Despite them being mostly before my time, I've known about S Club 7 for essentially my whole life. For the longest time, the only song I knew from them would be S Club Party from their debut album, S Club. Through a couple of other channels and people, I later gained knowledge of two other songs: Don't Stop Moving (Go Jetters parody for some trailer - I might talk about Go Jetters in another blog) and Reach (favourite song of my local Stagecoach's headmistress). I like all three of these songs quite a lot, and yet before today I had never listened to anything else from their extended discography.

I know many people on here are above the age of 30, and some may be very familiar with S Club 7 in general, but for the sake of us younger kids, I'll give some background information: S Club 7 is a musical group formed in 1998, consisting of - you guessed it - 7 main members. They released four albums before one of the members left in 2002, and the group on a whole disbanded in 2003, with many of the members going on to release solo music afterwards. They reconvened in 2015 for a short tour, but five of them did reunite for a longer one in 2023, releasing their first single in 20 years. Six of the seven members are still alive today, with Paul Cattermole dying of heart complications in 2023.

With that out of the way, I thought that it would be a good idea to pick at least one of their albums to listen to. I was a little torn between S Club and 7, since I believe those are the ones where I might actually be familiar with some of the songs, thanks to when my dad used to get music albums digitally on his phone... before my family adopted the typical music streaming services of the modern day. I then decided I could split this into several blogs in the future, and thus here is my September blog: a review of S Club 7's debut album, from someone who doesn't typically offer musical critique much at all.

S Club - 1999

1. Bring It All Back

Oddly enough, I have a vague memory of hearing this somewhere, so it seems my first couple of sentences were completely invalid. I'm not surprised, though, as this is a very upbeat poppy opener; they even have little tinkling sound effects throughout the song. The lyrics themselves match the happy tone of the backing melody, with this particular song focussing more on remaining constant in the face of adversity and troubles on the path to achieving your dreams, it's a very "be yourself" sort of track while simultaneously acknowledging that not everyone will encourage you towards your goals or self-expression. A very fun and motivational song, even if I think if the message of the track is taken too far then it could cause problems - the world doesn't centre around you, after all. From my experience with other S Club 7 songs, it seems like a suitable opener, as a lot of their other music I've heard is similar in tone, but that remains to be seen.

2. You're My Number One

The fact that this song starts with the words "What is love", and the fact its title is eerily similar to We Are Number One from LazyTown, is rather funny. Back on topic, though, I didn't think too much of this song compared to the previous one. The tone is still very upbeat, and so were the lyrics; the musical style used is relatively similar, with the same constant backing track continuing throughout the song like the first one, albeit with some differing musical "levels", if you get what I mean (some instruments were silent throughout most of the song, with the exception of the chorus), still a cute little song. This particular time, the protagonist of the song is experiencing feelings for someone, and is debating whether or not it is actually love she's feeling, as well as describing some of those feelings and specifically mentioning that she deeply cares for this person, viewing him as her number one (as you might guess from the title of the song). I thought this was nice, but with a slightly more gentle feel to the upbeat-ness than Bring It All Back, as you might expect from something of this calibre.

3. Two in a Million

The first thing I noticed the moment the song started playing is that this one is even slower than You're My Number One. This song feels both like a contrast to the previous one and also a natural progression to it: contrast, because of the semi-indecisiveness of You're My Number One and the day-one confidence of this particular track's protagonist in their destiny as lovers; and natural progression, because now that she and her boyfriend are together, she's singing about just how strong their relationship is, as well as how fortunate they were to find each other. Again, as you can clearly tell, this is a love song, and while I was a little worried about how that might be the reason for my lower opinion of You're My Number One, it doesn't exactly seem to be the case. Sure, I prefer Bring It All Back's more hop-skip-and-jump feel to Two in a Million, but I quite enjoyed this song. One thing I did notice that puzzled me a little was the lack of a bridge, and while I don't think it really detracted from the song's quality, it was noticeable enough to note down. They do make up for it at the end by repeating and mish-mashing the last two lines of the chorus to add a little variety, but I do wonder why they chose to omit the bridge entirely.

