Mr.X

I say a solid 8 from me :o It's a beautiful production and Emma sounds heavenly in it

Girlies, since we started this BuntonMegaRate a couple of months back, Emma BabyBunton Flawless Spice Iconic Popstar has made TWO massive moves that have changed the landscape of Spiceworld! First, BabyBunton Flawless Spice has finally, after years of literal begging from fans worldwide, launched her Free Me and Life in Mono albums on streaming platforms worldwide. It caused a small buzz online from popfans and her iconic Maybe has finally reached 2million streams on Spotify as a consequence! I believe that Free Me and Life in Mono have really stood the test of time and the results of the Rate so far have only added to this! I mean, album tracks and singles from those two albums fill the Top20! Secondly, BabyBunton Flawless Spice has also launched a surprise rendition of 2 Become 1 as a end-of-the-year gift to her fans. Recorded with the Budapest Orchestra, the song was launched to coincide with Emma's performance at the Strictly Come Dancing final. With that in mind, I wanted to do a special vote on her version of 2 Become 1 and see where it would have landed in the Rate alongside her other music! :teresa: Emma Bunton - 2 Become 1 -0NIc7l43Ws RULES 1. Vote only ONCE for this ONE SONG 2. You can vote from 0 to 11, and it is ok to do decimals Go at it girlies!!! :cheer:

Geraldine's solo career was a total hack job! She was good to write a good 90's pop song but she was never destined to be a long-running solo pop star, lets be real. They all mimmed at the time though, even Mel C! But at least Mel C and Emma had the eye to sing live whenever they could.

Ooopppss I got too drunk over the Christmas period, appologies! Rate about to get going again :P #17 What I Am (featuring Tin Tin Out) From album: A Girl Like Me Release year: 1999 UK peak chart position: #2 UK chart run: 02-09-15-23-39-51-57-48-45-45-38-38-82-Out UK Total Sales: 234,000 [source: Official Charts Company] (15th January 2020) Average votes: 8,07 EEOeClFSQ1o The one which started it all :wub: Whilst (Hey You) Free Up Your Mind was the first solo song from Bunton to ever be released, What I Am has the honour of being the very first single to be released and promoted. Of course, in true Bunton style, the song is a cover of the hit song by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. Emma does a nice cute version if not too distant from the original, but it does well in general and it provided her with a cute hit to start off her solo ventures. What I Am saw Emma joining in with relatively unknown duo Tin Tin Out, who also worked with The Coors but barely anyone else at that point. It was included in their album and promoted all over TV and Radio in the UK. Of course, we cannot skip over the fact that this single's release was embroiled in a chart competition race against Emma's own former friend and Spice Girl colleague, Geraldine Halliwell and her single Lift Me Up. Ultimately, Emma lost the battle, but to be fair, both songs were met with not much longevity (though What I Am is probably Emma's third most successful song overall!). The last few years since Emma went back on the road, she has performed it and the song has seen renewed interest.But I for one - and even if I am a bit indiferent to it - am a bit shocked the song is so low here. I thought it would be Top10 but glad it isn't. This is NOT Emma's highest placing cover on this rate though! Can you guess what song that honour goes to? And what placing it will have?? :w00t: kXBRUX2X_y0

You know, I was happy for a split second that she was back with Simon, but then I remembered that Simon is a dinnosaur who has no idea about streaming/digital profiling...

Thats not too bad, considering everything about its release... What I find incredibly bad is her streams on Spotify... even the video is not doing too bad (400,000 views so far!) for solo-Spice standards on YouTube but it completely flatlined on Spotify as it hasnt event reached 40,000 streams :o

Updated the previous reply to include TWO MORE tracks because they all have very very close voting averages. In fact, a mere 0,0001 separates some of them! Also, have included more info on each track.

