Mr.X

I was just listening to Feed Your Love! What a tune

are you looking for a fight? is that what you want?...

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!!!)

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!

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

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?...

According to her, in her radio show's last episode, she mentioned more episodes of the podcast are to come this year (jesus christ....)

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!

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

I seriously hope we can get some new music off her... the podcast was such a missfire and waste of time.. I hope they at least got paid big bucks as it was on the world's most successful podcast production platform - Global - but still... those YouTube numbers were abysmal lol

God damn it... hope the year somehow improves with her... I gather no more Unlikely Friends?

4. Naked Score: 8,47 Undress you with her eyes Uncover the truth from the lies Strip you down don't need to care Lights are low exposed and bare Now THIS is a nice surprise! Moody, experimental Spice strikes gold again thanks to the boys at Absolute. I'm ever so glad as a fan that they were not just this teen-pop act but instead they created really interestin, nuanced and experimental music like this. Naked is perhaps the best example of this side of the girls, the big sister to Take Me Home, for sure. A very somber number with a narrative about a girl who is trying to stand on her own, in power, and in control of her sexuality and body in the face of the mysoginy she endures throughout her life. The verses go from soft spoken by Geri, then the pre-chorus is sang in a haunting way by Emma and Mel B, then the chorus is Emma, Mel C and Victoria belting out and interchanging the lines between them. There are two bridges technically, with the first being a unique production trick by Absolute, where we hear Emma on an eerie phone call where she proclaims that she would 'rather be hated than pitied', before Mel C comes in and belts out the second bridge. Lyrically, it is stunningly well written, one of their very best on the record, as it gives us a full and very vived narrative of the character's behaviours, what is done to her and how she deals with it. Even though it created iconic moments in both Istabul and the Spiceworld tours, sadly it hasn't been performed since 1998, and personally I would love it if they brought it back. They don't need to pretend to be naked for it anymore like then, just treat it as a song about a girl standing on her own against her demons, perform as you would any other ballad, with a bit of theatricality thrown in.

5. If You Wanna Have Some Fun Score: 8,27 Now you're standing real close to me I feel your heat, you wanna get with me Wink, wink, nudge, nudge Tell me, do you like the rudest stuff? When the Spice Girls were on tour in 1998 in North America, two iconic music producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, came to see the band play and decided to introduce themselves to them. Clearly interested in the group, they suggested they should work together. This was a unique invitation since Jam & Lewis hadn't at this point worked with non-USA acts and they often produced and wrote everything whereas this time, knowing the girls wrote their own music, they were open to collaborate. Jam & Lewis are some of the most recognised and venerated producers in music history having worked on seminal and legendary records with the likes of Janet Jackson, Prince, Luther Vandross, Mary J Blige and Chaka Khan. You can't get more legendary than that! All the girls were big fans of course and jumped at the chance. Once the tour was over, Mel B and Victoria took some downtime to rest due to their pregnancies, while Emma and Mel C travelled to Dublin to work with Matt & Biff and then to Nashvile to work with Jam & Lewis. Demos were made, and they bonded so well that they decided to finish two songs out of the five they worked on then. However, this work wouldn't be completed until September 1999 in London - a rare feat as the producers had never travelled outside of the US to work (this is the same with Darkchild, who did just that in January 1999 to work with them as well. From all of these sessions, we only know of possible 3 that were eventually released : Christmas Wrapping with Matt & Biff, and If You Wanna Have Some Fun and Oxygen. Of course there are more that we have no idea about, but we have some insights into at least how If You Wanna Have Some Fun came about. Emma mentioned at the time a song called If Ya Do, which is now part of the Forever lore but for all we know this could have been an initially working title for what the became the full song. Also, a track called Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (A Night To Remember) was registered on ASCAP which could be another demo for the song, since the final track includes a sample of A Night To Remember and the 'girls just wanna have fun' line could very well be an initial lyric of the song that then got transformed/changed. Sadly, it seems like we will never know if all of this is just rumours/misunderstandings but most of it point towards the process of the song being made. AND WHAT A SONG! Initially tauted as a possible single from the album, it was also one of the few that was met with critical and fan-acclaim upon release. Emma and Victoria mentioned it was their favourite in some of the interviews back then. Certainly, one of the main points of praise is its production that seems to tap into the Spice 90s pop sound, blend it with 70s Disco and elevate their sound to a new level of maturity, in similar ways to what Oxygen did with their 'ballads sound'. The nods to flirting, being in command of a possible one-night stand, girl power, it's all there and it is sang beautifully. Jam & Lewis seemed to really understand and love the girls, and it shows! The track is obviously the most loved out of the fans, and often people call for it to be eventually performed live. Back in 2001, a promo CD of it was sent to radios and industry players, and it got some radio rotation in promotion for the album. It was taunted as a possible single (perhaps if the campaign extended for the summer after Tell Me Why!), and it is considered in the Spice fandome as one of their biggest misses in terms of 'could have been a hit!'. A promo video even was sent to TV channels back in late 2000, with footage from the band's history and Spiceworld tour, but it seems to have gotten lost in the vaults! A cute fact is that in this rate, the only two songs from Forever to make the Top10 were the Jam&Lewis tracks. Should they have gone with them for the full production instead of Darkchild once they chose to go more 'American r&b' in late 1999? Seemingly, it seemed like it was a match made in heaven! We hope we get a performance of this song one day! It was a really missed opportunity in 2019 not to include this in the 'disco section' of the show. It would have been PERFECT instead of them doing another cover of We Are Family!

