angel' because of her tattoo lol. I feel like the picture doesn't look very natural either, maybe a case of bad photo shop (to me her stomach & her jeans waistband looks odd). Overall I think it looks bland. Positively Somewhere is one of her best album tracks.  Soul Boy is one of her worst xOn the Horizon gets way more of a hard time than it deserves. It was the clear second single choice and most sensible option. Obviously its #14 peak was disappointing for the time, but I'm not overly convinced anything else would have done any better... |
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13th September 2020, 04:08 PM
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 BuzzJack Platinum Member
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Always hated that cover. For me, the cover for On The Horizon was perfect for the album, as it was a bit more dynamic and interesting. What we had was bland as hell, which reflected the album a bit tbh
The album itself was such a dissapointment. It has some a couple of great moments (Reason, Home, Water) but overall, it's low points are so low, that the album is seriously lacking in the 'interesting' factor. Here It Comes Again was the wrong single. She should have gone with Positively Somewhere or Yeh Yeh Yeh (with another name!!) instead as those were still in her vein and were nice uptempos, though nothing that screams HIT unfortunately... YYY's only fault is its' lyrics in the chorus. The very fact that it is called YYY is cringe... Reason would have been a lovely second single, in my opinion. On The Horizon does scream radio hit, but it was tooooooo similar to Ronan Keating's song and that other song that the writer released. By the time it came out, that style was already a bit dated for a mainstream pop audience.. So it felt like she was chasing trends with a less interesting song. With I Turn To You, she was also jumping on trends, but at least that one was a good song (for its time). For me, this is where her writing really took a nose dive. After some interesting developments and lyrics in Northern Star, the writing here is just a bit too meh and feels like a step backwards from NS. I know some fans like the bsides a lot, but I cant even remember them apart from Wonderland and Love To You. She did a couple of them back in the Astoria/GAY gig she did that year, which is surprising for Mel 'bsides are bsides for a reason' C. Final note: she should have included Wonderland. Her best song of the era and one of her best ever. Here is what I would have done with it: - Include Wonderland at the end of the tracklist. Remove Do I and Soul Boy completely from her discography and our lives. - Release Yeh Yeh Yeh (with a different title) as the lead single - Release Reason as second single and launch the album. She was away from the public eye for too long, so a couple of singles before the album would have been better. - Release Positively Somewhere as 3rd single - Release a remix of Water as 4th and final single |
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13th September 2020, 04:35 PM
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 BuzzJack Platinum Member
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QUOTE(Jay* @ Sep 13 2020, 03:44 PM)  Soul Boy is one of her worst x It's interesting because Soul Boy is a cover and the only song on the album she didn't write - it makes me wonder if the record company literally pushed it on there in hopes of making it a single... |
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13th September 2020, 05:01 PM
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"Jayrusaleminians" - Umi.
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 4 April 2007 Posts: 41,448 User: 3,217
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^ Thank goodness they didn't inflict that on us as a single
 For some reason I don't think I realised that it's a cover!I agree that Wonderland is great, I don't listen to it enough actually. Quite a waste that it was relegated to a DVD single  I guess On a Mission could have been a good alternative title to Yeh Yeh Yeh? I suppose the "yeh yeh yeh" lyric is the catchiest element of that song so it made sense to call it that, but it does have a slight cringe factor. I wonder how that single would have done if it had been released by itself in the UK, had she not injured her knee*. If she'd not done that, perhaps we'd never have had Melt a single? * I'll always find it to be an interesting choice that Melanie took part in The Games, considering that she was quite anti reality TV for many years. Also, considering that she was seemingly keen to distance herself from the Spice Girls, doing that was a very "Sporty Spice" career move. |
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13th September 2020, 05:13 PM
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 7 September 2017
Posts: 5,081 User: 39,587
