The Sugababes Discography Rate
- Thread starter beyoncésweave
- Start date
He/Him
Only Sugababes indeed. Have not had cravings for Side Chick but Who is amazing. Currently going through One Touch appreciation with One Foot In, New Year and Promises + the MKS stuff with Flatline, Entertainment, Summer of 99. Amazing! Nothing beats these girls!!
My catalogued 1.0 playlist has been in use lately as well including all suga tracks with Siobhan, even Diamonds.
Considering how long it takes id say either an album is out next (that would mean Ace Reject) or album and lineup (so Run for Cover).
Or maybe our host is just busy
Or maybe our host is just busy
But are you really perched for Ace Reject to exit?
Perched for the next elimination...
I'm actually so grateful for these breaks in between results, I think it adds anticipation for the elimination.
Oh my, so the rate finally turned into a proper mess.
Me reading the flurry of accuseries and butthurteries hurled against me and the Babes (by someone who did not even participate or could be bothered throwing a stray like my way)
Me when my stan squad turned up
Seriously, thank you so much for your lovely defences and kind words, my Sugahunties. It was very moving. I really hate making excuses, so will explain the latest delays when this all finishes, but please know that I am unwaveringly committed to finishing this (you don't just do 104 eliminations and leave things hanging). It'll just be on my terms and at the quality I've tried to establish. If that is not to your taste,
The next elimination will be within the day.
Me reading the flurry of accuseries and butthurteries hurled against me and the Babes (by someone who did not even participate or could be bothered throwing a stray like my way)
Me when my stan squad turned up
Seriously, thank you so much for your lovely defences and kind words, my Sugahunties. It was very moving. I really hate making excuses, so will explain the latest delays when this all finishes, but please know that I am unwaveringly committed to finishing this (you don't just do 104 eliminations and leave things hanging). It'll just be on my terms and at the quality I've tried to establish. If that is not to your taste,
The next elimination will be within the day.
Also,
I mean, I had @Solenciennes made into a mod so I had administrative insurance cover for potential messeries like the last page (and the intra-band stan wars getting too real), but I didn't even need to send him a cheque for $2.50. Thank you thank you, @2014 QUEEN. I feel so blessed.
I couldn't participate in the rate @beyoncésweave, life got in the way unfortunately, but I've been with you all the way. Best rate EVAH (since my 11 won the Saint Etienne rate)Oh my, so the rate finally turned into a proper mess.
Me reading the flurry of accuseries and butthurteries hurled against me and the Babes (by someone who did not even participate or could be bothered throwing a stray like my way)
Me when my stan squad turned up
Seriously, thank you so much for your lovely defences and kind words, my Sugahunties. It was very moving. I really hate making excuses, so will explain the latest delays when this all finishes, but please know that I am unwaveringly committed to finishing this (you don't just do 104 eliminations and leave things hanging). It'll just be on my terms and at the quality I've tried to establish. If that is not to your taste,
The next elimination will be within the day.
Take as long as you need. It only enhances the top reveal.
Solenciennes
Staff member
@beyoncésweave this rate has been so much fun and I love your commentaries even if I don't always agree! It's obvious a lot of work has gone into it. Take as long as you want or need.
I won't disguise my love for you...
Like the sand to the tide...
Like the sand to the tide...
Late at night when I'm feeling blue...
Too Lost In You
Score: 9.296
11 x 3: @Lost In Japan., @Mikl C, @PLUTO
Highest: 10/10 x 48 (@NecessaryVoodoo, @Black Topanga, @VivaForever, @GhettoPrincess, @kal, @etienne, @Solenciennes, @tylerc904, @P'NutButter, @Voodoo, @Sprockrooster, @AlexD, @PCDPG, @lalaclairi_, @Jonathan27, @Lucas, @Methyn Marquis, @Elysium, @Island, @SmashHitter, @CasuallyCrazed, @marie_05, @DoggySwami, @CorgiCorgiCorgi, @Terminus, @Reboot, @ssa, @ohdenny, @londonrain, @supersoon, @Robsolete, @High Heel Feminist, @Robinho#1, @2014, @AllSixSugababes, @Conan, @RJF, @berserkboi, @Runawaywithme, @scottdisick94, @Remorque, @LPMA, @Mr.Arroz, @Uno, @constantino, @Blayke, @roux)
Lowest: 6/10 x 1 (@Deborux)
My score: 10/10
––
“Too Lost In You” is the ballad. It exemplifies the form superlatively in every measure that it enters the Sugababes’ canon instantly as a classic. It moves through its carefully constructed phases with a gliding ease, and yet summons such power and pure feeling that you are left floored.
