3 Carolyna

 

 

As far as Melanie C classics go, this doesn't actually seem to be one of them. Perhaps it's due to the pont in Melanie's career that it got released? She was already experiencing diminished successes over here but this became her first UK single to miss the top 40. An unfortunate "honour" for such a great track. I love the uptempo vibe of this, it's great to sing to and it has such a strong chorus! I love the sentiment too - a girl escaping a shitty life to find something better. We can all take something from that even in the smallest of ways I think.

 

 

I'll reveal the top 2 next :o One classic and one more unlikely choice. Stay tuned for my reasonings behind Never Be the Same Again and This Time - but in which order will they be?

If This Time is number one I'm gonna throw up :puke2: :o

 

Ps nice to see another Carolyna lover, for a while it was my favourite Melanie C song, however it is not very popular with her fanbase (and Spice fanbase) :cry:

 

I really wish she had led the This Time (which I would rather had been called Fragile or Understand or Protected... not This Time lol) launch with Carolyna and not with I want candy, she really shot herself in the foot with that one ffs. I truly believe had Carolyna been released before the album in place of I want candy then it would have charted higher than 24 (top 20 possibly) and This Time might have charted a bit higher too. Unfortunately for all the girls at that point post album single releases were doing nothing (Better alone, All I need to know, Desire, Carolyna, This Time) so it was always going to flop. Shame it flopped out of the top 40 though, if it had been a pre-album release then I think it would have charted a lot higher.

2 Never Be the Same Again

featuring Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes

 

 

Just losing out on the top spot, there's no denying that Never Be the Same Again is an early 00s classic. Melanie tries her hand at a more R&B influenced track and it paid off in dividends. The track became her first #1 as a soloist, and it still holds up now as sounding fresh. Left Eye's rap is superb, too - R.I.P :cry: Nevertheless, this was a truly smart single, once again proving Melanie's diversity in her debut solo era, and it's a surefire favourite of mine.

 

1 This Time

 

 

I'm sorry Spiceboy! :lol: This really does top off the concept of a countdown where I'd barely heard any of the tracks a year ago. Every song was on a level playing field, whether it was a big hit or not. Therefore, my #1 has ended up being the rather random, but absolutely excellent This Time. Before the abuse comes (:basil:), let me tell you why I've chosen This Time as my favourite Melanie C single!

 

Firstly, it's worth specifying that I actually knew the single mix first! Therefore, the album version sounds a bit weird to my ears - the single mix feels a lot more natural, but that's probably because I'm more familiar with it. I find This Time very well-written and touching, and the way the track builds is stunning. The middle 8 is my favourite part of the track. "This time I will be yours completely" :heart: just before that final chorus - a euphoric moment! Not to mention how brilliant she sounds on this track. The production, the delivery, it's all top notch for me.

 

This Time really stood out to me on the first listen through of her singles and it quickly became my favourite, and I stand by that even if I know it's not such a popular opinion!

 

Joseph's Melanie C singles rank

 

 

1 This Time

2 Never Be the Same Again

3 Carolyna

4 First Day of My Life

5 I Turn to You

6 Let There Be Love

7 Who I Am

8 Think About It

9 Next Best Superstar

10 Here It Comes Again

 

11 Anymore

12 Blame It On Me

13 Rock Me

14 Dear Life

15 On the Horizon

16 Northern Star

17 Room for Love

18 If That Were Me

19 Let’s Love

20 Better Alone

 

21 The Moment You Believe

22 Numb

23 Yeh Yeh Yeh

24 Weak

25 High Heels

26 Loving You

27 Melt

28 Understand

29 Goin’ Down

30 When You’re Gone

 

31 I Know Him So Well

32 I Want Candy

33 Cool as You

34 Hold On

35 Cosmic Shower (Lost Humanity)

On a personal note, thank you all SO MUCH for following this thread!! I've enjoyed it an unbelievable amount. I've learnt a lot, I've enjoyed debating with you all, and this has reminded me of just how brilliant this community really is. Thank you all for taking part :wub:

 

Oh, and as promised, this is my top 10 of ALL their solo singles!

