The Sugababes Discography Rate
- Thread starter beyoncésweave
- Start date
Really not in the mood to do very much while the world is burning, my kittens, but let me try to keep this going for a bit.
#82
In Recline
Score: 6.48
Highest: 10 x 2 (@kal)
Lowest: 0 x 1 (@CasuallyCrazed)
My score: 8/10
––
It’s fun. It’s interesting. It’s different. It’s gone. Y’all continue to sand down any challenging edges the lower-mid order has, in the process depleting Change of any B-Sides. The B-Side to "About You Now, the verses on this are great, with that vaguely discordant key shift chucked in the middle and a long one-note harmony bubbling under, which leads into that feisty chorus. The distinction between the verses and the choruses is not especially marked, which for me is part of the charm really, especially through the playful “lalala la” parts. While Keisha does most of the vocals here, Heidi and Amelle’s interjections are well-judged and memorable. The little blips that flutter away, especially towards the end, wrap it up as a nifty little package. It’s one of their most unique tracks in that it feels like it couldn’t fit on any of the albums. Perhaps Three or Catfights at a stretch, with some further polishing or rarranging. You wonder, as is becoming the case with so many of the eliminations lately, whether it’s the casualty of its fairly discordant sound, or a victim to B-Side syndrome.
In the firm and fair corner, we have londonrain (7.5) who finds it “Pretty decent, but the vocals could have used a little more polishing.” Runawaywithme (7) is, as always, constructive: “This song has a really nice groove, it’s like a better version of “3 Spoons” and the military drums make a nice addition, I think that this would make a nice addition to the album in favour of some of the filler as I think it has a bit of a spark.” Also in agreement is kal (10) who notes that it’s “A mess that they didn’t include it on the album,” mrdonut (6) also thinks “This probably could have replaced a fair few tracks on Change.” On the other side of the coin, or change if you will (hehe x), is an inaccurate tylerc904 (6) who thinks “This is fine but I think they picked the right 12 tracks (out of the 14 we know about).” They didn’t! uno (5) is on a similar faulty wavelength: “They were smart to keep this off the album – it would've stood out for all the wrong reasons.” It wouldn’t have!
“Very, very, very enjoyable,” says a satisfied HRH (8). DJHazey (8) is equally generous: “Some funky vocal production in the verses, which makes for nice little changeup. Low-key bopping even if I think this will be kind of forgettable in the long run.” But enough about Selena Gomez’s career.
acl (7.5) is feeling the side effects of burning through the discography in two days: “This is somewhere between “3 Spoons of Suga” and “Red Dress”. Everything is starting to sound the same.” I gave you plenty of notice, boo! “Technically I know it's good,” begins Chanex (6), but “it just sounds generic next to some of the other things I've been hearing ... I hope I gave it enough of a chance.” You didn’t! Constantino (6) meanwhile is pleased: “DDD I love how this is basically a Keisha solo track.”
“This is very noisy,” observes an observant VivaForever (4). CasuallyCrazed (0) also wants this to get off their lawn: “Garbage racket of noise, why is the quality of this song so absolutely shit even in 256kbps, I don’t think it’s even shazaamable.” Who uses Shazam anymore? Blayke (7) unearths more disused online platforms: “I prefer the demo to this but I really like this song nevertheless. It’s messy but insanely infectious. Keisha dominates on this once again. From memory this popped up on the producer’s Myspace Music account in 2006(?) before “Easy” was released or it could have been before “About You Now” was released. That was fun!”
Solenciennes (5) is disappoint: “this makes sense in an album campaign with 3 Spoons of Suga, so it’s surprising it didn’t make the standard version for the sake of continuity, but they really failed to pull something cohesive together. It’s quite good, all three of them sound like they’re having fun and there’s something a bit… Austin Powers about this? I think that might be why I don’t quite connect with 3 Spoons of Suga, there’s something a bit cheesy about it and I think it’s the Austin Powers soundtrack teas both this and 3 Spoons of Suga give off.” Say 3 Spoons of Suga again! “Best B-Side of the era,” notes P'NutButter (6), which isn’t saying much given there were only two. “A good song,” says PCDPG before giving it a 5 and saying it’s “definitely a B-Side.”