“Too Lost In You” is a rendition of French chanteuse Patricia Kaas’ 1997 hit “Quand j'ai peur de tout”. Written by Dianne Warren, the song lifts the melody from the original but rewrites the lyrics and beefs up the production. And, of course, adds in les bébés de sucre (or is it les bébés sucrées?).
Production wise, it has everything, from thunderous piano chords to swelling strings to guitar explosions. It’s all layered in expertly, the bare almost a-capella like rendition of the first verse over sparse piano chords leads to the second verse borrowing the strings from the chorus and adding an urgent piano riff; then the second chorus brings the guitars in; before the kitchen sink is thrown at the final chorus. The song seemingly checks off every power ballad convention, but without it ever seeming rote.
That is largely down to the song’s other aces. The songwriting is pitched perfectly, capturing the helpless delirium of being deeply in love with proficiency. Warren is nothing if not a superbly accomplished hand at this (it is very much reminiscent of her power ballad penmanship for Céline and Whitney in the 1990s), and while she piles on the clichés liberally, there are some great lines interspersed in as well, from “fell too far this time” to the second verse’s bevy of “you undo me and move me in ways undefined” to “cos I’m slipping away, like the sand to the tide”. The sweet nothings that bulk up the remainder of the song do not need to be particularly deep; just velvety enough to cotton onto the production and the vocals.
Speaking of, that may be the element that really sets the song awf. The song’s most notable vocal flourish is the neat trick it pulls off in the form of the girls trading lines during the verses. It’s one of those fanfares the band hasn’t really indulged every again, but it’s just perfect for this, hitting that spot of feverish, helpless, madly blind love just as the vocalists step in and out and seemingly layer in. Adding to this, certain lines – like “and you’re all I see”, “cos I’m slipping away” and “if you get to me”– are sung with all three before alternating with single singer lines again. It really hits a peak in the second verse, when the vocal delivery almost matches the imagery, creating a kind of meta-onomatopoeia – like when Keisha croons “I shiver inside” or Heidi whispers “like the sand to the tide”. Things reach a misty delirium with that flurry of “help me baby”s from all three which get right at the eyes-half-closed desperation the song so successfully paints.
All three are on amazing form here, and show off why the intricacies of each of their voices are perfectly suited to this particular song style. Mutya’s polished mahogany baritone leads off that dramatic opening and glides through the verses with ease. Heidi’s smoky-soft tones take over from her, and add in further depth to a smouldering middle eight. What seals the song’s power ballad status, of course, is Keisha swooping in at the last minute. Mutya and Heidi’s showboating for most of the song nearly makes one forget about her, even despite her part in the second verse, but not content with being silenced she completely storms the song, catching the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit with that thunderous lead-in to the final chorus. It is possibly Keisha’s finest vocal moment, and among the band’s very best vocal instances. If you wanted a definition of complete scalping, it’s right in that high note followed by the adlibs which slather Quiche’s extra-concentrated honeyed tones all over the song. And it tastes so good.
