really? By the end of 2001, it was clear all solo projects were kind of dead in the water including Melanie's...

 

There was a huge anti-Spice sentiment in both the industry and the press, and whilst Melanie did tour a lot, it seemed like she didnt really manage to retain her audience beyond her first album because that audience was mainly going to see her because she was a Spice Girl...

 

Sure she managed to also get some audience of her own, but the core of it is Spice-fans. It has always been. Melanie's mistake was to trash the group and thus, ending her relationship with her main audience.

 

It is not a surprise really that the solo works were successful (including Geri's) to the point where the Spice Girls were still seen as an active band. Once that chapter was firmly closed, so where the audiences to their solo works.

 

Of course, some works post the disbanding of the group did manage to pull through in terms of genuine success (What Took You So Long, It's Raining Men, Free Me album) but overall it was all mostly dead in the water solo-wise. No longer able to thrive based on the Spice Girls-relation anymore, the solo girls were left to either have excellent music out so that the industry/press would somehow follow or not pester them with negativity (Free Me album), or do some tie-ins with big brands (Geri's with the movie, Mel C with the German and Portuguese soap operas...).

 

Melanie's other issue was that she released a subpar album with really meandering singles that didnt connect. Here It Comes Again was a bit meh as a pop comeback. It still is one of her worst lead singles. On The Horizon, whilst obviously radio-friendly, was such a clear attempt to jump on the New Radical's sound that it fell flat.

 

Let's Love could have at least been tied in with a TV commercial (like it was in East Asia!) as it sounds appropriate for that. As a lead single, it would have at least have more of a punch than Here It Comes Again. Plus, it is technically the better song!

 

And yes, by 2003 any song on Reason wouldnt have gone much more unless it was tied to any sort of promo deal that would have enhanced its media presence. Sadly, she chose to go with HICA, and killed her mainstream career in the process...

 

It seemd as soon as the band ended, all interest in their solo songs vanished. In 2000, VB sold 180k in one week with her smsdh no.1, legendary dong, Out of your Mind. Mel C hsd two yuge no.1d in 2000. Mel B's was a big airplsy hit and a big top 10. One year later,aside from Emma's no 1 and Feeld So Good ... all flops.

Id say reason had a fairly big budget as the label were banking on it at least matching the success of Northern Star.

I wonder from all the solo albums from them which had the biggest budget or most expensive to make.