Emma has been away for over 3 years from the music scene by then.

No. It was just 2 years. Very standard.

LIM is an example of a good cohesive album with no real stand out tracks. All I need to know is beautiful but Take me to another town was the only really obvious radio friendly song on the album.

No. It was just 2 years. Very standard.

 

oops, you are right! Had it in my head that it was released in 2003 but that was Free Me the song and Maybe! :teresa:

Though Crickets was promoted/released in May 2004, charted in early June 2004, and then it was kind of quiet in the UK until September 2006, when she was revealed to be a Strictly contestant... with Downtown coming in November 2006.

 

Two and a half years... I mean this would be lightning fast speed for Adele lol, but for Emma... I think she left it too late. She did a lot of good groundwork for her career from April 2003 to summer 2004 and then she let herself become out of sight, out of mind. She really needed to capitalise on the goodwill. I think late 2005 would have been more ideal than late 2006... but hey, can't change the past :lol:

Was just listening to this today whilst working, and the rain was falling quite hard outside.

 

Still a gorgeous, lovely listen. Songs like All I Need To Know, I Wasn't Looking, Not Crying Over Yesterdays, Undressing You, All That You'll Be... What an album :wub:

 

It really hit me in the feels. Bunton does Autumn really well :heart:

Gonna do a review of this album very soon, so stay tuned. Also I've done reviews for 'Spice', 'Schizophonic', 'Free Me', 'Victoria Beckham' & 'Northern Star' they're in their respective threads if u wanna check them out.

She should've done 'Take Me to Another Town' as the CIN single rather than 'Downtown'. I doubt it really would've changed the trajectory of her career at that point though.

She should've done 'Take Me to Another Town' as the CIN single rather than 'Downtown'. I doubt it really would've changed the trajectory of her career at that point though.

 

Personally, Downtown was fine as a CIN single but shouldnt have been used to launch the album as it was so obvious that it was just a one-off single!!

 

She shoudl have done:

 

Nov 2006: Downton, CIN single

 

March 2007: Undressing You buzz single

 

May/June 2007: Take Me To Another Town

 

June 2007: Album release (Standard tracklist + Downtown) + small touring, festivals, etc

 

September 2007: Perfect Strangers OR I Wasn't Looking single

 

Nov 2007: All That You'll Be - final single + delux version of the album (inc rareties/new songs and MAYBE the Something Tells Me cover)

 

And call it a day!

Gonna do a review of this album very soon, so stay tuned. Also I've done reviews for 'Spice', 'Schizophonic', 'Free Me', 'Victoria Beckham' & 'Northern Star' they're in their respective threads if u wanna check them out.

 

 

Ooh yes I will

I just want this album to get a silver cert. To be so close but so far away is annoying.

 

Release a vinyl for it please Emma.

I just want this album to get a silver cert. To be so close but so far away is annoying.

 

Release a vinyl for it please Emma.

 

Having Free Me and Life in Mono on vinyl would be just incredible, an absolute dream. I would LOVE IT if she released her albums on vinyl but will never happen. <_<

 

 

Gonna do a review of this album very soon, so stay tuned. Also I've done reviews for 'Spice', 'Schizophonic', 'Free Me', 'Victoria Beckham' & 'Northern Star' they're in their respective threads if u wanna check them out.

 

Thanks, will have to check these out. Mel C & Geri in particular.

I just want this album to get a silver cert. To be so close but so far away is annoying.

 

Release a vinyl for it please Emma.

 

 

I would much rather Mel B and Victoria did it as at least they would all have a certified album then.

Here's my track by track review of Emma Bunton's 3rd studio album Life in Mono

01. All I Need to Know - 8/10
A nice and tender start to the album with this beautifully ballad. Opening with soft piano lines with Emma’s warm and rich vocals soon coming into the mix. As the chorus builds, so does the guitars and orchestra which blends into a lovely lullaby feeling. This is a classy song, but perhaps a bit too sweet for a single release as it tanked.

02. Life in Mono - 6/10
The title track originally sung by English trip-hop duo Mono in 1996. The song has a stunning mysterious feel to it with its cinematic production, but the vocals feel a little lost in the grand mix of the production.

03. Mischievous - 8/10
Things thankfully becomes more upbeat with this catchy bossa nova number that suits Emma’s vocals perfectly making them feel effortless weaving amongst the orchestral flourishes. The song is light, airy, and fun.

04. Perfect Strangers - 7/10
Another nice bossa nova 60’s sounding track with some nice sweeping strings and nice vocals.

