Piers

In and Out of Love for both. The song's been locked in my head since it debuted...though, honestly...I really like all four of these songs and found them all immediately catchy. The song question's a tight race for me. The video question, though, isn't a tight race. I'm not going to fault her and her team for having creative, high-concept videos. But. The budget does somewhat show in the videos for those first three singles. It constricts where they could have gone with the ideas. However, In and Out of Love's video is perfection. There are several shots I really like. Mel's in top form. Video fits the song like a glove.

I have to say. I'm truly loving this singles run. Frankly, the rest of the album could be her gargling mouth wash, and I'd still love the era for this run of singles. I kinda wish we'd gotten the Melanie C we've had from 2011-2020...during 2001-2010. Could her career have turned out differently? For the past decade, she's been so varied and interesting in her pursuits. She's been smart and likable in all her interviews. She's embraced the Spice Girls. All her performances are excellent and note perfect. If her singles run from 2001-2010 had included Think About It, Loving You, Anymore, and these last four releases...would she have won the commercial success she deserves? Anyway. I say that but still realize her complete journey has made her who she is now. I admittedly don't follow a lot of other individual former pop group members who haven't been a major force in the charts for more than a decade. But. Really. Is there another former pop group member like that...who only manages to keep getting better as they move more than 15 years from being truly commercially viable?

While I don't know the intent of that line myself, I could understand changing it for live performances because of the perception. Maybe it could be altered depending on the city where they're performing? "London, England . . Timbuktu." "From L.A. to . . Timbuktu." I don't know. I'm spitballing here. I agree with Mr. X in that words and attitudes do evolve over time...and I've got no interest in arguing against that evolution. What I wish we all collectively could do is understand the context of the year something was created. I was watching the Michael J. Fox movie Teen Wolf the other day on Amazon Prime. A character uses a gay slur in it. I don't like the word. If someone were to use it today, I would think they should be held accountable. Did I demand for Amazon Prime to take down the movie? No. I get that it came out in 1985, and the general public didn't recognize the weight of that word yet. Moral of the story. If social media comes for it, I would hope we could recognize Spice Up Your Life was created at a time of less scrutiny over lyrics...and we don't have to pull it from streaming services. We need to understand that we're evolving...and we're definitely not finished. There are hit songs today that *will* be offensive in 20 years...we just don't know in what way yet. By then, we might see that Lady Gaga once had a song called Stupid Love...and find that inappropriate because "Stupid" could be considered an ableist word by then.

Don't Tell Me. Just rewatched it. I forgot how much I like that one. The choreography and energy is so great here. It's a gorgeous video. I love how the video mixes the country elements with technology...in a similar way to how the song mixes old and new sounds. Amazing it's from nearly 20 years ago. The video could be released tomorrow and still work. I've also always liked the boldness of the What It Feels Like For a Girl video...but the mix of the song doesn't work for me. It's just...not much of a song in that version. I've always wondered if a different edit of the video could work with the album version of the song. The song is so haunting. I think it's a bit of a shame it never quite got its due. I *think* the mix of the gentle song with the violent visuals would be rather striking.

So. I'm a major fan of both...and as such, they should absolutely NOT do a live performance together. Gaga would absolutely wipe the floor with M. I'm not entirely sure what the story is behind the scenes, but it's seemed to me that Madonna has been struggling to sing for several years. What I don't know is if her voice is genuinely damaged...or if her vocal range has just changed that much and she just refuses to adapt to that. I guess she could also find her current vocal range to be too limiting to her songwriting? However. I'd be 100% up for a single and video that could put them on a more equal playing field. Let all the studio trickery put M's voice at a more comfortable place. Here's my reasoning. Madonna deserves a win. I get that she's often oblivious to how her appearances come off to the public (that Aretha tribute...oof). But. Look. All the awkward milk bath videos in the world can't outpace the fact she has a stunning songwriting history, and she's one of the most influential performers alive. Nearly every pop diva is following certain pages from Madonna's playbook. And she's not creatively dead. Not every single in the current era has been a winner, but at the very least, Living For Love, Ghosttown, and Crave deserved a lot better. Everyone's woke about everything...except the universally accepted discrimination that is ageism. Gaga and Madonna could put to rest a female popstar rivalry AND take a swipe at ageism. I'd love it. Side note. Surprised nobody brought up that they did appear together on SNL years ago. It...wasn't good. Madonna missed her lines in this little song, and the sketch kinda just crashed and burned. So. I figure. If they do something else together, the only way to go is up...

