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Northern Star
Northern Star is now finished, and over two years on from its release, there shall not be any changes to the information below. We may however, publish Mel quotes and Interviews about Northern Star. Album Title: Northern Star Scheduled Release Date: October 1999 Known Tracks:
More Information: When the Spice Girls finished their World tour in September 1998, Melanie set about doing solo work straight away. Two of the girls were pregnant, and Emma Bunton wanted to pursue acting. Melanie's first endeavour was with Bryan Adams, 'When You're Gone' was a smash hit ,and sold very well. It made Melanie immensely popular, though it gave her a 'rock' trademark which was going to haunt her. She got to start recording songs which she had wrote in the Spring/Summer of 1999 in LA. She worked with Richard Stannard, Matt Rowe [ both who had worked with the Spice Girls], Rick Nowells, Bryan Adams, William Orbit [of Madonna fame!], Rhett Lawrence and others. All of whom, are famous writers. What Mel did continue Spice wise, was that she co-wrote ALL tracks on the album! The first track we heard off Mel's entirely solo work was called 'Ga Ga' and it was going to be on the Big Daddy soundtrack. It was very rock, and very unique- Though praised highly, it was now deemed that Mel truly was a rock chick! At V99 she did a set, which went down well, but as she sported a new rock hair cut [spiky blonde] again critics deemed her 'Rock Spice'. Mel had always shown her rock influences on the Spice Girls, and performing 'Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves' on the Spice Girls World Tour was an example of this. The first track off the album was called 'Goin' Down' and while everyone praised Mel for her LIVE singing, and hard work, the track didn't manage to follow Melanie B's example of a number 1, and it went in at four. Mel was extremely happy with this, and so were her fans. Northern Star came out in October, and critics praised Mel's diversity, and dubbed her 'talented spice'. The album was truly great, but not well received as some still believed that Mel was 'Rock Chick'. In fact, the album is a mix of rock, pop, r 'n' b and soul, and is very diverse. To combat the 'rock' press she was getting in the November Melanie followed up 'Goin' Down' with 'Northern Star', the title track off the album which is a lovely ballad. It went in at number two, and was a further step up for Mel. Her hard work was paying off! The rest is history as they say! She went on to have huge success with 'Never Be The Same Again' [a collaboration with Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes from TLC], and 'I Turn To You'. Both of which were number one's. 'If That Were Me' was a charity single, and it's soul raised a lot of money for charity. It did get to number 18, but this was expected at the festive period, as the album was a year on. Mel toured the album with extra tracks such as 'I Want You Back', 'Follow Me' and 'I Wonder What It Would Be Like'; which all were good enough to be album tracks! The tour was successful, and Melanie toured for what seemed like years, and then finally she disappeared off into the studio for album 2! Hooray! |
