Customer Reviews

This Time

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Melanie C has been one to watch since she emerged solo from the pop juggernaut that was the Spice Girls in 1999 with her debut breakout "Northern Star." Since that time, much has happened, Melanie has grappled with her self-image, been dropped by her label, started her own, & become her own artist.

Melanie often was dubbed "Indie Spice" or "Rock Spice," terms that were slightly accurate were limiting, but it seemed she bought into them herself on her third album, 2005's "Beautiful Intentions." While a decent effort, "Beautiful Intentions" felt as though she was trying to prove something, her credibility, her strength, who knows? It didn't resonate with everyone.

On her second album on her own label, her fourth overall, "This Time" finds Melanie has embraced herself & it is reflected in this amazing set of songs.

Opening on the Keane inspired "Understand" Melanie weaves an emotional tapestry of musical emotions, while still layering her songs in a fashion, so that they don't run together. The title track is a soaring inspirational number, one that shows how Melanie became the vocal figurehead in the Spice Girls. "What If I Stay" is a hushed gem, that features an Alanis Morrisette inspired harmonica break, "Carolyna" is an uptempo rocker that is sure to charm any who hear it.

Her duet with Adam Argyle (writer of "Next Best Superstar") "Don't Let Me Go", is romantic and comes off as sincere rather than canned lovey dovey fluff. The first single from the record, her cover of the 1960's cult pop cut "I Want Candy" by The Strangeloves, then made infamous in the 1980's by Bow Wow Wow, is pure fun. Punchy ska-like horns and a sunny vocal delivery show that Melanie has learned to love her pop-oriented roots.

"This Time" is a consistenly pleasing set of contemporary rock/pop songs, with your typical inspirational and love themed material. While not as schiphrenically appealing as her debut, it isn't as undercooked has her prior record was. Rather it combines the emotional lift that made "Reason" appealing and the moodiness of "Beautiful Intentions," to give it that charismatic approach. Highly recommended.

Melanie C proves with this album that she is one of the best singers in the world right now. She has a perfect voice both for the rock songs ("Out of Time", "Understand", and "Carolyna") and for the great ballads ("Forever Again", "May Your Heart", and "The Moment You Believe") and anything between them. However, I still think that this album is not the most original you can get. It is well done but something's missing. The lyrics are however, very positive. For example, one of her earlier songs "On the Horizon" is one of her most positive songs. You can find many positive songs here too..."Protected", "Corolyna", "Immune" etc. This is quite a difficult album to like. For example, I listen to this album seven times before I realized how good one this really is. It may be that the more I listen to it the more I like it. In fact, the only song I don't like in this album is "What If I Stay" which is quite a peaceful one and an interesting choice for number two.
Stars: Carolyna, Understand

From the pop-y "Northern Star" to the rock-y "Beautiful Intentions", her album "This Time" is probably her best alternative rock sounding album with more of an acoustic sound, where you can really hear her voice.

HIGHLY recommend Melanie C's b-sides:
- "Fragile" from 'The Moment You Believe' single
- "We Love to Entertain You" from "This Time" single

I have always been a big fan of Mel C's and have all but one of her albums...being overseas had it's advantages. With This Time, she comes full circle and proves not only to the world that. She maybe a Spice Girl but she more than knows how to roll solo and do her own thing just as well. I've always enjoyed her vocals on previous efforts. She has a strong and booming voice when needed and on slower ballads it slowly builds to an excellent result-heartfelt and strong delivery.

She does this throughout her new cd. I only found a couple songs that i didnt really enjoy despite listening more than once those are:

What If I Stay (just didnt do anything for me...it did almost put me to sleep though)

Don't Let Me Go (again i couldnt stay interested in it to be honest after a few listens)

But that's it everything else (everything) on the CD is crazy good and should be enjoyed by any and all music fans. Not just fans of her previous work or the Spice Girls, but music fans in general.

You don't want to miss out a cd that keeps you interested in what comes next after every song.

"This Time" is it for real.

Overall grade 9.5 out of 10 (minus .5 for the 2 songs that i wasnt feeling)

Grade A (4.5/5)

During the 90's when I was a Spice Girls fan, I never paid much attention to Melanie Chisholm...she kinda just faded into the background behind Emma and Geri...but after discovering her solo CD's this year I was pleasantly surprised...she truly was the most talented former spice girl...
This particular CD is excellent and I would strongly recommend it. "This Time", "Immune", and "Carolyna" are some of Melanie C's best songs...Also, even despite the song's cheesiness,I enjoyed Melanie C's cover version of "I Want Candy"
The only reason why I didn't give it five stars because a couple of the songs, like "Out of Time", seem to take a while to get going...but once they do, they're great.
All in all, excellent!

I dont understand the britsh public for constanlt slating one of our greatest artists. Melanie C has shown that yet again she has the song writing ability and talent to be a no1 solo star, Popular every where except her home territory. I own all of her albums and on listening to them in sequence you can hear Melanie maturing and getting better and better. This album is her best and must be bought by every fan to show commitment to her ability. You will not be dissapointed.

