Emma Bunton - Free Me

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VoR

VoR

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20 years old this week. Christ.



In retrospect not all of it has aged brilliantly, but Maybe remains a classic, and it was such a refreshingly well executed campaign - until the understandable but ultimately deeply unfortunate choice of the final single. Shame it all went to pot afterwards...

 
Free Me was good, Maybe entirely overrated and borderline irritating.

The rest I either hated or found dull at the time, but I have little to no recollection of now.
 
I have no knowledge of anything other than the singles, all of which I dislike to varying degrees.
 
Sheena said:
Free Me was good, Maybe entirely overrated and borderline irritating.

The rest I either hated or found dull at the time, but I have little to no recollection of now.
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Yes I have always thought Free Me was the standout (and it has aged the best)
 
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I think she deserves some credit for finding a lane and a concept and committing to it. So many ex girl band members prefer the rule of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks, and end up with messy albums with no direction.

Album isn’t for me but it’s clear the sound suits her. And Free Me is an objectively great song to be fair.
 
As good as an album by Emma Bunton ever was going to be, and the theme was consistent and stuck to and rather convincing. Shame it all went a bit tits up after the albums release but I think they did the best they could with a solo Spice Girl in 2004.
 
Eh, the album overall is about a 6 or a 7 on a good day. I guess it's not too shabby for a former girl group member's album.
 
DenDen community in UPROAR she just posted a short video acknowledging this and not announcing a vinyl pressing of this is sending me. :disco:
None of these women, bar Melanie C, care about their musical past; consider yourselves lucky she spent a few minutes recording herself while lying in bed.
 
Pipo said:
DenDen community in UPROAR she just posted a short video acknowledging this and not announcing a vinyl pressing of this is sending me. :disco:
None of these women, bar Melanie C, care about their musical past; consider yourselves lucky she spent a few minutes recording herself while lying in bed.
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Is that the Spice Circle? I both cannot read that place and cannot not read the insanity.

Emma did look lovely recording that quickly whilst Jade popped out for a poo though.
 
Pipo said:
DenDen community in UPROAR she just posted a short video acknowledging this and not announcing a vinyl pressing of this is sending me. :disco:
None of these women, bar Melanie C, care about their musical past; consider yourselves lucky she spent a few minutes recording herself while lying in bed.
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OMG! Does that place still exist? I remember reading about that place here and going to visit many moons ago and it seemed almost as rabid and inbred as The Royal Family.
 
Rita said:
TERRIBLE.

It’s What Took You So Long or NOTHING when it comes to Solo Emma for me.
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GOD I HATE THAT SONG

the fact that we had to have a musical era when everyone WANTED to sound like The Corrs and Dido :zombie:
 
Crickets Sing for Anamaria is even worse now. I mean, this shouldn't be a shock but I managed 30 seconds of it and was on the verge of screaming in pain.
 
Sunshine on a Rainy Day was on another album, but that was her first solo blunder. And maybe it's the Tin Tin Out connection bringing on the The Corrs comparison? Not that I quite got it. If so, then Kym Marsh was lukewarm on their heels too then. It was just a glut of guitar pop and River Island tops at this point.
 
Had to take myself to YouTube to see if I was thinking of something else

NOPE, definitely The Corrs :D
 
Funky said:
Had to take myself to YouTube to see if I was thinking of something else

NOPE, definitely The Corrs :D
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Funny you mention it Funky but I too was FLABBERGHASTED as a young gay boy when both of these tracks dropped within a year of difference. Is it just me or did Tin Tin Out run out of backing tracks and at this point they were just recycling beats and selling them as a new song?





That's why it wouldn't surprise me they took BUNTON in this direction.
 
Kala said:
It’s not available in Sweden either. I guess it’s just available in the UK. @aquaplex HELP
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Or Australia! I’d give it a spin to give me a reminder but to be honest I’m not sure I care that much.
Aquaplex to help if they have nothing else to do.
 
At the time I remember NME comparing What Took You So Long to Sheryl Crow, so I'm surprised @Funky dislikes it so.
 
Oh The Corrs and others were definitely at that time emulating the late 90s female country rock craze, but they were doing it in a very watered down for the masses style, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It makes sense and it can work, as evidenced by the gazillion sales of The Corrs at the time. The production is very similar to Sheryl Crow but of course Emma and Andrea just can’t hold a candle to Sheryl’s voice, and to be fair they’re just different voices and that’s okay, but personally I like that sound to come with a more gritty, bluesy, earthy and powerful singer. Sheryl Crow, Paula Cole, Alanis Morissette, Melissa Etheridge etc.

There’s been some exceptions or maybe in between sound that I can get on board with, Natalie Imbruglia for instance is somewhere between alternative and pop. But Emma has a very sweet, smooth voice, and so I liked her in the retro pop lane, not the cod-rock lane.

It’s just a personal taste thing.
 
I don't think The Corrs were emulating 90s country rock. There's a whole tradition of Irish folk (and country) music that they emerged out of. They just happened to have pop hooks that enabled them to take off. They're certainly MOR but you're greatly underestimating then as musicians. Emma Bunton they are not, and I like Emma.
 