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QUOTE(Jay* @ Sep 13 2020, 06:01 PM) ^ Thank goodness they didn't inflict that on us as a single For some reason I don't think I realised that it's a cover!I agree that Wonderland is great, I don't listen to it enough actually. Quite a waste that it was relegated to a DVD single I guess On a Mission could have been a good alternative title to Yeh Yeh Yeh? I suppose the "yeh yeh yeh" lyric is the catchiest element of that song so it made sense to call it that, but it does have a slight cringe factor. I wonder how that single would have done if it had been released by itself in the UK, had she not injured her knee*. If she'd not done that, perhaps we'd never have had Melt a single? * I'll always find it to be an interesting choice that Melanie took part in The Games, considering that she was quite anti reality TV for many years. Also, considering that she was seemingly keen to distance herself from the Spice Girls, doing that was a very "Sporty Spice" career move. On a Mission would have been a much better title. Wasnt it rumoured to be its original title? I can totally imagine it to be the first single with that title, actually. YYY was just cringe lol Oh I had forgotten about The Games and Melt. Indeed, Melt is a lovely song but the way it was released was poor. I know it was released to help with promotion due to her injury but that video was BAD BAD BAD. In fact, it was quite striking that someone of the stature of a Spice Girl would release such a bad video that looked like it was done on photoshop. The only other video that I think is almost as bad is Mel B's Today... I think actually with Melt back in my mind (lol I had completely forgotten it), here is what I would have done: Single #1: On A Mission Single #2: Reason (launches the album) Single #3: Positively Somewhere Single #4: Water remix Single #5: Melt (with a much better video!) |
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13th September 2020, 05:34 PM
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 31 August 2010
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I actually like the artwork
This album took me ten years to appreciate . It really doesn’t not compare to the debut. I remember buying it from Woolworths on the day of release and being disappointed. As an 19 year old I really didn’t appreciate songs like Home and Reason which I now really like. I now really appreciate the album all apart from LMIY. I would have had this single campaign 1. Yeh Yeh Yeh 2. Here It Comes Again 3. Positively Somewhere 4. Let’s Love Love To You should have mad the album. |
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13th September 2020, 07:58 PM
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New Entry
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I like the album and still listen to some of the songs . I actually think the right songs were picked as singles and would gone with let's love and positively somewhere as 4th and 5th. It's a good album but nowhere near as good as ns which is why I think it gets so much stick. I think the label tried to market her to an older audience with some of the songs which were a bit bland. I would have replaced soul boy with love to you.
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13th September 2020, 08:10 PM
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 BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 6 September 2017
Posts: 11,828 User: 39,568
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I was really quite disappointed when I first heard this album, but it has grown on me so much over the years and I genuinely adore loads of tracks on it now. Do I and Soul Boy should never have made the album and some of the B-Sides should have replaced them and Lose myself in you and Melt (which I do really like but it's too many slow songs on one record for causal fans to appreciate).
Also on reflection looking back, HICA wasn't a strong enough track for first single after such a long break. It's a gorgeous song and I adore it but she needed something with a bit more oomph to it. I agree with Mr X Yeh, Yeh, Yeh would have worked better as the first release, and I also agree it should have been called On a mission! On the horizon is an excellent upbeat summery track and I won't hear a word said against it. Should have been a much bigger hit than it was #14 was very very disappointing and not justified for the song (the video is a bit meh though lol). I would have release I love you without trying as a single 3 or maybe HICA and possibly Reason the title track to finish off the era had it been more successful. I love the artwork though, simple and beautiful, loved the single covers too. With a few song switches, and a change up in singles I think the era would have flowed a lot better than it did. REASON 1. Here it comes again 2. Yeh, yeh, yeh 3. On the horizon 4. I love you without trying 5. Positively somewhere 6. Reason 7. Lets love 8. Water 9. Love to you 10. Home 11. Knocked out That would have been my track list. Singles: 1. On a mission (yeh,yeh, yeh) 2. On the horizon 3. I love you without trying or Here it comes again 4. Reason (we know how attached she was to this track and it is a beautiful song... don't think it would have been a hit though) |
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13th September 2020, 08:32 PM
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BuzzJack Regular
Joined: 25 March 2018
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I was thinking about this recently. If you were to take the songs from the Northern Star era that DIDN'T actually make the standard issue album (Something's Gonna Happen, Happy Without You, Follow Me, You Taught Me, etc.), I actually think you'd still come up with a stronger album than Reason.
