It's 3 for 3 baby. Here's the final part in my little triptych, a review of the Spice Girls' third and (probably) final studio album. Or, to better convey the route I'm about to take, an article called 'How production can make or break an album/band/career'.
With the exception of Goodbye (conceived and released over a year before the rest of the album took shape), Forever marks a departure from the Spice Girls' longtime producers of Absolute and Stannard & Rowe. And, boy, don't we know it. Chasing a more 'mature' image, and to help usher the Spice Girls into the 21st century, they sought the assistance of famed r&b producer Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins and his brother 'Uncle Freddie' to help manifest the majority of their third album. Together, the duo doused Forever in their particular brand of lowkey, staccato electronica and faux picked guitar sounds programmed like a player piano, not to mention the arbitrary, rhythmic mutterings from the producer, unnecessarily annotating the lead vocal performances as they occur, presumably aiming to sound like what the singers hear in their own headphones while recording. It is a massive shift in direction, not just in the actual sound, but in the values that brought the Spice Girls to the forefront of pop culture - for nothing the band ever put out before bore such heavy-handed watermarking by a musical contributor other than themselves.
With the exception of Goodbye (conceived and released over a year before the rest of the album took shape), Forever marks a departure from the Spice Girls' longtime producers of Absolute and Stannard & Rowe. And, boy, don't we know it. Chasing a more 'mature' image, and to help usher the Spice Girls into the 21st century, they sought the assistance of famed r&b producer Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins and his brother 'Uncle Freddie' to help manifest the majority of their third album. Together, the duo doused Forever in their particular brand of lowkey, staccato electronica and faux picked guitar sounds programmed like a player piano, not to mention the arbitrary, rhythmic mutterings from the producer, unnecessarily annotating the lead vocal performances as they occur, presumably aiming to sound like what the singers hear in their own headphones while recording. It is a massive shift in direction, not just in the actual sound, but in the values that brought the Spice Girls to the forefront of pop culture - for nothing the band ever put out before bore such heavy-handed watermarking by a musical contributor other than themselves.
So where do I stand on the issue of production tags? Well, while I feel it is extremely important for credit to be correctly attributed and given where due, I find production tags to be the audio equivalent of a blot on the landscape; a musical eyesore. I just remember what an idiot Jessie J sounds reciting "Coconut Man" and "Moon-head" at the start of Price Tag, and that's really all I need to vote firmly in opposition to them. Ultimately, though I believe in transparency around who is responsible for what in music, it should not come at the cost of the music itself. Therefore, if a producer wants to lay his signature onto a track, it should be done in the production itself, not by branding their name all over the songs.
This brings me to my biggest fault with Rodney Jerkins - Darkchild has such, SUCH a distinctive sound, such instantly recognisable timbres, beats, patterns to his work, especially in the y2k era, that he simply does not need to stamp his name all over it. It's him, clearly, so who the fuck else would it be? Just like how you know immediately when a Hex Hector remix is playing, it is the same with Darkchild. Except Hex Hector manages it with, as far as I'm concerned, a hell of a lot more dignity and integrity.
Add the Spice Girls to the mix, and the can of worms is prised all the way open. These are the Spice Girls, the torchbearers of Girl Power, whose whole career up until this point has been about female empowerment and not relying on men for shit. And here they are, being overtly creatively submissive to a man who is hellbent on plastering his name all over their record. All because they want to pursue a trendy new sound that, frankly, doesn't suit them. The Spice Girls were not, are not, and never will be the British answer to Destiny's Child; they are playing in different ballparks. So collaborating with Darkchild was never going to be the best course of action - they effectively alienated their fanbase. A fanbase that was already raw, feeling betrayed by Geri's exit; if anything they should have doubled down on their trademark pop sound and unique branding, not ricochet off into a world of soulless programming (there are 0 instrument credits for tracks 1-8, not a single one).
And they certainly should not have allowed a man to mumble his own name over the top of their vocal performances. Geri would never have stood for that.
