Album
Spice
1996 · Electronic, Funk / Soul
30 collectors on Gatefold own this

Spice is a Pop album by Spice Girls, originally released in 1996. On Gatefold: 199 pressings tracked, owned by 30 collectors.
About
Opening with the stomp of a platform boot and an unrestrained cackle, <i>Spice</i> launched the Spice Girls onto an unsuspecting world with the kind of unbridled, unpolished joie de vivre that would become their calling card. The year was 1996 and the band’s domestic musical landscape predominantly featured boys with guitars (Oasis, Blur) or boys with curtains (Take That, Boyzone)—and Scary, Baby, Sporty, Ginger, and Posh suggested a radical third way, demolishing the outdated edict that girl bands don’t work with the flick of a V-sign. They were loud, bratty, and unapologetically feminine; as comfortable singing about mother/daughter conflicts as slagging off “losers on the dance floor.” Having originally answered an ad in (entertainment industry newspaper) <i>The Stage</i> looking for “streetwise, outgoing, ambitious, and dedicated” women for an “all-female pop act,” Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, and Victoria Adams soon discovered that their ambitions dwarfed those of their management and they absconded with their demos. By the time they signed with music mogul Simon Fuller, most of their debut was written (they claimed co-writing credits on all 10 tracks). They’d also decided to lean into their disparate personas, creating the impression of a roving party to which everyone was invited. While other girl bands had a lead singer, this was a democracy in which writing credits and vocals were split five ways, and where the ruling ethos was fun, fun, and more fun. First track and lead single “Wannabe” is as much a mission statement as a song—assuring the listener via a riot of hooks that, while boyfriends are replaceable, friendship never ends. From there, the album barrels through Europop, R&B, and disco, never quite lifting its foot off the accelerator. By its close, listeners were left in no doubt that they had witnessed the birth of a new moment in pop—one with the power to shift astonishing quantities of albums, lollipops, and platforms, and even launch a new brand of feminism. Girl power had arrived and a new wave of female-centric pop would follow—but none would be quite as charmingly chaotic.
via Apple Music
The Clerk says
The Clerk knows this whole record — the pressing quirks, the credits, the take.
Tracklist
- 1Wannabe2:52
- 2Say You'll Be There3:56
- 32 Become 14:00
- 4Love Thing3:37
- 5Last Time Lover4:11
- 6Mama5:03
- 7Who Do You Think You Are3:59
- 8Something Kinda Funny4:02
- 9Naked4:26
- 10If U Can't Dance3:50
Sound DNA
- Pop
- Dance-Pop
- layered
- celebratory
- summer
Spice is the debut album by British girl group the Spice Girls, released in September 1996 by Virgin Records. The album was recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London between 1995 and 1996, by producers Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, and the production duo Absolute. The album is a pop record with an inclusion of styles such as dance, R&B and hip hop. It is considered to be the record that brought teen pop back, opening the doors for a wave of teen pop artists. Conceptually, the album centered on the idea of Girl Power, and during that time was compared to Beatlemania.
Spice was a huge worldwide commercial success. The album peaked at number one in more than 17 countries across the world, and was certified Multi-Platinum in 27 countries, Platinum in 14 countries and Gold in 3 countries, including a 10 times Platinum in the UK and Canada by the British Phonographic Industry and the Canadian Recording Industry Association, 8 times Platinum in Europe by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, and 7 times Platinum in the US by Recording Industry Association of America. It became the world's top-selling album of 1997 selling 19 million copies in over a year. In total the album sold 23 million copies worldwide, becoming the biggest-selling album in music history by a girl group and one of the most successful albums of all time.
Five singles were released from the album. The first single, "Wannabe", became a worldwide success went to number one in 35 countries, one of the best-selling singles of all time and selling over six million copies worldwide. The next two singles, "Say You'll Be There" and "2 Become 1", reached number one in 53 countries. "Who Do You Think You Are" was released as the official Comic Relief single in the UK as a double A-side with "Mama" and both songs reached the top 20 in charts across Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In the band's native UK, all four singles went to number one on the UK singles chart and, in the Billboard Hot 100, the album produced three top five singles.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its UK/European release, Spice was reissued on 29 October 2021 under the title Spice25, on CD, LP, and cassette formats. The Deluxe 2-CD edition includes a number of previously unreleased demo versions, as well as B-sides and remixes. A notable change on the Deluxe CD is that the album version of "2 Become 1" (where Geri Halliwell sings: "Boys and girls feel good together") is replaced by the single version (where the line, sung by Victoria Beckham, is changed to the more gender-neutral: "Love will bring us back together"). B-sides "Bumper To Bumper" (from Wannabe) and "Baby Come Round" (from Mama / Who Do You Think You Are) were also left off the deluxe version, although it does include the song "Feed Your Love," which had partially leaked online a decade earlier and was first released in full as a B-side in the Wannabe 25th anniversary reissue.
Credits
The people behind it.
Performers
- Craig ArmstrongARRANGED BY
- Dave WayPROGRAMMED BY
- Digital Underground
- Eric GoodenBACKING VOCALS
- Greg LesterGUITAR RHYTHM GUITAR
- Isobel GriffithsCONDUCTOR
- Jackie DrewVIOLIN
- Judd LanderHARMONICA
- Mark BeswickARRANGED BY
- Mary PearceBACKING VOCALS
- Matt RoweKEYBOARDS KEYBOARDS, PROGRAMMED BY PROGRAMMED BY
- Paul WallerPROGRAMMED BY
- Pete DavisPROGRAMMED BY
- Richard StannardBACKING VOCALS KEYBOARDS KEYBOARDS, PROGRAMMED BY
- StatikPROGRAMMED BY
- StatikPROGRAMMED BY
- Tony WardCELLO
30 collectors on Gatefold own this · 199 pressings tracked on Gatefold
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