Melanie C - Northern Star (album)

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VoR

VoR

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Released 14 years ago today. FUCK ME :zombie:

Anyway, what do you think of it today? For me it's still her best solo album by far. Though even I haven't bothered with the last three.

Melanie_C_Northern_Star.png


00 Go!
00 Northern Star
00 Goin' Down
00 I Turn To You
00 If That Were Me
00 Never Be The Same Again
00 Why
00 Suddenly Monday
00 Ga Ga
00 Be The One
00 Closer
00 Feel The Sun
 
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A very good album.

07 Go!
10 Northern Star
10 Goin' Down
09 I Turn To You
00 If That Were Me
07 Never Be The Same Again
06 Why
07 Suddenly Monday
06 Ga Ga
08 Be The One
09 Closer
10 Feel The Sun
 
08 Go!
10 Northern Star
08 Goin' Down
10 I Turn To You
06 If That Were Me
10 Never Be The Same Again
07 Why
06 Suddenly Monday
10 Ga Ga
07 Be The One
09 Closer
10 Feel The Sun

A couple of weak moments let it down but a lot of great stuff.
 
On the whole, I should have to say, RUBBISH
 
02 Go!
00 Northern Star
02 Goin' Down
04 I Turn To You (the single version IS better, though)
-1 If That Were Me (it should get a point for the LOLZ though)
07 Never Be The Same Again
03 Why
00 Suddenly Monday
11 Ga Ga
?? Be The One
?? Closer
02 Feel The Sun

I've (probably thankfully) forgotten the two songs I gave ??s to.
 
I always thought it was really overrated as an album. Brilliant run of singles until that last monstrosity though.
 
VoR said:
ZERO for the title track is ridiculous.
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I utterly DETEST IT

It's complete and utter PISSDRIBBLE made worse by her FANZ heralding it as some sort of "Ray of Light"-esque TRIUMPH at the time. A genuine "RUN AND SWITCH OFF THE RADIO, IT'S HEATHER FUCKING SMALL" moment...if anyone ever bothered to PLAY IT, that is :basil:
 
Really rather good as an album which I still play (parts of) to this day. Reminds me of a very happy Autumn in New York! I don't think my rate is a million miles away from VoR's actually:

08 Go!
10 Northern Star
06 Goin' Down (loved this as a statement of intent but it's terribly laboured)
08 I Turn To You (the trance redo is a 00 moment though)
09 If That Were Me (sure, the lyrics are a disaster, but it's a lovely tune and a lovely vocal)
08 Never Be The Same Again
08 Why
06 Suddenly Monday
07 Ga Ga (don't really get the fuss)
08 Be The One
11 Closer
10 Feel The Sun
 
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Sheena said:
On the whole, I should have to say, RUBBISH
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Silly.

It's got belting tunes, a cohesive sound and was expertly A&Rd which made it worlds better than anyone expected a Solo Spice album to be. Sure, there were horrors to follow, but this really did set the solo album bar much higher than Geri's debut could have hoped for.
 
Christian said:
Silly.
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Not at all. It's also dated HIDEOUSLY.

I actually own it- I liked "Never Be The Same Again" and "Ga Ga" enough to buy it at the time. It's a complete mess. She stabs at every genre in order to get a hit and misses at most, there's a "real music" snobbery throughout a lot of the tracks and the whole thing was released with an entire air of SMUGNESS. She's my absolute least favourite of the Spice Girls musically, though granted she's done a max track more than BECKHAM ever managed...

And saying it's the best Spice solo album really is DAMNING WITH FAINT PRAISE. I also prefer "Schizophonic"
 
Her attitude STANK at the time, it must be said. A petulant rebellion buoyed by some great tunes. Once they disappeared, she had nothing to fall back on.
 
Sheena said:
Not at all. It's also dated HIDEOUSLY.

I actually own it- I liked "Never Be The Same Again" and "Ga Ga" enough to buy it at the time. It's a complete mess. She stabs at every genre in order to get a hit and misses at most, there's a "real music" snobbery throughout a lot of the tracks and the whole thing was released with an entire air of SMUGNESS. She's my absolute least favourite of the Spice Girls musically, though granted she's done a max track more than BECKHAM ever managed...

And saying it's the best Spice solo album really is DAMNING WITH FAINT PRAISE. I also prefer "Schizophonic"
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I don't think it's dated badly at all. It sounds as much of its time as Ray Of Light does which means its weathered pretty damn well. And genre-hopping is hardly a crime - and this album covered up that approach better than most!

