30. Melody of Life

Score: 5,81

Get up get down, come party with me!

Another treat this year from the Touch Vaults surfaced this year in the form of Melody of Life, another one of their early recording sessions before they left the original management. It is another empowering, get up and lets have a good time up-tempo, quite funky and very of it's mid-90s time. The Mel C-led chorus is quite empty sounding though, could have done with a little more of a boost and harmonies attached to her lead vocal.

The lyrics are quite sacarine but not too bad, you can tell they were developing still as a writing and singing group. Mel B's rap is quite good - it really elevates the song.

It was a cute surprise for this to drop this year and could see it becoming a b-side or added to a future celebration release, to be honest, as it is quite a good demo.

29. Pain Proof

Score: 5,83

You can twist our words to suit your twisted views
It ain't our damn choice to always be in the news

Back in 2015, as the 20th anniversary of Spice was getting close, rumours started circuling that the girls were looking at a comback and indeed, they were. What became of that, however, is a sad story for another day (I blame Mel C for pulling out to release that atrociously mid Version of Me album)

HOWEVER, as the hubbub about a potential return was gearing up, some naughty - though cunning - fans took it upon themselves to call up Mr Elliot Kennedy himself and pretended to be Simon Fuller and LIED to him about how they were going to look at their full catalogue to release more songs, and asked if Elliott could send him/them directly the demos of the songs he recorded with the four-piece in Summer 1999 to his email address.

In a stunning feat of self-defeat - or genious - Elliot did exactly that and send the demos via email to what one can only imagine was a very official-sounding email like itssimonfullerzigazigah1994@gmail.com because why would Elliot Kennedy have Simon's professional email - it is not like they worked together from 1995 - 1998 anyway?!!

The rest is history. The four songs he sent were then sold around on the interwebs and eventually, a pissed of buyer leaked the songs for us all to GORGE on forever more. Up until this point, NONE of us even knew the titles or the existence of these songs. But by Flawless Spice we have been munching on them ever since!

Thank you Elliott for being a dumb bitch and also to the fans who had the BALLS to come up with this ingenious plot! No wonder the girls hate us and give us nothing, but HEY every now and then we get some leaks and for that I am THANKFUL otherwise we would get nothing!

We'll get to the rest of the songs eventually, but Pain Proof is the first to leave this rate - and rightly so! It's a fun track, with an attempt at a pop-rock sound that they had first started on with Step To Me (another Elliott track!) back in 1996/1997! Written at the hight of press-mania around them, specially in a year when Victoria and Mel B had been huge press targets due to babies and marriages, and Mel C going all rock spice, it's an angry song all around. The lyrics are perhaps the more in your face 'we hate the press, leave us alone' they ever did, and from these sessions, you could tell they were attempting to write also about their experiences in the industry itself. The song lacks a bit of punch though, the production sound too safe and they would have needed to re-work some of those clunky lyrics, but nothing to be ashamed about here, just needed maybe a better producer to work on it. They sound great though, and special mention to Emma's grawl at the end of her verse!

It is of course the worst of the four tracks from those sessions, but I could see it being a b-side had they released an album in 1999. Maybe a b-side to WOMAN or a ballad?...

28. Baby Come Round

Score: 6,09

Hey come round and remember
How it started up, oh-oh

A b-side to Who Do You Think You Are/Mama, this has been a point of intrigue for quite a long time for many of us. Mel C sings the full thing ( it is almost a solo song ), Victoria and Emma back her up throughout and Mel B pops out for a quick breakdown in the bridge. No sign of Gerita. They sound gorgeous in the harmonies though, some of their best!

It's a slow-jam, soulful groove track that is definitely b-side material and I'm surprised it is higher here than some of the songs that have already left the rate. I also am baffled as to why this got even released when songs like Feed Your Love could have been perfect b-sides to their singles with some polishing.

