These girls were a phenomenon in the late 90s I was a huge fan when I was younger, and could you blame me? I was only 5-7 years old. After watching them on the closing ceremony of the Olympics I knew one of their videos would be popping up on this blog. I chose this one because the song has been stuck in my head all day, and it has in fact managed to calm down my nerves about my results, which I get on Thursday. Spice Girls consisted of Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Mel B (Melanie Brown), Mel C (Melanie Chrisholm) and Victoria Beckham. They all had "spice" names within the group, they were called Baby Spice, Ginger Spice, Scary Spice, Sporty Spice and Posh Spice respectively. Geri left the band to do her own thing leaving the 4 remaining girls to release one last album together in 2000, they soon disbanded and it looked like there will be no reunion. Then after a lot of speculation in 2007/2008 they did a comeback reunion tour with a greatest hits album and a new single called "Headlines (Friendship Never Dies)" the album and single didn't perform as well as expected, the girls also found it difficult as they are all mothers and so being away from their children was difficult too, so it was never a full-on reunion. Now rumours have came up again, some of them are so strong that there are quotes from the band members. But Victoria has her own life in the states, according to rumours she will not be re-joining the band, meaning if the Spice Girls come back for good, it might be a four-piece again.
"Spice Up Your Life" was written by Matte Rowe, Richard Stannard and Spice Girls. It was inspired by Bollywood films and the colour they show, they found it difficult to get it into a song, but they sure did it. The girls had very little inspiration by this point as they were also filming "Spice World" which was a Spice Girls film. They were so busy that they had little time to do anything, the worst part was that the girls wanted a circus-themed music video, but the director had this idea instead, the girls were so drained by then that they couldn't be bothered to argue and they just went along with it. Was it the right choice? I'll never know as they never actually filmed this so-called circus-themed video, but no matter what they did it probably would've turned out great anyway.
This music video is definitely different. It was also considered as way before its time. If it were released today, it would fit perfectly, there would obviously be the few changes that is needed such as the graphics and the storyline, they would definitely make it much more clearer.
To be honest I never knew what this video was about when I first saw it, I must have been only 4/5, but even now I'm not sure what it is about, except that I might understand it a little bit better, so here goes: The girls have taken over the world, but it isn't the way it's supposed to be, it's dreary, it's horrible and definitely dark. The only exciting thing is the posters and advertisement, which are all about the Spice Girls, there is even Spice Girls Coffee! That look a lot like Starbucks. They are ruling the world and all we can watch on TV is the Spice Girls.
It definitely resembles their promotional side, you couldn't go through a whole week back then without seeing them pop up on one TV show or another. They promoted, promoted, promoted, and that is essentially what got them their number ones. Nowadays it's not like that, fair enough you can still go on TV shows and promote, I know quite a few artists who have done it, but the problem is the spots are usually on daytime TV and we already have so many channels, you might not be watching, at the end of the day it might help the sales, but not by much.
Overall, a great pop group that we all totally miss. Fine I agree they are my guilty pleasure, HEY everyone's got one right? And I was super-excited when they appeared on the Olympics Closing Ceremony. This video on the other hand is missing the Spice Girls enthusiasm, where is all the colour and the fun? I imagine a spice world to be the total opposite of what is shown in this video, I feel like I want to paint that world, maybe the girls should have been doing that in the video! I have my fingers crossed that a proper comeback will happen in the future, but to be honest I don't really want to get my hopes up.
Today I was not sure at all what music video to review next, so to look for inspiration I decided to flip through the music channels. After hearing Amelia Lily's "You Bring Me Joy" about 3 times, this song appeared on three of the channels at the same time. And for the next hour this music video popped up over and over again, I presume Nicki Minaj was trying to tell me to review her, so here I am.
Nicki Minaj, real name Onika Maraj, was born in Saint James, a "suburb" of Port of Spain which is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. When she was five she moved to New York and that was where she was brought up. For this video, she has gone back to her roots and it is filmed in Trinidad & Tobago with loads of references to her home country.
