Naked is iconic! I’m shocked no songs are above a 9 average yet!

3 hours ago, Lukuzz said:

Naked is iconic! I’m shocked no songs are above a 9 average yet!

I know... I find that in this rate people were quite conservative with their votes actually... If it had included the singles, no doubt that there would be higher votes but I think people really downvoted some excellent album tracks and bsides that deserved better or at least higher votes

3. Saturday Night Divas

Score: 9,09

You're a twisted lover, kiss and telling on a superstar
That's what you are
But it was Saturday night, I knew the feeling was right
I didn't know we'd get so far

Another happy surprise for me that Saturday Night Divas gets this high in the rate 🖤 A classy, gorgeous, jazzy, cool song that is still one of their highest selling/streaming album tracks but seems largely forgotten by the band themselves. On the album, it comes right after another classy and classic song by the band, Too Much and perhaps it is the only time in the album that it feels like they follow each other quite closely both in sound and intention (whereas the rest of the album works like a jukebox of different sounding songs, these two seem the most fluid pairing!). However, maybe being slotted in between the huge hit that is Too Much and the most loved 'single that could have been' Never Give Up On The Good Times, somehow mutes it a bit?

Nonetheless, on its own, it thrives in its polished production, smooth lyrics and gorgeous singing by all of them. Victoria's purring in her opening verse is iconic and instantly a fan-favourite, followed by Mel C's high and vibrant lines and Emma's pre-chorus leading up to the ear-worm that is the chorus! The lyrics seem to point both towards them being famous but also telling the story of them getting involved on a one-night stand with a guy who kisses and tells about their affair and them feeling wronged! Horny and Angry Spice, melting in a gorgeous pop-neo-jazz production. Near perfect!

The song also provides one of the most iconic moments in Spice World The Movie, where they swap characters, a scene that was one of the most instantly 'viral' for the time when the movie was released.

It was an instant classic when it debuted in the Istanbul concerts, but sadly the band never revisited it since even though it is one of their best loved. There were rumours in 2019 they were going to include it in a medley with Something Kinda Funny, but sadly this never came to be. An absolute shame as the live arrangement is just stunning all around. Don't take it from me, just watch it below!

Edited Tuesday at 16:011 day by Mr.X

Iconic, wish they’d perform this live on more recent tours

It’s interesting Saturday Night Divas is a fan favorite, yet the group themselves don’t seem to like it. They have performed Walk Of Life and Step To Me more often on tour than Saturday Night Divas.

I wonder why the group isn’t that fond of the track.

I agree Mr X, for the most part it does seem Absolute experimented more with the group than Biffco. The latter focused on more polished, radio friendly pop songs.

2. Love Thing

Score: 9,18

Stop pushin', you're rushin'
You're losing my lovin'
I hope it, I see it
Just play it, you feel it
Gotta be bold, bold and oh-so strong
Get with this and you got it goin' on
On and on with the girls named Spice
You wanna get with us, then you'd better think twice
God help the mister, yeah, God help the mister
That comes between me and my sisters

The almost debut single from the band makes it to #2 on the rate. Another iconic album track, it was Virgin's favourite to launch the band as it would go closer to the overall girlband sounds that came before (r&b pop) while still providing the very essence of the girls: girl power throughout it! The band, however, stood by their guns and Virgin and Management relented and took a chance. Obviously it worked because Wannabe became one of the best selling and most iconic songs ever made, launching the Spice Girls to the echalons of music.

Still it is Step To Me's BIG sister for sure as it shares similar themes and structures, with some of the verses being alterned between the girls and Geri and Mel B's rap epitomising the full energy and ethos of the band. It has always been a huge fan favourite to this day and rightly so. It's a perfect song!

Strangely, however, the song was also mostly neglected by the band during their hey day! After being one of the standout moments in the Istanbul tour, it was only brought back for the final leg of the Stadium dates in 1998 and then completely neglected again until 2019's tour. Criminal, specially when they could have easily done it in 1999 and they definitely could have done more album tracks in 2007!

The production on the track in Istanbul is still one of my favourite live moments of the girls, it's so strong and powerful and cool. The 2019 version palled in comparison, sadly, as it sounded straight out of the CD.

Nonetheless, a great achievement here at #2 even if not completely surprising 😅

1. Never Give Up On The Good Times

Score: 9,18

Down and dirty city, feeling outta place
Maybe you've ran out of time
He treats her like a lady, smile upon her face
Make up the last of the lines

The ultimate 'should have been a single damn it!!"

One of the fabourite tracks from the critics, fans and the band itself, Never Give Up On The Good Times is Spice Disco at its best, with a positive and empowerment message mixed with girl power like only them knew how to do back then! Borrowing heavily from 70s disco but with a very VERY pop angle, it's perhaps one of Matt and Biff's most intricate productions overall, and includes a breakdown/bridge that is simple yet anthemic at the same time! HEY NOW LOOK AROUND PICK YOURSELF UP OFF THE GROUND definitely walked so that Emma's relenteless 'ARE YOU HAVING FUN!!???' could run!

Live, it is always a MOMENT, and has been a staple of their live shows since 1998, with the 1999 tour making it even more disco and upbeat, and the 2019 version blending in Madonna's Music and Christina Aguilera/Missy Elliott's Car Wash in for extra fun! It was a CRIME they skipped it for the 2007 tour - another crime in how the group treated some of its back catalogue back then!