I've never understood the disdain for it, really. It's a perfectly solid pop album in the context of 2001. In fact, I think VB is more consistent than several hit pop albums that year (that I won't name to avoid controversy in here...). It's just...VB had the misfortune of being the fifth Spice-related album released in a year. The quality of the album was nearly irrelevant with that level of over saturation. For me, the album's totally solid from tracks 1-10. Unconditional Love is meandering...and I flat out don't like Every Part of Me. So. A bit unfortunate the album goes out on a whimper, but I won't take away what comes before those two. Not Such An Innocent Girl is much like Geri's Calling to me...in that they're both songs I remember the fanbase really liking...until they both charted below expectations. Nearly 20 years later, I still think both are good tracks...that just got cursed by the barrage of Spice releases that year. Both NSAIG and A Mind of its Own were worthy singles...though I think I Wish and IOU are actually the best songs on the album. I Wish, in particular, I think deserved to get a release. I think it's probably the single best thing she did solo. I also really like Like That. Few more quick thoughts. Girlfriend probably deserved a singer with punchier vocals ("oh no, now you didn't say...that I need to back away" needs someone with more attitude). But I like the song otherwise. I've always thought it was a little funny that she sings about not caring about the car her man drives in That Kind of Girl...only for her to sing about the car her man drives in I Wish. While I'm a defender of this album, I think she was on a better path as an artist with the pop material for her second album. There was less of the "I'm just a normal girl! Honest!" stuff. She seemed to instead just be embracing the posh Spice ice queen persona...and I think she was better for it.

To me, part of the issue with Mel B has been that there doesn't seem to be much care/understanding of how her voice is used best. She's never been someone who can comfortably sing just anything, but she has a specific range where she can sound very good. The Spice Girls material plays to her strong suits. I think a few of her collaborators understood her range too...namely Missy and Jam n' Lewis. But her voice was so wrong for Mimi in Rent that it's a wonder she didn't get canned before her debut. I don't think her voice sounds comfortable on about half of LA State of Mind. Lips Lock and that performance of Fever from It's a Scary World were completely wrong for her voice. While I like For Once In My Life as a song, it's of a range she was never going to be able to replicate live...and then she went and proved she couldn't on the Today Show. She's a far better singer than both Geri and Victoria...and yet, I'm not sure Geri and Victoria (in their very few televised live performances) ever had a showing as rough as For Once in My Life on Today.

I've got one that's sure to be divisive... I've never totally gotten Let Your Head Go. And I say that as someone who likes *a lot* of their solo singles. I don't hate it. I've grown to like it a bit better over the years as a guilty pleasure thing. But I find it clunky...and it's one of *very* few solo singles where I find the lyrics to be...eh. Oh the flip side, I actually really, really like her unreleased pop album. But it's to note...the rest of that material was created by Richard Stannard and other high profile writers/producers. Let Your Head Go is the only one with producers behind it...who don't appear to have done much else. To me, it's the clear weakest of all the unreleased pop album tracks. Though...I will say I like LYHG better than the majority of the unreleased Damon Dash material. I was convinced for a while that Victoria intentionally picked the weakest of her pop material (LYHG)...to release on a double AA side with the best of her r'n'b material (This Groove), in an attempt to rig audience reception and convince Simon Fuller to go the r'n'b album route. But. Instead, it seems most fans actually find LYHG to be the best of her solo singles. So. I think I stand corrected.

I may be the only fan like this...but all these years later, Runaway Lover is the song I revisit the most off this album. Is that...random? I've loved it since first listen 20 years ago. I find it sooo catchy. The "walking around on a cloud" section? So good. As far as I know, it was never even remotely considered for a single. But. Anyway. I'll be the lone fan to say it. Runaway Lover. My favorite off this album. I like a lot of this album, though, really. The mix of the guitary sound...with electro pop...it was a really interesting combo. Title track is iconic. Love both Don't Tell Me and Impressive Instant. What It Feels Like For a Girl and Paradise are haunting. I think Gone is gorgeous. The only song I don't like on the album is Nobody's Perfect. Sorry, friends. Don't get it.

