Origins
The best-selling girl group of all time, the Spice Girls (Geri Halliwell-turned-Horner, Melanie Chisolm, Melanie Brown, Victoria Adams-turned-Beckham and Emma Bunton) were formed in 1994. Between then and 2000, they dropped two different managent teams and self-managed twice, sought out producers with whom they created music that reached stratospheric success from the albums
Spice (1996) and
Spiceworld (1997). They became teen idols, toured the world extensively, endorsed a boatload of brands, had their own movie, became symbols of 90s Cool Britannia, met the British Royal Family and Nelson Mandela, and took a break after Halliwell's sudden departure in the middle of the Spiceworld Tour, as well as and Beckham and Brown's simultaneous pregnancies.
Background of the era
Originally the third Spice Girls album was meant to showcase solo songs, duets, and cover songs featuring all five members, who would then come together as one group. Halliwell's depature caused this plan and the material they had already written to be scrapped (NOOOO!!! DAMN!!! I WANT THAT ALBUM!!!).
After the break, the group returned to the studio to write and record with in the UK with longtime producers Biff Stannard, Matt Rowe and Eliot Kennedy in August 1998, and American producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Rodney and Fred Jerkins III (Darkchild and Uncle Freddie) in August and September. The latter two were very impressed with the group and spoke very highly of them. They also worked with Mel B on her debut solo album, crafting two well-received top five hits together, and expressed interest in working with Bunton for her solo work both at the time and
in 2018. Bunton reciprocated the praise both then and in recent years, expressing joy that they really believed in her and the group's abilities. Darkchild said they would've liked to experiment with a rockier sound with the Spice Girls, but that never happened. He also said he wanted to do songs with the group that would play well live. When they were writing
"Oxygen", Jam & Lewis asked the girls to write their respective verses giving their views on love at the time.
They then reunited for an eight-show tour in the UK in late 1999,
Christmas in Spiceworld Tour, where they premiered three new songs from their forthcoming album, including the original pop version of
"Right Back at Ya". The well-received track "
W.O.M.A.N" did not make the cut in the end, which disappointed its producer, Stannard. To quote him:
I thought that song was really interesting lyrically, because it was making the progression from girls to women, which was something Matt and I thought it was time for them to do. They needed something to suggest that they were still the same group of friends, but they were gaining more maturity
In March 2000, they
performed at the Brit Awards, causing mass hysteria and therefore huge hype. The same night, they were awarded the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, and thanked Geri (who was in the audience and performed her single "Bag It Up" at the ceremony) in their acceptance speech.
Recording sessions resumed in April 2000, with the girls deciding to scrap the material they made with their old producers. The final recording session took place on 17 July 2000. The result was a full project that expanded upon and focused on the mix of pop, R&B and soul that they had previously showcased on a few tracks each on their previous two albums.
Studio time dates: 2nd August 1999 - Abbey Road Studios - Stannard/Rowe "Woman" / "Treasure" / "Go, Go, Go" / "Overnight" / "Too Hot"
16th August 1999 - Steelworks Studios - Kennedy/Tim Lever (formerly of Dead or Alive) "Right Back At Ya" / "A Day In Your Life" / "Give You What You Want" (aka "If It's Lovin' On Your Mind") / "Pain Proof"
25th August 1999 - Whitfield Street Studios - Rodney/Fred Jerkins "Holler" / "Let Love Lead The Way" / "Weekend Love"
21st September 1999 - Whitfield Street Studios - Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis "Oxygen" / "If You Wanna Have Some Fun"
10th April 2000 - Miami - Rodney/Fred Jerkins "Tell Me Why" / "Get Down With Me" / "Time Goes By"
17th July 2000 - Whitfield Street Studios - Fred Jerkins "Wasting My Time" / "Right Back At Ya" was re-worked with new vocals and production, which original producer Kennedy felt wasn't as good as his
An online poll was conducted for listeners to guess what the album title was going to be. Most guessed incorrectly, with the fake title
Third Time Around being picked by 45% of voters, while the real title was picked by 30% of them.
Release and reception
Although promotion for
Forever was abysmal and lasted for, like, less than a month, it still performed well commercially, while not being a jauggernaut like its predecessors. Critical reception towards it was mixed, with reviewers praising it for "ooz[ing] with timely funk beats and the kind of well-crafted songs that No. 1 hits are made of", but criticizing the focus on pop&B as they felt it was ill-fitting for the group and mischaracterized it as a genre switch.
To promote the album, the members divided to cover more territory at the same time. Bunton and Beckham went to the US, where, baffingly, they
went to the Daily Show (not the best place to promote a pop album!) and Easy V just wasn't into John Stewart's vibe... Most memorably, the duo attended the VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards and
footage of them there was used in the film
Zoolander (2001). Brown promoted
Forever and her solo album
Hot in the UK and Japan (and even told people to buy
Forever instead of her solo album!), while Melanie C had to cancel some promotional appearances because of mental health issues she was suffering from at the time.
All four members appeared together in interviews and performed together to promote
Forever in the UK on shows such as
Top of the Pops and
TFI Friday. Their very last
performance before their break up as at the 2000 MTV Europe Music Awards (the same night
Sacha Baron Cohen made his career debut!)
Melanie C wanted "
Time Goes By" to be a single, while Bunton has stated "Oxygen" is the Spice Girls deep cut she loves best. In her first autobiography,
Catch a Fire, Brown stated she and Bunton wanted to continue promoting the album, but Beckham had her solo album record sessions scheduled and wanted to get on with them, while Chisolm wished to resume her solo tour.
