| Last album = Spiceworld
(1997) | This album = Forever
(2000) | Next album =
Forever is the third album by English pop group the Spice Girls, released in 2000 (see 2000 in music). The album, the first since Geri Halliwell's departure, was poorly received and exceptionally badly promoted by the group themselves.#"Holler" (LaShawn Daniels, Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III, Spice Girls) â€" 4:13#"Tell Me Why" (Beckham, Brown, Bunton, M. Butler, Chisholm, L. Daniels, R. Jerkins, F. Jerkins III) â€" 4:15#"Let Love Lead The Way" (Beckham, Brown, Bunton, Chisholm, Daniels, R. Jerkins, F. Jerkins III, Harvey Mason, Jr.) â€" 4:57#"Right Back At Ya" (Brown, Tim Lever, Spice Girls) â€" 4:10#"Get Down With Me" (Brown, Butler, Daniels, R. Jerkins, F. Jerkins III, R. Smith, Spice Girls) â€" 3:45#"Wasting My Time" (Brown, Spice Girls) â€" 4:14#"Weekend Love" (Brown, Daniels, Spice Girls) â€" 4:05#"Time Goes By" (Spice Girls, Butler, Daniels, R. Jerkins, F. Jerkins, III) â€" 4:51#"If You Wanna Have Some Fun" (Brown, James Harris, T. Lewis, Spice Girls) â€" 5:25#"Oxygen" (Brown, Lewis, Spice Girls) â€" 4:56#"Goodbye" (Rowe, Spice Girls, Richard Stannard) â€" 4:35Personnel*Victoria Beckham — vocals
*Mel B — vocals
*Emma Bunton — vocals
*Mel C — vocalsAdditional personnel*Susan Drake — background vocals
*Eliot Kennedy — background vocalsProduction*Producers: Rodney Jerkins, Harvey Mason, Jr., Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard
*Engineers: Adrian Bushby, Paul Foley, Ben Garrison, Brad Gilderman, Steve Hodge, Ian Robertson, Dave Russell, Tony Salter
*Assistant engineers: Jake Davies, Bradley Yost
*Mixing: Ben Garrison, Brad Gilderman, Steve Hodge, Fred Jenkins III, Rodney Jerkins, Jan Kybert, Mark "Spike" Stent, Paul Waller, Bradley Yost
*Mastering: Bernie Grundman
*Digital editing: Harvey Mason, Jr.
*Vocal production assistance: LaShawn Daniels, Susan Drake, Eliot Kennedy
*Drum programming: Paul Waller
*String arrangements: Will Malone
*Design: Vince Frost
*Photography: Terry RichardsonAlbumIt is impossible to inform the exact sales of Forever worldwide, but it's apparent that its sales are far below the numbers of Spice Girls' previous albums, which sold 35.2million copies combined globally (according to their presentation at The Brit Awards in 2000). In December 2000, EMI confirmed (via their website) that 2.3million of Forever had been shipped globally, but sales remain significantly below that figure as many of the shipment went unsold. That is illustrated by looking at France; only 15,000 copies of the 100,000 that were sent out in France were sold, and the album peaked at #43 on the album chart.
It was their first album not to top the UK album chart, peaking at #2; in the United States, it debuted just within the top forty, at #39, but quickly fell completely out of the chart. Forever shipped over 300,000 copies in UK, earning a Platinum certification; it barely sold 200,000 copies in the U.S. Forever's best chart performance was possibly in Brazil, where it went to #1 on the album sales chart.| Chart | Forever |
! width="100">| Peak Position Sales Certificate | Shipments|- | UK Albums Chart | #2 | Platinum | 300,000
(280,000 sold)| Top Canadian Albums | #6 | 2xPlatinum | 200,000 | | The Billboard 200 | #39 | align="center"|200,000 | | Brazil Albums Chart | #1 | Gold | 50,000 | | French Albums Chart | #43 | N | 100,000
(15,000 Sold)| German Albums Chart | #6 | Gold | 150,000 | | Japan Albums Chart | #12 | align="center"|39,500 | | Mexican Top 100 Albums | #21 | Gold | 50,000 | | New Zealand Album Chart | align="center"|Gold | 7,500 | | Netherlands | align="center"|Gold | 40,000 | | Polish | #9 | Gold | 15,000 | | Swiss Albums Chart | align="center"|Platinum | 50,000 | | Korean Albums Chart | align="center"|align="center"|12,159
(Sold)|
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N/c = Not Certified
Blank = Information not known/unconfirmedChart Runs*-- indicates album left the chart| Top100 UK Album Chart | | Week | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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| Position | 21632373543496280--93| -- | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| Top100 US Album Chart | | Week | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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| Position | 3978------------------| -- | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| Top75 French Album Chart | | Week | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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| Position | 436769----------------| -- | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| Top100 German Album Chart | | Week | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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| Position | 619314750678389------| -- | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Singles| Year | Single | Chart | Position | | 1998 | "Goodbye" | UK Singles Chart | #1 | | 1998 | "Goodbye" | U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 1 (3 weeks) | | 1998 | "Goodbye" | Polish Chart | 1 (5 weeks) | | 1998 | "Goodbye" | Billboard Hot 100 | #11 | | 1998 | "Goodbye" | Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | #10 | | 1998 | "Goodbye" | Top 40 Mainstream | #7 | | 2000 | "Holler/Let Love Lead the Way" | UK Singles Chart | #1 | | 2000 | "Holler" | Polish Chart | #1 (2 weeks) | | 2000 | "Holler" | Canadian Singles Chart | #2 | | 2000 | "Holler" | Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #31 | | 2000 | "Holler" | Rhythmic Top 40 | #40 | | 2000 | "Let Love Lead the Way" | Polish Chart | #1 (1 Week) | | 2000 | "Let Love Lead the Way" | Canadian Singles Chart | #5 | |
In August 1999, the Spice Girls began work again on their third studio album. Together with Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe, the girls began writing for the album at the world famous Abbey Road Studios in London. Several tracks emerged, including the songs "Treasure", "Go, Go, Go", "Overnight" and "W.O.M.A.N" â€" but none of the tracks made it onto the final album and none, with the exception of "W.O.M.A.N" â€" which was performed live on the Christmas In Spice World UK Tour in 1999, have been heard. The group also worked with Eliot Kennedy ("Say You'll Be There", "Love Thing") at the Steelworks Studios in Sheffield in mid-August, and the main track to emerge was "Right Back At Ya" â€" which was showcased in the Christmas tour and eventually made it onto the third album.
Wednesday 25th August is a faithful day in Spice history â€" it marked the beginning of the end. That day the group returned to London and began work with American R&B producer, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins â€" who had previously worked with Whitney Houston, Brandy, Aaliyah, Michael Jackson and Toni Braxton â€" at the Whitfield Street Studios. Eager to develop their sound and image the group â€" reputably driven by Melanie B â€" wanted a more American and urban edge in a desire to stay fresh and connect with a maturing fanbase. The tracks that emerged included the songs "Holler", "Let Love Lead The Way" and "Weekend Love" â€" all of which made it onto the final cut. On September 21st, the girls returned to the Whitfield Street Studios, this time to hook up with legendary productions team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis â€" the men who turned Prince and Janet Jackson into global megastars, and who had worked with the likes of Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Usher and Mary J. Blige. The result was the two most critically acclaimed tracks on the album â€" the majestic "If You Wanna Have Some Fun" and the haunting "Oxygen".
In September, work on "Third Time Around" (the working title for the album) ceased; Melanie C embarked on a solo tour in an effort to boost Northern Star's disappointing sales and both Emma Bunton and Melanie B began recording their solo material. It wasn't until April 10th 2000 â€" seven months after the London Sessions and nearly two years since Geri's departure, that work resumed on the album at the Hit Factory in Miami, USA. "Tell Me Why", "Get Down With Me" and "Time Goes By" were all written with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins â€" but Melanie C doesn't feature on the writing credits. At the time she was still concentrating on her solo career so the material was written without her, and she put her vocals on afterwards. The shape of the new album was now taking place and the group decided that the material recorded with Matt & Biff the previous year would be shelved because it didn't fit in with the RnB dominated material they had recorded with Darkchild and Jam&Lewis. The only song to survive to cull was "Right Back At Ya" â€" but only after it was heavily remixed by Darkchild, something which original producer Eliot Kennedy found very insulting. They had turned one of the best pop tracks he had ever done and turned it into a "plodding, boring, bottom drawer R&B song", in his opinion.
Now that the pop tracks had been taken off Forever, the girls needed to record more material to bolster the album. On July 17th they returned to Whitfield Street Studios and recorded "Wasting My Time" with Fred Jerkins (which doesn't feature vocals by Melanie B or writing credits by Victoria!) and they remixed "Right Back At Ya". After more than two years of recording, writing, line up changes, world tours and solo careers the ill-fated third album was completed.
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