One of the U.K.'s most successful pop bands is the Sugababes. They've had a total of 6 number one singles and many top 10 hits. Unfortunately these days they aren't remembered for their music as much as they are for their line-up changes. From 1998-2001, the group consisted of Siobhan Donaghy, Mutya Buena, and Keisha Buchanan. They only released one album in 2000 called "One Touch" along with 4 singles. Siobhan left the group in 2001 and was replaced by Heidi Range. It was then that the group gained extreme success with 3 albums called "Angels with Dirty Faces", "Three", and "Taller In More Ways" and 4 number 1 singles: "Freak Like Me", "Round Round", "Hole In The Head" and "Push The Button". This line-up lasted from 2001-2006 when Mutya left the group. She was replaced with Amelle Barrabah who re-recorded three of the songs on "Taller In More Ways". This line-up lasted from 2006-2009 and released "Overloaded: The Singles Collection", a collaboration with Girls Aloud which was a cover called"Walk This Way", "Change", "Catfights and Spotlights", and a single called "Get Sexy". "Get Sexy" was to be the first single from their next album "Sweet 7". They were about to release the second single, "About a Girl", when disaster struck once again when Keisha was kicked out of the group and replaced with Jade Ewen. Because "Sweet 7" was not released yet, The record label replaced Keisha's vocals with Jade's. "About a Girl" was the first video by the Sugababes to not have any original members. Despite that Sweet 7 was still released and I'm going to review it track by track.
1) Get Sexy: The first single from Sweet 7 and the last single to feature Keisha's vocals. Unfortunately, even though Keisha was in the video for it, the album has Jade's vocals on it. It doesn't make sense to do that, especially since it doesn't make the song any less boring. It somehow peaked at number 2 in the U.K. despite many fans labeling it as "one of the Sugababes worst singles". 4/10
2) Wear My Kiss: The third and final single from the album. It was also the second to feature Jade. This song is much better than "Get Sexy" and it's futuristic video is also good. I have to say Jade's version of the song is a little better than Keisha's (don't judge me!). Another shock is that Bruno Mars co-wrote this song as well as "Get Sexy". "Wear My Kiss" peaked at number 7 in the U.K. 10/10
3) About a Girl: The second single from the album and the first to feature Jade in the band. The song was produced and co-written by RedOne, who's produced many hits for Lady Gaga. This song one of the better songs on the album and one of my favorites. The video however was not as good as the song. I'm also not sure whether I like Jade or Keisha's version of the song more since they both did great on it. The song peaked at number 8 in the U.K. without any promotion. Not bad. 10/10
4) Wait for You: Another song co-written by Bruno Mars. The song is okay, but not great. The version with Keisha was much better than the version was Jade. I usually skip it. 7/10
5) Thank You for the Heartbreak: The song was rumored to be a single at one point and I can see why. It's one of the good songs on this album. Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic co-wrote this song and he's written great songs for Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Colbie Caillat, etc. I like Jade's version just as much as Keisha's version. Another fav. 10/10
6) Miss Everything (featuring Sean Kingston): The first and only song on the album to feature someone else on the album. The song's pretty catchy but it's only negative is Heidi's vocals on the song. Amelle, Jade, and even Sean Kingston outshine her. I'd give the song an 8 but since Keisha's version is better this one I took a point off. 7/10
7) She's a Mess: WTF?! The title of this song should be called "This Track's a Mess". TOO MUCH AUTO-TUNE! The upside to this song? The beat and Amelle singing "everybody go mad, everybody go psycho" other than that the song's horrible! 3/10
8) Give It to Me Now: The upside, there's no auto-tune. The downside, the song is boring! 3/10
9) Crash & Burn: An uptempo ballad that was supposed to be the 4th single but was cancelled. Unlike the rest of the songs on the album, this song was recorded after Keisha was kicked out of the group. But there are still 2 versions of this song. The differences are the first half of the second verse which is "We lost it all in the fire we can't get it back, there's no way to recover anything we had, we're on the outside looking in at our aftermath, now it's too late". One version has Amelle singing it and the other has Heidi singing it. I prefer the version where Heidi sings it. It's much better than the previous two songs. 10/10.
10) No More You: Another ballad. The version with Keisha has yet to be released however there is a version were she's singing it live with Heidi. This song is okay but not as good as "Crash & Burn". 8/10
11) Sweet & Amazing (Make It The Best): Sugababes go acoustic pop? An uplifting ballad that's kinda boring and feels like it's been played on radio several times before. 5/10
12) Little Miss Perfect: This was Heidi, Amelle, and Jade's favorite song on the album. It showcases their voices beautifully and it's pretty good, but not as memorable as the other songs. 6/10
Overall Sweet 7 ended up getting not only negative reviews but peaked at number 14 in the U.K., their lowest charting album since One Touch. This many have been because no original members were in the band and a lot of the songs weren't as good as their previous songs. My favorite songs on the album are: Wear My Kiss, About a Girl, Thank You for the Heartbreak, and Crash & Burn. Out of 120 points, I give it 83 which is 69%, a D. The Sugababes have apparently broken up but the original members: Siobhan, Mutya, and Keisha have gotten back together as "Mutya Keisha Siobhan", "MKS" for short. They'll release an album later this year.
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