How did it go so wrong for Melanie C? It started well enough: her stint as Sporty in the record-breaking girl group The Spice Girls shot her to fame overnight, provided a world-wide springboard and certainly didn’t lack its lucrative side. She was lauded as “the singer” of the group, though in retrospect that praise would be on a par with saying someone is “the actress” in Footballers’ Wives. By the break-up, Melanie blamed Spice World as the root of her many publicised personal problems, including an eating disorder. Despite these pressures, Chisholm decided on a solo career and surprised critics and public alike with her brilliant Northern Star album, which spawned a range of quality singles. It looked as if Mel C was going to leave the others from career-dead.
However, things derailed in spectacular fashion when her eagerly anticipated follow-up album, Reason, turned out to be unfeasibly bad. Despite some slick production, it was jaw-droppingly bland and disappeared ignominiously into bargain bins before you could say “Zig-a-zig-ah”. Unsurprisingly Mel and her record company soon parted company.
Without a label to record on, Melanie has financed Beautiful Intentions herself. The bad news is that however beautiful the intentions were, the results are sadly not so attractive.
The album opens with the title track awash with thrashing electric guitars. Such is the desperation to put distance between this and Reason that the backing hits full volume and we lose Mel’s vocals in the mix. It may be lively, but the track is repetitive and noisy overall.
‘Next Best Superstar’ was the first single and tellingly the only song Mel didn’t have a hand in writing. It is the album’s highlight. Rocky, but tuneful, it is the only piece of song writing that measures up to the quality of the Northern Star canon. The lyrics are ambiguous: is she dispensing advice to one of the new breed of reality TV talent contests or just bemoaning her former life as a pop puppet in the manufactured world of Spice? Sadly the line, “You know you can sing” might require some revision given the ill-judged vocal performances throughout this album.
‘Better Alone’ has an irritating and mannered vocal. Mel seems self-conscious of her ‘singer’ expectations and the results seem forced and the emotions artificial. More of a ballad, Mel is still bemoaning her lot, this time about failed relationships. There is an extended string instrumental at the end that seems an afterthought, designed to add a touch of class rather than something that emerges organically from the track.
‘You Will See’ is a decent effort: a low-key, but compelling, dark melody with a good chorus, it comes across like a poppier Evanescence track without the trappings of Gothic.
‘Never Say Never’ is another aimless meander through shoutyville. Does anyone take Mel C seriously as a rock chick? It’s not that pop artists cannot move into another genre, but Mel has no feel for the genre. The song thrashes out in so many directions that it reveals its clueless and empty intention to re-brand Mel C.
Whilst Chisholm might want to expunge memories of the almost easy-listening Reason album in a blaze of angst and aggression, she must accept that gentler, ambient material such as ‘Good Girl’ is what she carries off with aplomb. Given that the finance for the album has comes from Mel herself, it is hard to imagine a producer would find it easy to question the wisdom of the rock direction of much of Beautiful Intentions. The aptly named ‘Don’t Need This’ should have been the first track an effective producer would have dumped in the rethink tank.
‘Here and Now’ (not a reference to the 80s revival tours – well, not yet, at any rate) is a floaty song, with gentle and expressive vocals mingling with soft strings. This mature direction is the way that will keep the Spice Girl Reunion from the door. Similarly, the darker minimalism of ‘You’ll Get Yours’ almost ended the album in fine style, were it not for the reappearance of more bombastic guitar intrusion.
The saddest part of the album is the thread of bitterness in many of the lyrics: scores to be settled and slights not forgotten. Funding an album is an expensive form of therapy and the listener ends up paying the price. If this Northern Star is to shine again, she’ll need more than just the best of intentions.
Originally published 25th April 2005
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