#20 I Wasn't Looking (When I Found Love) From album: Life in Mono Release year: 2006 Average votes: 7,8401 c8FQaVOsKZE Opening up the Top20 is one of Life in Mono's best reviewed songs upon its release. Written by Emma with Hannah Robinson (of 'Some Girls' and Sophie Ellis Bextor fame!), the song is a fan-favourite orchestral pop masterpiece. It was tauted by critics at the time as a very radio-friendly song that could easy tackle the Bridgit Jones-audiences that exist in the UK. Ema said of the track that she was inspired by her relationship with Jade: I was kind of looking back on the relationship I've got with Jade and how it's weird when you're not looking for something it comes and smacks you in the face. (from her own website at the time!) Sadly never played live to today! Lets hope Bunton revives some of the Life in Mono and Free Me album tracks in her next live show since it seems like both album's album tracks have really stood the test of time! #19 He Loves Me Not From album: Life in Mono Release year: 2006 Average vote: 7,8403 bQbf-A1qw2w Taunted at the time as another potential single of the album (but never really in contention!) the song seems Emma hoping around, picking daisis and picking at their petals in a game of 'he loves me, he loves me not', the ancient game of love that was so popular when we were kids! It fits right in with her Baby Spice persona but in a more wonderous and wandering way! Emma on He Loves Me Not: I think this song sounds like it could have been written years ago because it has a really lovely and timeless feel to. #18 Mischievous From album: Life in Mono Release year: 2006 Average votes: 7,8404 zI2N0xtzqDc Another Life in Mono album staple finally leaves the competition! Three in a row! Mentioned by pretty much every critic at the time as the album track with the most potential as a single, Mischievous is a Cathy Dennis-written pop track that goes straight to the heart of sexy, sultry Emma she was going for with the Life in Mono album. The melody is very strong and probably the biggest hook of the album. Emma on the track: "it's just one of those cheeky songs, a bit naughty. When me and Cathy get together that's exactly she brings that naughty side out of me and that fun side. It's one of those times where writing wise I can just really let myself go and just go with it. I've known her for years. Sometimes we just eat dinner and get a bottle of wine and end up not doing much. We do like a bit of gossip and a catch up. But no, it's a great track." Funnily enough, Emma does a simple trick on this track which sadly backfired a little: she pronounces 'Mischievious' with a hard accent on the final 'i' where the actual work does not have that final 'i' not is it ever pronounced in the way that Emma does in this album. It is a bit off putting as it clearly was just a way to find it to fit the melody rather than for grammar, rhyme or narrative reasons! It was pointed out a lot at the time.

It's fine :teresa: I look forward to the BBC performance, that should be good :coffee:

So she seems to be with Sony Music and WME in America and Universal/Simon in the UK/Europe Crazy! Hope she does indeed come back with new music next year :w00t:

Oh fun! Thanks for this. I will also do a 2025 Predictions post later on

Honestly I think it is just a one-off single :unsure:

I would say that the Top20 is incredibly strong and damn, the last 10 tracks were also really high quality. You can tell that both Free Me and Life in Mono have really stood the test of time for many fans, whereas A Girl Like Me and My Happy Place had mainly singles that were up to Emma's standards. Here's how it is going and what we still have in competition: RESULTS SO FAR 21. Tomorrow 22. So Long 23. Undressing You 24. Downtown 25. Life in Mono 26. Who The Hell Are You 27. You Are 28. I'm Not Crying Over Yesterdays 29. Amazing (featuring Luis Fonsi) 30. A World Without You 31. I Only Want To Be With You (featuring Will Young) 32. Don't Call Me Baby 33. High On Love 34. Lay Your Love On Me 35. Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight) 36. You're All I Need To Get By (featuring Jade Jones) 37. Eso Beso 38. Maybe (Latino Mix) 39. Midnights & Martinis 40. Better Be Careful 41. We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight (album version) 42. Sunshine on a Rainy Day 43. Takin' It Easy 44. A Girl Like Me 45. Por Favor 46. Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps 47. So Nice (Summer Samba) 48. We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight (single mix) 48. Been There, Done That 50. Santa Baby 51. Emotion 52. Coming Home For Christmas 53. Come Away With Me (featuring Josh Kumra) 54. Spell it OUT 55. Free Up Your Mind 56. Don't Tell Me You Love Me Anymore 57. She Was a Friend of Mine 58. I Know Him So Well 59. Invincible 60. Close Encounter 61. I Don't Know (Emma features on Damage's single) 62. Let Your Baby Show You How to Move 63. Here Comes The Sun 64. Merry Go-Round 65. 2 Become 1 (featuring Robbie Williams) 66. Sometimes (Chicken Shed charity album, 2002) 67. Greatest Day (England's 2014 Official World Cup Song, also including Melanie C) Still in competition: Songs (in order of album release!): What Took You So Long?, Take My Breath Away, What I Am (featuring Tin Tin Out), Free Me, Maybe, I'll Be There, Breathing, Crickets Sing for AnaMaria, No Sign of Life, Something So Beautiful, All I Need To Know, Perfect Strangers, I Wasn't Looking (When I Found Love), Mischievous, Take Me To Another Town, All That You'll Be, He Loves Me Not, Baby Please Don't Stop, I Wish I Could Have Love You More, Too Many Teardrops Singles: 9 Album tracks: 11 Free Me songs: 7 Life in Mono songs: 7 A Girl Like Me songs: 3 My Happy Place songs: 3 B-sides: 0 Other: 0

