Throwback review: 2005's "Come and Get It" by Rachel Stevens

[2K16NEY]

**My first review** don't attack me 
 

S Club 7's very own Rachel Stevens' solo career should have made pop history. Taking after Kylie Minogue, she dove right into the trance-synth pop genre and mastered it on her second album. Her first attempt at solo music was her debut album, Funky Dory, a mediocre album that included the Britney reject stand-out track titled "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex". But Rachel Stevens didn't want to be mediocre, she would enlist the help of Richard X and Xenomania, the Music God's in charge of most of Girls Aloud and Kylie Minogue's catalogues to record new music. With the release of her new single "Some Girls", Rachel was finally standing out amongst the crowd and demonstrating her full potential. The track proved to be magic and peaked at #2 on the UK top charts. The single was included on a re-release of her debut album, Funky Dory, but was also added onto her second album, "Come and Get It" which would soon prove to be pop perfection start to finish.

After the success of Some Girls, Rachel knew what direction she wanted to take her next album. "Come and Get It" was released on in October 2005. The album received critical acclaim and would eventually make it onto the "100 albums to listen to before you die" list. 

The album proved to be ahead of its time and inherently influential. Stevens would make the most confident tracks of her career with the dazzling "Crazy Boys", a song with a thumping synth beat and ****, bold, confident talk-sing vocals by Ms. Stevens where she declares "For you I'd wait forever, nobody does it better". With "I Will Be There", another album standout and what some argue is the best song on the album, Stevens sings over an 80's synth pop production that sounds incredibly magnetic and electric. Stand-out tracks like  "I Will Be There", "Crazy Boys", "Funny How" make you feel like you are at a disco that is raining down glitter and diamonds. That is the imagery that comes to mind with most of "Come and Get It". Stevens slows it down on the album half-way through with the ballad "Nothing Good About This Goodbye", a breakup song where she laments her regrets for her ex-lover. It's another standout track and would have been a good final single off of the album instead of the up-beat pop track "I Said Never Again (But Here We are)" that performed mildly well on the UK charts peaking at #12 and had a cute music video to go along with it. "I Said Never Again" is one of the album's more generic tracks and I can understand why they released it as a single but the album tracks are loads more interesting and magical than the latter. 

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the album underperformed and debuted at #28 on the UK charts. Rachel released her last single from the album, "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)" in October 2005 and she was never heard from again in the music realm... which is an utter damn shame. The album was revolutionary and influenced albums like "Dignity" by Hilary Duff, "X" and "Aphrodite" by Kylie Minogue, and in my opinion, you an hear it's sounds replicated and mastered on "Heaven On Earth" from Britney's Blackout. If you haven't listened to Come and Get It by Rachel Stevens, I highly suggest adding the album and giving it a listen from start to finish. You will not regret it. 

STAND OUT TRACKS TO LISTEN TO:

So Good

Crazy Boys

I Will Be There

Nothing Good About This Goodbye

Some Girls

Funny How

Dumb Dumb

[Jordan Miller]

The nostalgia

Great review @2K16NEY!! Featured on the homepage!

[Spicechinodiva]

I liked her more than Jo o' Morea (S Club's main lead vocalist besides Rachel Stevens)

 

You had Both the Mariah Carey type vocals in Jo which carried all the ballads Two In a Million, Never had a Dream come True, Have you ever, Then you had Rachel Stevens Britney type vocals given her own Ballad on S Club I really miss you and Show me your colours. 

 

But Simon Fuller and his team were right Rachel could be used for the not so demanding vocals like Natural, Do it till we drop. While Jo herself could carry the songs that need Higher and Longer notes. FYI. Outside of Natural. Rachel never saw a commercial release as an S Club 7 Vocalist. 

 

The 3 Back to back #1's of Never had a dream come true, Don't stop movin' and Have you ever made financial sense to make all S Club 7 or S Club singles as Jo the lead vocalist. 

 

 

[2K16NEY]

19 minutes ago, Jordan Miller said:

The nostalgia

Great review @2K16NEY!! Featured on the homepage!

Ahh thank you 

[DenisMarquina80]

 

I cannot agree more with this review. This album is a masterpiece, it's a real shame that it has not received the recognition it deserves. "Come and Get It" is catchy, cohesive, flawlessly produced and with great vocal performance by Rachel Stevens. 