you do have to remember that while Geri's mum was fluent in Spanish, she was already in the UK by a long time by the time this verse was written PLUS she was not a song writer lol so for all we know it could have made sense to her But I do think there is some exaggeration in this yes

I totally agree with this, and there were even rumours that If U Can't Dance was slatted to be a single but I don't think it was ever confirmed.

6. If You Can't Dance Score: 8.18 Now we got the flavour, the bad behaviour The rhythm, the melody, the juice for you to savour We're rockin' and vibin' but somebody is jivin' You need to take a tip, sort it out, get a grip The iconic - ICONIC - If You Can't Dance sits just outside of the top5 here, and it is safe to say that this is one of the girls - and the fans - favourite tracks. Sampling the Digital Underground's "The Humpty Dance", the track closes the Spice album in incredible cool fashion. Cool is indeed the word here, as the album closed with two back-to-back moody and experimental tracks, which was rare for a pop girlband of the time. It is also the only experimental pop track that Matt & Biff did with the girls, sounding more like an Absolute track than anything else... It's production is immaculate, the lyrics outstanding and the two main verses by both Mel B and Geri, alongside the bridge by Mel C and Emma, are sublime. I don't think it is an exageration to say this. It was so well loved that they even opened two of their main 99's tours - Istanbul and Spiceworld Tour 1998 - with it, and the performance at Istanbul became an iconic moment in pop history back in 1997! The only time they didn't perform it was in the 1999 tour and it was definitely missed then. The song came back for the 2007 Return tour and the 2019 tour, but it is safe to say that in both times, it was sadly received a bit 'flat' overall, with the 2007 version being the biggest let down as they only repeated the 'if you can't dance' bit over and over again over the sample... A few fan-facts of interest: Gerita Halliwell recently said If U Can't Dance was her favourite Spice Girls track A few of the girls mentioned that Geri's mum co-wrote most of the Spanish verse Sadly, Victoria is nowhere near this song, I don't think she turns up at all not even in backing tracks. She does do chorus live, but just like most Biff & Matt productions on the album versions (2 Become 1 and Wannabe for instance), she is nowhere to be found.. It is their most streamed album track on Spice album even though it is the last on the tracklist.

