Spice (album)

Spice (album)

Spice is the debut album by British pop group Spice Girls. It was first released by Virgin Records in November 1996 in Europe, then in February 1997 for the rest of the world. The album was recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London between 1995 and 1996, by producers Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, and the production duo Absolute. The album is a pop record with an inclusion of styles such as dance, R&B and hip hop. It is considered to be the record that brought teen pop back, opening the doors for a wave of teen pop artists. Conceptually, the album centered around the idea of Girl Power, and during that time was compared to Beatlemania.

Spice was a huge worldwide commercial success. The album peaked at number one in more than 17 countries across the world, and was certified multi-platinum in 27 countries, platinum in 14 countries and Gold in 3 countries, including an 10× Platinum certification in the UK and Canada by the British Phonographic Industry, and Canadian Recording Industry Association, 8× Platinum in Europe by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and 7× Platinum in the US by Recording Industry Association of America. It became the world's top-selling album of 1997 selling 19 million copies in over a year. In total the album sold 28 million copies worldwide, becoming the biggest-selling album in music history by a girl group and one of the most successful albums of all time.

Five singles were released from the album. The first single, "Wannabe", became a worldwide success went to number one in 31 countries, one of the best-selling singles of all time and selling over six million copies worldwide. The next two singles, "Say You'll Be There" and "2 Become 1", reached number one in 53 countries. "Who Do You Think You Are" was released as the official Comic Relief single in the UK as a double A-side with "Mama" and both songs reached the top 20 in charts across Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In the band's native UK, all four singles went to number one on the UK singles chart and, in the Billboard Hot 100, the album produced three top five singles.