27. A Day in Your Life

Score: 6,18

You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching you
And you've gotta love like you've never been hurt

Another one of the infamous Elliott Ms Messy Kennedy leaks, and this time it is a beautiful, even if somehow muted ballad. The production is a bit of a mess, but of course this is a demo only, so give it some credit. They all sound gorgeous throughout it, Victoria was definitely giving it all, and Mel C sounds great in the chorus.

The main issue here, with most of the Elliott Kennedy demos, is that the lyrics sound so basic and surface level while the melodies are definitely there for what could be really excellent songs. Like the chorus here could be impecable, but it is let down by the saccarine lyrics. In many ways, this is the little sister to Let Love Lead The Way which is far superior.

Had this been worked on more, with more polished lyrics, production and singing (some of Mel B's vocals sound rough!), I can see it being good enough for a pop album. Hell, had the lyrics been better it could have even been a single, in my opinion. Guess we'll never know what it would sound like had they not pivot to a full on r'n'b project back then!

26. Time Goes By

Score: 6,19

As you hold me close so tenderly, and I watch you fall to sleep
I see in you the one who now completes the half of me I used to be

The very first of the main album tracks leaves the rate and it is not surprising that it's Time Goes By! Often derided as Forever's worst track (but apparently one of groups' favourites), it is the slowest and more 'lovey dovey' song they have ever done as a group. Lyrically, it has stunning moments.

They all sound incredible in this song, quite extra points towards Victoria and Emma who give it all here and shine throughout. Sadly, the production lets it down, as it sort of just plods along. I always thought that had they all been sat around a piano singing it, it would have sounded a million times better! Alas...

No real losses for me so far, so no complaints.

25. My Strongest Suit

Score: 6,27

I would rather wear a barrel than conservative apparel
Because dress has always been my strongest suit

Written by Elton John and Tim Rice for inclusion in their musical AIDA this song was given to the Spice Girls to record and for exclusive inclusion in its Soundtrack. It never officially became a single, though it did get quite good radio play at the time and Mel C and Victoria even gave some interviews in early 1999 to promote it. The opportunity for another big hit was certainly there but Victoria and Mel B were giving birth to their children around this time, so obviously the Spice Girls were not releasing any more music for a while, let alone a one-off single from a soundtrack of a stage musical.

A shame though, as it could have been a fun little single to add to their catalogue of hits, and provide a much needed boost of energy to their 1998-2000 output, while fitting really well with their Greatest Hits, for instance, and in the Return tour at least.

While it is a big pop number and sonically very close to the Spice Girls own music, thematically it is a big shift for the Spice Girls as for the first time they sing about material things being the most important thing to them, which was very off-brand (musically at least, because it was very on-brand for their merch brand lol)...

24. Weekend Love

Score: 6,70

(MEL B BARGES THROUGH THE STUDIO DOOR) Every time I turn around you're standing right there I really don't want you and I really don't care

Probably the most bittersweet of all Forever tracks, a song that divides the fandom constantly. Some love it, some absolutely hate it because of Mel B's rap, some just think it is lame and naff. Thematically it is very on-brand for the Spice Girls and very girl power, about a one-night stand or small fling, and one of the most interesting lyrically.

Interestingly this was probably one of the most radio-ready songs of the album, for its production and vibe was very much en vogue at the time. So much so that a promo CD was even made, with many rumours floating around that this was going to be a single after Tell Me Why and If You Wanna Have Some Fun, had the group stayed together. I can totally see it actually as this sound was very popular at the time and this is still the most POP of all the songs on the album.

23. Give You What You Want / If It's Loving On Your Mind

Score: 6,72

Just because I kept your pager number
Doesn't mean I wanted to go on
Don't you know? That is just the way I am, boy

The third leak from the infamous Elliott Kennedy leaks to leave the rate, this is often banged about by fans as a bop and possible single in 1999. However, there is very little information on this song that points in that direction other than fan-delusion.

The most pop-by-numbers of the 4 leaked tracks, it sounds very very close to a FIVE or Backstreet Boys sound of the time, which was a popular sound in the UK at the time, and most probably why it was left on the cutting room floor. It also provides some of the WORST lyrics of their career, only made up by the girls singing beautifully over it. Sure, maybe with some more work on the lyrics the track could be improved, but it is an attempt to sound like other bands of the time, and so not Spice Girls at all, imo.

