The Sugababes Discography Rate
- Thread starter beyoncésweave
- Start date
Chill sis I only have the extras to go...
2014
Staff member
I've got the last 3 albums to blast through, but i'll get there!
Taller In More Ways marks another distinct shift in the Sugababes’ sound, from urban R&B to poppier terrain. The way it attempts this leads to two broad conclusions: that, a band at the peak of its popularity is confident enough to seek out new musical territory; or that a band at the peak of its popularity is cynically titling towards the mainstream to preserve that popularity.
I think there are elements of both at work here. Taller is a confident record that attempts a number of styles with ease, from ridiculously infectious bops (“Push The Button”) to searching ballads (“Follow Me Home”, “2 Hearts”) to left-field bangers (“Joy Division”) to feel-good breezes (“Ugly”, “Better”) to, most impressively, razor-sharp pop opuses (“Red Dress”, “Ace Reject”). The sound is pristine, glossy pop with an undercurrent of R&B, stretched extremely consistently throughout.
Equally, however, a lot of Taller is not challenging in the same way that its predecessors were. Whereas Angels, and Three in particular, felt like they were driving the popular sound forward, especially on the force of their singles, Taller feels like it is merely lining up with the mainstream. If the album stakes out pop as its genre, then it also doesn’t delve into it as extensively as the preceding Three did with R&B (though this might be a slightly unfair criticism, as Three was prolifically diverse in its genre-trawling). Indeed, by the mid-00s the popular sound, especially in the UK, had swung back towards more straightforward pop. Perhaps even more pertinently, the Sugababes’ status as the dominant girlband in the country was being increasingly threatened by the likes of Girls Aloud.
The Taller era gave off the sense that the band had noticeably changed itself in response. Their image – all straightened hair, long dresses and tasteful jewellery – was a far cry from the heavy eye shadow, infinitesimally tweezed eyebrows and leather chokers that had come before. An argument could be made that the album positions the girls as more “mature” but this was also aimed at making the band more sellable. A sanding down of the rough edges that made the band such an interesting proposition on the pop scene to make it more likeable, but also perhaps slightly hollow.
Yet this doesn’t quite translate directly onto the album. It largely succeeds in intention to be a glossy, cutting-edge pop affair, and the band retains its spark and knack for inventiveness consistently. Save for an unfortunate dip in its third quarter (with the aimless “It Ain’t Easy” and “Bruised”), most of the album is ridiculously listenable, with a sophisticated elegance to it. Even the seemingly generic and calculated songs on here, “Ugly” in particular, are elevated by the girls’ vocals, and air of understated emotion. The pop direction seems perfectly tailored for Heidi and Keisha’s vocals, and Mutya still manages to be a consistently notable presence, whatever your mileage may be on how “bored” she sounds. Beyond all this, the album conclusively proves its worth with two tracks, “Push The Button” and “Ace Reject”, which are seminal pop moments with significance far beyond the album, and the band.
I’d rate Taller smack in the middle of all their albums; below One Touch, Three and Catfights, but above the other three. This isn’t quite the mild praise it may imply; it’s terribly difficult for me to get over Taller’s sleek, polished and above all, classy, feel. It completes 2.0’s trifecta and marks the end of an era in comprehensive terms. On all these accounts, it’s a wonderful record.
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For your consideration: “Joy Division”. “Ace Reject”, “Better”
For your consideration: “Joy Division”. “Ace Reject”, “Better”
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londonrain
Staff member
I agree with this being a wonderful album, but I disagree about Bruised - that's one of the best album tracks! It Ain't Easy, on the other hand, just screams B-side - they should have just kept Dallas Austin's involvement limited to "Push The Button".
Taller In More Ways is one of my favourite pop albums of all time. I quite like how polished it is - it feels more solid to me than any of the other albums. Even "Now You're Gone", which got chucked onto the reissue, is great.
Taller In More Ways is one of my favourite pop albums of all time. I quite like how polished it is - it feels more solid to me than any of the other albums. Even "Now You're Gone", which got chucked onto the reissue, is great.
Bruised is definitely a highlight on an otherwise middling album. It Ain't Easy is enjoyable but I would demote it to b-side status.
Interesting the song left out of the writeup (Gotta Be You) is one of my all time least favorites from the ladies. Just utterly bland and uninspired, it makes Ugly/It Aint Easy sound fresh and interesting. Don't even get me started on the "this slut" line Amelle had to sing to replace the Mutya vocal. Of all the re-recorded tracks to include!!
Interesting the song left out of the writeup (Gotta Be You) is one of my all time least favorites from the ladies. Just utterly bland and uninspired, it makes Ugly/It Aint Easy sound fresh and interesting. Don't even get me started on the "this slut" line Amelle had to sing to replace the Mutya vocal. Of all the re-recorded tracks to include!!
londonrain
Staff member
I think they must have re-recorded it specifically so that Mutya's name wouldn't be in the lyrics on the reissued album.
There's a definite difference in quality between the songs the Sugababes co-wrote and the ones that they didn't. If you delete the ones they didn't write ("Ugly", "Gotta Be You", "It Ain't Easy" and "Obsession") the album is pretty much gold from start to finish.
(And before anyone starts, I do actually like "Obsession", even if it is a slightly random cover.)
Shame the Taller b-sides pale in comparison to the Three-sides. Like the Weather would be a worthy addition to the album but Favourite Song and Future Shokk both sound so muddy, as well not being particularly interesting, while the other two are covers.
Taller marks the start of their downfall. Mutya leaving halfway and the label messing up the singles consequently didnot help. I wish Mutya quit after this album.
Red Dress symbolises this mess all too well. How bad can a situation be when your fave member leaves the group and Red Dress is rerecorded without your fave member and it sounds so much better.
Red Dress symbolises this mess all too well. How bad can a situation be when your fave member leaves the group and Red Dress is rerecorded without your fave member and it sounds so much better.
he/him
Can We Call A Truce belongs in the top 10.
I only have the extras and Sweet 7 to go.
Finally, someone spilled the real tea.
3.0's answer to Ace Reject, IMHO, and the first (and last time) where I didn't think of how Mutya would have sounded on a 3.0 track <3.