Album Review: The Big Reunion 2014 (Various Artists)
3 min read
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a sucker for the nineties when it comes to pop music in fact, 90’s music in general. The majority of my iPod playlists consist of the British pop acts that dominated the charts during that time. Longstanding acts or one hit wonders – anything goes in my opinion so you could only imagine the happiness I felt in hearing that a project was underway to reunite numerous collectives from the 90’s on a new ITV show in the UK called The Big Reunion.
The series began in 2013 and during its first season we rode along with 6 of the biggest pop groups of the nineties as they reunited, rehearsed and recorded for the first time since each acts sudden demise. Liberty X, Atomic Kitten, 5ive, Honeyz, 911 and B*witched were later joined by Blue through 6 initial episodes which followed each of the acts reunite and battle out the issues that caused the famous break ups. As the series went on, each group began rehearsals for the series climax – a performance at the famous London venue, the Hammersmith Apollo. Now in its second series, The Big Reunion team have sought a new batch of former chart topping pop outfits for this years run. Along with UK bands A1, Eternal, Damage and Girl Thing, the series has also taken under its wing U.S RnB/Pop trio and nephews of Michael Jackson, 3T as well as 5th Story, a brand new collective made up of former band members Dane Bowers (Another Level) and Kenzie (Blazin’ Squad) as well as solo pop pin-ups Adam Rickett, Kavana and Gareth Gates.
Along with the new series, the team at the Big Reunion have stitched together a fantastic compilation album featuring songs from each of the acts that have been featured throughout both seasons of the show so far on a double disc collection.
The first disc is dedicated to this year’s acts with balanced nods going out to each of the groups involved in the 2014 series. What’s nice about this record is not just the trip down memory lane but the facts that some of these songs, particularly those of Girl Thing, have been very difficult to find since the groups split back in the nineties. Here we have them all together, standing confidently beside some of pop’s most delicious chart topping hits.
While 5th story haven’t released anything yet as a collective, the members of the group have been given their own moment to shine with the biggest hits of each members career holding a spot on the record.
The second disc is a little less fluid than the first, probably because the focus has been shifted from the 2013 acts and onto this year’s line-up. Though 5ive were the biggest focus of the 2013 series, the boy band who achieved the most success of all of the acts involved in last year’s run have been given very little attention with the inclusion of only a single track on the collection in the form of Everybody Get Up. This is the same for B*witched who also only get a 1 track nod with C’est La Vie despite having a string of other numbers ones that could have easily found a place here. This unfortunate imbalance doesn’t take away the fact that this is a fantastic collection of some of pops most cherished hits from a decade when pop was certainly at its most dominant.
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
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