Customer Reviews

Beautiful Intentions [Australian CD]

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Melanie C's musical style has been beautifully captured on this cd. Every time she puts out an album, she puts it WAY out. She's always doing something a little different, yet familiar in that Melanie way. "Sporty Spice who?" is what I now say to those who ask if she was a Spice Girl. Yes she was, but she isn't a Spice Girl anymore, and nothing about her or her music would indicate that. Her music is refreshing and wild, yet calm and beautiful. Her music is 100% Melanie Chisholm.

1. Beautiful Intentions. A great start to the cd, bringing in a mid-tempo rocker.

2. Next Best Superstar. This song was a little out of context for this album, but never the less, a great first single which is sung beautifully.

3. Better Alone. Melanie states clearly that she doesn't need a man to be happy. She's fine with herself. And for those that know her well, would know she values her music more than anything in life.

4. Last Night on Earth. With a hint of being a pop song, it slaps you into realization that it is pure rock.

5. You will see. One of the better songs on the cd. Trust me, you will see.

6. Never Say Never. this song has good music, and I love the chorus. One of my favs.

7. Good Girl. Another beautiful song.

8. Don't need this. Another personal fav. This song is fun to listen to.

9. Little piece of me. Not a personal fav but a great song still.

10. Here and now. Another non-fav, but good.

11. Take Your Pleasure. Can you say "Best song ever made by melanie"?. This is her feistiest song and has great attitude in it.

12. You'll get yours. Second best song on this cd.

Overall, this cd is worth more than it costs. It's countless replay value alone is worth the money. The songwriting, vocals, instruments, everything is perfect. Melanie will be around for many more albums, which i'm sure will only get better.

This is Melanie's 3rd CD and her first on her own. While I noticed that this CD compared to her previous 2 was different in production and such, If you are a fan you will appreciate and like this CD very much. It is evident that she wasn't going for commercial success or appoval, but with that said, don't take that as meaning that the CD stinks- because it is actually more raw and heartfelt. She stripped away expectations and the current popular music scene's obsession with brainless chart-topping hits with minimal writing skills and came out with a more raw and honest approach to the music she was already making. One major difference, also, is that she is "angrier" on this CD. Just another side of her as an artist. and by trying new things and getting grittier, i actually believe she is now an artist. If you own her previous 2, don't hesitate to go for the 3rd.
tracks 5,6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12 are richest in how they're written and executed. I give her credit for making music she likes and not catering to being a polished superstar working with the most current well known producers. GOod for HEr!

Melanie C has really done it here. My brother always says that she is a "poser" for doing rock songs, but I don't agree. She is just doing what comes naturally. The lyrics are so meaningful and honest that I can tell that she put a lot of effort into this. She has experienced everything on this album and I commend her for putting it out there.

Her music has really gotten me through a lot of tough times. Her lyrics and even the background music either picks me up, consoles me, or both at the same time.

"Beautiful Intentions" should be out here in the US. Bottum line. The US is ready for her again, and I think that she will do well. There are those that will dismiss her, and those who would say bad things about her and her music. Forget them, because she stopped caring about those people a long time ago, and we, her fans, should not either.

I've always been a big fan of Melanie, and i was eagerly awaiting her new album ' beautiful intentions'. I loved this album. You just got to love it. My favourite tracks are: Beautiful Intentions, Next Best Superstar, Don't need this, ad Little Piece of me. Recommended for everyone out there, not just Mel fans. She has a great voice, and also great music to go with it, not to mention astoudning lyrics.

