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 Spice 25 vs Spiceworld 25, Which "era" did you prefer? |
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 Jul 22 2023, 05:09 AM
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#1
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 BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 16 November 2009
Posts: 7,591 User: 9,988 
 
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Am I allowed to say I have much preferred the SW25 era to Spice25. Spice25 was basically over after the first week of release. I like how each single has had a moment to shine for SW25. Much more online content too which is what I am looking for.
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Jul 22 2023, 06:31 AM
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#2
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BuzzJack Climber
Joined: 15 November 2021
Posts: 145 User: 140,886
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Yup, they did everything much better this time around except the tracklist of SW25, which at the end of the day, couldn’t help push the sales of it, in comparison to Spice25.
Love that each single got a fair share of moment. |
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Jul 22 2023, 09:16 AM
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#3
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 7 September 2017
Posts: 5,073 User: 39,587
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QUOTE(sammy01 @ Jul 22 2023, 06:09 AM)  Am I allowed to say I have much preferred the SW25 era to Spice25. Spice25 was basically over after the first week of release. I like how each single has had a moment to shine for SW25. Much more online content too which is what I am looking for. Spiceworld25 gave us more video/Youtube content, but the quality around the main releases were so subpar... Im still shook by the platant audio f*** ups, lack of mastering, absolute shite designs for the CDs and Vinyls, the shit merch... And some of the video content hasnt been great either. I'm grateful for some of it, specially the lyric video for VF, the alternative video for SUYL and definitely the Dolby Atmos version of the album. Apart from that, urgh... |
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Jul 22 2023, 10:25 AM
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#4
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 6 September 2017
Posts: 927 User: 39,574
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The quality of these live audio tracks was shocking truly shocking.
Not a huge fan but at least we got Feed Your Love with the spice release. |
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Jul 22 2023, 10:42 AM
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#5
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 16 November 2009
Posts: 7,591 User: 9,988
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SW25 gave us Step to me which fans have crowed about for years. That and WOMAN have been the two songs fans never shut up about.
I think the online content was absolutely spot on tbh. Perfect lyric video for Step to me, the SUYL video was a revelation of colour, Move Over live finally online in great quality, a montage video for fan fave NGUOTGT, Stop was a cute addition to the original video, Too Much without the annoying movie clips finally and the gorgeous Viva Forever lyric video. I didn't mind the design of SW25, I personally think the CD looks much classier than Spice25. The two big let downs were the quality of live tracks/not enough new material and the CD being postponed so its sales were not concentrated into one week. Oh and the stressball was terrible but then the merch for Spice25 was not great either. The mess with the Spice25 slipmats was truly terrible as was shipping out of the physicals. This post has been edited by sammy01: Jul 22 2023, 10:50 AM |
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Jul 22 2023, 10:57 AM
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#6
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 "Jayrusaleminians" - Umi.
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 4 April 2007 Posts: 41,425 User: 3,217
         
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I thought Sammy's post could create an interesting discussion, so I split the posts off from the Viva Forever topic into this new topic.
My post is sooooooo "too long, didn't read", I'm fully aware of that - but oh well, I enjoyed myself writing it all.  The "too long, didn't read" version of my post would be that... I think both eras had their upsides and their let downs. I honestly don't think I can pick one and say "that was my ultimate favourite" era. Maybe I'd lean to Spiceworld 25 because of the YouTube content. The long answer: Spice 25 Wannabe 25 formats/track list/success - It was an exciting announcement, mainly because of the reveal that it would be including an unheard song Feed Your Love (which was a nice treat, though ultimately not a song I have played all that often). It was just great to think "wow, they're finally opening the vaults". Picture Disc vinyl - nice; personally I preferred the picture used on the updated/final artwork, so that was no problem for me. The silver glitter border looked cheap. Cassette - a bit meh and overpriced, yet I bought two copies.  