4. S Club Party

I know this song very well. Either way, I listened to it again, for the sake of going through the whole album in order, and as a refresher. It definitely reminds me of why I liked Bring It All Back so much more than #2 and #3, being very gung-ho and let's go party and upbeat. It also serves as a Welcome to Tally Hall for this group (yes yes I know Tally Hall formed in 2002 but shhh), with each member getting their own line. I really like how they included a little more variance with the musical levels (I'm just going to call it that now, if someone knows the technical term then please let me know ), with just the drums in the short bridge and no drums in the chorus iteration right after, with the song then exploding back into its usual momentum (in a different key!) right after. The only thing I'm raising any eyebrows about is the actual lyrical content of the aforementioned bridge. Apparently Ghetto Boys is a street gang mainly based in New Cross and Deptford, and "hoochie mama"... doesn't give me much hope for what "showing your nanas" might mean. Considering the band's lyrics have been incredibly tame and child-friendly so far, outside of the use of the word "drug" in the You're My Number One pre-chorus, I was shocked to see how that got in there (and so was the poor chap commenting on the line on the Genius page).

5. Everybody Wants Ya

nana nana nana nana nananow, baby give it up give it up... baby give it up- wait hold on a second that's the wrong song

This song was okay. It might just be me and my high A low B (t'was a 7 but same thing basically) in the GCSE English Language reading analysis paper, but I sort of struggled to link the first verse to the chorus before listening to the rest of the song, since I thought it might be implying the protagonist and her boyfriend were breaking up or he was some kind of womaniser, but after finishing the song and reviewing the lyrics a bit more it's pretty damn clear that the message of the song is just "all these girls want to get with you 'cause you absolutely mog all the other guys here but we're already dating so tough on them". Some of the implications of a couple of the lines can definitely be perceived as suggestive (looking at you "I'm the one that's going home with you"), but other than that it's pretty standard tame stuff, nothing like the hoochie mama line from the last song. The instrumentals didn't particularly thrill me, so I won't say much on that.

6. Viva La Fiesta

They weren't kidding when they named this song Viva La Fiesta, the backing instruments sound so Spanish that I'm surprised they never mentioned tacos and sombreros and churros... although they did mention doing the salsa a couple of times. As I go through these songs, I can definitely tell where my tastes lie, seeing this song (very upbeat and dance-like both in lyrics and in instruments) is one that I prefer to the more lovey-dovey ones. No real innuendo this time around either, the closest it gets is "we're getting down tonight" right after talking about dancing, and it's just a fun little time. Kind of reminds me of Sound Of The Underground, at least in scope and general goal, despite the sheer difference of style. The bridge was mostly just repeating lines from the chorus, so technically one of the 3 minutes of the song is just chorus spamming, but they did decide to pick and choose things in a way that makes things a little more interesting than just looping it for the rest of the song.

7. Gonna Change The World

Eh, this song felt same-y, like a lot of the other songs on this album. I'm getting the impression that that's just the norm with this group, but I digress. The message is cute enough, working on yourself to help make the world a better place, and the bridge was much appreciated this time around, since the song generally felt the same throughout. One thing I think I noticed was how there was a lot more harmonies in this song than some of the other ones, which is a nice little nod to working together to improve the world, but that's about it.

8. I Really Miss You

I enjoyed this quite a bit more than Gonna Change The World. I'm quite the fan of the approach taken with the backing instruments, kudos to whoever did that - and there was some more variance with the levels as well, which is always good to hear. That said, I can't help but wonder if there's something of a mismatch between the tune and the lyrics, considering the song is about being lonely after having a good time, wishing that a specific someone would just pick up the phone and let you talk about it to him. I understand that that's something that could probably be found relatively easily in the music scene, and it's not all that jarring, but I do think adopting a more sombre melody would have been better. It'd also add a little more spice to this album as well, methinks, but I'm no music professional, so I could be horribly wrong. Either way, this song was cute enough. I like it. And hey, the instrumental break was nice, with the main singing melody being played a little bit.