Ironheade (7) lands probably the best connection: "Situation's Heavy", izzat you? They definitely went back to that well for the drum sound, at least, though here the cymbals have an unwelcome sheet-metal quality. However, it does have a good and catchy vocal melody. The bassline is pretty funky, and Amelle and Keisha's vocals have a good amount of power, particularly the latter, who hits the high notes with a lot of power in a sort of Catfights vein. I just wish they'd done a bit more with those bloopy synth frills and scratchy wah-wah guitars - they could have been used as the foundation of a more interesting song - and Heidi sounds rather off, but otherwise, eh. It's fine.” How did y’all treat “Situation’s Heavy”? Project from where this placed!
Finally, we have Filler (7) who rather accurately sums up that “All their personality and sass seems to have got lost on the way to Change and somehow ended up stuck inside this B-side”. Which is more a reflection on Change than it is on this song, really. It must be noted though that this existed well before Change; the unearthed demo below has traces of Mutya's vocals (despite all best efforts to scrub them; see from 3:08 onwards especially), which seem to have been redubbed with Heidi's in the official version.
#82
In Recline
Score: 6.48
Highest: 10 x 2 (@kal)
Lowest: 0 x 1 (@CasuallyCrazed)
My score: 8/10
––
It’s fun. It’s interesting. It’s different. It’s gone. Y’all continue to sand down any challenging edges the lower-mid order has, in the process depleting Change of any B-Sides. The B-Side to "About You Now, the verses on this are great, with that vaguely discordant key shift chucked in the middle and a long one-note harmony bubbling under, which leads into that feisty chorus. The distinction between the verses and the choruses is not especially marked, which for me is part of the charm really, especially through the playful “lalala la” parts. While Keisha does most of the vocals here, Heidi and Amelle’s interjections are well-judged and memorable. The little blips that flutter away, especially towards the end, wrap it up as a nifty little package. It’s one of their most unique tracks in that it feels like it couldn’t fit on any of the albums. Perhaps Three or Catfights at a stretch, with some further polishing or rarranging. You wonder, as is becoming the case with so many of the eliminations lately, whether it’s the casualty of its fairly discordant sound, or a victim to B-Side syndrome.
In the firm and fair corner, we have londonrain (7.5) who finds it “Pretty decent, but the vocals could have used a little more polishing.” Runawaywithme (7) is, as always, constructive: “This song has a really nice groove, it’s like a better version of “3 Spoons” and the military drums make a nice addition, I think that this would make a nice addition to the album in favour of some of the filler as I think it has a bit of a spark.” Also in agreement is kal (10) who notes that it’s “A mess that they didn’t include it on the album,” mrdonut (6) also thinks “This probably could have replaced a fair few tracks on Change.” On the other side of the coin, or change if you will (hehe x), is an inaccurate tylerc904 (6) who thinks “This is fine but I think they picked the right 12 tracks (out of the 14 we know about).” They didn’t! uno (5) is on a similar faulty wavelength: “They were smart to keep this off the album – it would've stood out for all the wrong reasons.” It wouldn’t have!
“Very, very, very enjoyable,” says a satisfied HRH (8). DJHazey (8) is equally generous: “Some funky vocal production in the verses, which makes for nice little changeup. Low-key bopping even if I think this will be kind of forgettable in the long run.” But enough about Selena Gomez’s career.
acl (7.5) is feeling the side effects of burning through the discography in two days: “This is somewhere between “3 Spoons of Suga” and “Red Dress”. Everything is starting to sound the same.” I gave you plenty of notice, boo! “Technically I know it's good,” begins Chanex (6), but “it just sounds generic next to some of the other things I've been hearing ... I hope I gave it enough of a chance.” You didn’t! Constantino (6) meanwhile is pleased: “DDD I love how this is basically a Keisha solo track.”