The lack of CD felt like a missed opportunity to me. The release date delay for the physicals was a shame, they ended up being sent many weeks after the actual anniversary. Wannabe didn't re-enter the official singles chart, but that was always going to be a tall order. It was at least nice to see them get to #1 in the physical and vinyl charts. Official Charts Company seem more willing post Kate Bush - 'Running Up That Hill' to grant old songs with a streaming reset (i.e. allow all streaming to count to the sales, rather than half). A pity Wannabe wasn't reset, because it probably would have re-entered the chart.Spice 25 formats - Almost perfect. They clearly went to town with the vinyl, 6 different versions. A vinyl per girl was a great idea that clearly inspired sales. The cassettes - they're nice, but ultimately I feel that they should have been "individual girl" artwork designs, like the vinyl, rather than them all having the same cover. I think they fell short with the CD. Just the one format, and expensive at around £30. CDs are still an important factor in overall album sales so there should have been more options, cheaper options, to increase their sales. I think individual girl artwork CDs should have happened too - probably instead of the cassettes, if they had to choose between them. Spice 25 designs - Ummm... not the best. The low quality images used for the CD booklet made it come across as cheap looking. It was even worse on the individual girl vinyl, unfortunately - the designers clearly sourced low quality images, attempted to enlarge them and then tidy them up in photoshop. If you look at the vinyl a bit too close up, they look pretty horrible tbh, particularly Mel B's version (which I think suffers the most because her image is the most "up close"). The team clearly cut corners, which is a huge shame - the extra effort should have been made to contact the photographers and get their hands on the original high quality images. Like, if you're going to do something, do it right! I know the font/logo divides the fanbase - personally I dislike the "it is kind of like the 1996 logo, but not quite" logo they used. Finally, and I'm getting pickier now, but I disliked on the CD, cassette and vinyl spines that they had it written as "SPICE GIRLS 25" which gives the impression that that is what the album is called, when it's actually Spice 25.  Odd.Spice 25 track list - It felt underwhelming at the time. It transpired that Feed Your Love was the only unreleased song being included, so we had the realisation that actually, they weren't fully opening the vaults at all. Still, there were a few other treats (demos) so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Them being choosy enough to exclude some B Sides from the Spice era felt daft, as did them not including the Wannabe Demo. Spice 25 success - The album reaching #5 was a happy moment! It made the era feel like it had been very well received. Of course I think there was potential for an even higher chart placing if they'd utilised CDs more, but still, Top 5 is Top 5. Spice 25 merch - None of it really appealed to me. I was swayed into pre-ordering one of the vinyl slipmats, the "Baby" version, but when the album was released the store cancelled my slipmat for no apparent reason, so I didn't get it in the end anyway. Can I just say, I hated the "I Am a Spice Girl" branding. For me that was a total fail, very meaningless, didn't create interesting engagement at all. HMV's bonus content being "I Am a Spice Girl" pin badges felt juvenile. Spice 25 online content - Not all that much to get excited about really. Nice that Wannabe got an official lyric video. 2 Become 1 having a lyric video with the Orchestral version - odd. Nothing for Say You'll Be There or Who Do You Think You Are - a shame. Although we did get the Director's Cut of WDYTYA and the lyric video of Mama in advance of Spice 25. Spiceworld 25 Firstly I'll start by saying that the initial tease of it coming like almost 3 months before they announced the formats was the most ridiculous hype/marketing idea I have ever seen in my life. It was seriously irritating. Spiceworld 25 formats - A bit of a let down in comparison to Spice 25. Clearly the "individual girl artwork vinyl" tactic for Spice 25 was a major factor in that album's success. So of course Universal looked at that and then decided to... not do that again? Ok! Just 3 vinyl this time... I'll talk about them more in the designs/track lists sections of my post. Again, just one expensive CD. This decision felt even worse than it did for Spice 25, because at least 'Spice' is still stocked with its original CD in the likes of HMV. However Spiceworld's original CD has long since been deleted. Cassette... just one format this time, instead of 5. They really did scale it all down for Spiceworld. Overall, 5 physicals, instead of 12 like Spice 25. Spiceworld 25 designs - That silver background was divisive, huh? I'm not as disgusted by it as some are, but let's say it wouldn't have been my choice. I think it looks passable on the cassette, so so on the CD, but not nice at all on the vinyl - the larger artwork size shows off more clearly how tacky it is. I found it interesting that for this era they did use the original logo, which just makes me wonder what the problem was with using the original logo Spice 25. The picture disc really bugs me, to be hoenst... the smaller than usual "window hole" to display the vinyl is a choice. The fact that it's impossible to line up the picture disc image, with the printed images they have on the sleeve border - OCD nightmare. They also somehow overlooked printing any text on its spine. Quite honestly it's one of my least favourite items they've ever released - I haven't looked at it once since November, lol. It just looks cheap and amateur. When it comes to the CD's booklet, regarding the quality of the images used on the covers - clearly they're a major improvement on Spice 25 - so therefore I prefer the Spiceworld 25 packaging overall to Spice 25's (shame that unlike Spice 25 there wasn't an extra incentive with the picture cards, though). It is quite crazy that the image quality improvement is only because they used the edits made by a fan. A fan who did a very good job with them to be fair, far superior to whoever at Universal was