A single (double A-side) was taken from the album
1 A) "
Holler": Co-written by the Spice Girls with the Jerkinses and LaShawn Daniels and produced by Darkchild, this is a sexy R&B and dance pop song that was deemed to be one of the best songs on the album and a pleasant surprise from the group. It performed well commercially, topping the charts in seventeen territories, as well as the UK Singles Chart and the UK R&B Chart. The music video was directed by Jake Nava (Adele's "Someone Like You"), filmed at at Elstree Studios on 27–28 July 2000 and premiered on MuchMusic on 12 September. In it, the girls dance in a glass pryramid and each of them represents one of the elements, who then come together: Mel B is fire, Mel C is earth, Emma is water and Victoria is fire. Horner sang Beckham's lines on the 2019 tour.
It's comedian Keith Lemon's go-to Spice Girls song, too 1 B) "
Let Love Lead the Way": Written by the Spice Girls with the Jerkinses and Harvey Mason Jr., it was produced by the last two. The song is a pop and R&B ballad and presents the group singing words of wisdom to a girl. Critical response towards it was lukewarm, with some calling it a "gorgeous ballad" and others criticising it for not being catchy enough. Personally, I love it. "Let Love Lead the Way" was another chart success, topping the UK Singles Chart and peaking in the top ten in twelve countries. Its music video was shot on 17 July 2000, and plays with the theme of the four elements again, but in a more ethereal way. Mel B and Emma switch elements, as do Victoria and Mel B. Here's a
performance of the song from 2000; I love how the audience gets all hyped anticipating Emma's key change!
Additionally, a video montage for
"If You Wanna Have Some Fun" was released as a "special bonus feature" and was played on some European music channels, but the song was never a single nor did it ever receive any promotion.
Personal musings
When I first dicovered
Forever, I thought it was the best Spice Girls album. Now, I've changed my mind (
Spiceworld forever!) and think of it is as still spicy and fun, but it would work better if it had different tacklisting (maybe swap an album track or two for a leak. Or not, let it be and see for yourself), that's be an improvement. I used to think it there were too many cooks in the kitchen (even if Darkchild is the most prominent producer here), which the Spice Girls weren't used to since they only worked with a few producers before and felt that made everything smoother. Now, I think the larger number of people on the project isn't a big deal.
Overall, I think finding a healthy mix between the UK producers sessions and the US ones to keep their trademark sonic variety and, as critics called it "very British sense of mischief", while taking their previous experimentations with a specific genre further, would've been a better way to go. Nevertheless, there is a lot to enjoy in
Forever as it is: a bunch of really good songs worthy of being part of the Spice phenomenon.
If they had done a real album campaign with heavy promotion and great singles like they had in the past, they would've easily had another jaggernaut. The singles should've been: "Holler" > "Let Love Lead the Way" > a radio edit of "If You Wanna Have Some Fun" with a cool music video set in a nightclub (with flirting or a hen night... Or both!) > "Tell Me Why" with a music video with the girls telling off guys > "Oxygen" with a music video set in a romantic location and the girls in killer white outfits (I can picture a beautiful Mel B with her short, natural hair, light make-up and a long white gown...)
Where are the Spice Girls now?
Before going their separate ways, the Spice Girls had discussed options for their future as a group and were positive towards the possibility of touring together again someday. That became a reality in 2007 with The Return of the Spice Girls Tour (2007–08), which was promoted with a TV documentary,
Giving You Everything, and the release of a
greatest hits compilation, which included two new songs, one of them being the single
"Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)". They reunited again in 2012 to perform at the
London Olympics Closing Ceremony, which received great response from critics and audiences and became the most tweeted moment of the entire Olympics. Another reunion happened in the form of the well-received and commercially successful Spice World – 2019 Tour. In 2012, an unsuccessful jukebox musical that used the group's music,
Viva Forever, premiered on the West End. Currently, the five members are working on an animated film project, for which they might record new material.
Solo, they have all released music to varying degrees of success. Most recently:
Melanie C released
an album this October;
Emma released
an album and a
Christmas single last year, and her
debut album became available to stream globally a last week,
Geri released
a single in honor of her
late friend George Michael in 2017; and
Mel B released
a banger of a single in 2012. Outside of music:
Victoria is a successful fashion designer and she and her husband, footballer-turned-team-owner David Beckham, have inked a Netflix deal; Emma has hosted shows on Heart radio since 2009, occasionally acts on TV, and co-founded the eco-friendly childcare brand Kit & Kin; Mel B has become a popular television competition judge and occasionally acts; Melanie C works as a fitness model and has acted on stage, too; and Geri is an Ambassador for the Royal Commonwealth Society, has written a successful series of children's books (
Ugenia Lavander) and has announced a new project called
Rainbow Woman.
Retrospectives, reviews and more
Spice Girls’ ‘Forever’ Turns 20 Anniversary Retrospective Forever: Spice Girls’ Final Album Brought A Barrage Of Brilliant Memories WITH ALL DUE RESPECT: Revisiting The Spice Girls’ Dynamic Group & Solo Discographies Billboard review Rolling Stone review 2000 EMAs Press Room Forever promo CD Spice Girls: Live At Wembley Stadium (Argentine DVD) Photoshoot extract from the era Esquire photoshoot extract Forever CD Unboxing Video (I don't understand the popularity of these things, but I'll put it in here in case someone's interested)
You can listen to Forever here
Spotify Apple Last.fm Previous Spice Girls anniversary posts Melanie B – Hot (20th Anniversary; 9 October 2020)
Melanie C – Northern Star (20th Anniversary; 18 October 2019)
Geri Halliwell – Schizö-phonic (20th Anniversary; 7 June 2019)
The
vinyl version of
Forever will be released for the first time this year on November 20th.
Y'all are welcome to join
spicegirls