England's pop exports are some of the biggest the world has ever known - and in the '90s, none were bigger than the Spice Girls. This fall, UMC will reissue Spiceworld, the group's second album and the one where they were metaphorically on top of the world, in a variety of formats with rare and unreleased material.
Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm and Victoria Adams were irresistible to worldwide pop audiences not long after the release of debut Spice in 1996. With colorful personalities and nicknames (in order of our citation: Ginger, Baby, Scary, Sporty and Posh Spice, respectively) and undeniable pop hooks, singles "Wannabe," "Say You'll Be There," "2 Become 1" and "Mama" were all huge hits, with the first topping the charts in 10 countries and the rest all becoming U.K. No. 1 hits (and mostly U.S. Top 5s as well).
Spiceworld - named after a surreal, cameo-packed, A Hard Day's Night-esque film they'd star in by the end of 1997 - kept the pace with more songs written and produced in collaboration with the team who put Spice together, including Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe and the Bristol production duo Absolute. Anthemic lead single "Spice Up Your Life" was yet another U.K. chart-topper, as was "Too Much" and "Viva Forever." ("Stop," a song written about the year's struggles with manager Simon Fuller, whom they'd fire before issuing Spiceworld, was one of their only singles not to top their native charts, settling for No. 2.) Altogether, it would be sort of the end of the group's reign; a year later, Halliwell departed and the remaining four issued one more album together. (The original members reunited for a tour in 2007, and again in 2019 minus Posh, who married soccer star David Beckham and has since established an acclaimed fashion career.)
Like the 25th anniversary edition of Spice before it, the Spiceworld reissue will be built around a 2CD edition curated by the group, featuring the remastered album and a disc of 15 bonus cuts. Highlights include non-album tracks like promo single "Step to Me" (along with an unheard demo of the same), live performances, and remixes including a newly-constructed megamix. It'll be packaged in an A5-size hardback package with rare images and a new introduction from the Girls. A clear vinyl and picture disc version of the original album will also be available, as well as the deluxe edition on black vinyl and even double cassette through the group's official store.
All the formats of Spiceworld will be reissued on November 4. The full track list is below.
Spiceworld (25th Anniversary Edition) (Virgin/UMC, 2022)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Clear vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Picture Disc: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Disc 1: Original album (released as Virgin CDV 2850 (U.K.)/74238 45111 2 8 (U.S.), 1997)
- Spice Up Your Life
- Stop
- Too Much
- Saturday Night Divas
- Never Give Up on the Good Times
- Move Over
- Do It
- Denying
- Viva Forever
- The Lady is a Vamp
Disc 2: Bonus material (* previously unreleased)
- Step to Me (7" Mix)
- Outer Space Girls
- Walk of Life
- Step to Me (Demo) *
- Too Much (Live at Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - 7/11/1998) *
- Stop (Live at Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Spain - 3/161998) *
- Move Over (Live at Abdi İpekçi Arena, Istanbul, Turkey - 10/12-13/1997)
- Spice Up Your Life (Live at Gelredome, Arnhem, The Netherlands - 3/28-29/1998) *
- Viva Forever (Live at NYNEX Arena, Manchester, England - 4/7-12/1998) *
- Spice Up Your Life (Morales Radio Mix)
- Stop (Morales Remix Edit)
- Too Much (SoulShock & Karlin Remix)
- Viva Forever (John Themis Ambient Mix) *
- Step to Me (Extended Mix)
- Spice Girls Party Mix *
Tracks 1 and 14 from Virgin/Pepsi U.K. CD single SGPC97, 1997
Tracks 2-3 and 12 from "Too Much" U.K. CD singles - Virgin VSCDR/T/X 1669, 1997
Track 7 from Girl Power! Live in Istanbul video - Virgin VID 2842 (U.K.)/72434 92111 3 1 (U.S.), 1997
Track 10 from "Spice Up Your Life" U.K. CD single - Virgin VSCDT 1660, 1997
Track 11 from "Stop" U.S. promo CD single - Virgin DPRO-13151, 1997
zally says
is there really a fan base for this ?
Mike Duquette says
As noted in the article, this is the second such Spice Girls title they released. I doubt they would have bothered if the first didn't do the numbers they wanted it to do.
PaulSun says
Maybe there isn't one in US, but there's def one in Uk and Europe ! Same fan base disappointed by the lack of a myth Morales remix of Never give up on the good times and the missing singles bsides (but they didn't include all the released bsides on #Spice25,too).
blithe says
That’s the most ignorant comment ever lol. Yes hunny there IS a huge fanbase