 

1. Emma Bunton - Maybe

2. Melanie C - This Time

3. Melanie C feat. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes - Never Be the Same Again

4. Mel B - For Once In My Life

5. Melanie C - Carolyna

6. Mel B - Feels So Good

7. Melanie C - First Day of My Life

8. Emma Bunton - Free Me

9. Melanie C - I Turn to You

10. Emma Bunton - What Took You So Long?

 

A few notes:

 

- My favourite Geri single is Bag It Up, I love it a lot! Not quite enough to make my top 10 though. Victoria would lag behind quite a bit, but Not Such An Innocent Girl is my favourite.

 

- Mel B may have two in the top 10 but I expect the rest would be a fair bit lower! Except I Want You Back, that's a tune.

 

- Emma's probably the most consistently great for me, but on the whole, Melanie C's produced my favourite solo material (talking singles only, I don't know all of their albums!)

Better Alone being cancelled was a terrible mistake, personally. It signalled she had no confidence at all in her own work, so why would the industry bother to look into it? After such a single like Next Best Superstar where she criticised the whole industry, move forward with another single about the industry (record company) and then cancelling because it wasnt doing the numbers she wanted, it's no surprise that no1 gave a crap about her work after that.

I agree that it was a bit of an irritating move from her to make it chart ineligible. She should have just gone with it, and let it chart wherever it was going to chart!

 

Total sales in May 2020 were revealed to be 5,399. I assume it includes physicals? Online stores weren't really a hugely popular thing in 2005 so she definitely restricted some of her fan base by resorting to that. If she'd distributed it to HMV etc, she'd have surely sold more!