The main crime, however, was the fact it never got its rumoured release as a single. Slated to be released as a double A-side with Viva Forever for summer 1998 to coicide with the World Tour, it ultimately got removed from the release schedule - something we still don't know why today. Many suggested this was because Geri left, but a video was never commissioned for it, and don't know why plans were scrapped. Certainly after Geri left, they would have had to re-record some of the vocals as Geri is so prominent in the song, but I still stand that they should done like the Backstreet Boys did with 'Larger Than Life' and do a Tour music video with their new vocals, at the end of the summer, to celebrate the end of the tour and them going to the stadiums! It woud have changed the course of the 4-piece forever as it would have breathed new life and energy into the band's profile.

During the Spiceworld25 celebrations, a video was published on their YouTube profilled labelled as an 'official video' with archive footage - some very rare and unseen - but ultimately it got deleted (we still don't know why either!)...

So there it is... A song that is so iconic, but with so many things that got in the way of it having its proper moment. Ultimately it is one of their most loved by all, and even the general public loves it. Still, it is cemented in the group's legacy as one of their very best and many would love to see it get its proper dues one day! Will it ever get it?...

And there you go bitches! The rate is over 🥳 and I hope you had as much fun with it as I did 😆

Any big surprises for you? Any total misses?? What would be your ideal Top 10??

The results are this:

41. Spice Invaders 4.27

40. Voodoo 4.54

39. Sleigh Ride 4,63

38. Song For Her 4,18

37. Likely Stories aka C. U. Next Tuesday 5,08

36. Strong Enough 5,09

35. One of These Girls 5,18

34. Sugar & Spice 5,45

33. Feed Your Love 5,46

32. Outter Space Girls 5,48

31. Christmas Wrapping 5,63

30. Melody of Life 5,81

29. Pain Proof 5,82

28. Baby Come Round 6,09

27. A Day In Your Life 6,18

26. Time Goes By 6,19

25. My Strongest Suit 6, 27

24. Weekend Love 6,36

23. Give You What You Want / If It's Lovin On Your Mind 6,72

22. Wasting My Time 6,76

21. Bumper To Bumper 6,78

20. Right Back At Ya 6,81

19. Do It 6,90

18. Get Down With Me 7

17. Right Back At Ya (Pop) 7,18

16. The Lady is a Vamp 7,19

15. Take Me Home 7,19

14. Walk of Life 7,27

13. Last Time Lover 7,45

12. Move Over 7,90

11. Tell Me Why 8

10. Step To Me 8,01

9. Oxygen 8,09

8. Denying 8,10

7. Something Kinda Funny 8,12

6. If You Can't Dance 8,18

5. If You Wanna Have Some Fun 8,27

4. Naked 8,45

3. Saturday Night Divas 9,09

2. Love Thing 9,18

1. Never Give Up On The Good Times 9,63

Thank you Mr X for hosting this rate. I’ve had a lot of fun. I thought it would be interesting to compare this rate with the Popjustice forum rate of the group’s discography in 2018.

The Popjustice Forum

GIRL POWER! ✌️ The Spice Girls Discography Rate (RESULTS:...

Never Give Up On The Good Times

Saturday Night Divas

Love Thing

Naked

It You Wanna Have Some Fun

If U Can't Dance

Move Over

Do It

Denying

something Kinda Funny

Walk Of life

Outer Space Girls

Right Back At Ya (Pop Version)

Last Time Lover

Take Me Home

Step To Me

Tell Me Why

Right Back At Ya

Bumper To Bumper

Give You What You Want

The Lady Is A Vamp

Weekend Love

Song For Her

Get Down With Me

Wasting My Time

One Of These Girls

Christmas Wrapping

Pain Proof

My Strongest Suit

Baby Come Round

A Day In Your Life

Oxygen

Sleigh Ride

Time Goes By

Voodoo

Spice Invaders

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by Sideout

Wow some quite drastic changes apart from the Top5. That's surprising actually that those 5 songs are all there, I always thought Naked was more of a niche taste song even among the Spice fans, same with If You Wanna Have Some Fun!

Thank you, Mr.X for the poll and results. It’s been a really interesting read. Some songs did surprise me some being so low and others high. Naked along with IUCD are my favourite album tracks so happy to seen them high up.

The difference between Oxygen's result here vs on Popjustice!

Never Give Up on the Good Times a very worthy winner of course I'm happy to see Saturday Night Divas getting a lot of love - a gem in their catalogue and the girls need to pay attention that it's a fan favourite! I think we've landed on the correct Top 2 though, I see Love Thing and NGUOTGT the song on each album that were the most worthy of being singles.

Thank you for hosting @Mr.X, enjoyed this and your commentaries

Both rates show Give You What You Want is the best unreleased leaked song. Hopefully one day it is properly mixed and mastered and gets a release on some sort of compilation album.

It seems like most die hard fans want uptempo unreleased pop songs so it’s not surprising Feed Your Love got a lukewarm reception.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Sideout

2 hours ago, Sideout said:

Both rates show Give You What You Want is the best unreleased leaked song. Hopefully one day it is properly mixed and mastered and gets a release on some sort of compilation album.

It seems like most die hard fans want uptempo unreleased pop songs so it’s not surprising Feed Your Love got a lukewarm reception.

They've been on a slow-tempo streak since 1998, sadly... Although I LOVE their ballads and moody downtempo songs - or even uptempo but naughty and cool, it is what people want: attitude. Even their moody songs have attitude.

They have the best ballads of any girlband, probably the only girlband that at least matches them on the ballad front is All Saints. But yeah we need some uptempo songs! Here's hoping the next unreleased tracks that get tagged on to anniversary releases, are uptempo or at least interesting (no Voodoos or Song For Her!!!)

It was a cool moment. Thanks!

Nine "Spiceworld" tracks (without Viva Forever) must be in top 10 best Spice Girls songs.

Edited 36 minutes ago36 min by Last Dreamer