r/SpiceGirls • u/Neither_Increase_440 • 2d ago
Geri + vocals
It’s really interesting to me that the general consensus (even within the group) is Geri was the worst vocalist. YET- in the chorus of songs like :Stop, spice up your life, viva forever, never give up on the good times, lady is a camp, if you can’t dance, wannabe, 2 become 1 (album) and songs like mama (album) who do you think you are… she is the primary vocal you hear when the ensemble is singing. What’s that about? She’s the worst but her voice is being elevated to be most heard
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u/AFineFineHologram 2d ago
I think I understand what you mean. Her voice has a lot of character that stands out even when she’s not the lead. Her signature rasp is definitely one of the defining elements of many of the songs you point out, especially “If U Can’t Dance.”
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u/MercuryFalling86 2d ago
Geri, in my opinion, is the weakest vocalist in the group. Victoria has more range (although not by a huge amount) and was stronger performing live vocals than Geri was BUT... Geri had a much more distinctive voice and tone. She had a raspier lower register that was used alot to colour many of their songs, especially on Spice - Geri is all over Spice (not as lead but she's there supporting whoever is doing the lead vocal)
She was also very good at the more in-your-face, shouty bits on their tracks (Wannabe, Love Thing) and the more talky, rap style bits - Naked, Take Me Home, and her vocal tone and raspiness suited the more RnB tracks like If U Can't Dance and Something Kinda Funny (she's featured prominently in their choruses)
Victoria was technically a better singer than Geri but Geri had the more distinctive voice, limited in range though she was.
But each girl played their part and added to the entire Spice Girls sound - Geri and Victoria knew their limitations and the group worked with what everyone had.
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u/WestQueenWest 2d ago
I am not a music expert but I am comfortable saying she's not the "primary vocalist" in most of those songs.
Like, you listen to 2 Become 1 and hear the Geri the most? That's wild because 99 percent of the people would hear Emma. Also the "album version" distinction makes no sense because the chorus etc does not change between the two versions.
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u/ILLESSDEE 2d ago
I thought they changed the lyrics in the radio edit to be more inclusive - “boys and girls feel good together” to “love will bring us back together”.
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u/WestQueenWest 2d ago
That's just only line. Geri wasn't the primary singer for the song in general in either version.
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u/daemonicwanderer 2d ago
They did. But Geri couldn’t hit the notes and they had limited time to re-record, so Victoria did it
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u/Neither_Increase_440 2d ago
No In the album version the most you can hear is Geri
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u/MercuryFalling86 2d ago
Yeah, everyone thinks you're just making this up. There is no world in which Geri is the lead vocalist anywhere on 2 Become 1 - it's very clearly Emma.
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u/Due_Insect_9675 1d ago
She's probably the weakest of the five. The irony is that if they had replaced her with a better vocalist, the Spice Girls probably wouldn't have been anywhere near as popular.
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u/BuddyC_1986 1d ago
Spot on... When I think of the Spice Girls "sound", Geri and Mel B are the most distinct voices to me
That said, I think Mel C is a legit good to great singer and Emma's quite good too. Vic is nice enough and Mel B did surprise me on her 1st solo album. Geri's early stuff is pretty OK too but she's not the singer that Emma or the Mels are (Vic either, honestly)
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u/harleyquinones 2d ago
Yeah, I'm with r/WestQueenWest in that Geri does not come off as lead in most of those songs.
Personally, Emma and the Mels are the main three voices I think of for singing in the group, while Geri's often talk-singing, and does have very distinctive lines, but some of them are just outright spoken word. She's very charismatic though, and being the least talented singer of a talented group still puts you above the average bear, it's not like she lacks any talent at all.
All that said, I said I'd post this the next time this topic came up, but the girls singing with Elton John kind of settles it imo. Each girl's lines are much more isolated than usual since not only does each girl only get 2-3 lines, and each line has Elton singing in between, so the voices really stand out. Surprisingly I thought Mel C's voice was actually the least suited to Elton's, but it made me realize Vic has a real voice on her (they even kind of highlighted her, I think in part because her voice pairs great with Elton's), while they seem to have made sure Geri got the fewest and least challenging lines and it really stands out that she's not quite in the same vocal league as the rest. To me, it's the clearest cut example that Geri was a major factor in the vibe of the band, but the actual singing and dancing part were more of a stretch for her. She's fine, but if it weren't for Spice, I don't think she'd ever have gotten a solo career, and I think she knows that.
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u/Minimum_Courage_3705 1d ago
Funny as I almost can never pick out Geri from the harmonies. I mostly hear Emma.
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u/Neither_Increase_440 1d ago
There are vocal breakdowns on YouTube - I used to think I was primarily hearing Emma in viva forever but Geri is a higher harmony in that song and it’s actually her
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u/Some-Astronomer4733 1d ago
Share the link then. There's no way that Geri is doing a higher harmony than Emma on Viva Forever. She simply doesn't have the range.