8. Denying Score: 8.10 You think you're quick But I'd like to see you keep up with me You think you're slick But I'd like to see you pull a trick on me Spiceworld's most r&b number, Denying would have sat perfectly well both in Spice and in Forever. It provides a perfect bridge between the two, and marks what is perhaps the band's most solid r&b track, providing the perfect segway on the album to Viva Forever. Moody, with a vibe full of gritty girl-power, it is quite a subdued anthem with clever verses which sees four girls - Emma, Victoria, Mel B and Geri bouncing between them to take on a 'big man who thinks he is smart', reminding him that most of what he says is actually GASLIGHTING and everyone can see. The harmonies? PERFECT. The lyrics? PERFECT. The vocals? PERFECT. The storyline, PERFECT! Mel C leads the ad-libs throughout and it is truly a shame that this gorgeous song was the only performed for half a world tour once and never again, as it would have fitted really well with the rest of their more r&b tracks on stage. JUSTICE FOR DENYING!! 7. Something Kinda Funny Score: 8.12 Wherever you're going, high or low Remember to sure enjoy the show So climb aboard my journey deep inside Better late than dead on time Something Kind of Funny was one of the first songs the band did with Absolute and also the one that they performed for Simon Fuller when trying to convince him to take them on as their manager. It worked! And the rest is history. The band has a special relationship to it, having been performed on every tour (apart from the Return tour), and one can imagine why as it was written to showcase their blend of personalities and ethos: girl power, sassy and empowering, while singing about how they have 'something special' together. It is funky and jazzy - perhaps their first release that showcases this side to them, proving how versatile they could be. Emma sound absolutely divine in it, with her adlibs and background vocals leading the song. Just like in Viva Forever, she is all over the song doing backing vocals to all while taking the lead in the bidge, chorus and some verses. Perfect!

I never really got the love for Walk of Life. It's fine, but it is not album worth it. It sits, for me in the same braket as Outer Space Girls - perfectly great bsides where the girls attempted some specific genres they hadn't yet up to that point, but didn't quite manage to make those songs great, just fine. Oxygen is a GEM of a song and totally agree with you and yes one of their best. This is what 'mature Spice' was to me, whereas LLLTW was a more r&b attempt at replicating the magic of Goodbye. I could totally see Gerita also getting in the Oxygen performance on a future tour, though sadly I don't think it will happen at all...

You are right, it was in the North American tour, which is even more crazy since it was more popular in Europe??

10. Step To Me Score: 8,01 Now it's time, come prove your words to me If you think you've got what it takes There's no time for your insecurities I'm gonna wipe that smile off your face First recorded during the Spice era sessions with Elliott Kennedy and produced by Absolute, this pop-rock-funk number has had quite the curious trajectory in Spiceworld. The sister song to Move Over, it was first included as a Pepsi-exclusive quasi-single where you had to collect a number of cans in order to get a free CD single with it - and which included three other remixes. Apparently it sold around 600,000 copies in the first couple of months of the promotion, which is incredible and could have led to yet another #1 for the band in the summer of 1997, but it was not chart-eligible even though it was all over radio across UK and Europe. However, it provided the perfect bridge between the pop-r&b mood of Spice to the more hyper-pop-focused Spiceworld! Sadly, even though it was considered for the album, it only made it as an exclusive in the Japan edition of Spiceworld. Another missed opportunity in Spiceworld for sure! However, it was so successful in fact that even though by the end of the summer you couldn't get it anywhere, it was performed in the Istanbul concerts in 1997, the European leg of the Spiceworld Tour in 1998, a TV performance at TFI Friday and YET AGAIN in the Christmas in Spiceworld Tour in 1999! All of these performances were iconic, and seemingly the band loved it! It certainly provided a boost of energy to their catalogue and it was MAD that it wasnt included in their Greatest Hits since it seems like a central point in the band in their mainstream success era. By 2000 however, it was pretty much forgotten by the band and seemingly everyone else, and it did not even make an appearance in the 2007 and 2019 tours, sadly. Maybe as they matured, they didn't want to perform it anymore as it is too rocky? It was only in 2022 that it became available on CD, Vinyl, Cassette and Digital when it was released as the first offering of the 25th anniversary of the Spiceworld celebrations, to much fan-fare and appreciation. It is a huge fan favourite and provides quite great girl-power lyricism and a pretty iconic pre-chorus from Baby and Posh! Let's hope they do it again live when - if - they ever tour again! 9. Oxygen Score: 8.09 Make sure you're there to answer when love Comes around Don't be surprised When true love knocks at your door Quite a surprise this one is so high here, but it is a welcome development for sure. One of their most underrated ballads and overall songs. It is Emma's favourite in the album too (she said so in 2019!). A stunning ballad produced by the iconic duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, it was critically acclaimed when the album was released and provides one of the most intimate and revealing moments in their discography, with all the girls writing and singing about how they interpret love. Knowing what we know about their love lives back in 2000, it makes it even more intimate and beautiful. When Emma sings 'you're in every breath I take', it just floors me.. Beautifully sand and written, the band took a new approach to writing, where they each went off on their own in the studio and wrote their respective verses from their own perspective and then came together to write the chorus. The production is simply stunning, like a timeless ballad. Had it been released as a single, it could have been up there with their most famous, in my opinion. I would venture to say that it would have been a better Double A Side to Holler than Let Love Lead The Way, even! As many have mentioned, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis seemed to work really well with the band, tapping into their pop sound and elevating it to new hights, bringing a 70s vintage quality to it. It works pretty well here, with this being their most unique ballad to date, in many ways, while also having a timeless quality to it. I know some fans get quite annoyed by the 'water drop' sound production element but it was quite unique at the time, and personally it doesn't bother me at all anymore. I love it, it sounds like they are literally dripping with love. Pure stunning and thankfully, justice has been done to it here, at least.

