The Sugababes Discography Rate
- Thread starter beyoncésweave
- Start date
he/him
Gotta Be You gets such a bad rap. I really like it too.
As much as I adore Nadine and think she would do a fabulous job of it, my ears hurt just thinking about how much the other four would ruin it.
Despite the changes in sound and look, all three iterations of Sugababes that I recognize have one thing in common: vocally, they are unbeatable.
Can you imagine the Sugababes singing a song about needing a man to validate their looks in order to feel empowered in the world?
Wait, wha-
I can't believe noone gave Spiral an 11! It ideally should be top 10. Maybe if Kenna's lines were taken over by Heidi also these songs should have been at least top 50 or placed higher than they ended up
Disturbed, Colder, Just Let It Go, Undignified, Beware, Wait 4 U, Thank U, Freedom, 1 Touch and It Ain't Easy
These should not be in the top 50 or should have placed lower
Gotta Be U, Open The Door, Angels, Shape, Real Thing, Obsession, 2 Hearts, Now You're Gone, Change and Party Thing
Disturbed, Colder, Just Let It Go, Undignified, Beware, Wait 4 U, Thank U, Freedom, 1 Touch and It Ain't Easy
These should not be in the top 50 or should have placed lower
Gotta Be U, Open The Door, Angels, Shape, Real Thing, Obsession, 2 Hearts, Now You're Gone, Change and Party Thing
Hmmm, we covered this ground pretty thoroughly with "Wear My Kiss" and "Mended By You", preciozi!Can you imagine the Sugababes singing a song about needing a man to validate their looks in order to feel empowered in the world?
Wait, wha-
I had already written those two disasters out of my memory. I'm wondering to which deity I should pray for the timely eliminations of the other disasters of this rate, namely [redacted].
Well, you're not gonna be happy.
Hands up who forgot this was still in?
Breathe Easy
Score: 7.333
Highest: 10/10 x 8 (@Voodoo, @Sprockrooster, @Mina, @HRH, @roux, @constantino, kal, @Blayke)
Lowest: 1/10 x 1 (@etienne)
Myscore: 8/10
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Oh, this is just lovely isn’t it? A gentle little ditty snuck onto the end of Angels With Dirty Faces to close things off with a warm sigh. It’s extremely simple in every way, and as such, sticks out quite a bit in the band’s discography; it’s impossible to find any edge in this. As a result, it strikes me as quite an accomplishment, in that seemingly-effortless-but-probably-took-some-work way. It carries over the bare-bones, slow aesthetic of One Touch, for sure, but it fits rather well on Angels by being thematically sunny and without any hint of that album’s ever present darkness. The vocals are beautiful on this, especially from Mutya. The three hadn’t quite mastered blending yet, and Heidi strains a little on her verses, but it kinda adds to the rough-hewn charm really.
I’m not too bothered about the acoustic/non-acoustic debate on this. The non-acoustic version was released as a B-side to “Freak Like Me” and is also a gentle bop – basically with a beat, quiet synths and some nice instrumentation layered onto the acoustic version – but I think they were correct in choosing the acoustic for the album, and in particular as the album closer. It just fills you with such a lingering warmth, which manages to patch up quite a lot of the unevenness in the album’s second half.
I’m rather surprised that this placed so high, or rather, that this is the last remaining track of its kind when the others fell away really early on i.e. “Don’t’ Wanna Wait” (#98), “Groove Is Going On” (#95), “Forever” (#91). I think this is the best of the lot, but not by a huge margin, which makes me baffled as to the ostensible innate qualities of this. The easiest explanation is that the others were victims of the B-side effect, but “Breathe Easy” has always felt like a somewhat marginal album track to me, especially due to its acoustic setting. Anyway, this feels like the right time for this to go.
Ironheade (6.5) is not especially enamoured, “Sugababes Unplugged! I'm no fan of the acoustic jam version, but this one does have something to it. It does suffer from another plastic drum machine sound, but the blend of acoustic guitars with shimmery electric and interludes of sensual percussion add an interest that isn't there in the super-unplugged version. The problem is, there's not much else to it than that, and though the Babes all sing very nicely and there's a good sentiment to the lyrics, the actual melody doesn't have much to it. Not special, but it's a nice, simple song. Don't hate it, but rarely ever choose to listen to it.” On the other hand, “lovely,” coos mrdonut (6.5).
