Mr.X

OVERALL: Probably her 4th best album. I will give it another few listens over the next few weeks to see if anything is elevated beyond the first listen. I think the initial singles were too lame for me to properly enjoy this era, but some of the album tracks really elevate it, I think. She would do well to release Pressure next as a promo single, and really throw it to the clubs and dance radio. Who cares if it doesnt sell - get the underground promo that it deserves! Overall, I think she is developing into this pop-dance lane really well. The progression from Version of Me to Melanie C to this is clear and there are some really shining moments here, and kudos to her: it is a really cohesive album, and that's something that she hadnt done this well in a while. Her last album was a great step in this direction, and she does it better overall here. I hope the rumoured Delux will bring some more experimental songs to it as she excells on those here. The most 'radio-friendly' are her worst songs here, funnily enough... More Pressure and Cashmere, less Attitude please! Ultimately, I will not spend money on this. Maybe if the Delux brings more exciting tracks, I will endeavour to buy a vinyl, or if there are discounted vinyls later on maybe I can buy one but for now, I am keeping my money!

Flick of the Wrist - I can't point to what this song is trying to be. I keep hearing another song here but can't figure out where the beats/production reminds me of... Overall? It's a no for me. Usually she does great album closers (some of her best songs) but here, it's one of the worst songs on the album imo... Again, great production but overall it is just a bit meh...

One Track Mind - Nice, I like this a lot actually. Even her lyrics are better here and she sounds great. It's a really great song overall. A proper great album track. Not pop-single material, but an excellent song. I would like to see her doing this one live. This atmospheric-dance production is a great vibe and she should do more in this vein, she does it well!

Free To Love - Camp and fun... Not quite sure it works overall but it's a fun song. Again, the empowering lyrics are a bit too on the nose, which is a standard for her at this point. With a bit better verses it could have been a proper camp classic but I see it playing more in dingy trashy clubs in Manchester's gay street than in proper clubs (and that's ok if that's your goal, but... girl.........)

Cashmere - Thank GOD! This is cute. I like this vibe, chill and fun. I can see it playing in some Ibiza beach parties for chill out moments. She sounds great here, I like when she sings this intimately and when she sings 'honey' it does sound like proper honey eh Even her lyrics here sound cute and inviting. More of this vibe would be welcomed from her! More of this rather than the cringe fest that were the previous 3 songs!...

Undefeated Chamption - There's a moment at the end of the first verse right before the first chorus launches, that she does a little 'woop' as a back vocal. That's cute but... This song leaves me cold as hell. We've heard this 'I will conquer and you can't break me' type of songs from her forever... it's a bit too meh...

Good for Nothing - again, this could have been a good song but the lyrics are corny as f***... the verses are clunky as f*** and the chorus could be so much more fun!!!... A wasted opportunity here. The whole 'Get Out!' bit could have been a great camp moment but... it sounds so cringe here. Great production though...

Attitude - I truly hate this song, I'm sorry. It's dumb and trying to be 'camp' but it just sounds cringe. Wasted an opportunity by doing this a pre-album single instead of much better songs.

(yes I am doing a song-by-song instant review! Buckle up bitches!)

Emotional Memory - the melodies sound like old school Melanie again, with a dance-touch! It reminds me of another song, maybe Robyn's Tell Your Girlfriend or something from that era... It's a good song though. Could have been better with better verses/lyrics on the verses and a proper chorus. Not the best but this is a good lane for her and she does well in it.

Pressure - ok now we're talking! This is fun and club-ready. I think this could have worked well as a club and dance-radio single only ahead of the album. It's like pop-rave and works well. I see my husband Theo Hutchcraft has worked on this and you can see the Hurts influence on this. Great work!!

Till It Breaks Hhhmmm... this is fun, I like it and seems like one of the tracks that has one of the best melodies here so far... I like this style of music, it's a vibe and she does it well. Good for her! Main gripe: again, some of the lyrics could be a bit better worked on but alas that's Mel's main downfall across her discography if you ask me... Overall, it's a good song!

What Could Possibly Go Wrong is terrible, sorry. The production could be fun but the lyrics and vocal production are so bad... There is a good song here somehow, and it does sound a bit like an older Mel C song just with dance elements throwin it. The end of the chorus where she sings the title is her worst vocal moment in a long while, it is clunky and too slow for what the song itself seems to demand everywhere else. I think she was trying to be snappy and quirky but it doesnt work. The rest of the chorus works well though, I wish she hadnt ruined it with the title lol

Drum Machine is... interesting. Her most 'experimental' single in a long while, good for her for having a go at this. It is no doubt the best single of the era so far. Some of the lyrics are clunky and the production is strong but a bit messy. It could do well in the clubs though, for sure (but does anyone still go clubbing lol) I would say it is the best single out of her 'eletronica' eras so far, since she started dwealing in it with Version of Me.

Jesus, Sweat continued to be terrible and empty, Truly one of her worst so far. Only seconded by Rock Me and I Want Candy lol Like, I understand why it was the first single (~marketing~) but I wish it had just been like a promo single rather than the main one to launch the era.