“This is very noisy,” observes an observant VivaForever (4). CasuallyCrazed (0) also wants this to get off their lawn: “Garbage racket of noise, why is the quality of this song so absolutely shit even in 256kbps, I don’t think it’s even shazaamable.” Who uses Shazam anymore? Blayke (7) unearths more disused online platforms: “I prefer the demo to this but I really like this song nevertheless. It’s messy but insanely infectious. Keisha dominates on this once again. From memory this popped up on the producer’s Myspace Music account in 2006(?) before “Easy” was released or it could have been before “About You Now” was released. That was fun!”
Solenciennes (5) is disappoint: “this makes sense in an album campaign with 3 Spoons of Suga, so it’s surprising it didn’t make the standard version for the sake of continuity, but they really failed to pull something cohesive together. It’s quite good, all three of them sound like they’re having fun and there’s something a bit… Austin Powers about this? I think that might be why I don’t quite connect with 3 Spoons of Suga, there’s something a bit cheesy about it and I think it’s the Austin Powers soundtrack teas both this and 3 Spoons of Suga give off.” Say 3 Spoons of Suga again! “Best B-Side of the era,” notes P'NutButter (6), which isn’t saying much given there were only two. “A good song,” says PCDPG before giving it a 5 and saying it’s “definitely a B-Side.”
Ironheade (7) lands probably the best connection: "Situation's Heavy", izzat you? They definitely went back to that well for the drum sound, at least, though here the cymbals have an unwelcome sheet-metal quality. However, it does have a good and catchy vocal melody. The bassline is pretty funky, and Amelle and Keisha's vocals have a good amount of power, particularly the latter, who hits the high notes with a lot of power in a sort of Catfights vein. I just wish they'd done a bit more with those bloopy synth frills and scratchy wah-wah guitars - they could have been used as the foundation of a more interesting song - and Heidi sounds rather off, but otherwise, eh. It's fine.” How did y’all treat “Situation’s Heavy”? Project from where this placed!
Finally, we have Filler (7) who rather accurately sums up that “All their personality and sass seems to have got lost on the way to Change and somehow ended up stuck inside this B-side”. Which is more a reflection on Change than it is on this song, really. It must be noted though that this existed well before Change; the unearthed demo below has traces of Mutya's vocals (despite all best efforts to scrub them; see from 3:08 onwards especially), which seem to have been redubbed with Heidi's in the official version.
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he/him
Not when I still get my life to Naturally and Falling Down like they were released yesterday, you don't.
Solenciennes
Staff member
In Recline's quite good, I should have given it better than a 5 on reflection. Again, it's been growing on me over the last few weeks, still, I'm glad it lasted longer than I had it in my rankings after all.
In Recline, like every 3.0 b-side is just fine. Shake It, In Recline, I Can't Take it No More, Don't Look Back.... all pretty meandering.
That said, 3.0 really did brilliant covers. I Bet You Look Good, Betcha By Golly Wow, For Once In My Life (I LOVE Heidi on this one), Teardrops - honestly all fantastic.
That said, 3.0 really did brilliant covers. I Bet You Look Good, Betcha By Golly Wow, For Once In My Life (I LOVE Heidi on this one), Teardrops - honestly all fantastic.
He/Him
Really not in the mood to do very much while the world is burning, my kittens, but let me try to keep this going for a bit.
#82
In Recline
Score: 6.48
Highest: 10 x 2 (@kal)
Lowest: 0 x 1 (@CasuallyCrazed)
My score: 8/10
––
It’s fun. It’s interesting. It’s different. It’s gone. Y’all continue to sand down any challenging edges the lower-mid order has, in the process depleting Change of any B-Sides. The B-Side to "About You Now, the verses on this are great, with that vaguely discordant key shift chucked in the middle and a long one-note harmony bubbling under, which leads into that feisty chorus. The distinction between the verses and the choruses is not especially marked, which for me is part of the charm really, especially through the playful “lalala la” parts. While Keisha does most of the vocals here, Heidi and Amelle’s interjections are well-judged and memorable. The little blips that flutter away, especially towards the end, wrap it up as a nifty little package. It’s one of their most unique tracks in that it feels like it couldn’t fit on any of the albums. Perhaps Three or Catfights at a stretch, with some further polishing or rarranging. You wonder, as is becoming the case with so many of the eliminations lately, whether it’s the casualty of its fairly discordant sound, or a victim to B-Side syndrome.
