Piers

All three are really good, honestly. Holler is a major highlight of all three of those tours. Technically, I think their best live performance of it is the Christmas in SpiceWorld tour. I think they sound their best here, and their energy is really good too. There really is no indication from this performance (or the rest of the show, really) that the group would be in near-shambles a few months later. There's a real spark to this, and it's my favorite choreography of the song they did. In terms of ideas and staging...I prefer the Return of the Spice Girls tour. The comic book theme's great. Walking the guys down the catwalk was great. There are so many little parts to it. The only minor bummer for me is I think the 1999/2000 choreography is better. In terms of musical arrangement...I go with the 2019 tour. It punches. I love the HOLLER spinning around the ring. I love the dance-off between the Mels. Nearly everything about it is epic. The only thing I don't like...is Emma and Geri drinking tea during the dance battle. I know. It's just a joke. But the other two went to the effort of doing intense choreography. I'd prefer Emma and Geri not doing something distracting in that moment...and just standing in the middle doing superhero poses. But. Eh. The performance is still great. For me, the divide between the three is razor thin. But I'll go 2019.

I agree with a lot of this. Mostly, I wish they'd gone with more of a Best of the Spice Girls setup, rather than a Greatest Hits. I feel like the typical track number for compilation albums was 18. So. I agree with you that I'd add in Step To Me, Never Give Up On The Good Times, and If You Wanna Have Some Fun. NGUOTGT deserves the spot as the obvious single that never was...and IYWHSF should be there as it's just so criminally underrated. It could have finally gotten its flowers. I wish they'd also done a deluxe edition with a CD2 of song demos and the previously unreleased stuff good enough for inclusion. The Greatest Hits era was honestly the best time to open the vault.

I just got around to watching this, and it's good! I like these retrospective videos that examine the era from several angles. Too often, Forever's commercial failure gets blamed firstly on the change in musical direction...and secondly, on the absence of Geri. This video hits those angles...but it also takes on what is (to me) the most important factor; the group's lack of support for the project. The group's reinvention was a gamble...so if there was any chance of pulling it off, it was going to take the group's full commitment. And... Anyway. This video's honest about it. And I also liked how it used the physical releases. A few things showed up in there I hadn't seen before. They were mostly press materials/promotional items...but cool to see anything with the FOREVER logo, really, since the era was so neglected.

I thought this too. The Christmas medley from the 1999 tour is by far my favorite of their Christmas recordings. It carries their spirit, and they're actual good songs. I know Mel B forgot the lyrics, but...I'd still be fine with them leaving it...or perhaps subbing out some vocals from a different tour date. That medley has always sounded to me like it could be a staple of Christmas radio...but I guess I like it better than most. I do like the production of Christmas Wrapping, but I've never thought the song was especially great. With Sleigh Ride, I can't get past that effect on their speaking voices...like it was recorded in a bathroom. Plus, I just wish they did something more interesting with the song...cause the Ronettes version just smokes it. (...side question...did the Spices' version of Sleigh Ride ruin Santa for anyone...?) But. Anyway. Not to be too negative...2 Become 1, Too Much, and Goodbye remain amazing. There.

^ I agree. Though. It's so curious to me that Victoria would willingly float the idea of a Spice Girls show at the Sphere. It's like...Victoria, you have spent ages talking about how you have no passion for music and let everyone else do all the singing...and yet...here you are hyping this idea. Granted, that could be as simple as taking a page from Mel B and Mel C...nothing brings more attention to a solo project interview like talking about a Spice Girls reunion that's not actually going to happen.

Oh. Yeah. I noticed that too...that she's making it sound like she was the last to be convinced to do the 2007/2008 reunion tour. My memory of all this is she was saying as early as 2004 that the only way she'd return to music would be an opportunity to work with the Spice Girls. I was under the impression Victoria was one of the major driving forces of the 2007 reunion...and it was Mel C who had to be persuaded back. Credit to Victoria...she honestly did do a pretty great job of hyping that reunion at the time...

