Northern Star [2 LP]

by Melanie C

Overview

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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	04/23/2022
Label:	Capitol / Emi Records
UPC:	0602438893683

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Go!
2. Northern 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

Disc 2

11. Closer
12. Feel The Sun
13. Never Be The Same [Single Mix]
14. I Turn To You [Hex Hector Radio Mix]
15. Follow Me

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Melanie C   Primary Artist
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes   Guest Artist,Rap,Featured Artist
Paul Bushnell   Bass
Melanie Chisholm   Vocals

Technical Credits

Sergio Garcia   Assistant Engineer
Patrick McCarthy   Mixing,Producer,Mixing Engineer
Damian LeGassick   Producer
Ted Jensen   Mastering
Andy Bradfield   Engineer
Craig Armstrong   Producer
Billy Steinberg   Composer
Chris Fogel   Engineer
Gary Thomas   Engineer,Engineer
Greg Collins   Assistant Engineer
Greg Fidelman   Engineer
Rob Playford   Producer
Mark Endert   Engineer
Rick Nowels   Composer,Producer
Julian Gallagher   Composer
Sean Spuehler   Engineer
Phil Thornalley   Composer
Rick Rubin   Mixing,Composer,Producer
Melanie C   Composer
Rhett Lawrence   Composer,Producer
Randy Wine   Engineer
Richard "Biff" Stannard   Composer
Michael Olsen   Assistant Engineer
William Orbit   Composer,Producer
David Munday   Composer
Tom Fritze   Engineer
Tim Lauber   Mixing,Mixing Assistant
Matt Rowe   Composer
Steve Sidelnyk   Composer,Producer
Dave Russo   Engineer
David Schiffman   Engineer
Mike Olsen   Assistant Engineer
Dave Sardy   Mixing,Composer
Carmen Rizzo   Mixing,Engineer
Marius de Vries   Composer,Producer
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes   Composer
David Russo   Engineer
Paul F. Cruz   Composer
Will Catterson   Engineer
Nathan Martoff   Assistant Engineer
Melanie Chisholm   Composer
Lorenzo Martin   Composer
Randall Wine   Engineer
Damien Legassiak   Producer