Life in Mono

by

Emma Bunton

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Its really ironic that the most 'untalented' of the Spice Girls bunch would consistently provide us with such good material into the 2000s. Her last album "Free Me" was a classic that still finds plays on my Ipod.

1. If you love 1960s 'girl-group' melodies, you will love this.

2. If you like film-noir, and the soundtracks to the James Bond and Austin Powers series, you will love this.

3. If you like very poppy verse-chorus-verse, you will love this

4. If you're into Bossa Nova, Brazilian beach pop, and a little bit of reggae, you will adore this.

At its best, this sounds like a lost soundtrack to some 1960s French masterpiece by Truffaut. Very "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" but with a lot more zest and pep. You really have to get it and find out what I'm talking about.

The only downside is that the opening track is the weakest here, so many people may be put off. Do get this and discover a fabulous artist you may have neglected until now just because of her "Spice Girls" tag.

To sum up, Emma is a million times more accomplished and a real artist when compared to the remaining Spice Girls. This one album is better than all the others' solo releases combined. Seriously.

I'm the first person to review this so far to not give it four or five stars.

I can't see why the previous reviewers adore this album so much. Yes, it's good, but it's not groundbreaking.

Don't get me wrong, I love Emma. I have all her albums - I love A Girl Like Me and Free Me, but they're both better then Life In Mono.

The problem I find with this album is too many of the tracks are similar, Emma tried to go for a 60's sound on too many of the songs instead of doing many different styles. Thus, a lot of the songs end up sounding the same and it's a drag to get through the CD sometimes.

But the album isn't without it's gems - "Undressing You" is an absolutely brilliant track. It's actually my favourite Emma track and this track kept the album at 3 stars. This song is just stunning - the smoky, sexy feel of the song is just amazing. It has really sexy lyrics and Emma sounds great. Top this off with some fantastic music and you have the album's finest track.

Other highlights include:

"Life In Mono" - the title track and an amazing 60's sounding song, a more slow jam of a song but again, fabulous music.

"Take Me To Another Town" - one of the most upbeat songs on the album, this has quirky lyrics and a very catchy feel.

"Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps" - a short catchy little track that is impossible not to sing along to.

"Por Favor" - another sexy track about slow dancing, Emma's voice is irresistible on this.

The rest of the album is just average. "All I Need To Know" is quite dull and the single version is a lot better. "Mischevious" sounds like a bad out take from her first album (trust me that album isn't without it's faults) and I don't like "Downtown" (the album's first single) for some reason. The rest of the tracks all sound way too similar to me.

I would like to stress that I am not dissing Emma. I am a fan of hers and I like her previous two albums and some material on this, but overall I find this album to be a lot weaker and not up to her usual standard. 3 stars.