The Sugababes Discography Rate

DJHazey

DJHazey

he/him
I'm actually surprised it lasted this long. The comment of it "sounding like a Change leftover" describes it well and probably why it gets so much unjustified hate.
 
beyoncésweave

beyoncésweave

Let's keep trimming the fat...​




































#54

5_11_Open_The_Door_2.jpg

Open The Door
Score: 7.284
Highest: 10/10 x 11 (@etienne, @DJHazey, @supersoon, @Conan, @londonrain, @scottdisick94, @kal, @Mr.Arroz, @Uno, @cryctall, @Blayke)
Lowest: 4/10 x 3 (@GhettoPrincess, @mrdonut, @SuperNerd)
My score: 6 /10
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This is a bit of fluff, isn’t it? All the pieces are technically in fine order here; the verses are nicely handled, the chorus has a certain tightness to it and it has some catchiness to it. But something about it still feels rather … lethargic and by-the-numbers? The call-and-responses at the end of the verses come off as tired, as does the middle eight with its vocal distortion. It feels a little like a producer’s (Dr. Luke to be specific here) second grade presets being idly put to effect a week before the album is due to be mixed. The song just lacks conviction because of that, and it’s hard to shake off the feeling that it just needs a bit of a spark to properly go off. In the unsteady days of Change, this is exactly the sort of mediocre track that one longed for Mutya to elevate, and lamented Amelle not being able to do much with (her bridges barely register here). The harmonies, however, are genuinely lovely and are the best thing going for this, being used to great effect as an underlay to the beat.

CasuallyCrazed (4.5) dares to evoke Britain’s premier parody girlband in my rate, “The Saturdays “Open The Door” > Sugababes “Open The Door”. “First line of the chorus is ace. The rest... eh,” ehs VivaForever (5). acl (7.8) searches ha memory vault for a reference and kinda lands it, “This has always reminded me of something else. -Edit- “Don’t Look Any Further”. I like their voices. It’s a keeper”. Well, keep it! mrdonut (4) is also stuck in the 80s, “Well it's always nice to hear a PM Dawn-style drumbeat.”

Filler (7) damsnt he song with faint praise, “I'm sure I've heard every Sugababes song before this rate, but there were a fair few I didn't remember beyond the title. This is the only one of those that it turns out wasn't a bit shit. What a moderately pleasant surprise. Change has a third good song after all.” Lost In Japan. (7.5) is also easily misled, “I honestly couldn’t tell you a time I had heard this song before this rate, but what a BOP.” PCDPG (7.5) is far too generous for this sorta shade, “A lovely ballad and a beautiful chorus. This song is nice as background music.” Speaking of background music, Solenciennes (9) finds this to be “definitely one of the better songs on the album, the harmonies are infectious and the chorus is a beast. Keisha’s on top form here, I think this would have had a “No Can Do”-sized impact on the charts if they’d released it as a single but it’s certainly superior to most of the rest of the album.”

HRH (8) clocks shady Quiche’s food poisoning tricksies, “You've got to love how blatant Keisha doing backing vocals for herself is. Clearly written and recorded while the other two were struck by a "mystery" bug.” Chanex (8) is very easily moved, “I like how they are able to inject some soul and pathos into a tune that could be a little colour-by-numbers in the wrong hands.” “C’mon harmonies! This isn’t exactly a standout but it’s a lovely listen nonetheless,” somehow warrants an 8 from a befuddled Constantino.

“Gaaaah so good,” ejaculates P'NutButter (9). “10 is probably too high for the song,” says uno correctly first, before continuing incorrectly, “but when I try to find something to knock off points for, I can't hear anything. Heidi's vocalizing during the chorus really elevate the song for me, and the lyrics are quite great and relatable.” DJHazey (10) catches feels in all the wrong places, “Love that we're opening with the chorus for once and it's catchy as hell. The haunting "oooos" and jingling backing track really give this a mo-town feel and I adore it. Keisha hits the middle eight out of the park, I mean my God I feel numb with goosebumps.”

Blayke (10) somehow wipes “Denial” from his memory before going on another spiele, “This is my favourite song on the album. I love the harmonies and Keisha’s dominance on the song. Heidi sounds BRILLIANT on this song. Actually this is one of Heidi’s career highlights for me. I can imagine Mutya’s voice on this song sounding incredible. I wish they made this into a single with a bright, summery video with a loads of pops of colour and make it look aquatic. There’s a particular promotional photo from the era where I imagine the set to look like the photo. Amelle is pretty insignificant on this song which is a shame. She could have taken the middle eight but this song sounds like one of Keisha’s babies.” Similarly, londonrain (10) obviates “Never Gonna Dance Again” and “Undignified” from his memory, “The best album track on Change. I was very disappointed that they didn't perform it on the Change tour.” On the plus side, this means I won’t have to hunt for LQ 30 second clips of performances of this recorded by drunk gays on Motorola Razrs and hastily uploaded to Youtube nine years ago without proper encoding. And the dementia just keeps on creeping. “The best vocal performance on the album,” spasms kal (10), scrubbing his memory of “Change”.

Ironheade (6) is here once more to save my sanity and end this nonsense, “Not much to this one, is there? It feels almost unfinished, in a way – sure, there's a catchy chorus and some pleasant call-and-response harmonies, but here's the thing, that's basically all there is. The bassline doesn't have enough of a punch, buried behind the drums, and the rest of the instrumentation also lacks flavour. I suppose it does have an ultra-simple, slightly homespun charm of sorts, which goes a bit of distance to make up for how bare the song feels otherwise, but it's not the kind of thing you'd want to listen to that often, honestly. The album's showing some tired wings by this point. Let's move on.” Do let’s.

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