Long before the Sugababes seemingly had a brand new member every year, 90's girlband Eternal were also known to have member quit or sacked. Louise Redknapp (nee. Nurding) quit the band after the promotion for their their first multi-selling album "Always And Forever" was almost complete claiming Homesickness was one of the her reasons for quitting the band. She did however go on to launch a successful solo career with music and television presenting after leaving the band. Kelle Bryan claimed she was sacked by e-mail by the two remaining members, sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett in 1999 and a new member TJ was bought in but only lasted a few weeks and was never mentioned by the Bennetts when they unsuccessfully returned as a duo in late 1999.

However, in 1997 the band released their first 'Greatest Hit's album which reached #2 in the album charts. There was a lot of confusion amongst fans at the time, as they had only released their third album "Before The Rain" and it was doing very well in the album charts and the band had only released 2 singles from the album including their first (and so far only) number 1 single "I Wanna Be The Only One" so it seemed odd that they dropped the album campaign and rushed out a Greatest Hits album.

The album was accompanied by a brand new single "Angel of Mine" which opens the album, a beautiful ballard which showcases Easther Bennetts fine vocals. The song was a cover version and was released in the US but by Monica. This track reached number 4 in the singles charts in September 1997. The album then plays in chronicological order by single release. So track 2 is their debut single "Stay" which was released in 1993 and reached number 4 in the charts. The song is a typical 90's R&B/Pop number which I still play to this day! Next up is "Save Our Love" this is more pop than their previous single and I read somwhere that the fans voted this song as their favourite Eternal single ever but the band actually hate this song with a passion. The song reached number 8 in the singles chart. "Just A Step From Heaven" in my opinion was really a song ahead of its time, it did to moderatly well in America and reached number 4 in the UK charts. It's a powerful R&B flavoured song. "So Good" was the first track released by Eternal which the band had written, it is more pop and less R&B than their previous hits and one of their least memorable tracks which reached #13 in the charts. "Oh Baby I..." follows next and if you're a die hard 90's fan then you will remember this ballard it is another song that reached #4 in the charts. It's beautiful and yet again Bennett shows off her powerful voice. It is really a wonder why she never bought out any solo material once the band had split. Track 7 is "Crazy" in which all 4 members of Eternal (at the time) feature on the song, it's an average track and in 1994 closed off the Always and Forever album campaign, it became the bands second least successful single entering at #15 in the charts (When the band returned as a duo in 1999 they released their least successful single 'What'cha Gonna Do' which got to number 16 in the charts).

"Power Of A Woman" is track number 8, before the Spice Girls hit the big time Eternal released this anthemic Girl Power track, it has an 'American' feel to it and reached number 5 in the charts. "I Am Blessed" is a haunting ballard, powerful and magical and christmassy, it got to #7 in 1996. "Good Thing" is a pop/R&B urban number, I remember hearing this on the radio all the time when I was a kid, it got to number 8 in the charts. Another ballad follows, "Someday" was released as the sountrack to the Disney film "The Hunchback of Notre Damne" and is typicall a 'Disney Ballad' among core Eternal fans at the time, this track wasn't rated very much by them but I think there is something special about the song it got to #4 in the charts. Next up we have "Secrets" which for me, is the first 'weak' link on the Greatest Hits, I don't think it's a bad song, it's just not up to the standard of the previous son the album and I don't know why they chose this as a single at the time, it did reach #9 in the charts though.

"Don't You Love Me" was the first single from "Before The Rain", it has a great intro and a fantastic ending with the haunting childrens voices, tackles various issues such as homelessness and poverty. Reached #3 in the charts. Next up is their biggest hit and probably (and maybe sadly) the only song they are remembered for in 2012 "I Wannabe The Only One" which was a duet with Bebe Winanas. The song is catchy pop with a gospel vibe to it aswell. It reached number 1 in the charts in the summer of 1997. "Who Are You" is up next and this song featured on their "Power Of A Woman" album but wasn't released as a single in the UK but in Japan where the track was quite big, its a fiesty track and should have been a single in the UK instead of "Secrets". "Finally" is a brand new song for the album, for me, it's very simmilar to the previous song, this track was released in Japan but not in the UK. The closing track is "Might As Well Be Me" which is a nice beautiful ballad. Die hard fans knew something was up in the band when they started to promote this track a single by appearing on various programmes including the lottery, the song had a slight re-mix for the single version too, but the suddenly all promo was cancelled and the single release was axed.

In summery, it's a shame that Eternal seemed to have been forgotten by the British Public when they had 16 Top 20 singles which a lot of Girlbands don't get the achieve very often. I think the success of the Spice Girls put Eternal on the back bench even thought the Spice Girls often stated Eternal were one of their influences within the band. This track is a great compilation of hits if you want a trip down memory lane. The band disbanded in 1999 and with the recent surge in 90's bands reforming maybe one day in the near future we may see Eternal return to the charts with some more fantastic songs!