Forever (Spice Girls Album)
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''Forever'' is the third and final studio album by English
girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...
the
Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...
, released on 1 November 2000 by
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
. It is their only album without
Geri Halliwell Geraldine Estelle Halliwell-Horner (''née'' Halliwell; born 6 August 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, author, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which ...
, who later rejoined the group for their ''
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
'' album in 2007. ''Forever'' peaked at number two on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, becoming the group's only studio album to not top the UK charts. It was later certified Platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI). The album also only reached number 39 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Worldwide the album has sold over two million copies, a commercial disappointment compared to their two previous albums ''Spice'' and ''Spiceworld''. The lead and only single, the
double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
" Holler" and " Let Love Lead the Way", went on to debut at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's ninth number one single. Their 1998 Christmas single " Goodbye", released almost two years earlier, was also included on the album as the closer. " Tell Me Why", "Weekend Love", and "If You Wanna Have Some Fun" were released as promotional singles from the album, with the latter having a montage music video released exclusively to European music stations.


Background

During the
Spiceworld Tour The Spiceworld Tour (also known as Spice Girls in Concert and the Girl Power Tour '98) was the debut concert tour by English girl group the Spice Girls. It was launched in support of their first two studio albums, ''Spice'' (1996) and '' Spicewor ...
in early 1998, the group took on an initial project to write and record songs for a possible third album and a live album. The original concept for this album was to showcase solo songs, duets, and cover songs featuring all five members, in order to promote the idea that the Spice Girls were all individuals, yet could come together as one. The girls went to Dublin's Windmill Lane Studios with longtime collaborators Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe to work on a new album and create master recordings for a live album. With the sudden departure of Geri Halliwell, the project took a major turn, with many of the already produced songs scrapped and the live album cancelled. The Spice Girls recorded their Christmas single, " Goodbye", in July 1998, during the North American leg of their Spiceworld Tour. Once again, the girls teamed up with Stannard and Rowe. The following year, they recorded "My Strongest Suit" for the
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
for the musical ''
Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...
''. In the two years between the release of "Goodbye" in December 1998 and the release of ''Forever'' in November 2000, the group, along with the pop-music landscape in general, changed dramatically. Hoping to cultivate a more mature image, the group teamed up with a team of American producers to give ''Forever'' a more R&B sound. However, initial recording sessions maintained the pop sound of their previous works.


Recording

Recording for the album initially began in mid-1999, and the first tracks recorded for the album were recorded at
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...
with Stannard and Rowe. The group continued working on tracks through August and September, working on tracks with
Eliot Kennedy Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as Céline Dion, Rebbie Jackson, Billie Piper, The Spice Girls, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Donny Osmond, Br ...
at Steelworks Studios and tracks with
Rodney Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), better known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won two Grammy Awards from 19 nomi ...
and
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/ pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with var ...
at Whitfield Street Studios respectively. Following these sessions, work on the album was put on a pause.
Melanie C Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974), commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. W ...
hisholm began promoting her first solo album '' Northern Star,'' released in October, and the group began preparations for the
Christmas in Spiceworld Christmas in Spiceworld Tour was the second concert tour by English girl group the Spice Girls. The eight-show tour was launched following "solo projects, marriages, motherhood and another round of slagging in the press", as a reunion for the gir ...
tour, in which they premiered the tracks "Right Back At Ya", "W.O.M.A.N." and "Holler". Following the tour, Chisholm continued to promote ''Northern Star'', and the other members worked on preparing their own solo material. Recording for the album did not resume until April 2000, when further tracks were recorded with Jerkins in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, followed by the final recording session on 17 July 2000. Sessions with Stannard and Rowe were eventually scrapped from the album, and Kennedy's only surviving contribution to the album was "Right Back at Ya", included on the album in a re-recorded, remixed, R&B form that Kennedy described as a "plodding, boring, bottom drawer R&B song". In an interview with biographer David Sinclair, Stannard relayed his disappointment in the omission of "W.O.M.A.N.": "I thought that song was really interesting lyrically, because it was making the progression from girls to women, which was something Matt and I thought it was time for them to do. They needed something to suggest that they were still the same group of friends, but they were gaining more maturity." Bunton explained that the song was not included because "the sound admoved on" in the time since it was recorded.