If one was looking for things to fault the song for, you could say it might just fall short precisely because of fact that it is a classic ballad. It is impressive enough on its own, but when pitted against the band’s remaining ballad output, it might not have the idiosyncratic edge to really send it over the edge; the cool solitude of “Stronger”, for example, or the darkness of “Run For Cover”. But again, this is nitpicking to the nth degree. It is very much, and simply, the band flexing its muscles, showing off that they can pull off a classic effortlessly. Indeed, the fact that it is one of three exemplary ballads on Three underscores this fact. It ticks the classic ballad box for the album, and joins the perhaps less classical but more idiosyncratic efforts found in “Caught In A Moment” and “Conversation’s Over”. Taken as a trio, it is the last piece of the puzzle; it is closer in production values to “Conversation”, taking the tempo up to power ballad territory, but is closer thematically to “Caught”. It takes the peaceful acceptance of love there and spikes it with desperation and angst – still firm in commitment to love but with a restless, dazed turmoil in the heart about just what that love is doing to you as a person. It’s there in the strings, the guitars, the vocal tradings off, for sure, but also in those tiny details that signpost the rising winds: Mutya’s almost processed desultory sigh after the first chorus; that magnificent run up after Heidi’s part in the middle eight where Mutya shouts a “my babyyyy” into the tornado; and Keisha’s little whisper soon after, the merest of throat clearings before the oncoming final assault. It is such a triumph, in the final instance, because it generates this entire hurricane of furious feeling, something that fills your person and leaves your body reverberating.
To further seal the song’s classic status, the song was prominently featured in the film Love, Actually, apparently being personally selected by the director Richard Curtis (and being reworked, rather unnecessarily and tinnily, for the soundtrack). The film’s Christmas perennial status has given the song a healthy annual turnover, and is probably one of the band’s most recognisable songs. That helps offset a perhaps disappointing commercial performance initially, where its quest for the Christmas #1 single in 2003 failed with a somewhat unexpectedly low #10 charting (the #1 went to Michael Andrews and Gary Jules’ cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World”, which was incidentally also a soundtrack affair, being commissioned for Donnie Darko).
Clips of Love, Actually feature in the song’s video, which has the girls strutting down towards Customs at Stansted Airport while cruising a series of men working at the airport and fantasising various BDSM fantasies with them, Keisha in particular compromising her Christianity with relish. (Incidentally, the distinct reverse of the experience I had at Stansted, where the decidedly less hunky Customs officers subjected me to a series of “random” explosives tests.) They look so good; Heidi with her windswept do and classic blond-and-red-lipstick two-tone combo; Mutya redheaded in a camo-fur-chic affair; and Quiche with crimped hair and rocking a cowl top situation. Their slow motion stomp is one of my earliest and most vivid memories of them. I remember watching them looking every bit the immaculate, poised and indeed, classic, popstars and thinking to myself, simply, queens.
A stingy Deborux (6) is unimpressed, “other than Heidi’s fabulous middle eight, I’ve never really been keen on this.” Ironheade (7) apparently does not like syrup, no matter how delicious, “Yeah, I’ll never quite get the adulation for this one. Unlike a lot of its predecessors, there’s just a little too much syrup here, lyrically and musically. The piano work is not particularly inspired, and while the string section is pretty, it doesn’t really do much more than that, never quite achieving the heavenly grandeur of “Stronger” or “Caught in a Moment”. I do like the crunches of distorted guitar, though. At least the vocal melody is well-done, and the girls all sing very well indeed - the power of Mutya’s lower range really is quite outstanding for a female singer, and Heidi sounds a lot more stable and confident than she ever did on Angels with Dirty Faces. I do like the lyrics, capturing the slight elements of hesitation and awkwardness that many a great love song has… but we’re not there, unfortunately.” Unfortunate for you, boo boo! DJHazey (7) refuses the Warren rush, “I understand why it’s a single, but it won’t make me love it anymore than I do. A mini rush when the chorus comes into play, but boring to me and not enough of a payoff to justify a higher score.” Chanex (7) tries to pretend they are beyond the video’s ratchet-chic charms, “I refuse to be influenced by the iconic video, the song itself is just decent... ok a little bit better than that leading up to the chorus...” ohnostalgia (7.25) is not particularly enthused, “Very surprised to see this in the Top 20? Chalk another one up to the "just doesn’t do much for me" pile. I am pretty sure this is my lowest score left.”