So before we enter the final Top10, here is a little breakdown of what's coming: We have 2 songs left from Forever There is 1 almost-single that has been performed in three of their tours! 3 songs from Spiceworld to go! 4 songs from Spice to go!

14. Walk of Life Score: 7,27 The sun goes down and the lights come up So we move on to a club Surround yourself with the feel-good groove People dancin' everywhere BuzzJack's favourite b-side is Walk of Life, one of the most lauded and loved b-sides by the whole fandom at large. This raggae-pop number sees the girls paying homage to London, perhaps continuing with the whole 'cool britannia' shtick they had going on during 1997. Somehow the lyrics make it sound like they don't know London at all LOL it's just platitudes and random scenarios, but alas, it kind of works as a whole. While it is a bit of a vibe and cool summer number, even providing one of the most fun bridges with Mel B's "Zing-zing-zinga, zing-zing-zinga" lyric, it also provides one of the worst moments in Spice Girls discographies: Victoria's voice in her verse, where she tries to sing on a higher register and sounds completely off. It's pretty awful from the queen of harmonies and pre-choruses! Interestingly, this song was meant for the album, just like Outer Space Girls and Step To Me. It was included in promo CDs for the album right after Move Over but it was demoted to b-side ultimately because they wanted to keep the Spiceworld album to 10 tracks just like their previous one. Was it a mistake? 13. Last Time Lover Score: 7,45 We got up and down to it (Oh yeah) Like the dirty bass in the music (Uh) I got my major chords strumming Took some time and then we're really buzzing First bite whet my appetite (Mmm) Second helping's always better (Ah) Horny Spice strikes again! This sexy, sultry number was the most r&b of the Spice album, and saw the girls - well, mainly Mel B, Emma and Geri - give true girl power in chasing a man and having fun with him all night long, until they are done. It also gives us Geri's first solo rap in on the album (the second being If You Can't Dance's). It is another great example of how Absolute really took the girls down onto a cool, sexy, moody version of the group, which was later kind of ditched for Spiceworld since they were aiming to appease their mainly pop-audience but later revived for Forever. It has also been said that it sounds a bit like a TLC song! Two fan facts: Up to this date, this is the only song from the first two albums to not get a single performance, not even a mimed one! A shame as I would have loved a performance of it. This is probably the first GEM song 😅 It's literally just Emma, Geri and Mel B here, with Mel C and Victoria on very background-background vocals on the chorus only. 12. Move Over Score: 7,90 We're sowing the seed (Seed), Every colour, every creed (Creed) Teach, never preach, listen up and and take heed An iconic 90s song, that the whole world got to listen to as part of their Pepsi merchandise deal. In fact, the song borrows from the Pepsi adverts jingle to make a full song out of it. In retrospect, it is WILD that they were so embedded in comercial deals that a Pepsi advert jingle got to be ON THE DAMN MAIN ALBUM!!! This was very much a point of criticism at the time and perhaps around this time it was when the backlash started against too much merchandise and deals instead of them focusing on the music. Still, it is an iconic BOP and quite anarchic as a song, having a very loose structure and the girls' energy at the highest point ever, shouting-singing throughout it! The girls battling in the verses and then randomly shouting words in the bridge will never not be iconic. It is also one of their most memorable album tracks! The performances of it in Istanbul became iconic but later ditched after the initial run of Spiceworld Tour in 1998. It appeared again in a video-segment intro to Holler in the 2019 tour. 11. Tell Me Why Score: 8 What made you think that without me Your life would be so much better? But now you see that without me your hopes and dreams Will never be as good as what you had with me The second song from Forever is also the one with the hardest-hitting beats and angriest lyrics. Opening with an iconic and beautifully sang verse by Lady Beckham, it was slotted to be the album's second (third? fourth?) single in March 2001 before it got cancelled as the group disbanded at the time. Art work was commissioned and a few promo CDs and vinyls were sent out to radios with remixes by Jonathan Peters and Thunderpuss, which are to this perceived at some of their very best, with one even showing up on their Greatest Hits. It is a shame they never got officially released. Recorded in Miami, USA, in Spring 2000 after the band decided to go full r&b, the song is lauded as one of their best from the era by fans and critics alike. Still there is a bittersweet part to it, which is that this was one of the songs recorded during a time when Mel C refused to go in the studio with the rest of the girls and 'sang her parts later'. She doesn't appear in the writing credits and quite frankly she sounds detached from it all, only appearing half-way through the song with ad-libs slotted in and doing the bridge. I am not sure she is even in the chorus at all?...

