album review by Jeff Dixon
When Spiceworld was released I was 15 years old. It was November of 1997. Spice Up Your Life had been dominating the radio for weeks and my copy of the single had been played probably too much if you were to ask anyone else in my house. When the album came out I couldn’t stop listening to it. I was learning to drive and it was always in the CD player in one of my parents cars or in my Sony Discman adorned with Street Fighter stickers. A few weeks after its release the movie Spice World hit theaters. The album also served as the soundtrack to the film which was basically A Hard Days Night starring the Spice Girls.
I loved the album then and now, on the 25th anniversary of the record, I can safely say that it is as perfect of a pop record as you could possibly make. It’s 10 tracks, the whole thing clocks in at just under 40 minutes and it’s filled to the brim with the catchiest hooks you’ve ever heard.
One of the main rules of every great pop record is that it has to open with a bang. It has to get your attention and it has to keep it with something loud and catchy. Spiceworld does just that with Spice Up Your Life, a phrase which became synonymous with the group almost instantly. It’s brash and in your face, or as in your face as dance pop can be. It demands your attention and all it asks in return is that you try to get a little wild and have a little fun. It’s not too much to ask really, at the end of the day, is it?
For track two of a great pop record the intensity can be turned down and oftentimes should be ok, but if it is, the positivity has to be ratcheted up a few notches. Stop is a perfect example of this rule and it’s enhanced from a great track to a stellar track by the Spice Girls secret weapon; Melanie C. Now I’m not saying the rest of the girls can’t sing, no one is disputing that the rest of the girls can sing beautifully, but Mel C can Sing with a capital “S.” The sheer power that this woman has in her voice makes my head spin. She is unabashedly loud, soulful, and possesses what I would call a perfect voice for pop music.
After those fist two bangers you really need something to cool things off that still highlights the vocals of the group. Enter Too Much, the second single released from the album, it topped the charts throughout December and January and became the girls second consecutive Christmas number 1. If you’re American that probably won’t be as meaningful to you unless you’ve seen “Love, Actually.” Too Much, on the surface, is your standard pop ballad but it highlights the vocal strengths of all the girls and allows them all a chance to breathe.
Saturday Night Divas is a song that I love more every time I hear it. When this album initially came out this wasn’t one of my favorites. The hook is extremely simple, there’s a lot of very weird background vocals happening that have a very Betty Boop vibe. But as the years have gone by this track has grown to be one of my favorites and not just off of this album but from the entire catalogue. It’s the kind of song that only this group could pull off and they pull it off amazingly.
Hearing Never Give Up On The Good Times evokes everything I loved about late 90s pop. The record scratching at the very beginning that jumps right into synth drums and Geri Halliwell saying “Woo” just before the first verse begins. It’s all great, it all works. There is a flute solo in this track and it is, frankly, insane that it works so well.
If you watched MTV at all in early 1998 you’ll remember a Pepsi commercial featuring the Spice Girls and the tagline “Generation Next.” This is the song that inspired that whole ad campaign. This is the reason each of the girls owns a version of their signature look made entirely out of Pepsi logos. The song is a hot mess, but, and this is a big one, it is catchy and fun to sing along to.
The best opening of any track on this album is unsurprisingly Mel C bringing her A-Game in the song Do It. It’s typical bubblegum pop that inspires the listener to be their true selves, but unlike a lot of similar songs of the era it doesn’t feel flat or forced. The girls feel genuine and earnest, which elevates a good song into something everyone will sing along to on a road trip.
Denying has an unmistakable west coast hip hop/R&B beat which grounds it firmly in the late 90s to anyone who hears it. Melanie B flat out kills it on this track. She steps to the front every time she’s on vocals and sells the hell out of this whole thing. Denying has a groove that sets it apart from everything else on this record while still feeling right at home.
Viva Forever is a perfect Latin influenced pop ballad. Right around the late 90s a lot of American and British artists were dipping into Latin music but the composition of this track sets it apart from all the rest. The lyrics almost feel like a ghost story told as a warning. Everyone gets a chance to shine and the hook will be etched into the brain of anyone who hears it.
The Lady is a Vamp should be inserted into the Wikipedia article for “Girl Power.” The whole track, from its horn arrangements to its callbacks to other famous women who paved the way, it basically solidifies the mission statement of the group itself. It’s cheeky but it’s also serious and hard and in the end it’s worth it if even one person feels a little more empowered and a little more confident. It’s Girl Power!
Jeff Dixon owns two copies of Spice World on DVD. One of them is still sealed. Jealous?