tylerc904 (10) calls it a “gorgeous ballad. Surprised and disappointed this didn’t do more as their Christmas-time ballad single. Sounds like a surefire #1 to me.” Blayke (10) has some similar admissions, “I must admit that I used to find this song boring (when the album came out). I must admit I was 11 and wasn’t feeling in love and the need to listen about it. These days I always prepare myself for some awful power-ballad singing (from me) and really get my life to this song. Though it’s a bit of a Dianne Warren rip off of some French song (and much better at that), the drama and theatrics of the song make it so memorable and amazing. This should have been #1 for that era too.” Filler (7) is also on chart watch, “I’m not normally into these sorts of behemoth movie megaballads, but it makes me oddly happy that the Sugababes have one, and they get just enough mood and atmosphere in there to make it worthwhile. Weird to think that this has a lower chart peak than the likes of “Caught in a Moment” and “Wear My Kiss”. Maybe it’ll be a #1 X Factor winner’s single one day.” This was traumatic enough. Those overreaching vocals…
Sprockrooster (10) has a bevy of revelations as they’re getting scalped mercilessly, “What a dramatic epos. They build this song up brick by brick and layer by layer. Only to tear it down all at once, but falling never felt this good. I did not know it was a Diane Warren song until I read it now and I am even more amazed it was original by fave French chanteuse Patricia Kaas.” Runawaywithme (10) keeps getting ravaged by Sugaballad after Sugaballad, “Another amazing true pop moment. Once again Mutya really shines here as her voice just wraps itself around the song so well and she again gets me feeling genuinely emotional, I think this album is where she really found herself as a singer and as an artist as she really sounds great. When the electric guitar kicks in I get taken away and when it hits the middle eight the hairs on the back of my kneck stand up and I get goosebumps and then Keisha and Mutya’s adlibs make me feel like I am about to shoot up through space and hit the moon and come back down without a wig, crying, shaking and then the outro and last chorus comes along and takes me up to heaven once again.”
And here we have the KeishaSquad turning up. Robinho#1 (10) cries “Stunning cover. Keisha’s iconic ad libs near the final moments of the song are legendary.” Jam (9) also lives “for Keisha’s ‘baby, baby, babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy’” Constantino (10) finally reveals to us how his brother has better taste than him, “Back in the day when my brother and I would watch Love Actually pretty much every week (don’t ask), he’d always stan this song and I personally never really got the appeal…bear in mind that I only ever fucked with uptempos back then. But now, all these years later…this hits me pretty damn hard; the tightness of the harmonies, the lush production, the tension created by the guitars and of course Keisha’s ‘BABY BABY BAAYYYBYYYY!!’. One of their best.” acl (8) “thought this song was basic when it was released it but some exceptional live performances along with Keisha’s baby baby baby highlight and ad-libs has served it well. It still doesn’t get going for me though until 3 seconds before the second verse.” Which is… over half the song?
lalaclairi_ (10) lives for the adlibs, “some of the best adlibs in the group’s entire discography are in this song. Three’s ballads were really on another level.” Meanwhile “Three’s best ballad track,” declares a suitably slain Mina (9). CasuallyCrazed (10) spills some hot tea, “Arguably their most classic ballad, this takes me back to unrequited high school crushes and makes me break down like a little girl. Those harmonies still scalp the wigs of every modern day girl group.” P’NutButter (10) is also gives it GOAT status, “One of the best girl group ballads, ever.” ssa (10) is nearly … turn’t, “Gimme redhead Mutya and I’ll go back to thinking I like women.”
londonrain (10) is counting all his 11s, “The Love Actually version is maybe a 7.5, but I am so glad they released the Three version as a single – it’s an easy 10. This was almost my 11. What a song.” uno (10) is right there with ha, “One of the songs that immediately pop into my head when I think of Sugababes. A contender for my 11 - it’s easily one of their best. That "baby, baby babyyyy!" at the final chorus is so damn good. A career high for them.” PCDPG (10) calls it “their best ballad. Gorgeous vocals and I love that they flow into each other during the verses. Heidi’s middle eight and Keisha’s adlibs take the song to another level. Amazing.”