It is easy to compartment artists who have previously been in bands, especially in popular music. When it comes to reviewing an artist that was formerly a part of a sweeping phenomenon, it is hard to detach the history from current efforts.
Melanie Chisholm, the sporty one from The Spice Girls, has constantly been subjected to severe denigration post-break up. Even as a part of the campy quintet, she was the target of ridicule and a barrage of criticism over her sexual identity, catapulting her into a whirlwind of self-image issues that resulted in eating disorders, over-exercising, clinical depression and a greater yearning to prove herself as a solo artist.
The derivative of this yearning was her debut, Northern Star, which is one of the best mature-pop efforts in popular music thanks to Madonna protégé William Orbit. Even with an onslaught of skepticism around her, Northern Star managed to notch up a couple of hits from the optimistic title track to the rambunctious "Goin' Down." Even extending her contributions to the R&B community in her collaboration with the late Lisa `Left-Eye' Lopes on "Never Be The Same Again" and to the dance community with her biggest hit to date "I Turn To You," which circumvented the clubs of the world through a heap of remixes.
Her reign as the spice princess ended after her hymn to the homeless on "If That Were Me." Then she became a cliché of the sophomoric slump.
Her second album, Reason, although highly-anticipated, was a commercial dud. The lead single "Here It Comes Again" was not representative of what was about to happen.
Reason offered a grittier Melanie that was high on amp and low on chart-friendly hits. Despite the fact that it carried some strong ditties -- lyrically and sonically, the singles failed to get noticed. "On The Horizon" provided a great chorus with a lackluster everything else. Other released tracks like "Melt," headed in the right direction to no avail.
Reason's stats were so drastically different than Northern Star that Melanie C found herself dropped from her record company and unsigned.
Taking matters into hand in a true display of girl power, Melanie C launched her own record label through her funding.
Red Girl Records launched Melanie's latest Beautiful Intentions, after what seems to be a business-oriented hiatus.
From the onset one can tell that Melanie is more relaxed and unburdened by corporate figureheads. Beautiful Intentions does not attempt to lure in hordes of pop fans or impress anyone. It is a straightforward rock effort that focuses on melodic amalgamation more than making smash hits. As a result, Melanie C fails to conjure up radio-ready tracks, further hindering the marketability of the record.
Being independent is evident here, that is not to say that she is any sort of prodigal daughter of Ani DiFranco. However, it is clear that Melanie C has utilized her rock admiration to deliver an album heavy on guitar-laden songs, like the rowdy "Take Your Pleasure" to the road-trip wonder of "Last Night On Earth.
Standouts include the trip-hop runaway melody of "Don't Need This" the head-banger "Little Piece Of Me." However, that is more than can be said about the lead single "Next Best Superstar," where the superficiality of the record industry is put under the microscope with a pinch of spite.
Still, the highlight tracks are the tranquil ones. "Better Alone" conveys saccharine solace through heartache, while "Here And Now" develops as a no-regrets anthem with every listen.
Other tracks meander between monotonous riffs and reiterated filler.
Even Reason had more chart-power. However, this time Melanie looks to another direction and that is of musical satisfaction rather than mainstream success. Beautiful Intentions is an album for Melanie and her fans. Others will have difficulty digesting this mound or girl-rock without prior consideration of the artist.

I think that if America does not wake up and take notice of this new release we truly are missing something special over here. This CD is well written, produced and performed, I see others have gone into great detail describing this release so I will not repeat that here in my review.

I am very pleased with this CD after only two plays through and expect it will become considered a classic in my personal collection after several more rotations in my CD player.

If you are not familiar with Melanie's solo work since her Spice Girls days or have been in the past and not cared for it, give her another try, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how this CD will bring great beats and melodies to your ears...

I am very impressed with the latest efforts from all of the former Spice Girls. I was very interested to hear the new album from Mel C, having loved the previous ones, and I am not disappointed. There are several hightlights on this album and it is a natural progression from Northern Star to Reason to this. The best songs, in my opinion, are; "Better Alone," a wonderul and touching ballad, "Beautiful Intentions," the rocking title track, "Good Girl," a soft ballad that is sung with great emotion in her voice, "Last Night on Earth" and "Never Say Never." I have to say that Melanie C has consistantly put out great albums and I will be listening to this for a while

I must say that i was very skeptical at first about this album. I didn't truly believe that she could pull it off as a solo artist. Geri Halliwell was my example. But this album took me totally by suprise!

Beautiful Intentions was the first album off a recording label that Mel made herself, and was created mostly by her. It is an intense album with very heartfelt lyrics that hit really close to home. I personally will listen to this if i am in the middle of a particularly bad break-up.

From start to finish, Beautiful Intentions delivers a swirling array of music from ballads to rocked out tracks. I believe that the best song on the album is, "Here and Now", because it has the most personal lyrics in my opinion and is one of the prettiest songs on the album.

Overall, Beautiful Intentions is a classic album from a fantastic artist. Having a little something for everyone, it truly is a well-rounded album and is worthy of unlimited praise.

♥ m.

This CD+DVD Set is very nice, it comes with the album "Beautiful Intentions" and with an extra DVD that features:

Biography
Next Best Superstar Video
Better Alone Video
Beautiful Intentions E.P.K (Some interviews & performances)
Photo Gallery

The album, Beautiful Intentions is a Rock album, with powerful songs like "You'll Get Yours", "Beautiful Intentions", "Next Best Superstar" and "Never Say Never".
A Good Album for Melanie C's Fans

I am very puzzled by any negative reviews of this album. It is an excellent collection of songs that this reviewer would certainly rather hear on the radio than the garbage passed off as "American pop music" today. The songs rock. This album, along with Emma Bunton's "Free Me" and Geri Halliwell's "Passion," marks 2005 for me as the year of the solo Spice Girls.