'L.A. State of Mind'

27th June 2005

 

1. Today

2. Stay in Bed Days

3. Beautiful Girl

4. Music of the Night (Perdido)

5. If I Had My Life Again

6. In Too Deep

7. Sweet Pleasure

8. L.A. State of Mind

9. Say Say Say

10. Bad, Bad Girl

11. Hold On

 

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A thread dedicated to discussion about Mel B's second album 'L.A. State of Mind'!

 

Mel B's first solo album 'Hot' underperformed compared to the other solo Spice Girls albums, only reaching #28 in the UK. Virgin Records dropped Mel in 2001, and she subsequently spent a few years doing TV presenting and acting. A star turn in the Broadway production of Rent in 2004 encouraged Mel to return to recording music - without the support of a major label (she created her own - Amber Cafe) and recorded "in [her] kitchen". She eventually released the album, called 'L.A. State of Mind', in June 2005 - which deviates greatly from her previous album by having an acoustic pop sound. It was preceded by one single - 'Today' - which reached #41 in the UK, and sadly the album bombed at a shockingly low position of #453 - only known about because Music Week were amused enough to draw attention to it. To date this is Melanie's last album.

 

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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Original Topic Title: Mel B's Today was a huge success

 

 

No Strictly, no Christmas shows to sell it - she just decided to release a single, film a video on a cheap cam phone and presto! Outselling a lot of solo Spice, this is obviously the greatest underappreciated hit of our time:

 

 

:cheer:

 

TODAY TODAY NO I CAN'T WAIT :cheer:

:music:

 

I’ve honestly always had a soft spot for Today. It’s obviously cheap, but melodically it’s very pleasant!

 

I was annoyed at the time that it made the Top 40 on physicals (I think #35) but ended up at #41 overall because of downloads. Downloads had only been included in the charts for a couple of months, so it was very new and I resented it :lol:

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a soft spot for this stunning hit single :lol:

 

Here's a stunning live performance of it:

 

Flawless lip syncing & such a dramatic performance with the fan blowing her hair x

i prefer the second album to Hot !!

i prefer the second album to Hot !!

Me too!

 

Today's a really nice song, it deserved better x

I liked it at the time however now I never go back to it, I just think why?

Wasn't it the first solo Spice single release to miss the top 40?

 

It's a cute sing either way.

Edited December 22, 20204 yr by sammy01

Wasn't it the first solo Spice single release to miss the top 40?

 

It's a cute sing either way.

Yeh the previous lowest charting was Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh at #27!

Yeh the previous lowest charting was Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh at #27!

 

Yeah I thought so, so the thread starter was just having a dig at me.

Edited December 22, 20204 yr by sammy01

I love Today!

 

Actually I really like her second album. I was listening to it last week. it has some hidden gems.

Edited December 22, 20204 yr by Pearll

:music:

 

I’ve honestly always had a soft spot for Today. It’s obviously cheap, but melodically it’s very pleasant!

 

I was annoyed at the time that it made the Top 40 on physicals (I think #35) but ended up at #41 overall because of downloads. Downloads had only been included in the charts for a couple of months, so it was very new and I resented it :lol:

 

I remember being so annoyed by this 🤣

 

More annoyed about I want candy being a top 10 hit on physicals though 🤣 (now I’m glad because that so is terrible such a stupid choice of single!)

The main problem of the second Mel B album is the production even for an indie project.

 

Edited December 22, 20204 yr by Babyboy

The main problem of the second Mel B album is the production even for an indie project.

 

Yes when it listen to it the basic production just cant be overlooked.

 

Love her vocals and many of the lyrics/melodies though.

 

Its the same with Beautiful Intentions by Mel C. Great record but the production let's much of it down. I just want to give it to the producers of Kelly Clarkson or Pink for a revamp.

I always used to love Today. It's such an uplifting song, perfect for Spring. I am not as big a fan anymore, as it sounds quite dated, but it's still a cute little song that definitely deserved a lot more than it got.

I've repurposed this thread to be about L.A. State of Mind era too :heehee:

OK I have to listen to this again. The first time I listened to it was when it was released and I dont think Ive picked it up since.

 

What I remember is it being really bad. Like, worse than Hot which suited her much more, in my opinion. But the worse thing about it was the awful production values, no wonder she refered to it as her kitchen lol Oh and I just remember that this was released with a documentary attached to it - such a pointless doc, in my opinion...

 

I didnt know Amber Café label was started by her?... That kind of makes more sense to how badly the whole thing went... Still, the album not even cracking the top400 was a crime but there was no promo for it other than that one performance and interview. No wonder she never gave it another go after such bad returns.

 

Also, the title of the album... LA State of Mind.... It's just a bit 'oh hun well if this is the outcome of your state of mind, maybe LA isnt for you' lol

 

This does make me sad as it was clearly the final nail in the coffin for her solo music career (lets not talk about the tripe that came after...) for me.

I don't think I knew that Amber Café was set up by Mel B either (I assumed it was a very small indie label that released her stuff). I don't think she drew attention to creating her own label? It figures though, because they're the only releases under that label name! https://www.discogs.com/label/141745-Amber-Café

I adore this album it’s such a simple but pleasant listen I especially enjoy listening to it in the car in summer. The production could do with work but a lot of the album is very much Mel’s personal work so I can forgive her that. I actually also really like Today it’s another infectious tune that gets stuck in your head. Hold on at the end is gorgeous and I always associated with holding on until the time I felt brave enough to come out as a youngster, used to play it quite a lot and think one day I’m gonna tell my parents (then in reality they caught me at it with another guy so didn’t have a choice 😂).

 

I think the slow songs are better than the upbeat ones but even Bad Girl which is terrible I find myself belting it out with her 🤣.

 

Ranking:

1. Today 7/10

2. Stay in bed day 7/10

3. Beautiful girl 8/10

4. Music of the night 8/10

5. If I had my life again 10/10

6. In too deep 8/10

7. Sweet pleasure 7/10

8. LA state of mind 5/10

9. Say, say, say 9/10

10. Bad girl 5/10

11. Hold on 10/10