Northern Star (Melanie C album)

Northern Star
Studio album by Melanie C
Released	18 October 1999
Recorded	March-August 1999
Genre	Pop dance rock electronic
Length	53:18
Label	Virgin
Producer	William Orbit Rick Rubin Rick Nowels Craig Armstrong Marius De Vries Rhett Lawrence
Melanie C chronology
Northern Star (1999) Reason (2003)
Singles from Northern Star
"Goin' Down" Released: 29 September 1999 "Northern Star" Released: 29 November 1999 "Never Be the Same Again" Released: 20 March 2000 "I Turn to You" Released: 7 August 2000 "If That Were Me" Released: 27 November 2000

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
NME	Negative[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]
Slant Magazine	[4]

Northern Star is the first solo album released by British singer Melanie C. It was released on 18 October 1999. The album's sound is diverse, combining elements of rock music with pop and ambient electronic, along with some R&B, doo-wop, and new age; which contrasted with the pop sound of the Spice Girls.

The album received mixed to positive reviews by critics, and was a commercial success, selling over 900,520 copies in the United Kingdom, and close to 4 million copies worldwide, becoming the biggest-selling solo Spice Girl album.

It was reissued on 21 August 2000 to feature the single mixes of "Never Be the Same Again" and "I Turn to You", after the massive success of both singles, which appear here in slightly different remixed forms.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Northern Star.^[5]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Go!"	Melanie Chisholm William Orbit	Orbit	3:39
2.	"Northern Star"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels	Marius De Vries	4:41
3.	"Goin' Down"	Melanie Chisholm Richard Stannard Julian Gallagher	De Vries	3:35
4.	"I Turn to You"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels Billy Steinberg	Rick Nowels	5:49
5.	"If That Were Me"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels	Rick Nowels	4:31
6.	"Never Be the Same Again" (featuring Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes)	Melanie Chisholm Rhett Lawrence Paul F Cruz Lisa Lopes Lorenzo Martin	Rhett Lawrence	4:52
7.	"Why"	Melanie Chisholm Dave Munday Phil Thornalley	De Vries	5:27
8.	"Suddenly Monday"	Melanie Chisholm Matt Rowe Richard Stannard Julian Gallagher	Rick Rubin	2:36
9.	"Ga Ga"	Melanie Chisholm Phil Thornalley Dave Munday	Rubin	3:50
10.	"Be the One"	Melanie Chisholm Phil Thornalley Dave Munday	Rubin	3:35
11.	"Closer"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels Billy Steinberg	De Vries	5:41
12.	"Feel the Sun"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels	Craig Armstrong Patrick McCarthy Damian LeGassick	5:02
Total length:				53:18

2000 Re-issue bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Never Be the Same Again" (Single mix)	Melanie Chisholm Lawrence Cruz Lopes Martin	Lawrence	4:14
14.	"I Turn to You" (Hex Hector Radio Mix)	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels Billy Steinberg	De Vries Hex Hector	4:12
Total length:				61:44

Japanese edition

Track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Go!"	Melanie Chisholm Orbit	Orbit	3:39
2.	"Northern Star"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels	De Vries	4:41
3.	"Goin' Down"	Melanie Chisholm Stannard Gallagher	De Vries	3:35
4.	"I Turn to You"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels Billy Steinberg	Rick Nowels	5:49
5.	"If That Were Me"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels	Rick Nowels	4:31
6.	"Never Be the Same Again" (featuring Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes)	Melanie Chisholm Lawrence Cruz Lopes Martin	Lawrence	4:52
7.	"Why"	Melanie Chisholm Dave Munday Phil Thornalley	De Vries	5:27
8.	"Suddenly Monday"	Melanie Chisholm Rowe Stannard Gallagher	Rubin	2:36
9.	"Follow Me"	Melanie Chisholm Steinberg Bryan Adams	De Vries	4:47
10.	"Ga Ga"	Melanie Chisholm Phil Thornalley Dave Munday	Rubin	3:50
11.	"Be the One"	Melanie Chisholm Phil Thornalley Dave Munday	Rubin	3:35
12.	"Closer"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels Steinberg	De Vries	5:41
13.	"Feel the Sun"	Melanie Chisholm Rick Nowels	Armstrong McCarthy LeGassick	5:02
Total length:				58:05

