Track Listing
1. Go!
2. Nothern Star
3. Goin' Down
4. I Turn to You
5. If That Were Me
6. Never Be the Same Again
7. Why
8. Suddenly Monday
9. Ga Ga
10. Be the One
11. Closer
12. Feel the Sun
13. Never Be the Same Again - (Single Mix)
14. I Turn to You - (Hex Hector Radio Mix)
| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Bryan Adams, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopez | | Distributor: | EMI Music Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
This version of NORTHERN STAR replaces the previous version and contains two bonus tracks.
Personnel includes: Melanie C, Bryan Adams (vocals); Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes (rap vocals).
Producers: Rick Rubin, William Orbit, Craig Armstrong, Marius DeVries, Rick Nowels.
Engineers: Gary Thomas, Randall Wine, Chris Fogel.
Personnel: Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes (rap vocals).
Audio Mixers: Dave Pensado; Patrick McCarthy; Rhett Lawrence; Carmen Rizzo.
Recording information: Air Studios, London, Olympic Gardens; Angel Studios, Islington, London, England; Cello Studios, LA; Fredonia International L.A. Track Records, LA; Guerilla Beach Studios, LA; Royaltone Studios, LA; Sound Gallery Studos, LA; The Studio, LA; The Village Recorder Studio, LA.
The debut solo effort from Melanie C proves that the musical sensibilities of the woman otherwise known as Sporty Spice are informed by far more than just bublegum pop. The majority of these songs are about forced maturation, leaving loved ones behind, and facing up to the realities of a world colored by tragedy, heartache, and emotional pain.
William Orbit adds his deft production touch to the album-opening "Go!," creating an electronic soundscape at once insurgent and ethereal. Electronics also tinge the fiery "Goin' Down," on which the song's principal character, stung by betrayal, declares "From this little hitch/I have become a superbitch." "If That Were Me" is an affecting composition on which the singer addresses the plight of the homeless. Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC fame makes a guest appearance on the catchy "Never Be the Same Again." Even Rick Rubin takes a turn in the production booth for the Beatles-esque romp "Suddenly Monday." Perhaps the album's most inviting track is the bittersweet ballad "Be the One," on which Mel floats through the upper register with grace and ease.
Although she wasn't anointed Indie Spice by the British music press until after the Spice Girls' second album, Melanie Chisholm always made it clear that she preferred Blur to Take That. Of course, her personal musical tastes never surfaced on the Spices' albums, which may be the reason she is the first Spice to release a solo album while still in the group. With her debut, Northern Star, Mel C wants to break from her Sporty Spice persona while proving herself as a legitimate musician and she does, more or less, with a surprisingly diverse record. Melanie C has a fairly strong voice, a good sense of melody, and carries a tune with some personality, which is one of the reasons why the genre-hopping of Northern Star works. She can convincingly deliver everything from the pop balladry of the title track to the snarling, neo-industrial punk statement of purpose "Goin' Down." And it's a good thing that she can sound convincing on a variety of different styles, since Northern Star attempts to summarize pop music circa 1999. It begins with "Go!," a William Orbit-produced slice of swinging '60s pop with electronica underpinnings, and closes with the ballad "Feel the Sun." In between, she tries a bit of everything -- Brit pop on "Suddenly Monday," post-Garbage modern rock on "Ga Ga," techno-inflected dance on "I Turn to You," urban balladry on "Never Be the Same Again" (complete with a rap by Left Eye Lopes), and melodic adult pop on "Why." Certainly, that's a bit more stylistically schizophonic than Geri Halliwell's album, but that's its charm. It's not a knock-out, yet Northern Star is a solid, well-crafted alterna-pop of modest but palpable charms. [The 2000 re-release includes two remixes: the "Single Mix" of "Never Be the Same Again" and the "Hex Hector Radio Mix" of "I Turn to You."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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