GenQ - For the not so straight individual

I feel like a little teenage girl all over again. I pop in my CD into the player (secretly pretending it’s a cassette tape into the cassette deck player) and all those songs I grew up awkwardly with through puberty and beyond are all there on one disc! I don’t even have to flip over to Side B! The late 90’s come roaring back to me through the power of music, or more specifically the Spice Girls! And as the pop beat fills my head, I know that ‘I wanna really really really wanna zigazag ha!�

Grrl Power is alive and well inside all of us (your gender is irrelevant when it comes to feminism) and is easily resurrected with one seemingly tiny round disc. It plays like those listening are going on a journey once more with the fabulous fivesome (before Geri left of course). Greatest Hits reads chronologically with ‘Wannabe’ and ‘2 Become 1’ alongside others from their first album. Then the album Spiceworld hits us with numbers like ‘Spice Up Your Life’ and ‘Stop’ that make up the middle. The song list is almost exactly the same as the albums themselves. The slow songs are mixed perfectly well with the faster upbeat tunes, just like in their previous albums too. ‘Goodbye’ is saved melodramatically until the very last song after the new controversial singles are splattered near the end (apparently some of the public have kicked up a stink about the clothing or lack thereof chosen for their video clip to ‘Headlines’ - click here to see the clip and judge for yourself!

Now, I can’t say I really enjoyed the new songs (am I still a Spice fan then?) I was more like subjected to them as a part of the album. Those new songs seemed forced and very formulaic. And I also have to admit that I think the best of the Spice Girls was the early years (maybe Geri leaving really did kill them?). With the exception of ‘Goodbye’, the last album ‘Forever’ was very new music for the Spice Girls who prided themselves on pop girly music. Suddenly, the inclusion of bass and an edgier RnB tone as apparent as in ‘Holler’ (which was an awesomely sexy song nonetheless) became the girls’ focus. Despite the lack of attention the last few singles received, ‘Let Love Lead the Way’ is also on the greatest hits album. Maybe losing Simon Fuller and gaining new management wasn’t in the best interests for the four Spice Girls.

Anyways, forgiving some bumps in the road (that Pepsi song ‘Move Over’, Geri’s departure and the attempt at slow RnB), my Spice Girl experience has been one crazy adventure. The Greatest Hits album has everything you want from the Spice Girls (however I still can’t do away with the other albums because of songs I’ve come to love on them) and yet if you do have all the other albums, you’d still need to get this one so that all your favourite songs are on one jamming CD. Blast that CD player open, fling in that CD, crank up the volume and remember: “HI CI YA HOLD TIGHT!�

I say, bring on another movie!