Cos I Know How I Feel About You... (Sugababes in general)

Member Name: GramiWay

Product:	Sugababes in general
Date:	20/11/08 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant songs, a long career and extensive back catalogue

Disadvantages: The line up changes seem to have done more harm than good

The Sugababes. More line up changes than a whore has customers. The Sugababes have been around shockingly since 2000 and over the 9 years they've been dominating the charts they've changed styles, gone up and down success wise and much much more.

Starting with childhood friends Keisha Buchannen and Mutya Buena and joined by red haired wonder Siobhan Donnaghy, the group released their first single 'Overload' in 2000. There weas something different about the slick and eerie vibe of the record that instantly made them stand out. Here were three girls who weren't obsessed with trying to look glamorous and slutty but just doing their thing so to speak. However the road to the success they've come to enjoy wasn't paved out overnight. 'Overload' reached No6 on the UK charts though the three singles after it all missed the top 10 and the album 'One Touch' struggled to make the top 30.

Shortly after Siobhan left the group due to media reports of feuding with the other two members. That's something that has always bogged down the Sugababes. Whilst their private lives and such get nowhere near as much media coverage as say Girls Aloud or the Spice Girls, they are constantly picked on for being bitchy and for having countless feuds between each other. Whether that's true or not or just some tabloid rag journalist's explaination for the various lineup changes - who knows?
Heidi Range was next up to join the trio. Having recently auditoned for Atomic Kitten her arrival to the group pushed them out of the wilderness and into massive mainstream success. The single 'Freak Like Me' was produced by Richard X and has a stomping bassline and sassy chorus that just burrows under your skin and makes you want to dance wherever you hear it.

The single shot straight to no1 and followup effort 'Round Round' followed suit. The album 'Angels With Dirty Faces' also became a monster overnight success with only Coldplay blocking it from reaching the top of the album charts. The record still had the remains of 'One Touch' contained within its tracks as demonstrated by the more mellow, chilled out, RNB vibe of hits like 'Stronger' or the title track though there was a stronger pop appeal to the record probably influenced by Heidi's presence in the band as she has a vocal much more suitable for a pop record than say the eerie and beautiful voice of Siobhan.
Not wanting to let their new found success slip away too fast, the band quickly released their 3rd album, the aptly titled 'Three' at the end of 2003. The album was proceeded by another no1 single 'Hole In The Head'. 'Three' wass definately pure pop in all its eye catching glory and its worth noting that the Sugababes' overall image began to shift for this record. They became a proper pop band with skimpy outfits and videos galore. It's the cost of maintaining mainstream success...

I wasn't that much of a fan of 'Three' at all. I found most of the tracks to be ratehr dull and instantly forgettable which is a great shame. In particular 'Caught In A Moment' screams 'BLANDSVILLE' though the album sold strongly enough and gave the group 4 more top ten singles to their bow, the gorgeous, heart wrenching ballad 'Too Lost In You' amongst them. Taken from the huge British movie 'Love Actually' the song was the first proper Sugababes ballad and they pull it off to spine tingling effect whilst also injecting their own brand of 'suga' to the mix.

Taking a long break after the 'Three' era the group returned in Autumn 2005 with 'Push The Button'. Arguabley their most famous track the single saw the girls hot on the heels of their rivals Girls Aloud with a video showing far too much straddling and flesh and a hypnotic, catchy chorus and beat that put their rivals to shame. 'Push The Button' went on to top the chart becoming their most successful hit to date whilst parent album 'Taller In More Ways' also made it to no1. TIMW is a brilliant album and in my opinion the best release from the band. Some of the tracks, particulary at the beginning are very bland and dull though its worth listening to them all to reach the brilliant 'Obsession', 'Better' and of course 'Ace Reject' towards the end of the CD. There's so many different styles bursting out of the album that it's easy to see why the Sugababes have lasted so long. One thing that definately shines through here is the lyrics and the fact that the girls have played a part for their entire career in being involved with the writing process of their albums.

However shortly after the release of the Christina Aguilera 'Beautiful' themed 'Ugly' Mutya decided to leave the group to spend mroe time with her new born child [until she embarked on a solo career 12 months later which bombed horribly, bless].
This time Amelle was bought in to the group. I was convinced they wouldn't survive and this would be the end of them but they shockingly managed to pick themselves up and return with 'Change' last year which spawned the massive 'About You Now' my favourite Sugababes song. Amelle on first appearance is just a Mutya clone. She has the same sultry tone to her voice, the dark and brooding attitude and look that so neatly rounds off the trio but 'Change' is an album which is pure pop at its finest form. There is no variation, it's just pop and whilst the record itself is brilliant to listen to, you sort of miss that diversity that was responsible for making the band so huge. 'My Love Is Pink' is quite clearly a Girls Aloud castoff whilst 'Denial' vibrates with a catchy chorus and dramatic verses that will no doubt have you singing along in seconds.

2008 saw the band release their 6th album appropriately titled 'Catfights and Spotlights'. An amazing achievement considering the average shelflife of a pop band but it deos seem as if the bubble is bursting with the album only reaching no8 and bombing down the charts quickly and lead single 'Girls' not reaching the success of the group's previous hits. The album itself isn't totally awful but it doesn't really have any huge standout tracks. It seems to focus on lyrics far too much and not enough on the catchy music that we've come to know and love. 'Girls' is an appalling single choice and a disgusting song, sampling the chorus from that 'Here Come The Girls' song on the Boots advert.
On first listen to the record you'd have to be honest with yourself and state that the Sugababes are becoming more like Atomic Kitten by the day: releasing lazy, tacky, cheap music in an effort to make it sell whilst their rivals continue to evolve and push past them it seems the Sugababes evoloution train has broken down and it's only downhill from here.
That said who knows what the future holds...

I hope this review has been useful and is what the topic was asking for. It's the first time I've attempted this sort of review so.

Summary: A brief description of the Sugababes' career so far