Melanie C is back once again after 2005's Beautiful Intentions. Starting off in the famous pop girlband the Spice Girls, most people assume she is simply a talentless pop singer just like many others, so they don't waste their time. Melanie C has more than proved her talents though, people just haven't had time to listen. From the suberb diversity of her first solo album 'Northern Star', the lyrical honesty demonstrated in Beautiful Intention and her increadible live abilities in DVD 'Live Hits' (recommended). On This Time she isn't as honestly blunt as in Beautiful Intentions (which is a shame because Beautiful Intentions still stands as the best because of this, IMO) but the songs offer more diversity, are catchier and offer better production. Certanly not one to miss.

Understand (5/5) - One of the best of her career. Explores the concept of love at first sight in a desperate and slightly creepy way. Sounds a bit like Coldplay or Keane.
What if I Stay (4/5) - Beautiful accoustic song to listen to. Relaxing. Dreamy.
Protected (2/5) - Not one of her best. Sounds a bit like "Angels" by Robbie Williams but lacks power and meaning and comes off way too sweet.
This Time (4/5) - Very catchy pop song that will keep you singing along. It's empowering.
Carolyna (4/5) - Pop-Rock. Talks about a troubled girl who runs away from home and becomes homeless. Lyrics aren't superb but the song is one of the catchiest and most enjoable of the album.
Forever Again (1/5) - It's caught between ballad and pop-rock song. Does nothing for me. Bland. Boring.
Your Mistake (4/5) - About her parents divorce, the pressure to fit in her family and how it affects her to this day. The most personal song on the record but still manages to be fun to listen to. Starts off slow but then kicks off.
The Moment You Believe (3/5) - This power ballad shows the best vocals from Melanie and the melody is good, but lyrics are bad and lacking emotion.
Don't Let Me Go (3/5) - Fun duet, catchy with a bit of a Country vibe.
Immune (2/5) - You have to let this acoustic ballad grow on you as it comes off as a little bit boring. It's nice sounding but it's a bit of a filler. Fans will agree that b-side "Fragile" should have taken it's a place in the album.
May Your Heart (5/5) - My favorite song of the album. Starts out calm and beautiful and ends in a huge emotional ending. I feel it talks about the ending of a relationship but the caracter still wishes that the ex-lover (friend) has all the happiness in the world because she still loves and cares. Superb!
Out of Time (4/5) - Reminds me of the darkness "You'll Get Yours" of Beautiful Intentions, though not as good lyrically. The beginning is chilling and the rock part in the end adds flavour.
I Want Candy (3/5) - Just pure pop fun, nothing more. Fun to Dance.

If you are hesitant of buying the album, download these songs off iTunes first: Understand, Carolyna and May Your Heart

Looks like Melanie is always making a great effort doing her music. This Time is in every single aspect, her best work up to date, even the cover is more much better than any of the previous ones: simple, but showing a very natural Melanie.
Northern star, Reason and Beautiful Intentions's title tracks showed to be some of the best tracks of each album, This Time is no exception, and in my opinion, is the best song in the entire album. Other great songs are Understand, Protected, Your Mistake, May Your Heart, Forever Again, Immune and the Chili Pepper style Carolyna.
What if I stay and The Moment you Believe are so far the tracks where you can really appreciate fully Melanie's great voice.
This album is definitely worth of buy! Is one of the best Spice's albums ever.

I think if this is one her best work she has ever done includinf beatiful intentions.

This album is absolutely amazing! I recieved it today in the mail and I wasn't expecting it to be here this early at all. I had been listening to tracks on Youtube and clips from her site, but it was nice to actually have the CD in my hands.

Track by Track:
1) Understand 10/10- Great album opener and extremely catchy. Lyrics are amazing too.

2) What If I Stay 8/10- On first listen, a bit of a forgettable and annoying number, but after a few listens, I've grown to appreciate it. Mel's vocals are great on this track.

3) Protected 9/10- I love Mel's dreamy vocals on this track. Really sets the mood for this track.

4) This Time 10/10- The title track, as with her previous title tracks, does not disappoint. Very good pop song with great lyrics.

5) Carolyna 10/10- Very catchy pop/rock song. One of the best on the album.

6) Forever Again 10/10- Another great ballad. One of my faves on the album.

7) Your Mistake 9/10- Yet another ballad that becomes a bit mid-tempo. Good lyrics and vocal performance from Mel.

8) The Moment You Believe 10/10- Single for Europe and one of her best tracks on the album. Very strong power ballad.

9) Don't Let Me Go (feat. Adam Argyle) 8/10- Somewhere between a mid-tempo and ballad, but very good track and Mel's first duet since NS's Never Be the Same Again.

10) Immune 9/10- Another very good mid-tempo track with some great soaring vocals from Mel.

11) May Your Heart 9/10- Great dreamy and lush track with some soothing vocals.

12) Out of Time 10/10- Very similar to You'll Get Yours on BI. Starts off as a ballad and becomes rocky near the end. Very good track.

13) Bonus Track: I Want Candy 10/10- A cover of the famous pop track. Very good rendition of it. Glad she put it on as a bonus track.

Highlights: Understand, This Time, Carolyna, Forever Again, May Your Heart.

Overall, a very good solid effort from Melanie. It's very rare that I love every track on an album and she has done it again. BI was like that, and I'm glad to see that it happened again with This Time.

So what are you waiting for? Go buy this album!!!