Release and promotion

In August 2000, the album's title was revealed through a poll on the group's official website, in which fans voted for what they thought the title would be. The album's cover has the girls "clinging to each other as if they were holding on for dear life", according to ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
''s Peter Piatkowski.
EMI Music Japan , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Wh ...
first released ''Forever'' in Japan on 1 November 2000, with a remix of "Holler" serving as a bonus track. It was distributed five days later in the United Kingdom by
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
and on 7 November in North America by
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
. The album leaked on
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a week prior to its release. To promote ''Forever'', the Spice Girls performed "Holler" and "Let Love Lead the Way" on British televised shows such as '' The National Lottery Stars'', '' SMTV Live'', ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' and '' CD:UK''. The group also gave a performance "Holler" at the 2000 MTV Europe Music Awards on 16 November 2000 in Stockholm, Sweden; before the performance, Chisholm declared that it would be their last appearance together before going on a hiatus to focus on their solo careers. During the performance, the group wore leather outfits, ending with them going through the floor with large orange pyrotechnic flames blazing up. Additionally, the band's members hosted ''
TFI Friday ''TFI Friday'' (Thank Four it's Friday) is an entertainment show that was broadcast on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker, and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five ...
'' on 10 November, as part of the album's promotion. In October 2000, Melanie Brown mentioned that a tour to promote ''Forever'' would take place in late 2001 and that it would be global, including dates in America. However, the tour never came to fruition due to their solo projects. The Spice Girls did not heavily promote ''Forever'' as much as their previous albums, and the promotional campaign was ceased in December 2000 as the group went on an indefinite hiatus. The following month, group member Emma Bunton officially stated that "the record seems to have come to a natural end. I want to concentrate on solo projects and there is no time to release a single now. All our individual projects are scheduled and we wouldn't have time for any promotion."


Singles

" Holler" and " Let Love Lead the Way" were chosen to serve as the official lead single from ''Forever''. Released as a
double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
single, it was released commercially in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2000 as a CD and
cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...
. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart and became the Spice Girls' ninth number-one single in the United Kingdom, tying with
ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
's nine singles that have reached the top of the charts, and behind only
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
,
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
,
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
and
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
as the acts with the most UK number-one singles. It also peaked in the top 10 in several other countries in Europe, including Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Spain. In Canada, the songs were released separately; "Holler" reached number two, whereas "Let Love Lead the Way" peaked at number five on the chart compiled by
Nielsen Soundscan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
. The music videos released for the tracks depicted the girls playing one of the
four elements The classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Angola, Tibet, India, a ...
each. On 18 October 2000, Emma Bunton revealed that the group would not be releasing a Christmas single that year. The following January, she confirmed that no further singles would be released from the album. " Tell Me Why", "Weekend Love", and "If You Wanna Have Some Fun" were released as
promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...
s in November 2000. An official promotional montage video was released for "If You Wanna Have Some Fun" the same month which was compiled from previously released footage. "Tell Me Why" had several commissioned remixes, only one of which was commercially released as a bonus track seven years later on the deluxe edition of ''
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
''. The final promotional push for the ''Forever'' album was a promotional single featuring these remixes that was released in Australia in the summer of 2001 as a competition prize in a cross-promotion with '' TV Hits Magazine''.


Critical reception

''Forever'' received mixed reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 45, based on nine reviews. In a mixed review, James Hunter of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' expressed that "''Forever'' will probably provoke a reaction somewhere in the middle—with one exception, it's just OK." Music critics had ambivalent opinions on the record's change in sound compared to the group's previous releases.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
wrote that on ''Forever'', the Spice Girls "make all the right moves, hiring superstar producer Rodney Jerkins to helm most of the tracks and attempting to seem mature, but this all results in a record that is curiously self-conscious and flat". Andrew Lynch from entertainment.ie opined, "The production is as slick as ever, but a huge part of that old Girl Power enthusiasm seems to have drained and fallen away—and with it most of the fun that used to redeem their fundamental tackiness." David Browne of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' commented, "Every genre cliché, from homogenized harmonies to delicately plucked stringed instruments to male rapper interjections, is securely in place. The music is so tasteful, restrained, and assembly line proficient that it makes early singles like '
Say You'll Be There "Say You'll Be There" is a song by the English girl group Spice Girls from their debut studio album, ''Spice (album), Spice'' (1996). The Spice Girls co-wrote the song with Eliot Kennedy after the group left Heart Management in 1995. Later, Jo ...
' sound like the rawest punk rock." Betty Clarke of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' gave ''Forever'' a negative review, stating it "ultimately makes you yearn for those heady dans when the Spice Girls were pop and proud of it." Other reviews were more positive of the album's production. Michael Paoletta of ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' gave the album a positive review, stating it "oozes with timely funk beats and the kind of well-crafted songs that No. 1 hits are made of." In a positive review, Stephanie McGrath from ''
Jam! Jam! was a Canadian website which covered entertainment news. It was part of the Canoe.com online portal, formerly owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division, and now owned by Postmedia Network. Jam! was the only media outl ...
'' wrote that the album was the group's attempt at "toning down their former flashiness and giving their catchy brand of pop music a sophisticated twist." She wrote that the group sounded "more comfortable" with the album's style and described it as being "full of good pop music." Natalie Nichols from the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' described the vocals on the album as an improvement over those on its predecessor, writing that "the girls muster more vocal passion and authority" when compared to '' Spiceworld''. A review from The Sonic Net wrote that the album sounded "very professional" but also wrote that "only a hardcore fan can deny that the bloom is definitely off the rose."


