Spice Girls Greatest Hits Review

Five girls, unashamed to spout opinions and punch their stamp onto everything, took the whole world by storm when they unleashed "Wannabe" on an unsuspecting audience back in 1996. Ginger, Scary, Sporty, Baby and Posh created their own revolution before Geri fled, they went a bit R&B and everything went silent.

Now in 2007, they're all back together, claiming they're still bezzie mates and finally releasing a greatest hits CD. Featuring all of their singles, as well as advert soundtrack "Move Over" and two new tracks, this compilation actually makes you realise that while their success was down to the whole package, their songs were in fact really, really good.

A Spice ballad was mainly for Christmas, and only a cold heart could fail to love their first festive #1, the shimmering "2 Become 1". The heartbroken post-Geri "Goodbye" provided the girls with their last really good single and, despite it being released mid-summer, "Viva Forever's" layered vocals and fairy-filled video has stood the test of time.

It's not often that a band manages to do both ballads and dancefloor stompers well, but this is no ordinary band. "Spice Up Your Life" actually sounds better now than it did back in '97 and their piece de resistance "Who Do You Think You Are" still manages to fill dancefloors. And don't let's forget "Stop", the only Spice Girl single that failed to reach #1. Sounding like it could have come straight out of the 60s, this is one song we'd love to hear a Mark Ronson rendition of.

The obligatory two new songs hark back to the days of Spice and Spiceworld rather than their more urban third album, Forever. "Headlines" has a classic Spice ballad feel while "Voodoo" ramps up the fun and flavour of "Spice Up Your Life".

If you were one of the many haters of the Spice Girls back in the day, then this CD isn't going to change your mind about them. But if you grew up watching their every move, then this is a slice of nostalgia that miraculously still sounds fresh today.