Sugababes - Change

i will give this a skim, now, while i go out and buy some vegetables

brb

"About You Now" is an incredibly weak lead-off single, and I am really surprised that it's on pace to be their most successful single ever (xpost from rolling charts thread). "Denial," "My Love Is Pink" and "3 Spoons of Suga" are my favorite tracks from the album so far. The b-side of "About You Now" is called "In Recline" and was produced by Jony Rockstar (same guy who did "3 Spoons of Suga") and it's one of the best things the Sugababes have ever done. Very R&B/garage-y, like something that would have been on Overload.

If the girls had wanted to crack the US R&B market, "Gotta Be You" from Taller In More Ways would have been the obvious choice. I think "About You Now" will do well here, but it will capture more of the Kelly/Avril/Pink crowd. With the way US radio tends to partition things, having a black member and a not white member will help them if they decide to enter the more urban market, but they don't have much on their album, maybe "Back Down," that seems like a breakout R&B single. Hmm.

And Mutya >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Amelle. Amelle's voice isn't bad (although I will say she totally and completely ruined "Follow Me Home") but she lacks the character and (more subjectively) the amazingness of Mutya's voice. I couldn't help but listen to the album and wish I were hearing Mutya on it. Which wouldn't have been the case if Mutya's album had been a lot better.

It's odd, I think "About You Now" is an amazing generic pop song but a weak Sugababes song.

"My Love is Pink" is great, yes, though it's odd to hear Xenophobia finally going all-out electro-house at this late stage.

I think I feel the same as you Musically, in that i'm just really emotionally attached to Mutya's voice and it's hard to let it go (this wasn't an issue when Siobhan left really). Now I'm glad I never bought the Amelle-version of Taller in More Ways.

i think there's a certain seriousness/lightness contrast to the previous two albums which is missing from Change, in the sense that the group previously seemed more comfortable ranging about a bit - from the deadpan "Follow Me Home" or "2 Hearts" to something so breezy as "Joy Division". Pretty much everything on Change has the same frothy-yet-heavy feel.

Must hear "In Recline" - some of the group's best work has been on b-sides. Remember the astonishing "Someone in my Bed"?

The chorus of "Denial" really bothers me. I don't know why exactly, but it must be the way that the three voices collide, how they're singing in different registers at once. It sounds very odd and very ugly. For me, it kind of ruins an otherwise good song. When they're singing individual parts they're all brilliant, but it's a bit of a waste having three singers in a band and not making a very good use of the choir. Girls Aloud, for instance, are incredible at this (but yeah, there's five of them). I really love how the power of a song like "Dog Without A Bone" is drained from the chorus, which is an amazing tour de force. It's huge and stomping and loud and voracious, I love it.

But anyway, the big problem with the Sugababes' album is having too many songs that don't live up to the about 3 excellent songs. Most of the tracklist is too slow, too dull and sometimes even annoying ("Back Down" especially). I miss the r&b numbers, but I like how in their singing they have preserved some of it, as well as some UK garage elements. I need to hear that b-side.
They used to be quite good with the slower songs, but the ones here sound lifeless most of the time. "Never Gonna Dance Again" is incredible, though.

Ditto for "My Love Is Pink". But I still haven't fully assimilated that it truly is a Sugababes song. Sounds a whole lot like Girls Aloud. Or even Booty Luv. Definitely not like Sugababes. I swear, the girl that sings the first verses (Amelle?) sounds very similarly to Nadine from GA.

And I like how both Xenomania songs on the album use the same *clap* sound. Hah.

I can't get past About You Now. That opening drum/static thing is bizarre. I love it.

lol Xenophobia!

"About You Now" is just too Dr. Luke by-the-books. Although it made me think about how well "Since U Been Gone" would have fit the Sugababes.

Intro (Here's the thing, we started off friends): Amelle
Bridge (And all you'd ever hear me say...): Keisha
Chorus: group harmonies
Impassioned final verse (You had your chance, you blew it...): Heidi
Wails over the final chorus, as the multi-tracking really kicks in: Keisha