Preparing for life after the Spice Girls, Emma Bunton’s debut album “A Girl Like Me” is surprisingly good, although it’s hard to avoid comparing some of the tracks on it to past Spice Girls hits. The first - and biggest - surprise, though, is the opening cut, “What Took You So Long?”, a stylishly-sexy number that has hit written all over it. This is immediately followed by the pop-infused singles “Take My Breath Away” and “A World Without You”, neither of which is anything to write home about.
It’s around this time that Emma pitches up her next surprise, the very peppy title track “A Girl Like Me”, which showcases some of the attitude the girls were famous for espousing. While the remaining tracks are almost identical in tone and style, a remake of “Sunshine On A Raindy Day” and the Tin Tin Out collaboration “What I Am” are the saving graces of an otherwise-lackluster album.
This article was first published on 04 Aug 2001.