- If You Wanna Have Some Fun
- Goodbye
- Wasting My Time
- Get Down With Me
- Oxygen
- Time Goes By
- Holler
- Let Love Lead The Way
- Weekend Love
- Right Back At Ya
- Tell Me Why
Total Points: 38/55
Average Score: 5.09
Rating-wise, it's nowhere near the heights that Spice hit - but how much of this is down to production choices, and how much is just down to the quality of the songs themselves? Well, it's no coincidence that my 2 highest scorers are Jerkins-free affairs, as is the highest scoring of the album's 4 minimalist, down-tempo r&b ballads, Oxygen.
Goodbye features more out of necessity than choice, being the only single without a parent album, and it really doesn't belong. It feels rather tacked onto the end, more like a bonus track on top of their established set menu of 10. That said, its one of the best moments of Forever, with a full-bodied sound, robust harmonies and soulful delivery, encapuslating what feels like a whole CD's worth of truly heartfelt feeling into its 4 and a half minutes runtime. It is topped only by If You Wanna Have Some Fun, a much funkier portrait of stripped-back r&b than what Darkchild favours, here brought about by the far less stoic and systematic Jam & Lewis. Notably, it is the only song on the album with a palpable sense of fun, which feels like a wild thing to say about the Spice Girls. Half of their back catalogue can be filed broadly under the heading 'fun', so what happened? Sophistication and fun are wholly compatible; this track proves it. It's bouncy but not in a hollow, tinny way (see: Get Down With Me), and it boasts the most personality exhibited by the girls since Spiceworld. On top of that, it's also extremely catchy.
Wasting My Time and Get Down With Me are two songs that manage to hold up in spite of their production, though the former definitely suffers less from the stark, dry formula that Darkchild bestows upon the soundscape. Both songs are upbeat and distinct enough to stick in your head after a listen-through, though it can be hard to remember which is which; a lot of the songs have similar sounding names. This is less of an issue with the writing (though it still is slightly; where's the variety of subject matter and distinction of themes?) and more of an issue with the monotonous sound cast over all of Forever by, as I keep reiterating, the production. Don't get me wrong, I love a concise musical vision, but would you rather have many different plates of delicious tapas or multiple plates of the same one type of tapas? Variety, as they say, is the spice of life, and we're here left with quite a bland meal. The Plain Girls, rather than the Spice Girls.
Songs that unfortunately aren't granted the same, slightly more positive fate are Tell Me Why and, the biggest disappointment of all, Right Back At Ya. I literally have nothing to say about the former. I do not remember anything about it, and it was only yesterday that I last heard it. But Right Back At Ya, I know in full, every lyric, every ad lib, the entire rap, because the leaked original pop version, produced by the team behind Say You'll Be There, Absolute, is part of my regular Spice rotation. This version is, in short, the direction that Forever should have been taken in. The sound is familiar but clearly evolved, the content reminiscent but fresh, referencing the past but ultimately saying "we're still here, we've still got it, we're coming back stronger than ever before." And Uncle Freddie's feeble attempt at reimagining it to sit alongside the likes of Holler doesn't cut it. All life has left Mel B's vocal cords in this inferior version, and it falls as flat as a pancake.
Another disappointment is that the incredible W.O.M.A.N, performed live alongside a take on the original (better) version of Right Back At Ya during their 1999 Christmas In Spiceworld concert* is nowhere to be found. The swishiest, most disco-tastic they ever sounded, this would have been a far more preferable and palatable route for them to take than what actually occurred. Lyrics such as 'now we're industry players, wearing g-strings, looking mean and putting music to beats' represent everything the girls had within their grasp for the taking. Furthermore, its middle 8 is one of the best, if not THE best, I've ever heard, in any song, ever. And no, it would not fit in, among what we eventually got with their third album, and that is exactly why I'm so frustrated! It would have added some juice, some charisma, some electricity, some fun, some actual spice back into the Spice Girls - is that so much to ask for?
*These performances are free to view on the Spice Girls' official youtube channel, at long last. I highly recommend checking them out and discovering what could have been. If nothing else, at least check out the 2 audience engagement peaks on W.O.M.A.N for the aforementioned apex of middle 8s and proof that Victoria can sing.
