Disco de All Saints: “Studio 1 [Japan Bonus Tracks]”

All right, got this at a great price, and having dug their earlier singles, and Nick & Nat's Appleton album ("Fantasy" is one of the 00's best singles bar none), I caved...

Good thing, as this record is pretty ace...it's like Lily Allen's record in girlgroup form...

The songs are well written pop tunes, but the production and arrangements are what make this stand apart unexpectedly...the dub/ska/reggae influences...VERY British...it wouldn't have caught on in America anyway unfortunately...most Americans don't even remember their 2, maybe 3, US hits!!!

The fact this record tanked and they are all mums anyway...their kids are top priority (and their friendship as well), over music...chances are this will have been All Saints' last hurrah...

Hopefully, history will be kind to 'em...cuz these ladeez are great...love the DVD and interview BTW...

I really like the All Saints. My favorite singles are the three that they produced with William Orbit -- Black Coffee is one of the greatest recent pop productions ever.

This album is overall stronger maybe than their previous efforts, but then there are no super-strong standout singles. Chick Fit is very cute. One Me And U has a strong melody and arrangement. I like the sentiment of In It To Win It. In Fundamental, Shaznay is trying to stretch. She'll get there, she has great talent, but it was a little too obvious where this one was targeted, and she doesn't have the *richness* (yet?) for a serious soul/gospel track. But only a few do. Why listen to Joss Stone when you can listen to Aretha herself? In the opening, more quiet, parts of Fundamental, Shaznay points to where she might explore further.

But what is sad, and maybe an indication of what this generation is going through, is that there are only two poles in the range of love: adolescent adoration, or betrayal. It's one or the other in every song.

This reflects an age when "human institutions" are no longer trusted. There is no song in here about building a home, sticking with your lover through hard times, or children. The girls write all sorts of giggly liner notes about their respective discoveries of motherhood -- but none of that made it onto the album.

If the All Saints are now 30-somethings, they need to leave the bubble-gum behind and move on up like Madonna.

As a reunion album this is nice "additional material" for those of us who were disappointed when they broke up. Hope it leads to a real Grammy winner on their next effort.

I heard one song on the radio and bought the album (at import prices!). I enjoy about half of the album, others aren't too bad either. If you like rocksteady, you are going to enjoy the album!

All Saints started getting notice in the U.S. around 1998 when "Never Ever" was big, but they were also easily compared to Spice Girls. After that it seemed like both groups were trying to outdo each other, but soon they both broke up. Well, All Saints got back together back in 2006 and released their third studio album, Studio 1.

The reason why I'm now comparing the ladies to Destiny's Child is because this album feels like DC's The Writing's on the Wall in that there are a lot of songs about trifling men. But the problem here is that the lyrics aren't that exciting. "Not Eazy" and "Scar" are skippable, "Too Nasty" is hard to relate to, and "Hell No" took the words right out of my mouth.

The only song really worth hearing on here is "On and On". And "Fundamental" is passable. I doubt All Saints will gain any new fans with Studio 1, and given that it wasn't released in the U.S. anyway, you can probably do without it.

Anthony Rupert

All Saints are back. Hurrah!

They are one of the very, very few bands I think are real pop music and at the same time have profound artistic value.

If you think about it, it's not strange that it's rare: if you combine breath with depth, you get a big volume, and it's hard to fill.

Their new CD Studio 1 may have a lame title, but it's still the real All Saints.