Commercial performance

''Forever'' debuted at number two on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
with 71,000 copies sold in its first week, behind
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's '' Coast to Coast''. The album spent a total of 10 weeks on the chart. It was certified Platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) on 17 November 2000, denoting shipments in excess of 300,000 copies. In the United States, the album debuted at number 39 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 34,000 copies in its first week. It spent seven weeks on the chart. By July 2006, it had sold 207,000 copies in the US. In Australia, it peaked at number nine, and was certified Gold. The album reached number 10 in Austria, and was also certified Gold. In Canada, it peaked at number six and was certified double Platinum, the highest certification achieved for ''Forever''. The album also peaked at number six in Germany, and was certified Gold. In Ireland, it peaked at number 15. The album reached number 25 on the charts in New Zealand, where it was certified Gold. In Switzerland, it peaked at number 11 and was certified Platinum. As of January 2001, ''Forever'' had sold two million copies worldwide.


Track listing


Notes

* signifies a vocal producer * signifies an additional vocal producer * signifies a remixer


Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Forever''.


Musicians

*
Eliot Kennedy Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an English songwriter and record producer based in Sheffield. He has worked with artists such as Céline Dion, Rebbie Jackson, Billie Piper, The Spice Girls, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Donny Osmond, Br ...
– backing vocals * Sue Drake – backing vocals *
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/ pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with var ...
– arrangement, all musical instruments *
Wil Malone Wil Malone (born Peter Wilson, 29 July 1942, Hornsey, North London) is a British music producer and arranger, who has worked with artists including The Who, Rick Wakeman, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Todd Rundgren, The Verve, Massive Attack, Dep ...
– strings arrangement * Paul Waller – drum programming


Technical

*
Rodney Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), better known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won two Grammy Awards from 19 nomi ...
– production, mixing * LaShawn "The Big Shiz" Daniels – vocal production * Harvey Mason Jr.
Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
; production * Brad Gilderman – recording, mixing * Dave Russell – recording assistance * Ian Robertson – recording assistance * Paul Foley – recording * Ben Garrison – mixing ; recording * Fred Jerkins III – production (as Uncle Freddie) ; mixing * Eliot Kennedy – additional vocal production * Sue Drake – additional vocal production * Robert Smith – production * Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – production * Steve Hodge – engineering, mixing * Brad Yost – engineering assistance, mixing assistance * Xavier Smith – engineering assistance, mixing assistance * Tony Salter – vocal engineering * Richard Stannard – production * Matt Rowe – production * Adrian Bushby – engineering * Jake Davies – engineering assistance *
Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...
– mixing * Paul Walton – mixing assistance * Jan Kybert – mixing assistance *
Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...
– mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Los Angeles)


Artwork

*
Terry Richardson Terrence Richardson (born August 14, 1965) is an American former fashion and portrait photographer. He has shot advertising campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Aldo, Supreme, Sisley, Tom Ford, and Yves Saint Laurent among others, and also done work ...
– photography * Vince Frost – design


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


References


Bibliography

* * {{Authority control 2000 albums Albums produced by Harvey Mason Jr. Albums produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Albums produced by Richard Stannard (songwriter) Albums produced by Rodney Jerkins Spice Girls albums Virgin Records albums