I enjoyed Victoria's Call Her Daddy appearance, and I'm just about done with the doc series (I'll admit...that's taken me a while to finish). If she's feeling creatively fulfilled by the fashion industry, that's the most important thing. But I'm not sure I can think of anyone who experienced as much success in music...who tries as hard to minimize those contributions. For one, when she claims the Spice Girls were four years of her life...is she referring to the group formation up until Geri leaving? Or the years from Wannabe's release to Forever? Both her doc series and the Call Her Daddy interview make it sound like her music career was over by the time Brooklyn was born...but...technically, she would have recorded far more songs after that point than before. The doc series just addresses her solo music career as "I didn't know what I was doing." But. Honestly, we can argue if she picked the right singles out of her material, but the campaigns were always fairly clever. This many years on, I wish she had the clarity to realize...underperforming by her standards had less to do with her than it did...being the fifth Spice-related album to be released in a year? Her claims of not singing when the other girls were have stuck. I have heard co-workers state it matter-of-factly..."You know, they didn't even turn Victoria's microphone on." And then I have to stop myself from sounding like a total nut...wanting to explain "she did her share of lip syncing...but when the others were singing live, so was she. She's just lying about that for...some reason."

So. It occurs to me...when there was that tease in the mailer recently...cryptically including the lyrics to WOMAN... ...that's likely just referring to an upcoming 4K video release of the WOMAN performance at Earls Court.

It's so strange to think of the (admittedly brief) Forever era being 25 years ago...just because I can remember it so clearly. The fan forums were such an exciting place to be in the lead up to the release. It seemed most of the fandom was in love with Holler. The tracks were posted on the old SpiceNews site. I limited myself to listening to only two. Tell Me Why and Right Back At Ya. I wanted to hear the rest of the album when I bought it. Of course, my main memories of this era is how the group botched so much of the release. In the US, the album was out for weeks before the Holler video was debuted on MTV's TRL. It seemed such obvious mistakes were being made. The fan forums had a ton of claims about big upcoming TV appearances...and how the promo blitz was about to kick in. Then...after years of hype, the whole project was just over. It was kinda shocking. But. Anyway. What about the actual album? I've always thought Holler and If You Wanna Have Some Fun are as good as the the group's previous singles run...and I really like Oxygen. The rest of the album, I think, is good...except for Time Goes By. Didn't like it 25 years ago. Don't like it now. I'm partial to the Spice Girls' first two albums...partly because they sound like the work of people who were making the project their top priority. To me...Forever sounds like what it is; good work by a producer (Rodney Jerkins) who's doing his best...but is being overextended by how in demand he was at the time. In fairness to Jerkins, I like what he did for the Spice Girls quite a bit better than his work for Britney Spears. His work for Michael Jackson is punchier, but I don't think he gave MJ any songs as good as Holler. But I have always maintained this. Forever had the makings of a hit, and the group wrecked the potential of a very expensive/high profile project. I have to wonder how differently things would have gone if they'd given Holler and If You Wanna Have Some Fun the same push that Mel C gave I Turn To You...or Victoria gave Out Of Your Mind.

^ Oh wow. I really liked that performance. I'm one of the people who was iffy on the single choice when it came out, so now I've had a bit of time to think on it. I still prefer everything from the Melanie C album era...but I do have to say I really like Sweat's music video...and I also like how all-in Mel was with this performance. So. We are getting some really good stuff from Sweat. I guess some of my hangup with Sweat is it reminds me a bit of latter-career Madonna (I'm also a big fan of her). It's not so much that Sweat sounds like her. It's something else. Madonna's been big on defying expectations around being an older artist in music, and she's right for that. Why would you have to just up and turn into Joni Mitchell after 40? Buuut. In her fight against ageism, Madonna's released a lot of songs that are the most simplistic/shallow of her career. Now. To be fair, Sweat isn't as bad a situation as, say, Madonna's Vulgar or Material Gworrllllllll. And we also don't know if the songwriting simplicity of Sweat represents the full album. Mel may have just wanted to do something pure fun. So. Still looking forward to the album. And if I'm being honest, even if Sweat's not among my favorite of Mel's singles...it does have me more interested in the upcoming album than other lead singles Here It Comes Again and The Moment You Believe did.