In the firm and fair corner, we have londonrain (7.5) who finds it “Pretty decent, but the vocals could have used a little more polishing.” Runawaywithme (7) is, as always, constructive: “This song has a really nice groove, it’s like a better version of “3 Spoons” and the military drums make a nice addition, I think that this would make a nice addition to the album in favour of some of the filler as I think it has a bit of a spark.” Also in agreement is kal (10) who notes that it’s “A mess that they didn’t include it on the album,” mrdonut (6) also thinks “This probably could have replaced a fair few tracks on Change.” On the other side of the coin, or change if you will (hehe x), is an inaccurate tylerc904 (6) who thinks “This is fine but I think they picked the right 12 tracks (out of the 14 we know about).” They didn’t! uno (5) is on a similar faulty wavelength: “They were smart to keep this off the album – it would've stood out for all the wrong reasons.” It wouldn’t have!
“Very, very, very enjoyable,” says a satisfied HRH (8). DJHazey (8) is equally generous: “Some funky vocal production in the verses, which makes for nice little changeup. Low-key bopping even if I think this will be kind of forgettable in the long run.” But enough about Selena Gomez’s career.
acl (7.5) is feeling the side effects of burning through the discography in two days: “This is somewhere between “3 Spoons of Suga” and “Red Dress”. Everything is starting to sound the same.” I gave you plenty of notice, boo! “Technically I know it's good,” begins Chanex (6), but “it just sounds generic next to some of the other things I've been hearing ... I hope I gave it enough of a chance.” You didn’t! Constantino (6) meanwhile is pleased: “DDD I love how this is basically a Keisha solo track.”
“This is very noisy,” observes an observant VivaForever (4). CasuallyCrazed (0) also wants this to get off their lawn: “Garbage racket of noise, why is the quality of this song so absolutely shit even in 256kbps, I don’t think it’s even shazaamable.” Who uses Shazam anymore? Blayke (7) unearths more disused online platforms: “I prefer the demo to this but I really like this song nevertheless. It’s messy but insanely infectious. Keisha dominates on this once again. From memory this popped up on the producer’s Myspace Music account in 2006(?) before “Easy” was released or it could have been before “About You Now” was released. That was fun!”
Solenciennes (5) is disappoint: “this makes sense in an album campaign with 3 Spoons of Suga, so it’s surprising it didn’t make the standard version for the sake of continuity, but they really failed to pull something cohesive together. It’s quite good, all three of them sound like they’re having fun and there’s something a bit… Austin Powers about this? I think that might be why I don’t quite connect with 3 Spoons of Suga, there’s something a bit cheesy about it and I think it’s the Austin Powers soundtrack teas both this and 3 Spoons of Suga give off.” Say 3 Spoons of Suga again! “Best B-Side of the era,” notes P'NutButter (6), which isn’t saying much given there were only two. “A good song,” says PCDPG before giving it a 5 and saying it’s “definitely a B-Side.”
Ironheade (7) lands probably the best connection: "Situation's Heavy", izzat you? They definitely went back to that well for the drum sound, at least, though here the cymbals have an unwelcome sheet-metal quality. However, it does have a good and catchy vocal melody. The bassline is pretty funky, and Amelle and Keisha's vocals have a good amount of power, particularly the latter, who hits the high notes with a lot of power in a sort of Catfights vein. I just wish they'd done a bit more with those bloopy synth frills and scratchy wah-wah guitars - they could have been used as the foundation of a more interesting song - and Heidi sounds rather off, but otherwise, eh. It's fine.” How did y’all treat “Situation’s Heavy”? Project from where this placed!
