Music Banter - View Single Post

Maajo · 12-02-2017, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paedantic Basterd

Artist: Spice Girls
Album: Spice
Year: 1996
Genre: Dance-Pop

My Age Then: The Spice Girls were the first group who I was ever more than a passing fan of. I had t-shirts. I had keychains. I ate Spice Girls brand gum and got it stuck in my hair. I saw the Spice Girls live when I was nine and bought a picture book and then forged their autographs in it so my friends would think I met them except I also forged Ginger's and she had quit the band by then so everyone would know I was a dirty liar and then I couldn't bring myself to commit to the lie so I pretended it came pre-signed but was never able to own up to my first felony crime. The Spice Girls were a turning point for me, and I started to discover music on my own.

My Age Now: I remember seeing a VH1-type special on the making of the Spice Girls where the manager that put them together admitted that Sporty Spice was the only one of them who could hold a note. Listening to their semi-spoken, semi-rapped, semi-shouted vocals on Wannabe, I can really see his point. In fact, I'm not sure Posh Spice ever contributed a vocal to the album. Nevertheless, it's admittedly a likable song, even if I am just high as balls on youthful remembrances. Say You'll Be There, Who Do You Think You Are, and Last Time Lover are kind of these forgotten-pop-treasures: semi-funky, semi-soulful, fun songs that both defined the 90s sound and somehow escaped them as memory of everything but Wannabe faded in time.

If it weren't for my knowledge of the 90s and the Spice Girls phenomenon, I wouldn't necessarily see these as definitively-90s songs. If these same songs had some production tweaks, denser harmonies, and had been performed by actual singers, I honestly think they'd stand the test of time. Despite the isolated Spice Girls phenomenon, despite the group's collective-lack of vocal personality, this album is honestly pretty good. It ain't no Tangled Up, but I can still see how Spice earned its popularity, even if it was only for a little while.

Best Tracks: Say You'll Be There, 2 Become 1, Who Do You Think You Are

Rating: 3 / 5, "Consistently Good"

How I Feel About it Now: No one is more surprised than I am that I genuinely enjoyed this. I wish I could hate everything I listen to, but it's just not possible, as hard as I might try.

See For Yourself:

My older sister was a huge Spice fan in the 90s, and she took me to see them when I was probably like 7 and they were the biggest thing on the planet, right around the time the movie came out. I remember liking them mostly because my sister listened to it, but I remember them fondly like most of the 90s pop we used to watch on MTV. I should give this a spin.