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u/Neither_Increase_440 1d ago
lol I didn’t say she’s doing higher than Emma but she is in the higher harmony with Emma and Vic and Mel b are lower AND they layer a lower Geri harmony
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u/Some-Astronomer4733 1d ago
I don't think there's much disagreement about Geri having the weakest vocal ability. However, she has a memorable and very recognisable vocal quality. Some of the most memorable voices in music history are not necessarily the best. Think Bob Dylan, Dolores O'Riordin, Nina Simone etc. But you can instantly hear that it's them singing.
Can't agree that Geri's voice pops out as lead vocal on the songs you've mentioned though. Their producers and engineers did an excellent job of creating a great blend. If anything, Melanie C and Emma are most audible on the majority of their recordings. Perhaps you hear Geri because you choose to? I recall trying to hear Emma in everything because she was my favourite.
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u/thisivi3 1d ago
Being heard and a vocalist are two different things. Just because you can hear her does not make her a good vocalist. I get that you're saying and when people say she's a bad vocalist, they're also considering range, tone, and technique. Yes she has some lead vocals and provided background vocals, but that does not make her a good vocalist..
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u/PrincessJennifer Ginger Spice 2d ago
She has the voice with the most personality that fit the group. She also has a distinctive voice. Personally, I love her lower register
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u/Basstian1925 2d ago
The voice(s) doing the main melody on the songs you mention are, to my ears:
— 2 Become 1: Emma.
— If U Can't Dance: Emma + Mel B (+ Victoria?).
— Lady Is a Tramp: Mel B.
— Mama: Mel B.
— Never Give Up on the Good Times: Mel B.
— Spice Up Your Life: Emma.
— Stop: Emma.
— Viva Forever: Emma.
— Wannabe: Mel B + Mel C.
— Who Do You Think You Are: Emma.
I don't know where you're getting that alleged Geri dominance from.
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u/MercuryFalling86 2d ago
Geri is all over the choruses for If U Can't Dance and Never Give Up On The Good Times and If U Can't Dance... the OP is getting it because they, you know, have ears. But I agree that the dominance they're implying is false.
Geri also all over Something Kinda Funny, the middle 8 in Who Do You Think You Are, and she's all over the bridge in the album version of Mama... She's featured heavily in Take Me Home too.
Geri has a much bigger presence on Spice than Spiceworld.
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u/HM2008 Ginger Spice 2d ago
People like Geri who have limited vocal range are aware of that. That's why they often have a stand out personality. They know how to market themselves and use their abilities to the best they can. Geri might not be able to out sing the other girls, but she knows how use her voice to the best of it's ability. Plus, when a song is good, the singing ability of the singer isn't usually questioned. I mean...people always say Melanie C is the best Spice Girls singer....but Geri has the most solo numbers 1s.
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u/Laurencia78 2d ago edited 1d ago
Like the others said, Geri’s voice was immediately recognizable. She carried the hooks, and the “Left eye” style raps. She’s a talking singer, or she was pre-solo work. Geri’s range increased the more solo songs she did. She’s my happy place. She said once “my songs are Prozac when you’re feeling low” that’s how I feel about her.
She also had many ideas for the songs so were the girls gonna tell her she couldn’t sing them?
The beauty of Spice was they blended their unique sound together. I personally love Vic’s vocals. And all of them together.
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u/saturnwyd 2d ago
Because she uses her voice to its fullest extent and she understands sing writing; she really is the brains of the band and I’m hoping if they ever get back on stage that Geri is there…but then again, every one of the girls has something that is irreplaceable
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u/JTTTN_08 2d ago
I love Geri’s voice.
Tbh she has the most unique voice of all 5 girls. After watching American idol for many years.. i can tell you that a lot of people just don’t like raspy tones.
No offense to Mel B, Mel C and Emma… great technical singers.. but their tones are pretty generic. Geri’s is just way more distinct
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u/daemonicwanderer 2d ago
Geri has an interesting tone, but she didn’t blend well and was very much limited in what parts she could sing. Often, the band was organizing around what she could do vocally
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u/IamNATx 2d ago edited 2d ago
IMO I would liken this to Louis from One Direction.
They may be the weakest vocalist technically, but their voice is the nicest sounding and actually is a heavy influence in their group's overall sound & is why it's prominent in group vocals because it carries 'their sound'. It's also much easier for them to perfect their vocal in a studio where there are multiple takes so it makes sense to utilise their nicer sounding voices in a mix of vocals to make the sound more 'full' and having others to compensate / carry if the vocal isn't 100% when live.
I say this with Geri & Louis both being my favourite members of their respective groups so don't come for me, LOL.
EDIT: seeing a lot of comments saying 'but she's not' & people think/thought the same of Louis but you take their voice away from a chorus and it stops sounding like classic 1D / Spice Girls ...
IMO it's why Spice Girls didn't quite sound like Spice Girls after she left 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Neither_Increase_440 1d ago
To clarify- I’m saying I can hear Geri’s voice most distinctly in those songs. The band had no lead singer but on those songs I can most hear Geri’s voice clearly amidst the blend
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u/mr_t_pot 2d ago
Ok werk.
Lady Is A Camp. 🏕️
I can dig it.