Finally, we have Filler (7) who rather accurately sums up that “All their personality and sass seems to have got lost on the way to Change and somehow ended up stuck inside this B-side”. Which is more a reflection on Change than it is on this song, really. It must be noted though that this existed well before Change; the unearthed demo below has traces of Mutya's vocals (despite all best efforts to scrub them; see from 3:08 onwards especially), which seem to have been redubbed with Heidi's in the official version.
Really thankful to you keeping this going during these trying times. It provides a great distraction from the world falling to pieces a little bit at a time...
He / Him / His
Just caught up and with my score for every track eliminated thus far ranging from a splatterings of 0-4 offerings (mainly confined to Sweet 7 and the deplorable Walk This Way') and predominantly scores of 5-6 after that, I'm pleased with how things are going thus far. I actually think 'Groove is Going On' is actually my biggest "loss" so far with a score of 8.
My Sugabons, I’m actually finding it a bit difficult to muster up enough energy to keep this going, because everything feels absurd now. I am totally committed though; the pace will just slacken a little for a few days, until I recharge a bit. I hope that’s okay.
I was trying to find something, anything to make me feel better last night. All my usual musical go-tos were failing, even Carly Rae. Then I just idly decided to play through the top 10 that you all have come up with, and it honestly somehow worked. It was this multidimensional rush of joy and despair and energy and soul and, by the end, something like peace; enough to be calming, at least for a while. In today's new, uncertain and frankly terrifying world, I don’t know what that means, but I know it’s not nothing.
I was trying to find something, anything to make me feel better last night. All my usual musical go-tos were failing, even Carly Rae. Then I just idly decided to play through the top 10 that you all have come up with, and it honestly somehow worked. It was this multidimensional rush of joy and despair and energy and soul and, by the end, something like peace; enough to be calming, at least for a while. In today's new, uncertain and frankly terrifying world, I don’t know what that means, but I know it’s not nothing.
No worries. I expect everyone to understand.
OMG this means more than you know.
As a drag queen I feel galvanized to try and keep performing in this new country I now live in. I've never done a sugatrack but had always thought I'd do Stronger when I found the right way to make sure it was entertaining. Since I rediscovered Promises in the rate, I've become obsessed with the idea of splicing it with this:
and now with everything that's happened I want to somehow make it political. (A few weeks ago I did a number with a Trump reference, using a song I discovered months back in the PJSC. Thanks @WowWowWowWow xoxo)
Anyway this post is all kinds of off-topic but I want you to know it's all connected, in my head at least hehe, and this rate is helping me get through a scary time as improbable as it would seem. xoxo
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Solenciennes
Staff member
I too can feel a flatline where there ought to be a wave, @beyoncésweave. You've been doing a great job, I imagine a lot of us feel similarly deflated today, I know I do. I don't think I'll be back to my usual self until the weekend when I've had some time to relax, it's all so frustrating and hard to take in when day to day life is getting in the way.
he/him
Take your time @beyoncésweave, you've been doing a fantastic job, only continue when you're ready. xx
I had the demo of 'In Recline' as the "main version" for so long (and hated it) this rate made me realise what I was missing. Not much, but it's better than the bloody demo!
and @beyoncésweave you are doing brilliant, so don't fret.
and @beyoncésweave you are doing brilliant, so don't fret.
Gods, this is a fantastic idea. I think the Babes' lyrics over Dionne the dementor's instrumental (if you can find it) would work best, unless you want to mix the lyrics and music of both(?). There's such a dejected weariness to "Promises", of almost expecting and accepting betrayal, which "Promises Promises" also acknowledges in a more self-affirmative (and less elf-pitying way). As an anthem for the weary and reclusive in these dark times, it could really work. I know I'd be fighting to shove dollar bills in your hand if you performed it, darling.
(Also, there's something really aesthetically pleasing outside of the song about linking the hateful shade of Dionne and Keisha together).
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