"Pound The Alarm" was written by Onika Maraj, Nadir Khayat (RedOne), Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, Bilal Hajji and Achraf Jannusi. Quite a team don't you think? However it's got "Starships" written all over it, I can hear the musical difference, it's there but it's not quite so clear, therefore I could imagine this song to be the same with just the lyrics being different. I also find "Starships" much more catchy whereas this song isn't so sing-a-long-able, if that makes sense.
At first I was not impressed at all, to be honest I was quite disgusted, I thought once again she has created another rubbish music video one that may be slightly better than "Stupid Hoe" but still really bad. However now I've looked into it and found out the meanings and the reasons as to why she's dressed like that and the reasons why she does the things that she does, I find it more of an inspirational music video because she's gone back to her roots and where she began, literally. It doesn't make it the best music video, clearly but it has made me see it in a different light.
The video was set in Trinidad & Tobago as I have previously said, Nicki Minaj is parading around in quite a revealing costume, which is more of a traditional costume that is to be worn at the Trinidad & Tobago Carnival. It made me laugh the way everything moved as she walked. There is a lot of Trinidad & Tobago flags and the fact that Nicki Minaj has focused on her home town and their traditions makes me inspired by her, and I hope many people feel the same.
There are a few known people appearing here and there, these people are: Machel Montano (a soca singer), Bunji Garlin (a reggae/soca singer) and Fay-Ann Lyons (a soca singer). Nicki Minaj also starts a conga line, dances sensually and also does a lot of choreography, this is traditional of Trinidad & Tobago Carnivals, and it's nice that they have kept with the free spirit of the traditions.
Overall a song that sounds very much like a previous single, and an accompanying music video that looks not so good at first, but when you find out more about it, you realise that it is not so bad, on the other hand, the song and the music video has next to nothing in common. So weighing up everything I've decided to give it this rating, I hope I come across much better music videos from Nicki Minaj in the future.
Well you all knew this was coming, I had to make a choice, it was between Rita Ora's "How We Do (Party)" Vs. this song as both singles have been released this week. I had a big feeling that Rita Ora's song will chart well, and I'm right as it is currently number one on the UK iTunes chart, and that is why I reviewed it last week. This song, on the other hand is currently in the top 100 and is climbing higher and higher, but I thought it might help if I reviewed it as my new release.
Aiden Grimshaw first became known on the seventh series on the UK's The X Factor. He was stiff, nervous and just looked like he wasn't comfortable. Now we know why, it was all down to the song choices, there are no songs out there that's right for him, hence why he hasn't released any covers, instead he has his own songs and they are so different to anything I've heard of before, and he's the only one who could sing such songs. His album is released soon and I cannot wait to listen to it, as I can see it being perfect in every way. It will also have his brilliant first single on there "Is This Love". The seventh series of The X Factor produced quite a few artists who are: Matt Cardle (winner), Rebecca Ferguson (second), One Direction (third),
Cher Lloyd (fourth), Mary Byrne (fifth), Katie Waissell (seventh), Paije
Richardson (eighth), Aiden Grimshaw (ninth), Belle Amie (eleventh),
Storm Lee (fourteenth) and Nicolò Festa (sixteenth).
This music video is much happier than the first single, however it's more of a performance piece than a narrative video, as there is not much to the storyline, instead we have people having fun and doing exactly what they want to do. Which doesn't exactly link in with the song as the song is about loving someone and them loving you back.
I like some of the things you see like that biker jumping off the bike. I love the bit where the couple is lying down on the car and the plane flies over the top of them, that must give you a high adrenaline rush. However I do not agree with the scene where the bikers are setting off fireworks, fair enough it's part of the video, but it can be considered to be encouraging kids to do the same, there is no warning that it is highly dangerous.
