I think her solo career was worth it just for Right There and Wet. I’d break up Pussycat Dolls a hundred times to release those.
She just hit it too early and really didn’t have the material to reinforce that choice. Doll Domination suffered because of that decision (even Carmit commented on it at the time that it wasn’t a PCD record) and tbh they really didn’t have prospects as a group until she returned alongside with this The pandemic really fucked them over bc they were really finding a new energy as a group.
Exactly this. However if Nicole had gone solo and her music was a complete 180 from PCD - i.e. she'd released a folktronica record or a rap album then it would make sense. She'd be more interesting as a solo artist because it was music and a style we hadn't heard from her before. Going solo and essentially releasing exactly the same material and having a very similar sound to your group but without said group there with you... it's like S Club 3 with the other members. No one really wants to see it. They want the full shebang.
To this day I still can't believe Nicole and a team of people decided Big Fat Lie was an acceptable album title. They had track titles like Electric Blue, God of War, Girl With a Diamond Heart... and went with Big Fat Lie.
The highs on Doll Domination really showed what the group was capable of as a girl group. ‘When I Grow Up’, ‘Bottle Pop’, ‘Whatcha Think About That’, ‘I Hate This Part’, ‘Happily Never After’, ‘Magic’, ‘Halo’ and ‘Hush Hush’ (either version) are all stand out songs, whereas the rest I could leave if I am perfectly honest. What they should have done was begin the transition to having the other girls lead tracks by intersplicing each of their solo songs from the deluxe album into the main version. ‘If I Was a Man’, ‘Space’, ‘Don’t Wanna Fall in Love’ and ‘Played’ are all fantastic tracks and would fit perfectly inbetween the Dolls tracks making an incredible album. That way, the phase out of Nicole as a solo singer would have been easier as it raised the profile of the girls into a potential third album, even if they had drafted in a new front woman. Alas, the Pussycat Dolls was just a vehicle for Nicole and they quickly realised this, however her likeability factor prevents her from being a strong enough solo artist. It’s a double edged blade sadly.
For me it was the opposite. The solo songs on Doll Domination were abhorrent and instead of showcasing each girl's talent, it felt it purposely set them up for fail.
Ignoring your comment about Nicole’s “likability”, the ones in bold are tracks I agree are highlights off the standard Doll Domination and in my digital library’s version I kept those (as well as “Who’s Gonna Love You” and “Taking Over The World”) and added in the solo tracks (and the re-issue bonus tracks that aren’t the truly awful “Jai Ho!”). To me that’s the perfect version of the album. The deluxe edition bonus tracks should’ve been everything else. Spotlighting each Doll on the main album would’ve also been in line with a troupe (then again. The Pussycat Dolls weren’t exactly a typical troupe).
Outift reveal, choreo, ad libs, treating guys as props she really gave the gays everything they wanted.
I stan all the solo tracks aside, though Nicole and Melody's (ironically, as the two primary vocalists) were the weakest. My fav non-Buttons Pussycat Dolls song is Love the Way You Love Me so I will not tolerate any slander.
It's so messy that they booked the girls for one-off solo tracks and just dug through the Nicole archives for the standard edition. The budget was budgeting! After Her Name Is Nicole they said...put on this PVC and do some choreography!