PCDPG (7) finds it a “lovely album closer. They should have done more acoustic versions of songs.” CasuallyCrazed (7) does not agree with Heidi’s tracklisting tricksies, “the original is such a breezy baha slow jam, who made the decision to include the acoustic version on the album instead?”
stopthestatic (7.5) outs haself as a chop-and-changer, “Not an incredible song, but pretty nice and a good album closer - I’ve replaced the acoustic jam with the normal version, which I prefer, on my copy of the album.” londonrain (8) triggers me with the greatest acoustic performances of All Time, “The acoustic version is great. The MKS Google+ sessions remind me of this.” acl (8) is also swooning, “Lovely vocals, harmonies, and breezy striped back production.” DJHazey’s 8 doesn’t quite match the drapes, “Super strong chorus that Keisha delivers, but it's not enough of payoff to search out very often. I can't give it a 9 or 10, but I hope it doesn't go earlier than it should.” I think it’s going at exactly the right time, honestly. tylerc904 (7) Mutya sounds SO much like Siobhán on the acoustic version. Only discovered the non-acoustic last year actually!” Remorque’s (9) ears also apparently work on the same frequency” I’ve always loved this one. I usually hate all “acoustic” versions of songs, but this one sounds great and the girls sound wonderful on it. And it’s uncanny how much Mutya sounds like Siobhán on “If I was a little wiser maybe…” Uncanny!”
Solenciennes (8) also catches the same wavelength, and goes in for an in-depth vocal critique, “so I only learned there was a non-acoustic version of this earlier this year, so I’m rating the acoustic one as that’s the version I’ve come to know. I can certainly hear where people think Mutya sounds like Siobhán, and of course, this was quite prevalent on the debut album too; Mutya’s voice still had miles to go in fully bottoming out and now there’d be no mistaking her for Siobhán. Growing up, I always pegged Heidi as the least capable voice (unfairly so, looking back) and nowhere is that more evident than here, she sounds like she’s straining on her verse which shouldn’t be that difficult to sing and then Mutya and Keisha are singing circles around her. It’s pleasant, something I’d have to be in the mood to listen to and would skip if it came up on shuffle most of the time.
“This is the sequel to “Forever”. Splendid” observes a very astute Robinho#1 (9). Runawaywithme (9) is welling up a bitsy, “This has got me feeling a little bit emotional as its hitting me unxepactley hard, the chorus when all their voices come together just makes me melt and again and I just get this warm feeling and it just stops me in my tracks, a really nice finish for the album.” “The acoustic version is gorgeous,” for P'NutButter (9).
Leading the paragraph of hate, it’s uno (3) who retches out something that is apparently an opinion, “Sounds very Sugababes 1.0 -- not in the best way, either.” Filler (4) is not behind either version, “I didn't know there was a non-acoustic version until this rate. I've listened and, well it might as well be acoustic. Who thought this was worth recording two versions of? Were they hoping to do a whole series of escalating difficulty levels? Breathe Normal, Breathe Hard, Breathe Master, Breathe Dante Must Die?” I don’t know about Dante, but Chanex (4) Must Die for this: “Acoustic or not it's a dog. OK the beat on the chorus helps a little bit.”
Sprockrooster (10) gives me flashbacks of the hellish time I had deciding on the tracklist for the rate, “The acoustic version is pretty okay, but I am rating the B-side version, cause it sIays! It might be even their best. Definitely in this rate. "Killer" would be the all-time winner in the B-sides.” Mina throws a curveball by giving this a 10, and saying “The acoustic version of this is my favorite Sugababes slow-tempo.” Blayke (10) once again shades Heidi backhandedly but is in love, “Wow. What a lovely album closer. Each girl sounds so beautiful on this song and really demonstrates that yes, Heidi is a bit of a dip in vocal quality but she still has the bare essentials to contribute to an amazing pop sound. I love all the performances they did of this, they always did such a great job of it. Well, except when some idiot (Mark Hargreaves) thought it would be okay if Amelle sung this live. No. Never okay. The “pop” version on the Freak Like Me single is very enjoyable too, almost different sentiments but still wonderful.”
“WAIT. WAIT A MINUTE,” coughs Constantino (10) recreating that beautiful little moment in “Just Let It Go”. Unlike the hateful 4 he gave that though, he hands a 10 to this, “No one ever told me a Sugababes acoustic track could be this INCREDIBLE. I’m actually floored by how beautiful and spot on this is in every way.” Let’s close with kal (10) who stans through and through, “I’m so happy they used the acoustic version on the album. It flows so well and is such a beautiful laid back jam. The girls’ vocals blend so well. A perfect album closer.” Yep.
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He/Him
The simplicity of this makes it one of the most memorable album tracks of Angels for me. Not too pressed we lost it though as I am shocked it even made it this far...
