FEATURE:
Second Spin
All Saints – All Saints
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BACK in the 1990s…
IN THIS PHOTO: All Saints in 1997/PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Roney/Getty Images
there were quite a lot of girl groups and boybands. Those terms might not seem appropriate or correct now, but that is what they were referred to back then. All Saints are still going today and their most-recent album, Testament, was released in 2018. I feel that the U.S. R&B girl groups like Destiny’s Child had better songs, vocals and dynamics than the British equivalent. That said, there were some stronger alternatives in the U.K. By 1997, when All Saints’ debut arrived, the Spice Girls’ eponymous debut had been out for a year – they released their second album, Spiceworld, just over two weeks when All Saints arrived on the scene. Preceded by the successful single, I Know Where It’s At (which reached number-four in the U.K. charts), All Saints came out on 15th October, 1997. I think it is an album that deserves new attention because, if you look at the reviews, they are quite mixed. Maybe critics were comparing All Saints with U.S. groups like En Vogue, and Destiny’s Child – who had more attitude and, arguably, better tracks – and feeling they were not quite as strong. As this was a year when Spice Girls were really breaking out and dominating (Spiceworld was a worthy follow-up to their massive debut), I do think there was this great time where there were a variety of girl groups and boybands. En Vogue released EV3 in 1997 and, whilst it is not as remarkable as 1992’s Funky Divas, it is a great album.
Destiny’s Child released their debut single, No, No, No, very shortly after All Saints came out, so they were creating a lot of attention. I guess 1997 was a year when things were shifting. Britpop was in its late stages, and the apex of boybands and girl groups in the U.K. was also over. In terms of the most-popular albums of 1997, Radiohead’s OK Computer, Björk’s Homogenic, The Verve’s Urban Hymns, The Prodigy’s The Fat of the Land, and Foo Fighters’ The Colour and the Shape were providing something deeper, more serious and very different to what British audiences were eating up a few years previous. I think that, if All Saints came along in 1994 or 1995, then their debut might have been held in higher regard – and it would have fitted in with the height of Pop. As it is, All Saints is an album with terrific singles that sound great today, in addition to album tracks that are really interesting. I think all of the songs on All Saints’ debut has a personal touch. With group member Shaznay Lewis co-writing most of the songs, it is not a case of teams of writers directing the group and talking for them. There are a couple of diverse covers. I am not such a fan of their take on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Under the Bridge, as that original is quite gritty and personal.
Vocalist Anthony Kiedis wrote the lyrics to express feelings of loneliness and despondency and to reflect on narcotics and their impact on his life. In the hands of All Saints, the song takes on a different life and does not hit as hard. On the other side is their feisty and catchy version of Lady Marmalade (by American girl group, Labelle) - that (deservedly) went to the top of the charts. Even though it is strangely low in the tracklisting – it is track ten, when I think it should have been in the first three or four songs - the group put their own stamp on Lady Marmalade. I Know Where It’s At is a really strong and memorable first single. The stunning second single, Never for Ever, is one of the best songs of the 1990s and was another number-one for the group. It is clear that they had popularity and a huge fanbase from the start. I think, as a unit, All Saints are stronger vocalists than the Spice Girls but maybe do not have the same sort of commercial appeal – in the way they each had nicknames and coined ‘Girl Power’. I am going to bring in a review or two of the All Saints album soon but, to me, I think there is a case of the tracks being amazing but being in the wrong order. Never for Ever is a perfect opener, but I think I Know Where It’s At should have followed it – rather than the sexier and slower Bootie Call.
I think Bootie Call might be my favourite song from All Saints, but it could have been dropped to tracks five or six. Putting Bootie Call, and Under the Bridge together in the middle of the album would have been wiser and Lady Marmalade would have been a better third track; shift War of Nerves from track-twelve to a higher position on the album, then place Lady Marmalade at the end. I think the singles could be rearranged so that there is better flow, equal weighting in terms of the start, middle and end of the album, and that would allow some of the excellent remaining songs – such as Alone, and Beg - to support those singles. Some critics were just being sniffy in the sense that they might have been comparing All Saints to the harder-edged bands around or felt that the girl group scene was past its best. I would disagree. There was still a lot of demand in the market, and All Saints’ debut has a great mix of lighter and more singalong Pop with tracks that have a bit of edge and emotion. I think all five of All Saints’ five studio albums are underrated; I especially feel like the solid Saints & Sinners of 2000 was overlooked – and with singles like Black Coffee, and Pure Shores, there was no shortage of quality!
Maybe, like I have been saying, the comparisons with the Spice Girls was a bit of a burden – All Saints were their own group and were not trying to replicate them or trade in on their success. In a more mixed review, AllMusic remarked the following regarding 1997’s All Saints:
“As the first group of consequence to be saddled with the "new Spice Girls" tag, it would be reasonable to expect that All Saints would be cut-rate dance-pop without the weirdly magical charisma that made the Spices international phenomenons. It is true that All Saints lack the personality of the Spices, but they make up for that with musical skills. All four members have better voices than the Spices, and they all have a hand in writing at least one of the songs on their eponymous debut, with Shaznay Lewis taking the most writing credits. More importantly, they and their producers have a better sense of contemporary dance trends -- there are real hip-hop and club rhythms throughout the record, and samples of Audio Two, the Rampage, and (especially) Steely Dan are fresh and inventive. But what really makes the record are the songs. The singles are the standouts, with the party-ready, Steely Dan-fueled "I Know Where It's At" and the extraordinary gospel-tinged "Never Ever" leading the way, but the covers are well chosen (their take on "Under the Bridge" eclipses the Red Hot Chili Peppers', boasting a better arrangement and more convincing vocals) and the lesser songs are pleasantly melodic. Sure, there's some filler, but that should be expected on any dance-pop album. What counts is that the performances are fresh, the production is funky, and there is a handful of classic pop singles on the album, and you can't ask for much better than that from a dance-pop record, especially one from a group that almost beat the Spice Girls at their own game”.
In a more positive review, Nick Butler of Sputnikmusic gave it a positive review, giving the album it five stars out of five. He felt that the musical direction and sound "had aged well," and praised the group's creativity - he stated they were "considered the credible alternative to the Spice Girls". The singles have aged well and should be studied more by Pop artists of today. I don’t think there are many fillers on All Saints. It was an impressive debut from Shaznay Lewis, Melanie Blatt, Natalie Appleton and Nicole Appleton. The English-Canadian band originally formed in London in 1993. They started out as All Saints 1.9.7.5 and were formed by Sugababes manager Ron Tom, with members Melanie Blatt, Shaznay Lewis and Simone Rainford. After some initial disappointment, by 1996, the group were joined by sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton and signed to London Records under their shortened name. The debut sound fully-formed and, whilst there was a six-year gap between Saints & Sinners and 2006’s Studio 1 – there was a delay and tension, apparently, in the group over an incident at a photoshoot! -, and a ten-year gap between that album and Red Flag – after Parlophone dropped the group, there was a belief they would not get back together -, they are still together today; they seem so focused and tight! It has been a rough road for the group, but I look back on the debut and I can hear that sense of togetherness and how the songs pop and fizz. There is a lot of variety that means All Saints is not just about straightforward Pop and R&B. I really like the fantastic 1997 debut and, if you get a moment, give the album a spin. To me, it is much better…
THAN people give it credit for.