Spice Girls Spiceworld 25 2LP

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Curated by the Spice Girls themselves, this new package brings together the original ten song chart-topping album on LP1, with LP2 housing a selection of their favorite bonus tracks and B-Sides, alongside previously unreleased recordings from the Virgin Records archive.

First released at the height of "Spicemania" and one month ahead of the Girls' big screen debut in their very own film Spice World The Movie, the album spent almost one year on the UK Top 40 and includes the No.1 hit singles "Spice Up Your Life," "Too Much," and "Viva Forever" as well as fan favorite, "Stop."

Highlights of the 2LP set include "Step To Me," a song originally used as the soundtrack to a 1997 soft drinks campaign, with fans required to collect 20 pink ring pull tabs from cans in return for a four track "not in the shops" CD single. The set also includes the previously unreleased original demo recording.

Fans who have long clamored for a live album that captured the excitement generated by the Spice Girls' hugely successful 1998 ninety-seven-date European and North America tour will delight at the four previously unreleased live recordings included on LP2, all captured at different venues.

Together with some timeless remixes, a search of the archives revealed a previously unreleased version of "Viva Forever - John Themis Ambient Mix" is named after the much in demand Australian-born guitarist who later co-wrote Emma Bunton's April 2001 solo No. 1 "What Took You So Long."

The second LP is rounded off by a brand new "Spice Girls Party Mix," which pulls together some of the Girls' biggest and most popular hits in a near-fifteen-minute fiesta of brilliant Pop music.

Conventional wisdom dictates that Spiceworld should be a weak facsimile of Spice, which itself featured a handful of great singles surrounded by filler. Conventional wisdom, in this case, is wrong - Spiceworld is a better record than its predecessor, boasting a more consistent (and catchier) set of songs and an intoxicating sense of fun. Instead of merely rewriting Spice, Spiceworld consolidates and expands the group's style, adding Latin flourishes ('Spice Up Your Life'), kitschy blues ('The Lady Is a Vamp'), and stomping, neo-Motown blue-eyed soul in the vein of Culture Club ('Stop'). The girls - Mel C. in particular - are actually turning into good vocalists, and each song plays to their strengths, giving each Spice a chance to shine. Best of all, each song has a strong melody and a strong, solid beat, whether it's a ballad or a dance number. It's a pure, unadulterated guilty pleasure and some of the best manufactured mainstream dance-pop of the late '90s.

When it was released in 1997, Spiceworld, the second album by Spice Girls, was an explosive success, moving millions of units through the next year. That's why CD copies of this record are a penny per pound on the resale market. The original vinyl issue, on the other hand, is as rare as hen's teeth, making this new 25th anniversary edition of the LP so very welcome. The two-disc set features a lightly spiffed up version of the album as released as well as a collection of recordings from Spice Girls' world tour and some remixes. As this material was recorded during peak CD era, it all loses a bit of oomph after being downgraded to an analog medium. The programmed drums have been dulled and the glitziness dimmed. To the surprise of no one, the remixes from club minded stalwarts like David Morales and SoulShock & Karlin raise the sonic stakes considerably, goosing the bass and rhythm tracks with pure abandon.