#21 Tomorrow From: Free Me (single) + Free Me (album) Release year: 2003 Average votes: 7,81 QoJZi5ZdXjc Really just edging over So Long is another Free Me-era staple: Tomorrow. First released as a b-side to the first single of the era Free Me in Spring 2003, the song functioned here as an attempt to provide a further outlook into what type of sounds the main album would bring. Together with Who The Hell Are You, the two b-sides functioned as an expanded soundscape to the single, and prepared us for the more bossa-nova and experimental pop that we then came to associate with Emma's sound at the time. Written by Emma and Yak Bondi (who also produces the track!), Tomorrow is the baby-sister to the iconic Maybe. They do both thread the same sonic landscapes and quirky pop sound. It is one of the ONLY album tracks that Emma performed at the time, when she took on the song for a special one-off Top of the Pops performance around the time of the album's release. aJv_iVhg_MI

Judged by the sound of the clip and the credits, it is not. It was recorded THIS YEAR with new producers, management, record label and team behind it. It's a whole new cover

Profile raising, that's all :rolleyes: Nothing wrong with it. As random it might seem, it will help getting her/her name out there again. Typical Simon strategy. He also got her to do Baby Love live at the Queen's Birthday before she kicked off the Free Me era. It introduced her new style and got her on the press/TV/public attention again. So lets enjoy this!

-0NIc7l43Ws Video will be out here on Friday :cheer:

Totally agree, it is her 'lost' masterpiece... :unsure: I would LOVE an updated Free Me edition with So Long tagged on at the end :teresa:

Confirmed that the Budapest Orchestra and the red dress was for this video... I wonder if they recorded it then together too. Anyway, we have a surprise drop by Emma :teresa: :cheer:

Yes :teresa: And also it seems like Emma is back with XIX Management but this is a partnership with EMI/Universal for Publishing. Similar deal to what she had with Free Me and Life in Mono maybe? :P It's a seemingly good move, I think, to be back with Simon for this. She is also now signed with WME but I guess that's for America? She's got good backing, good for her. She was with a bit random management until recently so good for her :wub:

Her being back with Simon/XIX Records does bode well for more music though :teresa:

I thought Simon closed the XIX Records??!!! Thats wild And Lipson produced Geri's It's Raining Men :blink: Clearly Bunton means business!

UPDATED WITH DIRECT LINK: NYtzVxhPhiI

Of course it does, we get what we take nowadays lol But I have to say as much as she looks gorgeous in those pics and I will watch the performance, I'm not particularly excited for this at all...

NEW UPDATE Spice Girls - f*** all apart from boring Christmas merch (which flopped anyway) Emma Bunton - Signed on to WME management (HUGE!) - Will perform on BBC Strictly Come Dancing final on 25th December (usually the biggest TV audience of the day) - Will release her own solo version of 2 Become 1 - Rumoured to be appearing alongside Mel B on a South Korea project Melanie C - Continues to DJ and work on solo music - Has new hot boyfriend Melanie B - Rumoured to be appearing alongside Emma on a South Korea project