Remorque (10) comes for the lessers, “I’ve heard people call this boring, but OH MY GOD are they wrong… The girls give us a fucking fantastic performance with all three of them shining as much as the other. Keisha’s ad-libs after the middle eight are a career high, Heidi sounds lush while also giving us a feeling of longing and Mutya gives it her fucking all during the outro. Boring, my ass…”
VivaForever (10) engages in some Warren Worship, “Diane Warren is God.” mrdonut (8.5) joins in “Deeply romantic and a great Diane Warren moment. Controversially though, I consider Caught in a Moment Three’s true standout ballad. Solenciennes (10) disagrees, “what a fucking heavyweight champion of the world this song is. I think I’d like to dance to this at my wedding, if I were to ever get married. Thematically it’s more or less the same as “Caught In A Moment” and in a head to head, “Too Lost In You” is the superior track. I adore the trade-offs between Mutya and Heidi before we charge right into the chorus again; it’s just perfectly suited for the three of them, the vocals are carved up well and it’s a ride from start to finish, properly dramatic pop triumph. Keisha’s “baby, baby, baby” adlibs are so bloody good…” Yath. kal (10) hollerates loudly, “WHAT A SONG! This is the first single that I consciously stanned for and the one that made me properly look up and follow the Sugababes. It’s no wonder Rob Dougan was involved in the making of this beautiful ballad. “And my knees are weak, And my mouth can’t speak, Fell too far this time” — me when I listen to ‘Too Lost In You’”
“Too Lost In You” is now the fourth song to equal the 11s record (alongside “Situation’s Heavy”, “Conversation’s Over” and “Overload”), which remains unbroken at three. We have the grand Lost In Japan. to break it down for all of us, “Sugababes are the queens of girlband ballads and this is the best example why. The lyrics of Keisha’s verse (“well you whisper to me / and I shiver inside / you undo me and move me in ways undefined”), all three girls’ vocals, the power behind that chorus, one of Heidi’s all-time best middle eights followed up by that Keisha ad-lib. Timeless and a classic (to me at least).”
“Too Lost In You” is a rendition of French chanteuse Patricia Kaas’ 1997 hit “Quand j'ai peur de tout”. Written by Dianne Warren, the song lifts the melody from the original but rewrites the lyrics and beefs up the production. And, of course, adds in les bébés de sucre (or is it les bébés sucrées?).
Production wise, it has everything, from thunderous piano chords to swelling strings to guitar explosions. It’s all layered in expertly, the bare almost a-capella like rendition of the first verse over sparse piano chords leads to the second verse borrowing the strings from the chorus and adding an urgent piano riff; then the second chorus brings the guitars in; before the kitchen sink is thrown at the final chorus. The song seemingly checks off every power ballad convention, but without it ever seeming rote.
That is largely down to the song’s other aces. The songwriting is pitched perfectly, capturing the helpless delirium of being deeply in love with proficiency. Warren is nothing if not a superbly accomplished hand at this (it is very much reminiscent of her power ballad penmanship for Céline and Whitney in the 1990s), and while she piles on the clichés liberally, there are some great lines interspersed in as well, from “fell too far this time” to the second verse’s bevy of “you undo me and move me in ways undefined” to “cos I’m slipping away, like the sand to the tide”. The sweet nothings that bulk up the remainder of the song do not need to be particularly deep; just velvety enough to cotton onto the production and the vocals.
Speaking of, that may be the element that really sets the song awf. The song’s most notable vocal flourish is the neat trick it pulls off in the form of the girls trading lines during the verses. It’s one of those fanfares the band hasn’t really indulged every again, but it’s just perfect for this, hitting that spot of feverish, helpless, madly blind love just as the vocalists step in and out and seemingly layer in. Adding to this, certain lines – like “and you’re all I see”, “cos I’m slipping away” and “if you get to me”– are sung with all three before alternating with single singer lines again. It really hits a peak in the second verse, when the vocal delivery almost matches the imagery, creating a kind of meta-onomatopoeia – like when Keisha croons “I shiver inside” or Heidi whispers “like the sand to the tide”. Things reach a misty delirium with that flurry of “help me baby”s from all three which get right at the eyes-half-closed desperation the song so successfully paints.