tasked with Spice 25's image upgrading. I just think it's a sad reflection on Universal's part though, an indication of a lack of passion - cutting corners, instead of going the extra mile to source the original high quality images. I actually really like the double cassette. It's totally gimmicky, but for what it is, it's very nicely designed. Spiceworld 25 track list - A complete let down! No unreleased songs whatsoever - the vault was clearly locked for this release. The audacity to include low quality live tracks really took the biscuit. The only properly new track being an uninspired cut and paste megamix... ugh. They once again opted not to include every B Side from the era. Overall, it was quite insulting. If I'm pushed to find something positive to say about the track list, ok they finally made Step to Me available, and it was nice that the John Themis remix of Viva Forever was finally released commercially. The 2LP vinyl of Spiceworld 25 using those low quality live tracks as bonuses though, rather than including Step to Me 7" mix, Outer Space Girls or Walk of Life... meh. Spiceworld 25 success - Heh, this was a comedown, we all know what happened. #46, a result that happened because of the mess up with the CD being delayed by several weeks. It was a deflating chart position, yet it kind of felt warranted... it reflected the low effort that went into the formats and track listings. Spiceworld 25 merch - Their clothing merch continues to have no appeal for me. They're expensive, so I'd have to absolutely *love* something to part with the cash - but every design falls short for me. There's literally not one item they've produced that makes me think "oh that's really nice,I'd love to wear that". Those tacky A2 posters with the Too Much artwork pictures... £15 per poster, i.e. £75 for the entire set?! Absolutely not. To be honest every bit of merch is massively overpriced. That's an industry wide phenonenon, not just the Spice Girls. I will say that the latest Viva Forever merch is probably the best effort so far, but again, those prices... it's daylight robbery to charge £12 for a sheet of stickers. £2.40 per fairy lol. It'll cost them literally pennies to manufacture each sheet - the mark up is insane. The Rubik's Cube - although again it's hugely overpriced (£25), at least they used some imagination, a cute tie in with the music video - I felt compelled to order it. Spiceworld 25 online content - Now this is where I can finally be positive about the era. They really pushed the boat out, and I appreciate their efforts! The Alternative Version of Spice Up Your Life was an amazing treat, with all the previously unseen footage in true 4K. It's a bit mindblowing to see footage from 1997 almost seem like it could have been shot recently. Also loved the Too Much & Stop Alternative Versions for being legitimately 4K. Never Give Up on the Good Times' montage video was an unexpected but lovely surprise. Honestly, praise Chris Fox! He did great work on the lyric videos for Step to Me and Viva Forever as well. It really helps that he's clearly a fan and that he did all of this with love and knowledge, it wasn't just a job with no passion. Additionally, I feel like the Spice Girls' social media usage has improved in this era compared to Spice 25 too. |
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Jul 22 2023, 11:38 AM
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#7
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 BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 6 September 2017
Posts: 11,807 User: 39,568
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I think the online content of SW25 has been far better than S25. The alternative Spice up your life video, the viva forever lyric video and the NGUOTGT montage were all really good. I think the highlight for me has to be the Step to me lyric video though that was probably the best thing we have had music wise from the girls since 2000 (I know not much to compare with and it wouldn’t take much to beat Viodoo lol).
The actual product was terrible though. Bad tracklisting, not one unreleased track, shoddy live recordings in really bad quality and the design of the product looks really cheap in silver, genuinely don’t understand how they didn’t see that when locked up!? The formats were a big let down too, I was so ready to buy each vinyl with a girl in a letter to put on my wall and how they didn’t do a proper Spiceworld globe vinyl I cannot understand. Merch wise the rubix cube is the only decent thing they released, and it is ridiculously overpriced. Spice was better in formats, unreleased material, tracklisting, plus we also got lyrics videos for Wannabe, 2 become 1 and Mama which were great and the WDYTYA alternative video. A lyric video for WDYTYA and Feed your love would have been the cherry on the top of the cake. A montage video for Love thing would have been even better! This post has been edited by spiceboy: Jul 22 2023, 01:52 PM |
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Jul 22 2023, 11:42 AM
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#8
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BuzzJack Regular
Joined: 22 September 2020
Posts: 421 User: 113,700
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Wannabe 25 was the best release since it gave us Feed Your Love and the movie version of Wannabe. Spice 25 and Spiceworld 25 are pretty much garbage.
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Jul 22 2023, 01:16 PM
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#9
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 7 September 2017
Posts: 5,073 User: 39,587
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I FORGOT About the Step To Me release! This to me was so bittersweet cos finally it was released on streaming and the lyric video was GREAT indeed!