I mean. I agree with you guys. New material would be the most ideal. I just haven't viewed it as especially...plausible... But. Yeah. It'd be great if they did it. I think the Spices are a pretty rare example of a group hitting their commercial peak LONG before they reached their peak as performers. Emma, Mel C, and Geri are significantly better singers today than they were in 96-98. Mel B, Emma, and Mel C are better performers than in their heyday...all three with such confidence and command of the stage. Some are likely going to disagree with me about this...but honestly, if a group album had been released including Baby Please Don't Stop, Too Many Teardrops, Who I Am, Anymore, Love and Light, and Without Love...I would have been pretty happy. That's a hypothetical, of course. Think of it as some alternate timeline where they weren't solo songs. I bring it up just to say...those are songs released (or leaked) in just the past five years. There's still very much an ability there to craft a solid pop song. Anyway. I know they don't want to hurt their legacy. But...the legacy isn't perfect. No artist's legacy is perfect. Forever and Headlines already crashed and burned. Might as well just have fun at this point. At least people would sit up and take notice of a group song...instead of another solid solo song that we just hope manages some YouTube views...

I always feel my taste is so different to other Gaga fans. I like Dance in the Dark...but it's never sounded especially like a single to me. Her repeating "she's a mess" over and over isn't my favorite...and I know she deals in odd a lot...but I find the reference to JonBenet Ramsey to be...very...odd. It's a fab concert opener, though. To my ears, Gypsy is her career's great missed opportunity....probably followed by Speechless and Scheibe. But. Anyway. Based on the options, Love Thing legitimately is my favorite. I've only just now become familiar with Breakin Dishes. I like that one too.

Spice Girls - Love Thing Lady Gaga - Dance in the Dark

I understand the girls don't want *everything* released. The Strong Enough leak proved that song's pretty worthless...and none of them have ever had anything nice to say about See You Next Tuesday. But. They're their own worst enemies in terms of interest in unreleased material. Emma kept talking up W.O.M.A.N. until it didn't appear on the album tracklist...and then she basically switched her story to "welp. That wasn't my call." It was also considered good enough to debut their new material on tour. As sammy01 mentioned, Mel C considers Spice Is Back to be the best of the reunion material. Richard Stannard has called Feed Your Love one of his favorite songs he ever did with the girls...and has talked up his unheard Forever material. And then there's the leaks of Pain Proof, Give You Want You Want, A Day In Your Life, and the pop Right Back at Ya. Which. You might like em. You might not. But they *are* good enough for some kind of release. (I personally like Pain Proof, Give You Want You Want, and the pop Right Back At Ya better than about half of what did make the album). And Right Back At Ya is obviously more comfortable in this pop mix than what Darkchild did. In terms of b-sides, I think at the very least, Bumper to Bumper, Take Me Home, and Walk of Life deserve space on an album. Pair those with the best of the unreleased material...and Step to Me...and My Strongest Suit...I don't know. Sounds like it'd be a solid little release to me. I get that they want to preserve their legacy and stuff. But. I'm not sure how releasing a rarities album hurts their image more than...yet another potato chip commercial? I also get that Richard Stannard is uncertain about releasing demos like W.O.M.A.N. But. I mean. Is it just impossible to complete them now? Mark 'Spike' Stent ain't dead...

No worries! I was one of the early voters too. I've been all over the place with this today...but I put in for Love Thing and Stupid Game.

Oh, I know. I love this song. In fact, I'd take it a step further than saying it's better than a handful of her singles. For me, this is the best song she ever released solo. And I don't mean that as disrespect to anything else she did. I like quite a lot of her solo material, really. But this one's just Geri at the peak of her abilities. The song manages to be quite beautiful...and has an honest fragility to the lyrics and vocals...while also being a potential club bop. It's a feat. Madonna managed a #1 with the somewhat similar Sorry the next year. It's interesting to think back. It was the fans who voted for Desire to be released over Love Never Loved Me. I've always kinda wondered...if LNLM was the one chosen and it stalled on the charts, would we all be looking at Desire as this great missed opportunity today? I'm not sure I would. Desire is fine...but LNLM is miles better. I think it's an excellent song that's always deserved better than it got. But. From a strategic standpoint, I can't forget about the general public's perception of Geri's solo career...

Yeah. I was only thinking Move Over for the familiarity factor. Honestly, there are songs on Spice and Spiceworld that I personally like better. And that includes Love Thing. And we all know that song was considered for a single...and there were people in the girls' camp who even wanted to launch them on that song. So. I don't know. Maybe we ought to do Love Thing...? It's for sure going to be tough. I don't know Rihanna's album tracks especially well...but I do know Gaga's. And Gaga definitely didn't release some of her strongest material as singles. So. I don't know know. Maybe we just get someone in here to make a megamix of Spice Invaders, Victoria's It's That Simple, Mel B's Perdido, Mel C's Cosmic Shower, and Geri's Heaven and Hell (Being Geri Halliwell). And by megamix, I mean...all five just playing on top of each other at the same time. "Yes, this. This is what we collectively think should have been released as a single." They will say we went down in a blaze of glory...