All three are on amazing form here, and show off why the intricacies of each of their voices are perfectly suited to this particular song style. Mutya’s polished mahogany baritone leads off that dramatic opening and glides through the verses with ease. Heidi’s smoky-soft tones take over from her, and add in further depth to a smouldering middle eight. What seals the song’s power ballad status, of course, is Keisha swooping in at the last minute. Mutya and Heidi’s showboating for most of the song nearly makes one forget about her, even despite her part in the second verse, but not content with being silenced she completely storms the song, catching the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit with that thunderous lead-in to the final chorus. It is possibly Keisha’s finest vocal moment, and among the band’s very best vocal instances. If you wanted a definition of complete scalping, it’s right in that high note followed by the adlibs which slather Quiche’s extra-concentrated honeyed tones all over the song. And it tastes so good.
If one was looking for things to fault the song for, you could say it might just fall short precisely because of fact that it is a classic ballad. It is impressive enough on its own, but when pitted against the band’s remaining ballad output, it might not have the idiosyncratic edge to really send it over the edge; the cool solitude of “Stronger”, for example, or the darkness of “Run For Cover”. But again, this is nitpicking to the nth degree. It is very much, and simply, the band flexing its muscles, showing off that they can pull off a classic effortlessly. Indeed, the fact that it is one of three exemplary ballads on Three underscores this fact. It ticks the classic ballad box for the album, and joins the perhaps less classical but more idiosyncratic efforts found in “Caught In A Moment” and “Conversation’s Over”. Taken as a trio, it is the last piece of the puzzle; it is closer in production values to “Conversation”, taking the tempo up to power ballad territory, but is closer thematically to “Caught”. It takes the peaceful acceptance of love there and spikes it with desperation and angst – still firm in commitment to love but with a restless, dazed turmoil in the heart about just what that love is doing to you as a person. It’s there in the strings, the guitars, the vocal tradings off, for sure, but also in those tiny details that signpost the rising winds: Mutya’s almost processed desultory sigh after the first chorus; that magnificent run up after Heidi’s part in the middle eight where Mutya shouts a “my babyyyy” into the tornado; and Keisha’s little whisper soon after, the merest of throat clearings before the oncoming final assault. It is such a triumph, in the final instance, because it generates this entire hurricane of furious feeling, something that fills your person and leaves your body reverberating.
To further seal the song’s classic status, the song was prominently featured in the film Love, Actually, apparently being personally selected by the director Richard Curtis (and being reworked, rather unnecessarily and tinnily, for the soundtrack). The film’s Christmas perennial status has given the song a healthy annual turnover, and is probably one of the band’s most recognisable songs. That helps offset a perhaps disappointing commercial performance initially, where its quest for the Christmas #1 single in 2003 failed with a somewhat unexpectedly low #10 charting (the #1 went to Michael Andrews and Gary Jules’ cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World”, which was incidentally also a soundtrack affair, being commissioned for Donnie Darko).
Clips of Love, Actually feature in the song’s video, which has the girls strutting down towards Customs at Stansted Airport while cruising a series of men working at the airport and fantasising various BDSM fantasies with them, Keisha in particular compromising her Christianity with relish. (Incidentally, the distinct reverse of the experience I had at Stansted, where the decidedly less hunky Customs officers subjected me to a series of “random” explosives tests.) They look so good; Heidi with her windswept do and classic blond-and-red-lipstick two-tone combo; Mutya redheaded in a camo-fur-chic affair; and Quiche with crimped hair and rocking a cowl top situation. Their slow motion stomp is one of my earliest and most vivid memories of them. I remember watching them looking every bit the immaculate, poised and indeed, classic, popstars and thinking to myself, simply, queens.
