![Review: Melanie C - Stages [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/geek/gars/images/1/3/8/5/7/melanie-c-stages.cd_.jpg)
![Review: Melanie C - Stages [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/altthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhangout.altsounds.com%2Fgeek%2Fgars%2Fimages%2F1%2F3%2F8%2F5%2F7%2Fmelanie-c-stages.cd_.jpg&w=500&h=500&zc=1&q=70){kind=small}
Spread the Social Love:
I’m not quite sure why the world needed an album of crooning theatre covers from an ex-Spice Girl whose best-remembered brush with solo fame came courtesy of one Bryan Adams way back in 1998. Yes, it’s been over a decade since we Spiced up our life (every boy and every girl) but, fresh in the wake of their Opening Olympics Ceremony performance, are things about to get a whole lot Spicier once again?
The answer is a pretty emphatic “no”. Melanie C’s Stages is a pleasant collection of covers across a range of Musicals with the odd classic thrown in. It’s capable and occasionally interesting but spicy this is not and the prevalence of Musical numbers means that Stages struggles to justify its existence as a bonafide album and instead comes across as a songs-from-the-shows style medley of hits.
The choice of songs on Stages reflects Mel C’s extensive time in the theatre and the influence its clearly had upon her. As a showcase for her singing voice, Stages is pretty successful. Melanie C does a good job with a varied selection of stage classics from 'Maybe This Time', from the movie Cabaret and made famous by Liza Minnelli, to 'Both Sides Now' from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and delivers the songs with a decent showing of energy. The chaotic pace of 'Another Hundred People' leaves her behind and her nasal singing tendency returns in force in Jesus Christ Superstar’s ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ but otherwise it’s a strongly sung collection.
http://soundcloud.com/melanieconline/melanie-c-maybe-this-time
Emma Bunton turns up on 'I Knew Him So Well' and lends the duet a bit more of a Spice Girls dynamic and the addition of Burt Bacharach’s ‘I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself’ and ‘My Funny Valentine’ provides a break from the showtunes but otherwise the focus is squarely on the theatre. The vocals are very, very theatrical – breathy whispers rising to big, emotional climaxes – and that’s a shame as it limits the scope of the songs and fails to add anything new to some of the most covered tracks in musical history.
http://soundcloud.com/melanieconline/melanie-c-i-just-dont-know
It’s all a bit X Factor, ultimately, a bit Scarlett-Johansson-covering-Tom-Waits: not bad, but lightweight and disposable. Melanie C does a good job injecting her personality into the songs but it never shifts away from that jukebox, songs-from-the-shows mentality. It feels like a Christmas release: an album for grans across the UK on the hunt for inoffensive collections of familiar songs sung by a familiar face. Melanie C certainly gives us something different in Stages but its a shame that something isn't a little more exciting.
Melanie C's Stages is available now.
The answer is a pretty emphatic “no”. Melanie C’s Stages is a pleasant collection of covers across a range of Musicals with the odd classic thrown in. It’s capable and occasionally interesting but spicy this is not and the prevalence of Musical numbers means that Stages struggles to justify its existence as a bonafide album and instead comes across as a songs-from-the-shows style medley of hits.
The choice of songs on Stages reflects Mel C’s extensive time in the theatre and the influence its clearly had upon her. As a showcase for her singing voice, Stages is pretty successful. Melanie C does a good job with a varied selection of stage classics from 'Maybe This Time', from the movie Cabaret and made famous by Liza Minnelli, to 'Both Sides Now' from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and delivers the songs with a decent showing of energy. The chaotic pace of 'Another Hundred People' leaves her behind and her nasal singing tendency returns in force in Jesus Christ Superstar’s ‘I Don’t Know How to Love Him’ but otherwise it’s a strongly sung collection.
Listen to 'Maybe This Time'
http://soundcloud.com/melanieconline/melanie-c-maybe-this-time
Emma Bunton turns up on 'I Knew Him So Well' and lends the duet a bit more of a Spice Girls dynamic and the addition of Burt Bacharach’s ‘I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself’ and ‘My Funny Valentine’ provides a break from the showtunes but otherwise the focus is squarely on the theatre. The vocals are very, very theatrical – breathy whispers rising to big, emotional climaxes – and that’s a shame as it limits the scope of the songs and fails to add anything new to some of the most covered tracks in musical history.
Listen to 'I Just Don't What To Do With Myself' live on Jools Holland
http://soundcloud.com/melanieconline/melanie-c-i-just-dont-know
It’s all a bit X Factor, ultimately, a bit Scarlett-Johansson-covering-Tom-Waits: not bad, but lightweight and disposable. Melanie C does a good job injecting her personality into the songs but it never shifts away from that jukebox, songs-from-the-shows mentality. It feels like a Christmas release: an album for grans across the UK on the hunt for inoffensive collections of familiar songs sung by a familiar face. Melanie C certainly gives us something different in Stages but its a shame that something isn't a little more exciting.
Melanie C's Stages is available now.
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