But to have it as the launch of Spiceworld25 campaign was very odd. I really wanted Simon Fuller to call up Pepsi and do a new arrangement, get it released on a vinyl/CD/cassette a la Wannabe25 in the summer of 2022 and then focus on Spice Up Your Life for the Spiceworld25 album launch campaign. And yeah the marketing team posting that rotating globe 3 months before the campaign? f***ing stupid! Overall, Spiceworld25 was better in terms of online presence on YouTube, Spotify numbers/listeners when up, and so did their instagram. The overall content there was better for sure. But it lacked the excitement of Spice25 for the lack of unheard music/demos and the terrible quality of the audio. Sadly, I think the cover for Spiceworld25 looks awful even on the CD. Spice25 had a worse logo, but the white cover really made it look better. The grey7pretending to be silver wrap efect of the SW25 design was really cheap looking, terrible... It completely muffled the logo, whereas it should be the most prominent thing... Even worse on the vinyls for sure. When it comes to Spice25, I think the quality of the pictures resourced was worse, for sure, but at least the cover designs looked good. Let's not talk about that awful Wannabe25 design. IT HURTS MY EYES!! I'm a original-cover-before-the-fans-had-a-melt-down truther! It looks shite whereas the original looked so much better (and more like the 1996 Wannabe Spice Girls Celebrating 25 Years!!!). |
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Jul 22 2023, 02:05 PM
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#10
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 16 November 2009
Posts: 7,591 User: 9,988
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I guess as fans it is best we just look at all this as a bonus and take what we like from the 25th anniversary releases and ignore the rest.
I'm with Jay that I barely ever order the clothes but have the rubix cube. They cant cater to everyone all the time. |
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Jul 24 2023, 01:33 PM
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#11
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BuzzJack Regular
Joined: 1 July 2021
Posts: 318 User: 132,865
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QUOTE(Sideout @ Jul 22 2023, 11:42 AM) Wannabe 25 was the best release since it gave us Feed Your Love and the movie version of Wannabe. Spice 25 and Spiceworld 25 are pretty much garbage. This resonated with me, too. Wannabe25 was such a simple release with a short tracklisting that gave us more unreleased sought-after material than S25 and SW25. Maybe someone in their team at Universal pitched the stress ball idea because they knew how we'd react to the rest.  |
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Jul 24 2023, 01:50 PM
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#12
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 6 September 2017
Posts: 11,807 User: 39,568
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QUOTE(Equinox8 @ Jul 24 2023, 02:33 PM) This resonated with me, too. Wannabe25 was such a simple release with a short tracklisting that gave us more unreleased sought-after material than S25 and SW25. Maybe someone in their team at Universal pitched the stress ball idea because they knew how we'd react to the rest. There is no way that someone on the team wasn't trolling the fanbase with that one... so funny
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Jul 24 2023, 02:54 PM
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#13
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"Jayrusaleminians" - Umi.
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 4 April 2007 Posts: 41,425 User: 3,217
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And then the stress ball wasn’t very functional lol, apparently it was too big.
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Jul 24 2023, 05:12 PM
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#14
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BuzzJack Regular
Joined: 1 July 2021
Posts: 318 User: 132,865
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QUOTE(-Jay- @ Jul 24 2023, 02:54 PM) And then the stress ball wasn’t very functional lol, apparently it was too big. Don't make me say it, Jay.  |
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Jul 24 2023, 05:14 PM
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#15
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 6 September 2017
Posts: 11,807 User: 39,568
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QUOTE(-Jay- @ Jul 24 2023, 03:54 PM) And then the stress ball wasn’t very functional lol, apparently it was too big. It's never too big... oh hang on are we on about the same thing here? 
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Jul 24 2023, 09:42 PM
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#16
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"Jayrusaleminians" - Umi.
Pronouns: he/him
Joined: 4 April 2007 Posts: 41,425 User: 3,217
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QUOTE(Equinox8 @ Jul 24 2023, 06:12 PM) Don't make me say it, Jay. QUOTE(spiceboy @ Jul 24 2023, 06:14 PM) It's never too big... oh hang on are we on about the same thing here? Mmmm you're both nasty 
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Jul 24 2023, 10:43 PM
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#17
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BuzzJack Regular
Joined: 1 July 2021
Posts: 318 User: 132,865
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QUOTE(-Jay- @ Jul 24 2023, 09:42 PM) Mmmm you're both nasty  PS: #BuyThisTime |
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Jul 25 2023, 08:59 AM
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#18
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BuzzJack Regular
Joined: 6 June 2019
Posts: 425 User: 88,486
 
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1. STEP TO ME should have release as a real single with the original tracklisting + the full live version of Istanbul and the original artwork.
2. Wannabe 25th also was too random. This didn't need 'Feed Your Love'. I would have prefered an original clean and beautiful artwork package with all the Wannabe version. 3. SPICE 25 was an awful tracklisting. Some b-sides were missing, some Demos were missing. I don't understand what they make it so akward like that. I did enjoyed the Vinyl each girl artwork. Also didn't liked the design of the big 25. 4. SW25 Well it was more akward. With all thoses bad live quality tracks, The design was awful. Seriously everything was cash earning and not celebration to me. |
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Jul 25 2023, 11:32 AM
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#19
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BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 6 September 2017
Posts: 11,807 User: 39,568
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QUOTE(Equinox8 @ Jul 24 2023, 11:43 PM) PS: #BuyThisTime Have a BigTime with ThisTime
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