Amazon.co.uk Review
S Club 7, a seven-piece collective of teenage boys and girls--Tina, Paul, Hannah, Jon, Bradley, Jo and Rachel--were pre-destined for the dizzy heights of pop stardom with their own personalised PR machine (a show on terrestrial television) and the shrewd management of former
Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller. Testimony to this, the band's debut single, the infectiously singalong "Bring It All Back" went straight into the charts at Number One, with the second single "S Club Party" following in hot pursuit.
S Club follows a tried and tested pop album formula and features a couple of hum-along cod-Motown numbers ("You're My Number One" and "Everybody Wants Ya"), two bouncy salsa-driven latino songs ("Viva La Fiesta" and "It's A Feel Good Thing"), a caring-sharing social conscience anthem ("Gonna Change the World") and obligatory sloppy love songs "I Really Miss You" and "Two In A Million". Although it's a mediocre offering, it could well end up being a grower.
--Ronita Dutta
Description
In the cut-throat teen-pop supremacy stakes, the advantage of having your own television program can not be overestimated. Not only does it increase exposure, but it also allows the group to establish a vital sense of character that the likes of Steps and B*witched can only develop in a less directfashion. Eschewing the standard songwriting teams for a variety of contributors, S CLUB 7 is certainly shot through with the same joie de vivre as the "Miami 7" show.
Managed by Simon Fuller, S Club 7 shares the ability of his former proteges the Spice Girls to funnel a range of influences into a sound that is funky rather than derivative. Whilst the twoLatin-flavoured efforts lack the conviction of "Spice Up Your Life", the seven-member outfit fulfils the Janet Jackson-meets-Spector quotient adeptly with "You're My Number One". S Club 7 is similarly at home with slower numbers, on the girls-only "I Really Miss You" and the gentle, glowing "Two ina Million". The recurring "na-na" refrains and the infectious "S Club Party" confirm S CLUB 7 as the soundtrack to seven kids having fun, whic