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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bright and warming, just like its name!, 12 Oct 2003
Third albums are always difficult to produce, and as S Club's second album "7" went to number one in the UK, they had bigger expectations than most artists to release a great third one. They made a very good attempt, but unfortunately there are a couple of dreaded "filler" tracks that seem to lack something... AAAAAARRGH!But anyway, there are plenty of decent, happy pop tracks to distract you from those! What better way to kick off "Sunshine" than with the classic disco choon, twice UK no. 1 and 2001's Record of the Year "Don't stop movin'"? This song is arguably most people's favourite S Club track, after all! Next is "Show me your colours", which has a cool kind of R 'n' B feel to it; Rachel sounds good on lead vocals too. "You" is one of the cheesiest tracks on the album, but that doesn't stop it from being great! It's light-hearted pop and went to no. 2 in the UK after its release, so loads of people must think it's good! Then it's slush time with "Have you ever", one of my personal fave S Club songs. Jo's voice just blows me away and it really sounds like she's putting her heart and soul into her vocals - she's easily the best singer in the group. "Good times" gives Paul a chance to shine, and I think this kind of song suits him as it's a mid-tempo summer track. Rachel then returns to the main mike in "Boy like you", a bouncy pop fest, and in the title song "Sunshine" Jon gets to sing lead for a nice change. Quite a lot of other reviewers thought that this track doesn't do him justice, but I disagree; it's a mid-tempo pop song and Jon sounds really nice on it. The thing I like best about this album is that every single S Club member gets at least one song to themselves, and Hannah is up next with "Dance dance dance", a groovy dance number like "Don't stop movin'". Her voice suits this type of track too, as she doesn't necessarily have the strongest voice of the band and faster songs require less vocal power, so she sings this one well. The other cheesiest song on the alb follows, which is the happy, Motown-inspired "It's alright"! I can't help but smile when I hear this track; it makes you want to throw all your cares away and features Jo, Rachel, Bradley and Jon on lead vocals. "Stronger" is the weakest song on this album. I don't like the techno synthesizer thingies in the background and Tina's main vocals sound really dodgy; she just sounds as if she's singing on a karaoke machine or something. "Right guy" had to grow on me, as it's very different to the usual S Club 7 stuff. It's very R 'n' B influenced and on first listen it sounded quite dull, but as Bradley has a versatile voice that is suited to pop, rap or this kind of song, I think it sounds OK now. Plus, he co-wrote this one so I have to give him credit for that! As the album is slowed down towards the end, "Summertime feeling" crops up, a funky mid-tempo that actually had to grow on me as well. "I will find you" is quite bland, to be honest; I don't like this one at all. Bradley and Jo sound good enough, but the lyrics are very weak and sound as if they were rush-written. "Never had a dream come true" brings the pace down even further, and is a gorgeous ballad that once again shows how powerful Jo's voice is. Finally, there is a remix of "Don't stop movin'" to bow us out, but there doesn't seem to be much difference between the two tracks! On the whole, "Sunshine" is a good pop album, covering all easy-listening genres from ballads, dance, R 'n' B and plain old cheesy pop, so there's something for everyone. It's well worth buying, but get ready to hit the skip button once or twice!
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