In 2008 The Guardian placed it on their "1000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" list.

[Justin Ziegler]

Honestly one of my favorite pop albums ever!!! I definitely put it above any other solo projects from S Club or really any of the other similar era girls' solo projects (Steps, Spice Girls, Girls Aloud).  My standouts are Negotiate With Love, Secret Garden, Je m'apelle, and Every Little Thing.  It's funny watching that So Good video...you can definitely see some influence on the Britney armography we were set to get from Queen B going forward

[Trentals]

Nothing Good About This Goodbye is the biggest waste of potential to ever appear on an album  

That song should’ve been #1 for weeks

 

[SloppyToppyGoddess]

Crazy Boys! 

[Slave4Britney95]

I brought all the CD singles and albums of Rachel Stevens!, Still have her albums!!!. This album is great album it's no wonder it featured on "albums you need to list to before you die" list

Huge s club 7 growing up too!. I wish she'd of carryed on with her music career though 😕

[PokemonSpears]

I've always thought my second boss looks like her, but in the thread picture is even more noticeable

I saw it and I was like PATTY??!!

[2K16NEY]

1 hour ago, Trentals said:

Nothing Good About This Goodbye is the biggest waste of potential to ever appear on an album  

That song should’ve been #1 for weeks

 

Agreed  This album could have been the 2005 Teenage Dream. 8 number 1 singles with epic music videos for each one. A real missed opportunity 

[2K16NEY]

55 minutes ago, Slave4Britney95 said:

I brought all the CD singles and albums of Rachel Stevens!, Still have her albums!!!. This album is great album it's no wonder it featured on "albums you need to list to before you die" list

Huge s club 7 growing up too!. I wish she'd of carryed on with her music career though 😕

Me too. Maybe one day she’ll decide to give us #RS3

Till then, Come and Get It will continue to be that ***** 

[Trentals]

2 minutes ago, 2K16NEY said:

Agreed  This album could have been the 2005 Teenage Dream. 8 number 1 singles with epic music videos for each one. A real missed opportunity 

Come and Get It as well as Tangled Up by Girls Aloud are two of Xenomanias best productions. Both are severely underrated and deserved multiple #1s 

[Iconic 4 U]

I like Sweet Dreams and So Good by her 

[2K16NEY]

1 minute ago, Trentals said:

Come and Get It as well as Tangled Up by Girls Aloud are two of Xenomanias best productions. Both are severely underrated and deserved multiple #1s 

Tangled Up is my favorite Girls Aloud album  It really was their PEAK sonically. Control of the Knife  Blackjacks  Call The Shots  The album deserves ACCLAIM !!!!!!! 

[Spicechinodiva]

She has a third studio album. 

 

It's a kids music album. She turned pop classics and turned it into an album to get kids to Eat their vegetables and behave to make mom's Proud..

 

It was sold exclusively at a huge kids chain in the UK. But if course nobody knows about it, she didn't bother to promote it. 

[Iconic 4 U]

4 minutes ago, 2K16NEY said:

Tangled Up is my favorite Girls Aloud album  It really was their PEAK sonically. Control of the Knife  Blackjacks  Call The Shots  The album deserves ACCLAIM !!!!!!! 

Tangled Up is iconic

Can't Speak French and ****! No No No are impeccable too

[Brat]

I like Some Girls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nyuemWPhGQ

[Trentals]

2 hours ago, 2K16NEY said:

Tangled Up is my favorite Girls Aloud album  It really was their PEAK sonically. Control of the Knife  Blackjacks  Call The Shots  The album deserves ACCLAIM !!!!!!! 

I consider Call The Shots as Nothing Good About This Goodbyes younger sister 

It’s one of my all time favourite records!

Imagine how well ****! No! No! No! would be if it was released in the current MeToo climate?!! Ahead of its time!

Why there was only three singles still kills me  Close To Love, Girl Overboard, Black Jacks, Control of the Knife were all potential singles!

[soweird101]

SO happy to this album getting some attention.  It truly is a great pop album, and as the author said its influences on other pop stars music were instrumental.  I've never understood why the singles/album flopped.   Her debut album fails in comparison, so maybe by the time this one came out the UK audience was not interested?  Such a bummer as I would have loved to hear what a follow-up would be like---