Personally, it sounds like a Walk of Life or Outer Space Girls to me: tracks that sound like they couldn't really be bothered too much and tryed - and failed - to recreate other popular sounds. It probably would have ended up as a b-side somewhere had they actually released singles in 1999.

22. Wasting My Time

Score: 6,76

Baby, who was the one who treated you so bad that you
Felt that you had to do to me what she had done to you?

EVERYONE WHO VOTED LOWER THAN 8 FOR THIS TRACK COME OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW, I JUST WANNA TALK!!!!

I am actually shocked this is so low, as many have considered it in the past as one of the best on Forever. Yet the BuzzJacks shit all over it and FAIL to give taste!

Wasting My Time provides one of the sassiest, most girl-power and funkiest moments on Forever, while also being one of the oddest. Coming right after Get Down With Me on the album is probably one of the biggest flaws as it is quite close rhythmically to that song, but it is a groove indeed! Lyrically also one of the best on the album with wordplay all over it and all three girls who sing on it providing excellent vocals!

Strangelly, Victoria does not have a writing credit at all on the track even though she shines singing all over it. On the other hand, Melanie B has a writing credit but is nowhere to be heard - not even on backing vocals or harmonies at all.

A fan-fact: this was the last track recorded by the band for the album. In Summer 2000, after the group decided to give Darkchild the Executive Producing role, they were lacking some more songs that made a cohesive sound. So they went back into the studio and recorded this, as well as the r&b version of Right Back At Ya that eventually made the album. Rumour has it that an r&b version of WOMAN was also attempted during this time but they decided that this version didnt work.

21. Bumper To Bumper

Score: 6,78

Pull over, pull over
You're drivin' me reckless
Over the limit
Alright, you're gonna get this
Bumper to bumper
Bumper to bumper
I want to drive your body
All night
I want a back seat lover
All right

Horny Spice are my favourite Spice! Perhaps too raunchy for the album itself, this is one of the most interesting and experimental tracks they did back in the Spice era before they went almost full-mainstream Pop. They are literally singing about going out into town on the pull and jumping on a guy's dick! They were quite horny during their first era, from Bumper to Bumper, to Feed Your Love, C U Next Tuesday, Last Time Lover (which apparently was first conceived as First Time Lover) and even 2 Become 1.

Strange they never revisited this type of track in their subsequent albums and sound. Once their demographic was established as teens and young girls and gays, the horny-sultry Spice went out of the window...

Technically the second released song by the band, as the very first b-side to Wannabe, this sultry, horny pop number was a fun companion to the lead single and showcased the Spice Girls in contrasting light to it. Co-written by the iconic Cathy Dennis, it has always been a highlight of their b-sides catalogue but strangely was left out from the Spice25 celebrations!

Melody of Life is my favorite leaked track. It’s insanely catchy and has so much personality. I’m still shocked this is not a Spice era song. Out of all the Touch era songs, this one deserves the most to be released on an anthology collection.

Give You What You Want is my second favorite leaked song. Yeah, the lyrics are a bit lackluster, but the song is catchy. I absolutely love the vocals on this track. Mel C’s bridge section is pop gold.

I'M (drunk) AND STILL MIFFED THAT WASTING MY TIME IS SO DAMN LOWWW!!!!!

I am literally surrounded by people with awful taste

That's an interesting point about "Horny Spice" (lmao), that there's a number of songs of a rather sexual nature in their early work, but this really went out the window once they were big. I mean, it figures - but it's an interesting quirk of early days Spice Girls.

Wasting My Time is one of the most misunderstood songs in the fanbase 💔 One of the highlights of Forever! I've never been behind the "one long song" criticism about it following Get Down with Me. I definitely understand that there's rhythmical similarities, although I think thematically and vocally they have different moods. Get Down with Me is quite upbeat and bouncey, while Wasting My Time has more of a iceiness to it, I think. Still, I kind of wish they weren't together on the album so that criticism had never emerged.