A stingy Deborux (6) is unimpressed, “other than Heidi’s fabulous middle eight, I’ve never really been keen on this.” Ironheade (7) apparently does not like syrup, no matter how delicious, “Yeah, I’ll never quite get the adulation for this one. Unlike a lot of its predecessors, there’s just a little too much syrup here, lyrically and musically. The piano work is not particularly inspired, and while the string section is pretty, it doesn’t really do much more than that, never quite achieving the heavenly grandeur of “Stronger” or “Caught in a Moment”. I do like the crunches of distorted guitar, though. At least the vocal melody is well-done, and the girls all sing very well indeed - the power of Mutya’s lower range really is quite outstanding for a female singer, and Heidi sounds a lot more stable and confident than she ever did on Angels with Dirty Faces. I do like the lyrics, capturing the slight elements of hesitation and awkwardness that many a great love song has… but we’re not there, unfortunately.” Unfortunate for you, boo boo! DJHazey (7) refuses the Warren rush, “I understand why it’s a single, but it won’t make me love it anymore than I do. A mini rush when the chorus comes into play, but boring to me and not enough of a payoff to justify a higher score.” Chanex (7) tries to pretend they are beyond the video’s ratchet-chic charms, “I refuse to be influenced by the iconic video, the song itself is just decent... ok a little bit better than that leading up to the chorus...” ohnostalgia (7.25) is not particularly enthused, “Very surprised to see this in the Top 20? Chalk another one up to the "just doesn’t do much for me" pile. I am pretty sure this is my lowest score left.”
tylerc904 (10) calls it a “gorgeous ballad. Surprised and disappointed this didn’t do more as their Christmas-time ballad single. Sounds like a surefire #1 to me.” Blayke (10) has some similar admissions, “I must admit that I used to find this song boring (when the album came out). I must admit I was 11 and wasn’t feeling in love and the need to listen about it. These days I always prepare myself for some awful power-ballad singing (from me) and really get my life to this song. Though it’s a bit of a Dianne Warren rip off of some French song (and much better at that), the drama and theatrics of the song make it so memorable and amazing. This should have been #1 for that era too.” Filler (7) is also on chart watch, “I’m not normally into these sorts of behemoth movie megaballads, but it makes me oddly happy that the Sugababes have one, and they get just enough mood and atmosphere in there to make it worthwhile. Weird to think that this has a lower chart peak than the likes of “Caught in a Moment” and “Wear My Kiss”. Maybe it’ll be a #1 X Factor winner’s single one day.” This was traumatic enough. Those overreaching vocals…
Sprockrooster (10) has a bevy of revelations as they’re getting scalped mercilessly, “What a dramatic epos. They build this song up brick by brick and layer by layer. Only to tear it down all at once, but falling never felt this good. I did not know it was a Diane Warren song until I read it now and I am even more amazed it was original by fave French chanteuse Patricia Kaas.” Runawaywithme (10) keeps getting ravaged by Sugaballad after Sugaballad, “Another amazing true pop moment. Once again Mutya really shines here as her voice just wraps itself around the song so well and she again gets me feeling genuinely emotional, I think this album is where she really found herself as a singer and as an artist as she really sounds great. When the electric guitar kicks in I get taken away and when it hits the middle eight the hairs on the back of my kneck stand up and I get goosebumps and then Keisha and Mutya’s adlibs make me feel like I am about to shoot up through space and hit the moon and come back down without a wig, crying, shaking and then the outro and last chorus comes along and takes me up to heaven once again.”
And here we have the KeishaSquad turning up. Robinho#1 (10) cries “Stunning cover. Keisha’s iconic ad libs near the final moments of the song are legendary.” Jam (9) also lives “for Keisha’s ‘baby, baby, babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy’” Constantino (10) finally reveals to us how his brother has better taste than him, “Back in the day when my brother and I would watch Love Actually pretty much every week (don’t ask), he’d always stan this song and I personally never really got the appeal…bear in mind that I only ever fucked with uptempos back then. But now, all these years later…this hits me pretty damn hard; the tightness of the harmonies, the lush production, the tension created by the guitars and of course Keisha’s ‘BABY BABY BAAYYYBYYYY!!’. One of their best.” acl (8) “thought this song was basic when it was released it but some exceptional live performances along with Keisha’s baby baby baby highlight and ad-libs has served it well. It still doesn’t get going for me though until 3 seconds before the second verse.” Which is… over half the song?
lalaclairi_ (10) lives for the adlibs, “some of the best adlibs in the group’s entire discography are in this song. Three’s ballads were really on another level.” Meanwhile “Three’s best ballad track,” declares a suitably slain Mina (9). CasuallyCrazed (10) spills some hot tea, “Arguably their most classic ballad, this takes me back to unrequited high school crushes and makes me break down like a little girl. Those harmonies still scalp the wigs of every modern day girl group.” P’NutButter (10) is also gives it GOAT status, “One of the best girl group ballads, ever.” ssa (10) is nearly … turn’t, “Gimme redhead Mutya and I’ll go back to thinking I like women.”
