Spiceworld

Spiceworld is The Spice Girls' second studio album which was released by Virgin Records on November 1, 1997.
==Album Background==
After releasing their debut album, "Spice" to huge success, later becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time, the group announced they were working on a second studio album.
During the recording and writing of Spiceworld the group also filmed "Spice World", a musical comedy film starring the Spice Girls as themselves. It worked as a soundtrack to the film, with most of the songs from the album appearing in the film, with the exception of "Move Over."
Throughout 1997, the Spice Girls received massive media attention, which also included a few controversies. The group performed live for the first time for the British royal family. At the show, they breached royal protocol when Mel B and then Geri Halliwell planted kisses on Prince Charles's cheeks and pinched his bottom. 
The group was also criticised in the United States for releasing their second album, "Spiceworld" just nine months after the American release of their debut album Spice.
The group received further criticism because of the impact and amount of sponsorship deals they had signed. They also made a decision to fire their manager Simon Fuller in November 1997, which was front-page news around the world.
In October 1997, the Spice Girls held a two-date concert in Istanbul named Girl Power! Live in Istanbul, sponsored by Pepsi. During the concert the group premiered three new songs from Spiceworld: "Too Much", "Stop" and "Saturday Night Divas." Two promotional singles from Spiceworld were released prior to the album release in 1997; "Step to Me" and "Move Over (Generation Next)."
Both songs were used in the Pepsi advertising campaigns and were also given away free with special ring-pulls. The Japanese album version of "Step to Me" is slightly different from the original release of the song while "Move Over (Generation Next)" was only released as a live version during its promotional release.
==Tracklisting==
#Spice Up Your Life	2:53
#Stop	3:24
#Too Much	4:31
#Saturday Night Divas	4:25
#Never Give Up On The Good Times	4:30
#Move Over	2:46
#Do It	4:04
#Denying	3:46
#Viva Forever	5:09
#The Lady Is A Vamp	3:09
==Chart Performance==
"Spiceworld" debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 192,000 copies and shipping 1.4 million copies in its first week. It was certified five-times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 19 December 1997 and had sold 1,603,426 copies in the United Kingdom as of October 2019.
The album reached number one in several European countries, including Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway.
It was certified five-times platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), denoting sales in excess of five million copies across Europe.
In Japan, Spiceworld peaked at number six on the Oricon Albums Chart and earned a double platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).
In Oceania, the album reached number two in Australia and number one in New Zealand; it was ceritifed six-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ).
"Spiceworld" debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 83,000 copies. Sales increased week by week, its best week being that of 3 January 1998 when it sold 284,000 copies. 
The album finally peaked at number three on 14 February, when Spice also returned to the top 10, making the Spice Girls the first British band to have two albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 at the same time since the Rolling Stones in summer 1975.
The album sold 1.74 million copies in the first 12 weeks and 3.2 million in the first 10 months. It was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 19 May 1999. By December 2007, it had sold 4.2 million copies in the US.
In Canada, the album peaked at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart and was certified diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for shipments of one million copies.
"Spiceworld" was a big success in Canada, it was the group's second diamond-selling album and spent 43 weeks in the Top 10 and 60 weeks in the Top 20 album chart. The album had sold 13 million copies by the end of 1998, making it one of the world's best-selling albums by a girl group.
==Critical Reception==
"Spiceworld" received positive reviews from music critics. 
Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic wrote that the album "boast[s] a more consistent (and catchier) set of songs [than Spice] and an intoxicating sense of fun", concluding that "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."
David Browne from Entertainment Weekly stated, "Trading verses in this and other songs, they transform the numbers into audio pajama parties full of sisterly advice, support, and warnings. Part heart, part mind, all cotton candy, Spiceworld may just be the answer to one of life's most vexing quandaries."
Rolling Stone's David Wild commented that, compared to Spice, Spiceworld is "a masterful effort; at its best, it reaches creative heights that are downright Bananaramian."
In a mixed review, Craig D. Lindsey of the Houston Press expressed, "Anyone expecting a maelstrom of artistic evolution from these women ought to relax a little; it's only music, for chrissakes. And the Spice Girls and their handlers deserve bonus points for showing a little common sense. After all, if this were seven years ago, they might have taken their precious time releasing Spiceworld, while the group's hype was irreversibly extinguished."
Category:1990s albums
Category:Pop