Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by
Virgin Music

• Released: 3rd November 1997
• Running time: 39 minutes
• Dom's rating : 4/10

  Track Listing

• 1. Spice Up Your Life
• 2. Stop
• 3. Too Much
• 4. Saturday Night Divas
• 5. Never Give Up On The Good Times
• 6. Move Over
• 7. Do It
• 8. Denying
• 9. Viva Forever
• 10. The Lady Is A Vamp

There is without a doubt no-one out there who hasn't heard of the Spice Girls, and since the last single from their first album, a double-A sided Mama / Who Do You Think You Are, there's been no let up from the girls. Whereas most bands would go away and quietly work on their next album, and then release it with a list of tour dates, the Spice Girls advertised Walkers crisps, Impulse Spice - a new fragrance, but whereas those crisps taste nice, the Impulse spray smells horrible. They even went so far in their promotion of Pepsi as to record a song, Step To Me, only for them for it to be given away on a CD single in a promotion if you sent off a stack of tokens. Their latest foray into advertising is the new Polaroid camera, the SpiceCam.

It was only last July when the girls shot into the chart at No.3 with Wannabe, climbing to No.1 the following week, and then followed it with three more No.1's from the same album, Say You'll Be There, 2 Become 1, and Mama / Who Do You Think You Are. Then the first single from the new album, Spice Up Your Life went straight into the charts at the top as well, making five No.1's in a row, and their new single from Spiceworld, a balled called Too Much is due out on December 8th and is one of the top contenders for the Christmas No.1.

For those who can't get enough of the band, their first film, also called Spiceworld is released on December 26th in the UK, and apparently features the five girls getting ready for their first ever gig. They describe it as them themselves, but with their characters exagerated, "if you can exagerate our characters even more", said Mel B.

Directed by Bob Spiers, who has worked on the TV series Absolutely Fabulous, and written by Kim Fuller and the programme's star, Jennifer Saunders, the film also has a number of cameo appearances by famous people. As well as Richard E. Grant playing their manager, cameos come from Michael Barrymore, Richard Briers, Bob Hoskins, Elvis Costello, Stephen Fry, Dame Edna Everage, Elton John, Hugh Laurie, Meat Loaf, Jonathan Ross, Toyah Willcox, and Jennifer Saunders.

When December 26th comes around, don't say you haven't been warned.

The album contains a mere ten tracks, covering half the length a CD can be filled with, and kicks off with the frenetic Spice Up Your Life. Very catchy, very loud, and you must have heard this one already. Stop changes beat slightly, but is also an uptempo catchy number, and is probably a contender for one of their next singles, although it sounds exactly like a Boyzone record.

Too Much is the slow lovey-dovey ballad on the album, and coming out just before Christmas points to it being this year's 2 Become 1. Saturday Night Divas manages to strike the right balance between the fast and slow songs, and comes off as one of the album's best tracks, while Never Give Up On The Good Times returns the album to the fast lane, but while being one of the most memorable tracks, it also reminded me very slightly of the mid-80's song Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder, if that's at all possible...

Move Over will strike a chord with most people from the instant they play it as it's the song used in the Pepsi promotion where they kept rabbiting on about "generation next" to tie-in with the advertising campaign. Do It is more of the same, but aims for a slightly funkier beat - only aims though.

By the time we get round to Denying all the ideas have gone out the window, and we're left with a very dull mid-tempo effort. Viva Forever is the longest track on the album clocking in at 5:09, and is one of the better tracks: slow with a backbeat, and a hint of Spanish guitar all the way through - one that should be released as a single next summer when we get some decent weather. Finally The Lady is a Vamp completely lets the proceedings down. Going for a big band sound, the girls spend three minutes listing past musical and screen legends, and then claiming that they're all overshadowed nowadays by the Spice Girls, which is probably, but unfortunately, true, and an abysmal final track.

As you open the packaging, it scores a plus for coming complete with full lyrics for each song. However, it then scores a big fat minus for having a couple of pages full of blatant advertising for all of their products available via mail order.

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1997.