I do really like Give Me What You Want. It couldn't sound more like 1999 if it tried but I think that's a great thing about it tbh! There's an alternate reality where their third album, released in 1999, ended up being largely based around this sound and I can imagine the world would have responded well to it in that moment. The lyrics, again they're dated (specifically "pager number")... but if they'd actually released the song that year, I'm sure it would have seemed cool.

Weekend Love is a really quirky song. Kind of deceptive that it's a sweet sounding song and then that rap comes out of nowhere like a bullet train! I don't have a big love for it, but I have an appreciation for it in the sense it does have a Spiceiness to it.

I never really paid much attention to My Strongest Suit over the years, but lately I've been enjoying it more, I really have no idea why it's clicked, but it's fun!

@-Jay- THANK GOD someone agrees on Wasting My Time. It's such a great song, well written and produced. The only thing missing is Mel B on it as I think she would have sounded great too. And yeah, maybe it Weekend Love and Wasting My Time swapped places it would be better? Or after Time Goes By so the last section of the album wasn't so slow?...

When it comes to Horny Spice, they did come back a bit with Forever, as Holler, Get Down With Me and If You Wanna Have Some Fun do thread on them being horny and having sex but it is not so 'in your face' as they were before Spice was released lol

Bumper To Bumper the biggest loss for me. My favourite b-side from them.

I’m glad My Strongest Suit was not released as a single. It’s not aged well. It’s definitely not on the same caliber as their previous singles.

Bumper To Bumper deserves more love. It has everything that a Spice Girls song should have. It’s fun and chaotic.

I wonder how many U.S. fans know about their b-sides? I didn’t discover them until the mid 2000’s due to them not being widely commercially available.

Am I the only one who still, to this day, mixes up Get Down With Me and Wasting My Time? I mean, I don’t see one as better than the other, they’re practically the same song to me. In fact, the intros are so similar that I can’t tell them apart. 😅

20. Right Back At Ya

Score: 6,81

Spice it up through and through, through and through to the limit
They all try and diss us but there ain't nothing in it

The album version of Right Back At Ya could very well be labelled as the Darkchild Mix of the song. Infamously the only track from the 1999 sessions with the old Spice-producers crew to survive the 'lets go full on r&b' turn of the band's sound, Right Back At Ya is also the only album track to be performed live still to this day (stream the video linked please cos they surely need it as it is embarassing it has barely crossed the 10,000 streams after 3 weeks like a Mel C 3rd single's music video!)

Think it is fair to say that this also a bittersweet moment in Forever. Originally recorded as a funk-pop track with a lot of energy and punch, the song was then given to Darkchild to turn into a 'plodding along r&b track devoided of any flavour' as Elliot Kennedy called it (he was right!).

While in 1999 the song was treated as a strong-enough contender for a single, even getting a performance slot in one of the group's live tours as a preview to the upcoming album, by the time Forever was released, the reaction to it was nothing more than a big 'meh'... Somehow it seemed old news and like a missed opportunity, forgotten in the middle of the 'hard-hitting section' of Forever.

Was Elliott right? Did they miss the chance of using the original to mix up the album's sound? we will never know...

19. Do It

Score: 6,90

Keep your mouth shut, keep your legs shut, get back in your place
Ha, blameless, shameless, damsel in disgrace

Interviewer: Hey Mel C, what is your least favourite Spice Girls song?

Mel C: Do It.

For once, Mel C, we do agree. To be fair to Mel, she also says Voodoo, depending on which song she remembers first I guess lol

One of the most empowering-lyrics matched with anthemic sounding production of their catalogue, for sure, even if the chorus is the most superficial, AI-sounding mess of a chorus of any of their songs. Even Voodoo's chorus is better and less generic than this. Sadly, it just makes the whole song sound superficial and awkward. Live, it always just plods along as well...

What saves it is the beautiful vocals from Emma and Mel C, and some of the clever lyrical play in the verses. Still, it is the only song I skip from any of their albums as it is grating as hell.

