1) Not Such an Innocent Girl: The first single from the album. In this song "Victoria" tells the listener she's not so sweet and "innocent" as she's portrayed to be. The video for the song showed two versions of "Victoria", one dressed in white with blonde hair (the good girl) and one dressed in black with black hair (the bad girl) and shows them doing a dance-off and racing on motorcycles. The background was shot on a green screen but it was one of, if not the most expensive solo "Spice Girls" video to date. The song faced a chart battle with "Kylie Minogue's" "Can't Get You Out of My Head" for the number 1 spot in the U.K. "Kylie" ended getting it while "Victoria's" song peaked at number 6. I think the video's pretty good, but it did take a while for me to like the song. 9/10
2) A Mind of Its Own: The second and unfortunately final single from the album. This song is a ballad about how your heart takes over when it comes to love, even though it has led you to a lot of disappointments. It's my favorite song on the album and the video showed "Victoria" walking through a forest that leads her to a house, the whole time she's singing the song. Like the first single, this song also peaked at number 6 in the U.K. I personally think it should've peaked at number 1 or number 3. 10/10
3) That Kind of Girl: In this song "Victoria" sings about being the kind of girl who is down to earth and not the kind of girl that the media portrays her as. It's a kind of an uptempo ballad but it just doesn't do much for me. 5/10
4) Like That: In this song the narrator is telling her friend that her boyfriend is constantly lying and cheating on her and she wants her to leave him. It's an uptempo song that screams "SINGLE MATERIAL!" Why the label never thought about releasing this song as the follow-up to "A Mind of Its Own" is a mystery because it's a great song. 10/10
5) Girlfriend: In this song the narrator is confronted by a girl who believes she is trying to steal him from her. The narrator says that the girl's boyfriend came to her and that she should be angry at him and not the narrator. I don't listen to the song much, but I still think it's pretty good and I wish it had a video. 8/10
6) Midnight Fantasy: While this song has a very catchy beat, it's very boring. I usually just skip it. 4/10
7) I.O.U: "Victoria" confirmed that this song was written about her husband "David Beckham" and she even performed the song on the tv show "Parkinson" (yes there was a talk show with that name) where "David" was in the audience. Had this song been released as the third single, it likely would've given "Victoria" for first U.K. number 1, but I guess they were scared after "Melanie B's" "Lullaby" didn't do well. 10/10
8) No Trix, No Games: In this uptempo song, "Victoria" claims to know "what buttons to push to turn a man on". Given that she's been married to "David" for 18 years, I would say that the lyric is true. I feel like it would've been a better choice as the first single. 10/10
9) I Wish: This song was originally set to be the third single. It was going to released as with a new version featuring singer, "Robbie Craig". It was performed a few times but once "Victoria" announced her that she was pregnant with her second child, the single was cancelled. Honestly I'm glad because it was a terrible choice for a single. The verses are good but the chorus is terrible. 6/10
10) Watcha Talkin' Bout: In this down tempo song, "Victoria" sings about a friend that she used to be close to that would later change into someone fake. After hearing the second verse, it's clear that the song was about band mate "Geri Halliwell" because she was the one that left the band and clearly the girls felt hurt about that. The girls are fine now but it must've been awkward when "Geri" heard this one. It's actually a pretty good song though. 9/10
11) Unconditional Love: This is clearly another song about "David". The verses are okay but the chorus sounds a little too overproduced and it makes me want to skip it. 4/10
12) Every Part of Me: "Victoria" wrote this song about her son "Brooklyn", in fact his voice can be heard a few times in the song. It's a cute song but, and I really hate to say this, but it's another song I skip even though it's lyrically adorable and vocally pretty good. 7/10
Even though it was "Victoria's" first album, it did not feature her first single, "Out of Your Mind (with True Steppers and Dane Bowers) which hit number 2 in the U.K. and to this date is the 4th best selling solo "Spice Girls" single. The album would peak at number 10 in the U.K., but I feel the album was a little safe because it almost feels like the "Spice Girls" last album "Forever", just with more R&B ballads. Sadly after "I Wish" was cancelled, "Virgin Records" had dropped "Victoria" just as they did with "Emma Bunton" and "Melanie B".
She would later sign with "Telstar Records" and record two albums. The first was pop album called "Open Your Eyes" which "Victoria" shelved because she wasn't happy with the finished product. The second was an R&B/Hip-Hop album "Come Together" which was also shelved due to disagreements with "Victoria's" manager, "Simon Fuller" and the album's producer, "Damon Dash". Before "Come Together" was shelved "Victoria" did release "Let You Head Go" along with "This Groove" together as a double A-side single. It peaked at number 3 in the U.K. "Victoria" did begin to record for a rumored fourth album, but "Telstar Records" went bankrupt and "Victoria" gave up on music to focus on fashion. The "Open Your Eyes" album would leak around 2006/2007 which apparently "Victoria" wasn't happy with, although that album is amazing. "Come Together" leaked last year and I have to say it's not that good.
In the end "Victoria" only released one album. And while she's the only "Spice Girl" not to get a number 1 in the U.K., she is the only "Spice Girl" to have all of the solo singles and albums hit the top 10. My favorite songs on the album are: "A Mind of Its Own", "No Trix, No Games", "I.O.U", "Like That", and "Not Such an Innocent Girl. Out of 120 points I give the album 92 points which is 76%, a C+.
Thank you for reading this review! Tune in tomorrow for the next one!
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