Overall a great song that I could listen to again and again, it's accompanying music video, on the other hand, is simple and clear, but it's missing quite a lot that could potentially make this video great. The rating would be higher but there is dangerous things going on in the video that could influence other people to do the same.
Rascal Flatts has got my Sunday Revisit this week, why? Well this is one of my favourite songs ever written, it's one of those songs that has to be sung with a lot of emotion, so I couldn't resist but review this one, besides it is one out of 2 Rascal Flatts singles that have managed to get on the UK chart, although this did get a low charting position of 103. Rascal Flatts are a 3-piece Country band consisting of Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney. They have only ever officially released albums in the UK, so this song managed to chart from Album downloads only. Edges is a fan of these too.
"What Hurts The Most" was written by Jeffrey Steele and Steve Robson. It was Mark Wills who recorded it first, but it was only an Album Only version. It was Jo O'Meara (of S Club fame) who released it first as a single. Then Rascal Flatts released it in 2006, and then the most known version comes from Cascada. It is one of those songs I can see being covered a lot in the future. I'm not sure if this works, as a country song, Gary LeVox has a great voice, but I just think I might be too used to Cascada's version.
This music video is again quite different to what I expect. What makes it different is that there are scenes where the characters speak, during these parts the music dies. Over the years there have been numerous ways of doing such a thing, such as subtitles or talking over music, none of which really works and this way also doesn't work either.
This narrative and performance piece is amazing, I like how they are separate too. This storyline is well thought out and amazing to watch. I like how well the actors and actresses perform. No one knows who the actors and actresses are, but if anyone knows please tell me.
Overall this is a sad song but I don't think it works as a country song. However it's accompanying music video is amazing, I cannot fault it, and I like how it builds up, you have no clue as to what exactly has happened until the very end. It's an emotional music video and a totally different take than Jo O'Meara's and Cascada's. And for that, this is obviously the rating it deserves!
All day I've had Amy Studt's song: "Going Out Of My Mind" stuck in my head all day. Unfortunately it was never officially released as a single, so I couldn't review it. However "Misfit" is definitely the next best thing. Besides, the only way to get rid of a Amy Studt song that's stuck in your head, is by singing another Amy Studt song. Amy Studt hit the UK in 2002 at age 16, with her first single "Just A Little Girl", she released a few more singles including a cover version of "All I Wanna Do" in 2004, however due to low sales she was dropped and disappeared. She returned with a mature look and a mature sound in 2007 with 3 single releases including "Nice Boys", however her album failed to chart, and the single releases didn't perform as well as they should have done. She is now getting ready to release her third album, but she is also part of MercyMadeMe, who have just filmed a music video, I cannot wait to watch it and review it on my blog.
"Misfit" was written by Amy Studt, David Eriksen and Karen Ann Poole. This is what makes Amy Studt's songs catchy, because she's written most of them herself, or she has connected with the song amazingly. This song has started appearing here and there, it's been mentioned in a few books and has even been mentioned for the "Fifty Shade Of Grey Soundtrack". I think it will be one of those songs that probably isn't the best Amy Studt song, but will be the most memorable and the one that will forever be popping up here there and everywhere.
Now putting all biased views aside since I am kind of a big fan of Amy Studt, this music video isn't that great. Even for the time era, there was definitely better music videos, on the other hand this definitely looks low budget, but even then it could've been better. However it links in with the song, which is exactly what we wanted.
I like the Grease theme to this, you have "the pink ladies", and I have to laugh at Amy Studt all dressed up like Sandy, it definitely looks wrong. This song is all about being a misfit, and how it's good to stand out and be yourself rather than being in someone's shadow. I also like the ending and how she hopes that she gets spotted by potential talent scouts and the other girls are unhappy that she's the one who gets spotted. We all have those types of wishes right?
Overall a great song, however there are better ones on her album, it's accompanying music video isn't great, but it does link in with the song, and it also has a narrative that is easy to understand. I can't wait to hear new music from this girl, and I hope she gets the popularity she clearly deserves.