And then there's those 4 minimalist, down-tempo r&b ballads I mentioned, of which Oxygen comes out on top due to it's ethereal uniqueness and the fact it was the second of Jam & Lewis's two contributions. All 4 epitomise a very turn-of-the-millenium niche sound; the quietest of sine leads, the most over-reliant use of windchimes for 'atmosphere' and the meagrest implementation of percussion possible. Once again, it's variety that could have saved these rather similar 4 tracks, and in previous albums it's what helps separate the slower songs and give them each a distinct flavour. Think of 2 Become 1 or Too Much; they're afforded more personality because more personality was put into their creation, and the girls always made room to try different things out and experiment. Here, experimentation is absolutely off the table, and all 4 ballads (to be clear, I'm excluding Goodbye despite its lower tempo due to what I said about it feeling more like a bonus track and its lack of direct relationship to the rest of the album) are the generic and bland type that you can find on any other cookie-cutter girl band's album from this era of r&b. Oxygen is just a little more interesting than the rest.
Average Score: 5.09
Rating-wise, it's nowhere near the heights that Spice hit - but how much of this is down to production choices, and how much is just down to the quality of the songs themselves? Well, it's no coincidence that my 2 highest scorers are Jerkins-free affairs, as is the highest scoring of the album's 4 minimalist, down-tempo r&b ballads, Oxygen.
Goodbye features more out of necessity than choice, being the only single without a parent album, and it really doesn't belong. It feels rather tacked onto the end, more like a bonus track on top of their established set menu of 10. That said, its one of the best moments of Forever, with a full-bodied sound, robust harmonies and soulful delivery, encapuslating what feels like a whole CD's worth of truly heartfelt feeling into its 4 and a half minutes runtime. It is topped only by If You Wanna Have Some Fun, a much funkier portrait of stripped-back r&b than what Darkchild favours, here brought about by the far less stoic and systematic Jam & Lewis. Notably, it is the only song on the album with a palpable sense of fun, which feels like a wild thing to say about the Spice Girls. Half of their back catalogue can be filed broadly under the heading 'fun', so what happened? Sophistication and fun are wholly compatible; this track proves it. It's bouncy but not in a hollow, tinny way (see: Get Down With Me), and it boasts the most personality exhibited by the girls since Spiceworld. On top of that, it's also extremely catchy.
Wasting My Time and Get Down With Me are two songs that manage to hold up in spite of their production, though the former definitely suffers less from the stark, dry formula that Darkchild bestows upon the soundscape. Both songs are upbeat and distinct enough to stick in your head after a listen-through, though it can be hard to remember which is which; a lot of the songs have similar sounding names. This is less of an issue with the writing (though it still is slightly; where's the variety of subject matter and distinction of themes?) and more of an issue with the monotonous sound cast over all of Forever by, as I keep reiterating, the production. Don't get me wrong, I love a concise musical vision, but would you rather have many different plates of delicious tapas or multiple plates of the same one type of tapas? Variety, as they say, is the spice of life, and we're here left with quite a bland meal. The Plain Girls, rather than the Spice Girls.
Songs that unfortunately aren't granted the same, slightly more positive fate are Tell Me Why and, the biggest disappointment of all, Right Back At Ya. I literally have nothing to say about the former. I do not remember anything about it, and it was only yesterday that I last heard it. But Right Back At Ya, I know in full, every lyric, every ad lib, the entire rap, because the leaked original pop version, produced by the team behind Say You'll Be There, Absolute, is part of my regular Spice rotation. This version is, in short, the direction that Forever should have been taken in. The sound is familiar but clearly evolved, the content reminiscent but fresh, referencing the past but ultimately saying "we're still here, we've still got it, we're coming back stronger than ever before." And Uncle Freddie's feeble attempt at reimagining it to sit alongside the likes of Holler doesn't cut it. All life has left Mel B's vocal cords in this inferior version, and it falls as flat as a pancake.