9. Friday Night

I immediately raised an eyebrow once the song started playing, since I'm very 50/50 on rap and switching over to that after endless pop would be a little strange, my point about more melancholy songs notwithstanding. Thankfully, the only rap segments were in the first verse, interlaced with some of that "na na na" action, and overall I thought it fit the pop-like vibe... because it's a pop song, duh. This is definitely one of the more hype songs, and I couldn't help but compare its lyrics a little to Viva La Fiesta, except instead of "yo we're gonna party tonight" it's more of a "bring you're friends, we're ALL going to party tonight", and while they're similar in scope, I'm glad they're both not about the same thing. One little touch I liked was how in the pre-chorus, the first word of each line was mostly sung by everyone, with the solo singer then doing the rest, and that worked quite well since the ones that had that treatment were to do with the number of people at the party, e.g. "one", "two", "three", and then "we" and "you". They changed up the drums' beat slightly during the bridge, which was another thing I liked, but other than that it was pretty bog-standard S Club 7 hype song. It was cool, definitely in the top half of the rankings.

10. It's A Feel Good Thing

Apparently there's an interview out there where the band members say that this is their least favourite song and that they hated it, so I was definitely curious why that was the case. And goodness golly gracious me, was that song the most hype on the entire album so far. All sorts of cheering, whooping, drumming, belting out the lyrics... wow, I enjoyed that quite a lot. My only real gripes with it are that once again, once you get to the last minute to 30 seconds you know that the rest of the song is just going to be that but repeating, maybe with some changes here and there, and I thought the line "it's a feel good thing, it's an S Club thing" makes it sound just a bit too much like it's directed toward children, which after S Club Party and Everybody Wants Ya... yeah, whoops. But hey, at least the kiddies can indeed enjoy this song, unless if I missed some more references to sex, drugs and... pop?

11. Hope for The Future

For the closing song of the album, the overall theme of "I love you, I love how you've given me hope, I trust you'll keep giving me hope for the future" is okay. It's looking into... you know... the future, now that the end of the album is nigh, what's going to happen afterwards etc., and I think because of that, this is probably one of the best choices to end the album with. But good grief to I wish it was more exciting, this was a very casual song for an album that had a solid mix of love songs and party songs, and while yes, this is a love song, I'd say it's arguably the least exciting one on the list. Generally more repetitive than most of the songs, still has the problem of the chorus just looping for the last minute or so... the only really "exciting" thing about it in my opinion is the fact there's a pre-chorus, which some of the songs have already. Would liked to have seen more variation in this track, especially in the last minute.

You might think this is the end, but no... we still have five more tracks to cover! Hold onto your hats, 'cause I've been listening to the songs and writing these bite-sized critiques as I go, and I have no idea what to expect!

12. Japan-Exclusive Bonus Track: So Right

I'm not sure why sometimes people like to make tracks exclusively for Japan, but oh well. This is probably the one song that gives away the British nature of the group - which I never mentioned before, the group is British! Whether that means just English, or if some of the members are from Wales/Scotland/Northern Ireland/any of the included isles, I'm not sure - because of the use of the word "mates" when referring to the female protagonist's friends (maybe the male's as well?), and while I do acknowledge that it's part of our lexicon, it does sound a bit goofy with an American accent, as many performers will adopt while recording a song. This is definitely another more casual song, but I prefer this one to Hope For The Future in general, including because they basically just had the synth in the first iteration of the chorus-looping that seems to be a staple for their songs, before then going back to the regular, familiar sounds. It definitely made me think about Wannabe thanks to the whole "if you want to be my lover you gotta get with my friends" theme, which is funny, because the founder of S Club 7 was actually fired as the Spice Girls' manager in 1997 (which then triggered him starting up this group in the first place), so there's that, even if it's just a small detail.

