The Sugababes Discography Rate

beyoncésweave

beyoncésweave

Plonk.
















#67

2_9_Just_Don_t_Need_This.jpg

Just Don't Need This
Score: 6.894
Highest: 10/10 x 4 (@tylerc904, @theincredibleflipper, @DJHazey, @marie_05)
Lowest: 3/10 x 1 (@lalaclairi_)
My score: 7/10
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So it’s time for the album mid-fodder to start vacating the premises, even perfectly fine, really well constructed songs like this. The chorus has this great, punchy, almost sing-song quality to it. The second verse in particular is quite great; the first half of it extends the song’s prologue, with Mutya’s voice stuck in a vocoder, before emerging slowly to normal. The middle-eight, with the strings swelling, and an extended high note from Keisha, leads into a final chorus where strings, chorus, adlibs and harmonies come together wonderfully.

What I like the most, though, is how the song begins. Mutya’s voice an analogue whisper across the hallway, and the stuttering beat with the strings starting up creating this uncomfortable, forebodying unease. It persists even as the song settles into a nice flow, which, as it turns out, is the perfect accompaniment to the song’s not-extremely-obvious subject matter, which suggests evading and defying predatory male advances. It’s a fantastic example and reminder of how the Sugababes really covered a huge number of bases in the ‘empowerment’ canon, often in not very discernable ways. This is a B-grade non-single snuck into the latter half of a transitional record at the onset of a band’s career, and yet has more depth and care taken to its craft than so many other songs of a similar standing in pop, both across other girlbands, and this particular band itself.

Solenciennes (6) is not feeling it teebs: “I think there’s a good song buried underneath the dated production as you can hear the strings running through this in the background and it has all the makings of a decent mid-tempo Sugababes song. As it is, I’d probably skip it every time it came up on shuffle.” I didn’t know having your 11 on loop counted as shuffle mode, boo. “Decent but nothing great. It doesn't particularly go anywhere,” says a lost londonrain (6). Constantino (5) is, disappointingly, the only one of you to riff off the song title: “Well the album certainly didn’t need this. It had potential but it’s all a bit repetitive and wishy washy.”

Chanex (6.5) is feeling charitable: “The pots-n-pans breakdown followed by Mutya refusing to tangle with your ego is its saving grace. It literally bumped it up a point and a half for me.” “Unnecessary,” says an unnecessary Voodoo (5) while “nothing special” says a not very special PCDPG (5.5). “Boring,” voms Mina (4) for the zillionith time.

Let’s sweep this nonsense with Ironheade (8) who lays it all out for us: “Standard for the 2.0 Sugaballad formula, but that can never possibly be a bad thing. The string section is beautiful, and the way it blends with the guitars in the chorus equally so. Keisha sounds fantastic, too. Strong bridge, as well, with its interesting distorted and manipulated drum sounds, and the little pulses of synth under the final chorus. That synth lead could have made a pretty damn good song by itself. One thing needs to go, though, and that's the weird vocoder-or-whatever-it-is on Mutya's vocals at the start of her verse. Again. Not necessary. Why'd you do that?” Eh, it’s great.

theincredibleflipper (10) is feeling ha oats sadly: “Something about it is spectacular melancholic. Maybe the sad lyrics? I think so.” DJHazey (10) is also rather unexpectedly bopping: “This was quite the re-discovery. The theatrical strings in the background are drawing me in, the chorus is more catchy than I remember, and Mutya's middle-8 is extraordinary.” Blayke (9) is also here to stan the middle eight and to bleat about bonus tracks again: “Back in the day of the damned “UK Bonus Tracks”… Well this hid a gem from me. I like how dark this song is and Heidi really adds the sinister feeling with her vocals on this one. Mutya’s middle-8 is the highlight of the song for me but this song just works. So good.” “This is actually way better than it has any business being,” remarks a CasuallyCrazed (8) who was also feeling the middle eight, “Did Mutya really just say “The problem first starts with your dental”? Yes she did, yes she did!

Remorque (7) meanwhile was not into that particular part: “This is kinda basic sounding, but the verses save this one. The chorus isn’t that bad, but that middle 8 is excruciatingly awful. Having said that, every time this one comes on I feel sassy as fuck.” “This is my jam,” spreads Robinho#1 (8). stopthestatic (7.3) is also bawping: “That instrumental with the strings at the beginning and during the chorus is immense. It's kind of forgotten and feels like it would actually sonically fit on Three.” Yeah I can see that. Swap out “We Could Have It All” or “Sometimes” for this plz.

acl (7.5) serves us a complement-shade 2-for-1 special: “Got nice production, bass, atmospherically purposeful wit8 strings. Lyrics are hit and miss. Suits the album.” mrdonut (7) officiates that “the marriage of those strings with that bass is faultless.” “Lost gem this one,” intones P'NutButter (9.5). Meanwhile kal (9) gets succinctly poetic, calling it “a women’s empowerment anthem before anyone knew they ever needed one. I love the production on this track.”

We once again close with Filler (8) who takes me right back to 2003 and the joy of discovering emoticons and lurid-coloured signatures in Comic Sans: “Back in the MSN days, I used to make 8-second sound clips of everything on Messenger Plus to spam my friends with. One I used frequently as a greeting was of the end of this middle 8 where it goes "YOUR FACE (your faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace)". Well that was my 2000s anecdote. Bye.” Toodles!

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Solenciennes

Solenciennes

Staff member
londonrain said:
Unless @Solenciennes has taken to referring to Rise & Fall as "the Craig David sample". I hope that's what he meant.
Click to expand...

That is what I meant, as in Craig David sample (of the Sting song)!

Just Don't Need This is fine, it would be better if the production was improved I think but it's a pretty mature record to come from a trio of teenagers.
 
LPMA

LPMA

I have a tiny special request! Could you maybe write the song title at the top of the posts as well? When I check in at work most of the artwork and the YouTube videos get blocked. Thanks!
 
D

Deleted member 5343

I'll go, wherever I know that you won't go, I don't have to tangle with your ego and that's just because I said so.

Genius.
 
W

will82

Everytime I hear 'Just Don't Need This' now I just think it sounds so similar to Tame Impala 'New Person' recently covered by Rihanna 'Same Ol Mistakes'
 
londonrain

londonrain

Staff member
beyoncésweave said:
acl (7.5) serves us a complement-shade 2-for-1 special: “Got nice production, bass, atmospherically purposeful wit8 strings. Lyrics are hit and miss. Suits the album.”
Click to expand...

This amazing shade.

beyoncésweave said:
We once again close with Filler (8) who takes me right back to 2003 and the joy of discovering emoticons and lurid-coloured signatures in Comic Sans: “Back in the MSN days, I used to make 8-second sound clips of everything on Messenger Plus to spam my friends with. One I used frequently as a greeting was of the end of this middle 8 where it goes "YOUR FACE (your faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace)". Well that was my 2000s anecdote. Bye.” Toodles!
Click to expand...

What do you mean, 2003?



Sugababes 4.0, ladies and gentlemen. Relevantly irrelevant.
 
Filler

Filler

I was still using MSN Messenger until they killed it in 2013. The program, which I can no longer sign in to and serves no purpose, still loads every time I boot up my laptop.

I don't know what I'm thinking, clinging on to a defunct forgotten relic of the 2000s like that. Anyway, back to the Sugababes.
 
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