Dreaming of a Spice tracklist like this: Wannabe Say You'll be There 2 Become 1 Love Thing Last Time Lover Step To me Who Do You Think You Are Take Me Home Bumper To Bumper Something Kinda Funny Naked If You Can't Dance This would have been f***ing perfect actually

16. The Lady is a Vamp Score: 7,19 Scary, baby, ginger, posh Sporty, yes, now that's your lot We're the Spice Girls, ready to go Right bang in the middle of the rate lands one of the most divisive album tracks of their 90s' output. The group obviously loves this song as it has been a central piece of most of their tours since Spiceworld Tour 1998, and they have often referenced it as 'Geri's baby' since she is a big lover of big-band, Shirley Bassey type of songs. The song is a camp, fun little song, perfectly closing the Spiceworld album with clevel word-play and call outs to iconic celebrities and artists of yesteryear, while announcing that the Spice Girls are here to stay (although Gerita herself left less than a year later lol) and positioning the band amongst those icons of popular culture. Writing-wise it is one of their most clever and you can tell Geri was feeling herself here as not only she drives the song, but it has 'written by Geri' allover it. She deserves the credit for sure! Still, it is one of the moments on tour that fans are a bit less interested in as it is not one of their most 'wanted' songs nor does it ever provide any special moments on tour. It is all a bit 'cabaret-lite' whenever they do it. Spice World Tour 2019 might have been its more forgettable performance yet, so I would expect it to be left behind if they ever do another tour (please!). 15. Take Me Home Score: 7,19 (yes technically the same as TLIAV but it had more 10s so it is slotted higher here!) Sittin' in a white room dreaming of a life You have got me thinkin' what is paradise? Should I take an ocean drive, coolin' from the sun? Silver screen got me thinking this is how it should be done This is SHOCKINGLY LOW!! What the hell?? Often labelled as one of their masterpieces that should have been included on the Spice album, it is a moody, somber song that rivals Naked and If You Can't Dance in the 'dark Spice' categories. Absolute really took the girls to areas of creativity that Matt and Biff couldn't: that of introspection and wonder. Lyrically it is one of their best writen songs without a doubt. Just the wordplay and singing in the duet between Emma and Mel C in the 3rd verse is to cry for. I remember being a kid and being really arrested at its beauty and how visually and narratively interesting it was. Personally I always thought it deserved a spot in the album, instead of Mama (I SAID IT!!!) or at least as Track 11. It seems wrong for such an amazing song to be left as a b-side. Here, it had mostly high scores apart from a 4 and a 3 which dragged it down to outside of the Top10!!

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.