B-sides

Title	Single	Songwriter(s)	Producer(s)	Length
"Angel on My Shoulder"	"Goin' Down" UK CD 1	Melanie Chisholm, Phil Thornalley	Rick Rubin	3:48
"I Want You Back"	"Goin' Down" UK CD 2	Chisholm, Thornalley	Rick Rubin	3:18
"Something's Gonna Happen"	"Northern Star" UK CD 2	Chisholm, Marius de Vries, Steve Sidelnyk	Marius De Vries	3:59
"I Wonder What It Would Be Like"	"Never Be the Same Again" UK CD 1	Chisholm, Rick Nowels, Billy Steinberg	Rick Rubin	3:40

Leftover tracks

• "You Taught Me" – 4:22
  • Planned as a B-side for the "I Turn to You" single, but was replaced with remixes.
• "Happy Without You" – 4:27
  • Planned as a B-side for the unreleased UK CD2 for "If That Were Me". It was performed live on Melanie C's first two solo tours and later re-recorded and renamed "Independence Day" for Bend It Like Beckham. It also appears on the Japanese version of Melanie's second album Reason.

Legacy

Some songs from the album have also appeared in various films, such as "Ga Ga" which is audible in Big Daddy, released the same year, and also appears on its soundtrack. The song "Go" makes an appearance in Whatever It Takes. "Suddenly Monday" appears in Maybe Baby and on its soundtrack. "I Turn to You" also appears in Bend It Like Beckham. Some songs have also been covered by international artists such as Christine Fan, who covered and translated "Suddenly Monday" in Chinese for her debut album FanFan's World, and Wig Wam, who covered "I Turn to You" for their album, 667.. The Neighbour of the Beast.

Charts and certifications

Charts Chart (1999) Peak position Australian Albums Chart 32 Austrian Albums Chart 16 Canadian Albums Chart 15 Dutch Albums Chart 8 European Albums Chart 2 Finnish Albums Chart 6 German Albums Chart 7 Japanese Albums Chart[6] 99 New Zealand Albums Chart 36 Norwegian Albums Chart 3 Scottish Albums Chart[7] 3 Swedish Albums Chart 1 Swiss Albums Chart 12 UK Albums Chart 4 U.S. Billboard 200[8] 108

Certifications and sales |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20120304225302/http://www.ifpi.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/ar-20002.pdf Region Certification Sales/shipments Australia (ARIA)[9] Gold 35,000 Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 50,000 Germany (BVMI)[11] Platinum 300,000 Sweden (GLF)[12] Platinum 80,000 Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[13] Gold 25,000 United Kingdom (BPI)[14] 3× Platinum 900,000 United States (RIAA)[15] 95,000[16] Summaries Europe (IFPI)[17] 2× Platinum 2,000,000 ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

1. Northern Star (Melanie C album) at AllMusic
2. "Northern Star". NME.
3. "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on 1 March 2009.
4. Cinquemani, Sal (20 August 2001). "Mel C: Northern Star". Retrieved 16 April 2012.
5. Northern Star (liner notes). Melanie C. Virgin. 1999.
6. "メラニー・Cのアルバム売上ランキング". ORICON STYLE.
7. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100".
9. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
10. "Canadian album certifications – Melanie C – Northern Star". Music Canada. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
11. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Melanie C; 'Northern Star')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
12. ""Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2000"" (PDF) (in Swedish). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – Sweden. 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
13. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Melanie C; 'Northern Star')". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
14. "British album certifications – Melanie C – Northern Star". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2011-09-28. Enter Northern Star in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
15. "American album certifications – Melanie C – Northern Star". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 28 September 2011. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
16. Caulfield, Keith (18 November 2006). "Ask Billboard, THE SPICE IS RIGHT". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
17. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2007". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2011-09-28.

External links

• Official site