05. He Loves Me Not - 7/10
There’s some nice Samba arrangements here with gentle bossa nova beats and some nice playful vocal melodies. The vocal harmonies blend into the orchestra nicely, but to be honest so far all of these tracks seems to blend together into one without much difference.

06. I Wasn’t Looking (When I Found Love) - 8/10
Finally, this album’s starting to offer some variety with some synths, acoustic guitars and light percussion alongside some nice breathy vocal harmonies.

07. Take Me to Another Town - 9/10
Easily the best offering so far with its catchy melodies, foot-tapping beats, and some cool growling guitars. Emma’s vocals sounds great amongst the light production. This could have worked as a single, although with a slight remix to give it more of an edge.

08. Undressing You - 8/10
Taking a more seductive turn now with this sultry little number with slower beats, wandering basslines and dramatic strings. This is a fun little number.

09. I’m Not Crying Over Yesterdays - 5/10
This is a gentle little number that just wafts along with strings, gentle percussive beats and soft vocals. Not a very interesting track.

10. All That You’ll Be - 6/10
A little bit more interesting than the track before it with stronger vocals and a more uplifting orchestra, but the song kinda just plods along.

11. Downtown - 9/10
The lead single and the big hit of the album, strange that’s its only on the bonus edition as its easily one of the strongest numbers on here. The track was originally sung by Petula Clark and Emma’s version stays faithful to the original, only adding more percussion which does give it an extra kick.

12. Something Tells Me (Something’s Going to Happen) - 7/10
Another cover and here Emma does a decent job with this Cilla Black number and giving it a more bossa nova feel and the vocals sound great on this upbeat number.

13. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps - 4/10
This has been covered to death by several artists through the decades and sadly this does nothing new with it and overall, just sounds flat and uninspired. This should have been left on the cutting room floor or b-side material at best.

14. Por Favour - 6/10
Thankfully we’re at the end of this album with yet another cover this time by Billy May and his Orchestra, this shuffles along nicely with a nice romantic feel to it, but again this album filler at best and not really needed.


Overall Rating: 7.0

I disagree for Downtown because it is a copy of the originale.

Also PS deserve more, the story of the song is so beautiful

All I Need To Know is my 2nd fave Emma song (after Maybe). Was always so gutted it flopped

And what /10 for the album cover? :lol:

Was the whole album covers?!

Really don't agree with a lot of your comments or votes on this one.

 

All I Need to Know is, after Maybe, perhaps her best ever single. It's just perfect in any way.

 

Same with All That You'll Be which I think it is up there with her best ballads, it would have been a perfect winter single, perhaps more adequate to the General Public than AINTK. I'm Not Crying Over Yesterdays is also such an underrated STUNNING song. Even the demo that got leaked ahead of the album was stunning and fun. Undressing You and Take Me To Another Town are both 10s too.

 

Downtown can choke. It's terrible and a direct copy and paste of the original. In fact, all the covers at the end of the album are barely 4 out of 10 imo.

 

Bunton has this things with covers, where when she really commits and puts her own spin on it, they turn out great (Crickets Sing for AnnaMaria for instance, is a stunner, so is Eso Beso, etc). But when she does copy and paste (What I Am, Downtown, Somethnig Tells Me, all the covers on My Happy Place), it is really stark how bad they are lol...

 

The album really should have just been the first 10 tracks + Downtown as a bonus. The final three covers RUIN the album so much, its absolutely pointless. Specially when she had much better original songs to add as bonus tracks rather than those awful covers. I understand Downtown as it was a special CIN single, but to add 3 more of those lame covers was a shit strategy...

 

My rates would be:

 

10/10

All I Need To Know

Life in Mono

Perfect Strangers

Take Me To Another Town

Undressing You

I'm Not Crying Over Yesterdays

All That You'll Be

 

9/10

Mischiveous

I Wasn't Looking When I Found Love

 

8/10

He Loves Me Not

 

 

4/10

Downtown

Something Tells Me

 

3/10

Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps

Por Favor

Back in the day I loved this album and even today is nice to hear but being honest was such a let down. I don’t blame her, after the crazy Spice Girls years and the strong promo of Free Me with not big success guess she put the minimum effort into the project and took the two years break to rest and recover, when the most logical point was to release a new album soon after Free Me and explore the Maybe music style more. She reminded me to Alexa Dixon situation, Alexa got a big hit with TBDN, released few singles of the album and started the new album campaign shortly (shame that first single was not really commercial and the whole project flopped). I think Emma had some chances after FM to success with the right music but definitely she and her team gave up and then we had Life In Mono. I’m still quite shocked about how she went from the exquisite Free Me photography to LM, thank God social media didn’t exist at that time, otherwise I can imagine how many memes we would have had with that cover!