I agree and disagree. The production on their biggest hits were not Irish at all. Maybe later on, I only really know their first two albums. But there is an inevitable overlap with guitar or acoustic driven pop music - some of the more earthy tunes of The Corrs would fit on a playlist with some of the more poppy Sheryl songs and I think Sheryl’s are way more effective. And again there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just taste.

I’m no Corrs expert but if memory serves the most traditional sounding song on the first album is Little Wing and it’s wonderful - it’s probably the most authentically Irish folk I’ve heard them sound (ignoring any polka pop they might have done which I will happily ignore :D )
 
They came out of Irish folk through both of their parents and cite Mary Black as a biggest influence. They played Irish folk prior to getting big and enfused it throughout their albums. To the point where when they released an album full of Irish folk songs, Home, it felt like a natural transition and could have been a regular release.

I get the comparison to 90s girl-folk/country pop, but I feel like you're defaulting a little because they happen to be guitar fronted pop songs. There's a massive variety there.

And they're not the most authentically Irish music, no, and that's because they're shamelessly pop. They're not striving to be Christy Moore.

Let's not forget that country music in itself is birthed in Irish and Anglo folk tradition.
 
Oh, HOLD ON- a quick Google suggests the NME review was by that bastion of real music taste, PETER ROBINSON :D
 
It was this one actually, from a negative review of We’re Not Gonna Sleep Tonight (which, fair…)

It stuck in my head all these years because the last line really tickled me. :D

Bunton, Emma : We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight

Having provided one of the pop singles of the year with ‘What Took You So Long’, it’s a sombre duty to report that Emma has ditched the cowgirl threads and is no longer a north London [a]Sheryl Crow[/a], hitchin’ a ride along the dusty hard shoulder of the M25. Instead, she’s back on the cheesy […]
www.nme.com www.nme.com

Having provided one of the pop singles of the year with ‘What Took You So Long’, it’s a sombre duty to report that Emma has ditched the cowgirl threads and is no longer a north London Sheryl Crow, hitchin’ a ride along the dusty hard shoulder of the M25.

Instead, she’s back on the cheesy dancefloor of clubland, scrapping it out in a battle of the handbags with the dreadful Dannii and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, a woman so ill-suited to such indignities it’s almost scary.

Emma’s got it in her bones, Soph. Get out while you still can…
 
Funky said:
Oh The Corrs and others were definitely at that time emulating the late 90s female country rock craze, but they were doing it in a very watered down for the masses style, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It makes sense and it can work, as evidenced by the gazillion sales of The Corrs at the time. The production is very similar to Sheryl Crow but of course Emma and Andrea just can’t hold a candle to Sheryl’s voice, and to be fair they’re just different voices and that’s okay, but personally I like that sound to come with a more gritty, bluesy, earthy and powerful singer. Sheryl Crow, Paula Cole, Alanis Morissette, Melissa Etheridge etc.

There’s been some exceptions or maybe in between sound that I can get on board with, Natalie Imbruglia for instance is somewhere between alternative and pop. But Emma has a very sweet, smooth voice, and so I liked her in the retro pop lane, not the cod-rock lane.

It’s just a personal taste thing.
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What Took You So Long still sounds neither like The Corrs or Dido though…. :D
 
VoR said:
It was this one actually, from a negative review of We’re Not Gonna Sleep Tonight (which, fair…)

It stuck in my head all these years because the last line really tickled me. :D

Bunton, Emma : We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight

Having provided one of the pop singles of the year with ‘What Took You So Long’, it’s a sombre duty to report that Emma has ditched the cowgirl threads and is no longer a north London [a]Sheryl Crow[/a], hitchin’ a ride along the dusty hard shoulder of the M25. Instead, she’s back on the cheesy […]
www.nme.com www.nme.com

Having provided one of the pop singles of the year with ‘What Took You So Long’, it’s a sombre duty to report that Emma has ditched the cowgirl threads and is no longer a north London Sheryl Crow, hitchin’ a ride along the dusty hard shoulder of the M25.

Instead, she’s back on the cheesy dancefloor of clubland, scrapping it out in a battle of the handbags with the dreadful Dannii and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, a woman so ill-suited to such indignities it’s almost scary.

Emma’s got it in her bones, Soph. Get out while you still can…
Click to expand...

It's amazing how much NME has changed over the years and fully embraced pop music. Well, I think pop music has moved on quite a lot since then, and is way more respected for the most part, but still, the SNOBBERY! I could NEVER!
 
Rita said:
What Took You So Long still sounds neither like The Corrs or Dido though…. :D
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That was just a GENERAL reference to so many female artists settling for safe mediocrity at the time. Like I said, it WORKED for the most part, they sold bucketloads and Emma Bunton was definitely one of those artists that referenced both The Corrs and Dido in OTHER SONGS.

Either way I do still think it sounds like The Corrs :)
 
Dido? :D if anything What Took You So Long is descended from the 95-98 big sunny guitars era of pop
 
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