I was pretty disappointed in Reason when it first came out. Northern Star was such an interesting, varied album. Never Be the Same Again was followed by Why which was followed by Suddenly Monday. So many musical directions. And Reason was like her spirit was largely gone. She was given two gargantuan hits in Never Be the Same Again and I Turn To You...and it was a bit like she was willfully turning her back on what made her a success. Here It Comes Again was probably the first solo Spice single I actively didn't like. I thought it just plodded along and was too bland for a Melanie C album, much less her big comeback. The song HAS grown on me over time, though...and the video's really nice (though I still like nearly everything on Northern Star better). Other than that...always liked On the Horizon...and thought it was an absolutely vital spark of life on the album. I also think Reason and Melt are really pretty (though the latter's video reminds me of a wedding DVD menu). I think Let's Love and Yeh Yeh Yeh are fun...though I've always thought the "Yeh Yeh Yeh If You're With Me Raise Your Hands" line sounded awkward in an otherwise solid song. I guess where I land with it is...Reason is about half a decent album. |
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13th September 2020, 10:15 PM
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BuzzJack Climber
Joined: 7 April 2008
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I really like this era!
Never understood why HICA performs so badly on ratings... Love the breeziness of On The Horizon, Positively and Water. By the way... was this the following solo album to VB? Looking back, it was quite a long gap. This post has been edited by Eduardo: 13th September 2020, 10:15 PM |
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14th September 2020, 03:29 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 6 September 2017
Posts: 1,045 User: 39,576
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I still can't believe they left I love you without trying just as b-side like WTF
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14th September 2020, 04:02 PM
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 31 August 2010
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The OTH video is so cringe 😬
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14th September 2020, 07:34 PM
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BuzzJack Regular
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QUOTE(Eduardo @ Sep 13 2020, 05:15 PM) By the way... was this the following solo album to VB? Looking back, it was quite a long gap. Yes. It was. It really speaks to their disorganization of the time that 2001 saw the solo Spices releasing a whopping NINE singles...and three albums...plus Melanie C on tour for most of the year...plus the Spice Girls' Forever debacle still fresh on everyone's minds. And then 2002 had...all of one single early in the year and...that's it. You'd think someone would attempt to spread this out. Anyway. I remember 2002-2003 being the time I was least interested in the group. They were suddenly silent for a while...and then Reason just wasn't especially interesting to me (with a handful of song exceptions...that I've mostly appreciated in the years since the release). It kinda took Emma's Maybe and the Free Me album to get me back into all things solo Spice. |
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15th September 2020, 08:06 AM
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 3 August 2006
Posts: 8,209 User: 1,031
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Reason is a very good album but sadly under performed. Here it comes again was the wrong lead single choice. I would have released on the horizon first, followed by positively somewhere / reason double A side, yeh yeh yeh and melt.
This post has been edited by slowdown73: 15th September 2020, 08:15 AM |
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15th September 2020, 01:54 PM
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BuzzJack Regular
Joined: 6 June 2019
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For me this would have been the best option for this album.
01 Here It Comes Again 02 Let's Love 03 I Love You Without Trying 04 Melt 05 Living Without You 06 Yeh Yeh Yeh 07 Positively Somewhere 08 Water 09 On The Horizon 10 Love To You 11 Reason |
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16th September 2020, 01:59 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 6 September 2017
Posts: 1,014 User: 39,551 
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'Reason' lacked the punch of 'Northern Star' but I have fond memories of chilling out with the album. I agree that 'On The Horizon' was necessary on the album and as a single.
My favourite tracks from the era are 'Let's Love' and b-sides 'Love To You' and 'Like That'. The other b-sides still sound a little meandering and unfinished to me. Bit envious that I never managed to get into them as much as everyone else. My single run would've probably gone: Let's Love On The Horizon Love To You Water |
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22nd September 2020, 11:26 PM
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BuzzJack Regular
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A lot of great discussion in this thread. Reason will always be a hot topic for discussion because the commercial failure of the album changed the trajectory of her solo career.
We can debate the quality of the album, but I believe a huge factor in the album's failure was lost momentum. The gap between If That Were Me and Here It Comes Again was 2 years and 3 months. That's a long time in the pop world. In hindsight Melanie and the record label should have released Independence Day in April 2002 as a single for Bend It Like Beckham. Also, it would have been great if Reason was released in November 2002. Capitalize on those extra Christmas album sales. This post has been edited by Sideout: 29th September 2020, 12:09 AM |
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28th September 2020, 02:56 PM
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BuzzJack Idol
Joined: 29 June 2006
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The gap in release did damage and I was disappointed with how quick the album faded away after the huge success of northern star. Let's love should def have been a single, it's still my fave mel c solo song.
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28th September 2020, 03:02 PM
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 4 November 2019
Posts: 962 User: 95,682
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This album is awful. Had she released a great follow up, now we probably don't see her records out of the top10.
Of course the press was a big issue, but the main problem was the lack of inspiration.l |
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