13. B-Side Track: Hello Friend

This is exactly what I wanted I Really Miss You to be like tone-wise. Arguably, I'd say it's one of the best S Club 7 songs I've heard, and it's not even on the album. It's a freaking B-side. The levels varied so much, the song was so gentle, the sweetness of the two friends saying hi and being thankful about being friends and being able to talk to each other and bounce off each other when the going gets tough, just a stellar song. If I had a choice in the matter, this would have been on the album, but I think I can understand why it didn't make the final cut; it's too different tonally from the rest of the lineup. This is the only slow song I've heard that comes from these people, and it stinks that that's been the case so far. I really, really, really like this song. I'm at least glad it was a B-side, and wasn't ditched completely, because beggars can't be choosers, but goodness do I want to be a chooser in the matter.

14. B-Side Track: Our Time Has Come

After the subtle shock that was Hello Friend, it felt a little strange getting back into the typical swing of S Club things, with the "let's go party" mentality and it being a very "be yourself" song again. The bridge felt unique, although I'm not sure why, but I'm welcoming that with open arms, knowing full well just how same-y S Club 7 songs can be with themselves sometimes. They also had a brief nod to S Club Party with the lines "there's a party going on over here" and "throw your hands up in the air", which was cute. Overall, I do like this song, but it does sound a little similar to their other stuff. I'll give them kudos on the backing music, though, it does sound rather mystical compared to most of their tracks.

15. B-Side Track: We Can Work It Out

I'll admit, the "la la la"s were a little off-putting in a funny way because of how dead simple they were, not taking any risks or any funky rhythms, just... being on beat constantly. The message of the song is nice, "you can talk to your friends if you feel down and they'll help you", though, which is always good to hear. The sudden drop at the beginning of the chorus-loop, followed by the sudden switch back to normal, was unexpected, and I'll admit that I raised by my eyebrows in surprise... a cool little twist, glad to see they decided to spice things up there. There was also another separate harmony for the two choruses after that, so it wasn't just a small thing at the start to keep you entertained. I liked this one, but it's not my favourite.

16. B-Side Track: Down At Club S

At last, the final track. I knew that there was no need to respect any song order or finish it off with a suitable feeling, since this is a B-side, but I did hope that it would be something at least semi-suitable for a finale, especially after sinking a few hours into listening to the songs and writing their blurbs... this did not disappoint, this would have been a far better ending than then mediocre Hope For The Future. Again, as you might expect from seeing I liked this, it is a hype song. Not quite It's A Feel Good Thing levels of sheer party-ness, but definitely up there. Interestingly, they started the chorus-loop at about the halfway mark, and interrupted it a couple of times with not one, not two, but three bridges! Unless if you count a couple of them as verses, but I'm hesitant to do so thanks to the vastly differing melodies. I think at times it does seem like they're trying to stretch it out as long as they can, but considering most of the rest of their songs clock in at 3 minutes, I'm unsure why they'd want to do that. My main gripe is with the chorus, though... it's just "C-L-U-B, place you want to be" four times. Some more inventive lines would have been nice, but I'm willing to let it slide because I like the song enough already.

Okay, now I've reached the end. Overall, I enjoyed listening to all the songs in order, even if there are a few mediocre ones. I wouldn't say any of them are downright stinkers, but Hope For The Future comes rather close in my humble opinion. I'm not surprised that the ones I already knew were the more famous ones (Bring It All Back, S Club Party), but I'm a little sad I didn't hear It's A Feel Good Thing, Hello Friend, or Viva La Fiesta before embarking on this little adventure. If my opinion is objectively Wrong (TM) because you really really like Gonna Change The World or You're My Number One, feel free to scream at me in the comments, I'm curious to see what others think of this album. Anyways, I've been at this for several hours (took a break to get lunch but nothing else), peace!

~ December Winterwolf