Completely thinking out loud here. I think the issue is...if we're talking about solo...they released the single best songs off their respective albums. For me, the only times the album's best track didn't get released was Geri with Love Never Loved Me...and Victoria with I Wish. But. I think opinions are too divisive on the two of them to send one of their songs forward. If I were to pick a solo track, it'd be Mel C's Stupid Game. To me, it screamed to be a single (even moreso than Burn) and is instantly likable on first listen. I also think it leaps out more than Burn. But. At this stage, I acknowledge it could be risky not to go with the group. With NGUOTGT off the table, the next most obvious single to me would be If You Wanna Have Some Fun. It had hit written all over it. But. Then. The outro is, like, an hour long. And there's also the thought...should we go with a five-piece song? In that sense, after NGUOTGT, I would think Move Over would be the next most recognizable album track. It was on a commercial anyone around in the 90s would have seen...and is also part of their Greatest Hits album. Do we hesitate because it's...y'know...a soft drink jingle? Anyway. That was a long way of saying, I don't know. But I'll still suggest: Stupid Game If You Wanna Have Some Fun Move Over

Y'know. I'll say...something...sorta, kinda positive about the Playstation game. I was a kid who was pretty interested in the details behind TV production. So. The section where you're selecting shots and controlling zooms during the performance...actually is a pretty basic form of directing a multi camera shoot. I ended up playing this game quite a bit to try and perfect the punching of shots and use of zooms to match the energy of the song. And as an adult...I did end up going into TV production. I'm...not exactly going to claim I owe my livelihood to a Spice Girls Playstation game. But. I will say it was the first time I was exposed to something resembling the process. So. That's worth something? But man, oh man did it annoy me that no matter how you arranged the songs...they always sounded a mess. Honestly, there was untapped potential in this game. If you had a little variety of beats to create basic remixes...and then had better options to control the choreography and TV production features...this honestly could have been a pretty educational little game for kids with interest in creating music, doing choreography, or doing live television.

I've always kinda gone to bat for this album. To my ears, Scream If You Wanna Go Faster, Calling, Circles Round the Moon, Love is the Only Light, Strength of a Woman, and I Was Made That Way are all excellent. Scream and Calling, I thought, were worthy successors to her Schizophonic singles. 'Gimme some, gimme some gasoline' always sounded like a classic pop hook to me. Calling...I still think is gorgeous. Don't Call Me Baby and Lovey Dovey Stuff are 'fine' album fillers. Shake Your Bootie Cutie, Feels Like Sex, and Heaven and Hell...are kinda...spectacularly weird. Which...y'know...I kinda appreciate. No other pop star of her stature would have recorded a song as defiantly strange as Heaven and Hell. Those songs are her. And she didn't care what was cool. In a time when A LOT of pop acts had interchangeable songs...you can't claim Geri didn't have major control over her music. It's Raining Men is kinda a case on its own. I tend to prefer her originals, but her cover of this song is honestly better than anyone would have reason to believe it would be. Her vocal ability is not in the same stratosphere as The Weather Girls. And yet...it works because her version is just pure adrenaline. She honestly does transform the song into something new. And I think the single campaign was excellent. The video and the performances have such an infectious energy about them. I think it was the most confident we ever saw Geri in her solo career. Anyway. This album doesn't seem as personal as Schizophonic, but I do think it's the best her voice ever sounded. I think her collaborators figured out the best ways to use her abilities. Passion and her unreleased work have more vocal range...but I like how unmistakable her voice still sounds during the Scream era. Last thought. I can't *believe* Robbie Williams wanted Geri to listen to Led Zeppelin for influence. Granted, I really like Scream If You Wanna Go Faster (which was inspired by that suggestion). But. Robbie HAD to be joking...

Thanks for sharing this story. Enjoyed reading that. So, is Geri's signing pretty good? Several Spanish speakers have told me her Spanish is a bit...interesting. Lol. So. I always wondered how her signing was. The performances always looked lovely, but I never knew if her motions were more for choreography sake or if she was genuinely communicating well. I was always glad she incorporated some signing into her Lift Me Up performances. I have to assume that signing on pop chart shows is pretty historically rare...and if Geri could get some young people interested in learning sign, it had to be a good thing. Side note. Does anyone else remember the person signing in one of the corners of the screen during the Spiceworld tour? That was a rather welcome addition, wasn't it? Because the Spiceworld tour was one of my very first concerts, I thought an interpreter was probably there for all concerts. But then...I don't believe I've seen an interpreter on screen for another concert ever since.