I'd agree that her whole downplaying of the Spice Girls' legacy (something which persisted for years to come) wasn't particularly becoming but it's completely understandable considering where she was coming from.
 
Sheena said:
Not at all. It's also dated HIDEOUSLY.

I actually own it- I liked "Never Be The Same Again" and "Ga Ga" enough to buy it at the time. It's a complete mess. She stabs at every genre in order to get a hit and misses at most, there's a "real music" snobbery throughout a lot of the tracks and the whole thing was released with an entire air of SMUGNESS. She's my absolute least favourite of the Spice Girls musically, though granted she's done a max track more than BECKHAM ever managed...

And saying it's the best Spice solo album really is DAMNING WITH FAINT PRAISE. I also prefer "Schizophonic"
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And VB has had a number of MAX TRAX, but let's not open THAT can of worms until we get to the Victoria Beckham anniversary reappraisal thread in 2016 :D
 
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It's a shame that due to all the stick she was getting at the time, she couldn't really enjoy the success she had (and would never experience on the same level again).

Same with Geri. She'd kill for Schizophonic sales now, but in 1999-2000 even the three consecutive #1s didn't stop her being branded a flop because the sales didn't match Spice and Spiceworld and it tanked in America.
 
Christian said:
And VB has had a number of MAX TRAX, but let's not open THAT can of worms until we get to the Victoria Beckham anniversary reappraisal thread in 2016 :D
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Talk about EASILY PLEASED :D
 
Christian said:
Open you mind dear!
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To coin a phrase the HUMAN BREADSTICK used at the time, you're OUT OF YOUR MIND, dear...

And that tune REALLY DID punish me, as well.
 
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Sheena said:
To coin a phrase the HUMAN BREADSTICK used at the time, you're OUT OF YOUR MIND, dear...

And that tune REALLY DID punish me, as well.
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So sad to see that the glories of "That Kind Of Girl" and "It's That Simple" haven't penetrated CHEZ SHEE :(
 
She totally got ahead of herself after this, but there's songs here that could have been much better with someone who sounded less like a cat undergoing CBT.
 
Thank you Christian for defending my la Beckham and for giving Closer an 11. It really is the best thing she has recorded and I still think it would have done well as a single (in a remixed version) after ITTY instead of that abomination that was released instead.

I hated her attituted and her fans at the time, but the album remains the strongest among the other solo Spice albums.

06 Go!
10 Northern Star
08 Goin' Down
10 I Turn To You
03 If That Were Me
10 Never Be The Same Again
05 Why
04 Suddenly Monday
10 Ga Ga
00 Be The One
11 Closer
10 Feel The Sun
 
Best solo albums:

1. Free Me
2. Northern Star
3. Schizophonic
4. Life In Mono
5. Passion

Even I find it slim pickins' after #3 though...
 
I really like Passion for what it's worth (not much, I'm sure)! Free Me is very splendid indeed too. The gentle remixes of the title track really are quite sensational.
 
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I'd agree with your top 3 VoR, but apart from Scream If You Wanna GO Faster, I don't really know much about the others despite owning them all, (Yes even Victoria Beckham, which cost me 50p in a charity shop - still sealed - and I haven't taken the wrapper off 6 years later)
 
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Victoria's album is wonderful! I don't know how some of you can listen o the worst kind of pop from Slovenia and then be snobby about VB!

01. Northern Star
02. Schizophonic
03. Victoria Beckham
04. Free Me
05. A Girl Like Me
 
RaspberrySwirl said:
Thank you Christian for defending my la Beckham and for giving Closer an 11. It really is the best thing she has recorded and I still think it would have done well as a single (in a remixed version) after ITTY instead of that abomination that was released instead.
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"Closer" is the tits! Popping a 6 minute opus onto your debut album was quite a ballsy move too.
 
Passion has some fabulous highs but also some truly dreadful lows which stop it from being higher.

Life In Mono is a lovely but fairly unexciting listen.

I've never warmed to the Victoria Beckham album. I know it has its fans, but the vast majority just feels like cheap cast offs from better artists to me. There's no sense of identity to it.
 
VoR said:
Passion has some fabulous highs but also some truly dreadful lows which stop it from being higher.
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I like most of Passion to be honest, there's probably only 1 or 2 tracks that really don't do it in any way for me.
 
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