I mean. Several of the Spice Girls have a longstanding tradition of using reunion talk as just a way to drive attention to whatever they're promoting. That may be all this is. But...at the same time...is this the first time we've actually heard her sound a little open to performing in ages? I think others have spoken for her a few times and claimed she's up for this and that. But I don't think we've actually heard it from her. Anyway. Not reading too much into it. She also agrees she's open to holograms in this clip (which...hopefully she's kidding by that point...) But The Sphere is an honestly interesting concept for them...and perhaps a plausible one. Being in their 50s, they are not too old to tour. Not even close. However. I don't know how many artists tour in their 50s when they haven't made it a lifestyle by that point. Besides Melanie C...they haven't. I just see a residency as more likely for them if something were to happen. The Backstreet Boys definitely made some waves performing at The Sphere. Each of the girls' shows have been so different, this would provide them with yet another new staging. Plus...there'd be so much going on, it'd be a distraction if one of the girls wasn't as in the zone as the others. Not naming names.

It's not very good...which is kinda a bummer since I think her last few lead singles (Think About It, Anymore, Who I Am) are pretty great and have really held up for me. I guess Sweat could grow on me a bit, but I like everything from the Melanie C album/era quite a bit better. But I'll also admit...the songs by Madonna/Britney where their contributions are mostly spoken word were never my favorite in their catalogues either (...though I think the style fits them better than Melanie). Curious what the performances of this will be like. Anyway. I'm not put off the upcoming album or anything. Looking forward to what she's got in store. I'm just landing at...for her to be gone so long...I was hoping she'd return with more of a song.

^ It's definitely a good song. I think it not doing better on the 2001 charts mostly comes down to...the total avalanche of Spice-related releases that year. It's so bizarre to think...if we're measuring from October 2000 to October 2001, that's five albums by either the group or solo members...and (I think?) nine singles. And to think...there were plans for us to get more than that...if Hot and Forever kept releasing singles. If you were to add up all the solo Spice sales for 2001, I'm sure you'd get a fairly respectable number...but it was inevitable that some releases would be effected at some point. They were asking so much of the group's fanbase by scheduling all their releases on top of each other. Five albums in a year? The fans were mostly very young...limited money to spend...and I'm sure they wanted to also buy records from artists who...y'know...weren't also from the Spice camp. I've always thought the solo Spice run of Take My Breath Away, Not Such An Innocent Girl, and Calling would have performed far better in a less crowded time.

I love Baby Please Don't Stop too, actually. I love the production, the chorus, Emma's vocals. I knew it didn't make a huge splash with the fanbase, but...I dunno. It clicked for me, and I do think it ranks alongside her best solo material. It's true that it could have been released at pretty much any stage of her solo career. But. I chalk that more up to this...once you get past the young pop tracks on A Girl Like Me, the best of Emma's material has a somewhat timeless feel. Now, I will say I'd rank Too Many Teardrops and I Wish I Could Have Loved You More about on the same level. I like all three about equally and think all three were the right choices for singles. My general feel is Baby Please Don't Stop sounds a bit more like a lead single over Too Many Teardrops (though I wish Teardrops got a video, some TV performances and a proper push as a second single). I Wish I Could Have Loved You More is a unique thing because I do think that song commands attention from the jump and would be a unique release for Emma. I consider it among her best vocal showcases. The biggest trouble with that one is...I can't imagine Emma performing it live at all. Emma can pull off lovely live performances, but that song's vocally demanding in a way that...I just don't think she'd chance it going wrong. I also think...after that long a time away...it was best for her to be able to talk about actually writing her comeback single herself.

So... The good: I think her voice is really gorgeous on this. Another perfect vocal for Bunton. The mixed: It does reinterpret the song. The bad: Yeah, I don't like the orchestration of this at all. 2 Become 1 is an uncommonly beautiful 90s pop song...and it's a shame to lose the haunting qualities of it with this. The little flourishes this version brings are more random than anything. This falls into the category of "why would you listen to this over the original?" for me. I do get the logic of it. If Emma's going to make a splash, it's probably safest to go with a nostalgic throw-back. I think there's a little fault in that strategy just because she's already attempted a 2 Become 1 solo cover...that people were indifferent to even with a Robbie Williams feature (that part I think was a mistake, but that's besides the point...). Here's how I see it with Emma. If this is how she wants to express herself musically, she's the artist...and I hope she's fulfilled by it. But that has to be taken with the knowledge that...this level of safe/soft/sweet just isn't where her audience is at by and large.