OK It's midnight here now so I will give this album a full on stream! Let's see how it goes, I'm excited😀

The poll is closed now, sadly. I also voted for the 11-15 bracket but would have liked to revise this to the Top10 as it seems like it will go there now. A few months back I wasnt so sure, but the last week seems to have driven a lot of attention/focus and Mel seems confident with the state of the pre-orders so seems like a Top10 at least is a given, maybe even a Top5. Her highest charting was #4 it would be interesting to see if she can go higher than that or at least match it. No doubt though, the huge amounts of variants are helping. Her last album didn't sell much more than her previous ones did as far as we know, the main variant was the 8 different types of variants it had, so obvsiouly sales were bumped up a bit. Now, there's like... 15 variants, including a lanyard with a code for the album? It's crazy... I hope that and her tour pays off though, she seems to be everywhere with this campaign. That is a very sad state of chart-narrative, damn... Specially knowing the sames havent really changed much since Beautiful Intentions either. For a while there, specially up till Version of Me, it was a case of constantly diminishing turns, bless her for keep trying. If only she could have such dedication to make albums with a group that she belongs to?... History could have been so different

I never quite understood when people say they wish they had recorded some of the solo tracks as a group. I think the vast majority of solo tracks are beneath the group's standards of quality, personally, or just totally different altogether. Mi Chico Latino, Northern Star, What Took you So Long, Feels So Good, are all very of the solo girls that made them and it makes no sense to have the group doing them. What I meant with my comment was that the main issue with the solos is that they are not Spice Girls projects. Not in the sense that the group would do those projects, but that the solo works have completely deviated them from the group and that f***ing sucks cos we could have had a few more SG albums... but here we are... A Schizo is straight up pop. Most of it is bubblegum pop trying to pass on as serious. None of it really had stood the test of time either, like most of the solo works. Anyway, I listened to Take My Breath Away today - WHAT A TUNE!

She seems confident it will do well based on some clips from her live presentations this week. So she probably has had some good data of pre-orders Lets just hope it holds up and it isnt a 'Top5 - OUT' type of affair this time

She's *the* quintessential Spice Girl, through and through. Attitude, talent, girl power, charisma for days, a pop star that in the 90s was more akin to a rock-star!

Geri Halliwell and Christian Horner have an estimated combined networth of £440million... https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/christian-horner-net-worth-verstappen-36629914 That doesnt meant they have £440million in the bank. It means assets (houses, cars, etc), business ventures, income streams, etc. Last thing we heard, Rosie Frost rights were bought by a big hollywood producer, confirmed by Geri herself and various media outlets. If it becomes a cinema/TV franchise, who knows, we havent heard a thing since... But this is off topic, lets keep it about Mel B's comments ok? Last warning @Cupid Stunts

Oh yes the Stop picture Litho, I got that one too lol Thats a lot of merch, @-Jay- I would say the coin is cute but probably not worth the €30 lol

lol ok...Melanie C fans never fail to amaze me for how pissy you all get about this stuff lol of course AGLM flopped as well... if anything it didn't give Universal an inpetus to release another edition of the album like NS did. The Northern Star NAD edition is easily available , I find it very easily on record stores lol Just like Reason... the record store I usually go to still has 3 copies after all this time... The self-titled might be over 28k WORLDWIDE for sure... Emma's last album is apparently on that level of sales as well worldwide... I dont doubt that. But we're discussing the UK here. The streams of that album arent big enough to indicate an almost 20k sales in the UK alone, im sorry. Anyway... I just spinned HOT again on the vinyl player. The album is for sure not remastered either, but it doesnt sound bad at all everything considered!

Mine does cos I bought that sleeve! But yeah, that's what Universal should have done! It just shows how they don't really give much attention to the girls

Thank you for laying it all out @-Jay- Yes it is a sad state of affairs, but it is the case with solo Spices anyway... none of them have managed to sell well even outside of RSD since like 2003, so it is not really surprising... When it comes to A Girl Like Me, it was also a limited edition of 1500 copies which did sell out, eventually. Maybe not in the first week but still, it did. Same with NS, but then the Album Day special vinyl is still wildly available today after a few years... Emma only posted a couple of instagram posts about it. Mel C didn't even acknowlege Reason. You gotta promote to sell........ I think Reason was more of a curious one as at least it had the extra incentive of having a load of extra tracks on it, and that flopped hard, there are still vinyls available... I was so surprised Mel didn't even so much as post an instagram post about it?... no wonder it flopped... At least Mel B tried and did a bit of promo leading up to the release, but it was always too niche of a release for it to be in serious contention of getting a good result in the charts. Solo Spice is just not a hot sale overall, and it hasnt been for ages. Mel C's last album didnt necessarily sell more than her previous ones - and it had waaaaay more variants. 9000 copies after 1 month on sale and after so many singles and promo doesn't really point towards her growing her audience at all, she just had more variants which meant she finally got to the Top10 for one week. The same is expected of Sweat, to be honest... she gets loads of promo like any of them would, the only difference being that Mel C will literally do everything to sell her current album, and that still doesn't really translate into success... People will turn up for group releases that show care. They won't really turn up to solo projects, specially vinyls of albums that didn't necessarily set the charts alight and don't bring anything new either... This does not bode well for a Free Me or any other Solo Spice-related release moving forward to be honest... Apart from Free Me, all the remaining 'possible' albums sold way less and are much more niche than even Hot was. Gerita wont allow Schizo to be released and neither with VB.... So it might be over... Our last remaining hope is Free Me as that was considered a moderate success back in the day and it seems like a pop-fan favourite, more than AGLM ever was.