5 hours ago, Mr.X said:

19. Do It

the chorus is the most superficial, AI-sounding mess of a chorus of any of their songs. Even Voodoo's chorus is better and less generic than this. Sadly, it just makes the whole song sound superficial and awkward. Live, it always just plods along as well...

Leave Do It ALONE, bish!! How does it feel to be so wrong!!!

24 minutes ago, -Jay- said:

Leave Do It ALONE, bish!! How does it feel to be so wrong!!!

It feels so good to be RIGHT!! It should have been a b-side at best, or thrown in the trash completely!

HAPPY NEW YEAR BIATCH!

8 minutes ago, Mr.X said:

It feels so good to be RIGHT!! It should have been a b-side at best, or thrown in the trash completely!

9 minutes ago, Mr.X said:

HAPPY NEW YEAR BIATCH!

The only song on Spiceworld that should have been a b-side is The Lady Is A Vamp.

On 30/12/2025 at 23:08, ilovepollo said:

Am I the only one who still, to this day, mixes up Get Down With Me and Wasting My Time? I mean, I don’t see one as better than the other, they’re practically the same song to me. In fact, the intros are so similar that I can’t tell them apart. 😅

Personally I don't quite agree, they are such different songs in many ways. Get Down With Me is closer to Holler than anything else.

Wasting My Time is track #6 and comes after 4 almost back to back hard hitting-beats upbeat tracks, a flow only slightly broken by LLTW at #3. Like @-Jay- said, I also do wish it was planced elsewhere on the record so as to not give these comparisons because I genuinely think it is unfair on the song.

Again, had it been placed at #8 just before If You Wanna Have Some Fun would have given it more room to breathe while also providing another boost of energy to a very slow back end of the album.

#JUSTICEFORWASTINGMYTIME SOMEONE GET VICTORIA TO SING IT ON TIK TOK AND MAKE IT GO VIRAL??!!!

18. Get Down With Me

Score: 7

Now that you know how it goes
We can do it again
And this night will never end

Horny Spice is back baby!! Get Down With Me is the little sister to Holler from its conception and rhythm, to its intention where basically all the girls are finding a guy in the club and taking them home to have spicy time (sex... they are talking about sex and they are HORNEY for these guys!).

Like Wasting My Time, it is often a bit missunderstood as a song, dismissed a bit as part of a middle section of an album that for some 'sounds like the same song'. Again, had those two not been placed together on the album maybe they would be given more respect - as they deserve!

Originally the song was titled Groove With Me and even showed up on some digital platforms in the 2000s under that title upon the album's release. It is also one of Mel B and Emma's favourites on the album.

Personally, this only faulters a bit for me as the production sounds a bit too barebones, it could be a bit more developped on that front. But overall, Top Bop!

17. Right Back At Ya (Original Pop Mix)

Score: 7,18

Now, we've had a taste of what we all can achieve
But we're comin' back for more
To show you how
To turn your dreams into a reality
Stronger than before

The final leaked demo from the original Elliott Kennedy 1999 sessions, and the ONLY album track to be performed live from this era, and performed from its original demo version too rather than the final product! It is clearly the best song from the EK sessions, and showcased the Spice Girls in hungry mode for more, and putting their foot down on demanding respect for their work and legacy!

It is, to this day, the ONLY released song they sing about their achievements and legacy.

An iconic demo in the fandom, it certainly matches the energy the group still was displaying in 1999 as a band. The funk-pop production and the attitude are top notch here, and it is easy to see how they wanted to keep this for the album. It is often said that this should have been a single in 1999 or at least in Spring 2000, and kept in this funk-pop form for the album. Certainly it would have fitted well in the overall Forever sound, as a companion piece to songs like If You Wanna Have Some Fun and even Wasting My Time. It matched those song's vibes sound-wise, and would have provided another song that seemed like a more natural progression of their sound on the album.

Sadly, as we damn well know, the song was bast*rdised by Darkchild on the album. Ah well... I could see this version being performed in the future again, at least as an intro or part of a medley.