londonrain (10) is counting all his 11s, “The Love Actually version is maybe a 7.5, but I am so glad they released the Three version as a single – it’s an easy 10. This was almost my 11. What a song.” uno (10) is right there with ha, “One of the songs that immediately pop into my head when I think of Sugababes. A contender for my 11 - it’s easily one of their best. That "baby, baby babyyyy!" at the final chorus is so damn good. A career high for them.” PCDPG (10) calls it “their best ballad. Gorgeous vocals and I love that they flow into each other during the verses. Heidi’s middle eight and Keisha’s adlibs take the song to another level. Amazing.”
Remorque (10) comes for the lessers, “I’ve heard people call this boring, but OH MY GOD are they wrong… The girls give us a fucking fantastic performance with all three of them shining as much as the other. Keisha’s ad-libs after the middle eight are a career high, Heidi sounds lush while also giving us a feeling of longing and Mutya gives it her fucking all during the outro. Boring, my ass…”
VivaForever (10) engages in some Warren Worship, “Diane Warren is God.” mrdonut (8.5) joins in “Deeply romantic and a great Diane Warren moment. Controversially though, I consider Caught in a Moment Three’s true standout ballad. Solenciennes (10) disagrees, “what a fucking heavyweight champion of the world this song is. I think I’d like to dance to this at my wedding, if I were to ever get married. Thematically it’s more or less the same as “Caught In A Moment” and in a head to head, “Too Lost In You” is the superior track. I adore the trade-offs between Mutya and Heidi before we charge right into the chorus again; it’s just perfectly suited for the three of them, the vocals are carved up well and it’s a ride from start to finish, properly dramatic pop triumph. Keisha’s “baby, baby, baby” adlibs are so bloody good…” Yath. kal (10) hollerates loudly, “WHAT A SONG! This is the first single that I consciously stanned for and the one that made me properly look up and follow the Sugababes. It’s no wonder Rob Dougan was involved in the making of this beautiful ballad. “And my knees are weak, And my mouth can’t speak, Fell too far this time” — me when I listen to ‘Too Lost In You’”
“Too Lost In You” is now the fourth song to equal the 11s record (alongside “Situation’s Heavy”, “Conversation’s Over” and “Overload”), which remains unbroken at three. We have the grand Lost In Japan. to break it down for all of us, “Sugababes are the queens of girlband ballads and this is the best example why. The lyrics of Keisha’s verse (“well you whisper to me / and I shiver inside / you undo me and move me in ways undefined”), all three girls’ vocals, the power behind that chorus, one of Heidi’s all-time best middle eights followed up by that Keisha ad-lib. Timeless and a classic (to me at least).”
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he/him
A SONG.
Aw man, when I saw the tag I knew what was coming but I'm sad it couldn't make it into the top 5. What a perfect, perfect ballad. With my top three/four gone I think my support is behind Ace Reject now.
Aw man, when I saw the tag I knew what was coming but I'm sad it couldn't make it into the top 5. What a perfect, perfect ballad. With my top three/four gone I think my support is behind Ace Reject now.
londonrain
Staff member
What a legend of a song. Sad to see it go here as I really did think it was going to go top 5.
Is it time to do a rate of Keisha's ad libs yet? I think "BABY BABY BAAAABYYYYY" might have to be my 11 (poor "You'll just have to make it throoooooooough...")
I honestly thought the delay meant an album was leaving, which would have meant goodbye to Ace Reject. Thank goodness it wasn't that, but I can't say I'm pleased to lose Too Lost In You instead.
Is it time to do a rate of Keisha's ad libs yet? I think "BABY BABY BAAAABYYYYY" might have to be my 11 (poor "You'll just have to make it throoooooooough...")
I honestly thought the delay meant an album was leaving, which would have meant goodbye to Ace Reject. Thank goodness it wasn't that, but I can't say I'm pleased to lose Too Lost In You instead.