Sine From Above is the clear top on my list. First, because it's genuinely my favorite of the songs not released so far. Second, I actually think the presence of Elton John is more reason to release it. While our generation rightfully fights for representation for a lot of different people in music...ageism kinda remains this largely unaddressed thing. After 40...an artist *might* have a couple more years to have a hit....but then they're supposed to just fade away and disappear? Why? They've only lived half their life. I don't know the stats for the UK...but I'm fairly sure Cher remains the only person over 50 in America to manage a number one (in the past 50 years, anyway). Sine From Above has a chance to at least swipe back at ageism. Elton is 73. And if anyone deserves a genuine hit, it's someone who's been an LGBT icon for literally decades. Anyway. Other than Sine From Above...it's a bit harder to say. What I want to be a single usually leaps out at me on her albums. This time...the songs are largely on an even scale for me (not saying that's a bad thing...the songs are good). I can say this. I'm not positive it's the best single choice or not...but the chorus of Plastic Doll has been playing in my head for days.

She's had so many ho hum videos, I'm really glad she's been going the high-concept route for the last several. Looks like she's got a good collaborator in this director...someone who knows how to be creative with a limited budget. I like the idea behind this one, and it's got some cute bits...but I still think there's a bit of missed opportunity. Certainly they could have had some fun with Melanie/Sam fighting in the office...wreaking havoc in such a dull environment...papers flying everywhere as typically-bored workers are jolted from their routine to watch the chaos in stunned silence. When I watched the first time...I thought this was the direction they were headed. But no. They used the office set for Melanie/Sam...but didn't really go anywhere with it? If the video were telling a story, the first two rounds probably should have been within the realm of the arcade game...and then the surprise be that they've been thrust into the real world to do their final battle in the office. Right? Or maybe I'm just really overthinking this. Anyway. Song's fab. I'm into it.

Yeah. I know that's a thing. I have a number of friends who have done production work for live tours and residencies...and I'm aware there are more artists that lip-sync than people think. I'll preface this by saying I've never known someone to work on a Janet Jackson show. But I'm a big fan...and I've seen her twice. And I'm not sure she sang a note live either time. To my ears, she seemed to only be handling the spoken bits. Fabulous dancing and stage presence. Incredible setlist. But yeah. Not sure if she sings. And she's definitely not alone. But anyway. With the girls, I can tell a lot of the choruses are boosted with a track...and that certain solo bits are tracked (Emma's 'whooooo do you think are'). But it sounds to me like a lot of it's live. But. Like I said. Phone videos. If any screen footage gets leaked, I guess I'd know better.

I know most wish some of the pop tracks could have been included...and while I really like most of the leaked pop tracks, I'm not sure the two approaches could have gelled together. The girls' solo works managed to have many collaborators...without it seeming mismatched. But in the case of the Forever material, I flat-out don't know if I can imagine an album with Tell Me Why...alongside Pain Proof and the pop version of Right Back At Ya. To me...they just sound like two different groups. The leaked Eliot Kennedy songs have a higher energy...a different group sound. Darkchild's material to me sounds like it belongs to a group about ten years older. I think there's a reason Goodbye sounds so out of place on the album. Anyone think the pop material actually could have existed with Darkchild's stuff? I guess there's a few things they could have done. Like...start with the Darkchild stuff and let the album go progressively poppier (with the Jam n' Lewis material serving as a bridge) until it reached Goodbye? Perhaps a Sugar n' Spice double album with two different sounds? I'm not sure. I kinda think the Darkchild material was so different in sound that it forced them to pick a direction rather than include it all.

I definitely noticed it on the videos I've seen of If U Can't Dance. But to me, it seemed like she was plausibly singing her solos on, say, Say You'll Be There, Goodbye, and The Lady is a Vamp, for example. To me, she was hitting the notes, but it didn't sound so flawless that it would be a studio recording. But. I'll readily admit that I don't really know. I didn't get to catch one of the shows in person. I'm just basing this off phone video of varying quality. I hope she didn't lip-sync the entire tour. But if she did...it'd be more reason for her to feel inferior to the other three...