Another disappointment is that the incredible W.O.M.A.N, performed live alongside a take on the original (better) version of Right Back At Ya during their 1999 Christmas In Spiceworld concert* is nowhere to be found. The swishiest, most disco-tastic they ever sounded, this would have been a far more preferable and palatable route for them to take than what actually occurred. Lyrics such as 'now we're industry players, wearing g-strings, looking mean and putting music to beats' represent everything the girls had within their grasp for the taking. Furthermore, its middle 8 is one of the best, if not THE best, I've ever heard, in any song, ever. And no, it would not fit in, among what we eventually got with their third album, and that is exactly why I'm so frustrated! It would have added some juice, some charisma, some electricity, some fun, some actual spice back into the Spice Girls - is that so much to ask for?
*These performances are free to view on the Spice Girls' official youtube channel, at long last. I highly recommend checking them out and discovering what could have been. If nothing else, at least check out the 2 audience engagement peaks on W.O.M.A.N for the aforementioned apex of middle 8s and proof that Victoria can sing.
And then there's those 4 minimalist, down-tempo r&b ballads I mentioned, of which Oxygen comes out on top due to it's ethereal uniqueness and the fact it was the second of Jam & Lewis's two contributions. All 4 epitomise a very turn-of-the-millenium niche sound; the quietest of sine leads, the most over-reliant use of windchimes for 'atmosphere' and the meagrest implementation of percussion possible. Once again, it's variety that could have saved these rather similar 4 tracks, and in previous albums it's what helps separate the slower songs and give them each a distinct flavour. Think of 2 Become 1 or Too Much; they're afforded more personality because more personality was put into their creation, and the girls always made room to try different things out and experiment. Here, experimentation is absolutely off the table, and all 4 ballads (to be clear, I'm excluding Goodbye despite its lower tempo due to what I said about it feeling more like a bonus track and its lack of direct relationship to the rest of the album) are the generic and bland type that you can find on any other cookie-cutter girl band's album from this era of r&b. Oxygen is just a little more interesting than the rest.
So is Forever a bad album? I still don't know how to answer that. It is, for me, easily their worst album. I think it was destined for the label of sub-par the moment they decided to put all their eggs in the Holler basket. The switch from what everyone knew and loved was just too much sonic whiplash, no matter how trendy or refined the new sound was meant to be. Sure, it could have been saved if the trajectory that was set by W.O.M.A.N and the original Right Back At Ya had been followed (not to mention the feisty leaked demo Give You What You Want - I sure wish they had!) but then I imagine half the tracks would have been entirely different ones and, at that point, am I really talking about the same album?
That said, declaring Forever as ill-fated isn't entirely fair. It performed well, though obviously not lineup-of-5 well, and features several renowned beloved tracks. I even still count a couple among my all-time favourites. But at the same time, it's no coincidence that their least spicy, lowest energy, most subdued effort is the one that heralded the end. Of course, they would return as a full set of 5 in 2007, complete a sell-out tour and capitalise with a Greatest Hits that featured a highly underrated promotional single (and star in some great adverts for Tesco). And re-return in 2019 without Victoria (which, fair enough to her, she's found her niche in fashion and probably didn't need the stress or the money) for another big tour. So it's not even as if Forever represents a lasting, slightly soured impression of the girls. In reality, it came along only about 20% of the way through the time between their initial formation and their most recent project.
But, for this mini-arc on The Sound System, it is indeed the end! Thanks for sticking with me (if you did) - I kind of just went with the renaissance of a hyperfixation and this is what ensued. Who knows what will happen next!
That said, declaring Forever as ill-fated isn't entirely fair. It performed well, though obviously not lineup-of-5 well, and features several renowned beloved tracks. I even still count a couple among my all-time favourites. But at the same time, it's no coincidence that their least spicy, lowest energy, most subdued effort is the one that heralded the end. Of course, they would return as a full set of 5 in 2007, complete a sell-out tour and capitalise with a Greatest Hits that featured a highly underrated promotional single (and star in some great adverts for Tesco). And re-return in 2019 without Victoria (which, fair enough to her, she's found her niche in fashion and probably didn't need the stress or the money) for another big tour. So it's not even as if Forever represents a lasting, slightly soured impression of the girls. In reality, it came along only about 20% of the way through the time between their initial formation and their most recent project.
But, for this mini-arc on The Sound System, it is indeed the end! Thanks for sticking with me (if you did) - I kind of just went with the renaissance of a hyperfixation and this is what ensued. Who knows what will happen next!
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