 

~~~

 

Ooh, the conclusion of this thread! I had a strong feeling that 'This Time' would top this list from the moment you opened the thread :kink: I actually had a listen to it the other day and it's not quite as slow/bland as I remember it being, it does have a fairly rousing build to the final chorus! I think I prefer the album version though, mainly due to hearing it first and the more uplifting vibe it has.

 

Carolyna missing the Top 40 was a sad moment as a fan and unfortunately a sign of things to come :( I'm inclined to agree with Spiceboy that it had potential to be a Top 20 hit had it been released as the first single. Launching This Time directly after I Want Candy was such a mistake. D: I really don't think it deserved to bomb like it did.

 

And the classic that is Never Be the Same Again :wub: Definitely within my Top 5 favourite Melanie C songs too! Everything about that song is effortless, including Lisa's rap :heart: What a moment it was when it went to #1! The UK showing some taste *.*

 

 

Thanks for this topic, Joseph! :heart: It's been a great trip down memory lane, incredibly interesting to read a fresh perspective too! Keep coming back to the forum, please, even if others try and chase you out over that #1!

So I needed to take some time to calm down before responding... ;) :P

 

I really enjoyed this rating was fun to read, also nice to see less appreciated Mel songs being appreciated... bar This Time obviously :lol: I do hope you'll stick around in the forum now you've finished Joseph, you've been a nice addition. :wub:

 

So I've had a think and tried to rate the same songs too and this is what I came up with:

 

1. Never Be the Same Again (feat. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes)

2. When You're Gone (Bryan Adams feat. Melanie C)

3. Think About It

4. I Turn To You

5. Next Best Superstar

6. Loving You (Matt Cardle & Melanie C)

7. Who I am

8. Carolyna

9. Northern Star

10. On the Horizon

11. Weak

12. Understand

13. Anymore

14. Blame It On Me

15. The Moment You Believe

16. Here It Comes Again

17. First Day of My Life

18. If That Were Me

19. Let's love

20. Going down

21. Melt

22. Rock Me

23. Yeh, yeh, yeh

24. Let There Be Love

25. Numb (Melanie C & Sons of Sonix)

26. Room For Love

27. Better Alone

28. I Know Him So Well (feat. Emma Bunton)

29. Hold On (feat. Alex Francis)

30. High Heels (feat. Sink the Pink)

31. This Time

32. Dear Life

33. I Want Candy

34. Cool as You (Peter Aristone feat. Melanie C)

35. Cosmic Shower (Lost Humanity) [Ed Deedigan & The Kandu Collective with Melanie C]

 

 

I actively dislike 34 and 35. 27-33 I do enjoy but I rarely listen to them. 1-26 I love. :wub:

This Time being so low makes me SAD even if I'm wholly unsurprised! :kink: A few disparities between our lists but a lot in common too! Pleasing to see Carolyna in your top 10, and another On the Horizon fan :heart:

 

Thanks for your comments throughout, Jay and Spiceboy!!! It's been an amazing thread, one of my faves on Buzzjack :wub:

This Time being so low makes me SAD even if I'm wholly unsurprised! :kink: A few disparities between our lists but a lot in common too! Pleasing to see Carolyna in your top 10, and another On the Horizon fan :heart:

 

Thanks for your comments throughout, Jay and Spiceboy!!! It's been an amazing thread, one of my faves on Buzzjack :wub:

 

 

Huh I thought TT being so low would shock you to the core :huh: :o :P

 

Stay around :D .... but bring back the Harry Styles sig please :P :lol:

:lol:

 

Oh you best believe, Harry avatars and signatures will be plentiful in the future :cool:

I prefer the single mix to this time ! I like the track but think it was an odd single and album title.

 

This Time I make sure you don’t hate me always resonates with me !

I will do a list ranking soon

If anyone wants to compile their own list, this may help you! ^_^ https://czeckd.github.io/preference-revealer/dist/

 

And the list to copy and paste in:

 

When You're Gone (Bryan Adams feat. Melanie C)

Goin' Down

Northern Star

Never Be the Same Again (feat. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes)

I Turn To You

If That Were Me

Here It Comes Again

On the Horizon

Let's Love

Melt

Yeh Yeh Yeh

Next Best Superstar

Better Alone

First Day of My Life

The Moment You Believe

I Want Candy

Carolyna

This Time

Understand

Rock Me

Think About It

Weak

Let There Be Love

I Know Him So Well (feat. Emma Bunton)

Loving You (Matt Cardle & Melanie C)

Cool as You (Peter Aristone feat. Melanie C)

Cosmic Shower (Lost Humanity) [Ed Deedigan & The Kandu Collective with Melanie C]

Numb (Melanie C & Sons of Sonix)

Anymore

Dear Life

Hold On (feat. Alex Francis)

Room For Love

High Heels (feat. Sink the Pink)

Who I Am

Blame It On Me

If anyone wants to compile their own list, this may help you! ^_^ https://czeckd.github.io/preference-revealer/dist/

 

 

I used this and my results and got some difference in my results interesting enough. It's very similar to my own list though.

 

Never Be the Same Again (feat. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes)

When You're Gone (Bryan Adams feat. Melanie C)

Think About It

I Turn To You

Loving You (Matt Cardle & Melanie C)

Next Best Superstar

Who I Am

Northern Star

Carolyna

On the Horizon

Weak

Anymore

Understand

Here It Comes Again

Blame It On Me

The Moment You Believe

If That Were Me

Goin' Down

First Day of My Life

Yeh Yeh Yeh

Melt

Let's Love

Numb (Melanie C & Sons of Sonix)

Let There Be Love

Rock Me

Room For Love

Better Alone

I Know Him So Well (feat. Emma Bunton)

Hold On (feat. Alex Francis)

This Time

High Heels (feat. Sink the Pink)

Dear Life

I Want Candy

Cool as You (Peter Aristone feat. Melanie C)

Cosmic Shower (Lost Humanity) [Ed Deedigan & The Kandu Collective with Melanie C]

I've made my top 16 into a playlist called "The Best of Melanie C" and I've made some artwork for it! I've reorganised the songs into an order that'll flow nicely and I'm listening through now :heart:

 

 

1. Here It Comes Again (Radio Edit)

2. Anymore

3. Who I Am

4. Think About It

5. Next Best Superstar

6. Never Be the Same Again (Single Mix)

7. Blame It On Me

8. I Turn to You (Hex Hector Radio Mix)

9. Carolyna (Radio Edit)

10. First Day of My Life

11. On the Horizon (Radio Mix)

12. Rock Me

13. Let There Be Love

14. Northern Star (Single Version)

15. Dear Life

16. This Time (Single Version)

Love that artwork :wub: I'll have to listen to that track list sometime soon!

Joseph please remove LTBL and Dl :)

 

Have you bus who have done the rankings listened to album tracks .

 

Melanie C masterpiece is a song called Youll Get Yours !! Check it out

This Time winning a rate? Thank god I ignored this topic. That has to be trolling surely, can I report it?