Beautiful Intentions

Beautiful Intentions is the third solo album by English singer Melanie C. This is the first album release on Chisholm's self-founded label, Red Girl Records after being dropped by Virgin Records. The album contains the hit singles "Next Best Superstar" and "First Day of My Life".

Beautiful Intentions
Studio album by Melanie C
Released	11 April 2005
Recorded	June–October 2004[1]
Genre	Pop[2] rock[3]
Length	45:26
Label	Red Girl
Producer	Greg Haver Guy Chambers Paul Boddy
Melanie C chronology
Reason (2003) Beautiful Intentions (2005) This Time (2007)
Singles from Beautiful Intentions
"Next Best Superstar" Released: 4 April 2005 "Better Alone" Released: 1 August 2005 "First Day of My Life" Released: 30 September 2005

The album was a commercial success in Europe charting in the top 20 in Austria, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland and Portugal. It achieved Gold certifications in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and a Platinum certification in Portugal.

Background

After the release of her previous album Reason, Chisholm was dismissed by her original record label, Virgin Records. The main reason for her being dropped was the disappointing sales of her second album "Reason".^[4] Talking about being dropped by Virgin during an interview on The Guardian, Melanie C stated that "[I had] mixed feelings. I knew that they were starting to lose faith in me, so I was actually quite relieved to go. I looked at my options and starting my own label was the most exciting thing".^[5] In the spring of 2004, she created her own independent record label, "Red Girl Records", to record and release her own projects, alongside her manager, Nancy Phillips.^[6] The name was inspired by the colours of the football Liverpool F.C., which Chisholm is supporter.

The album was Chisholm's labour of love for a year, and she previewed six tracks on her Barfly mini-tour in June 2004 before going into the studio to record the tracks. Following the release of the first single, "Next Best Superstar", the album was released on 11 April 2005 in the UK and some other countries. Later the album was re-released in some countries (with a new song—"First Day of My Life"). Chisholm stated in an Australian interview that she was pleased that Beautiful Intentions outsold Reason. Beautiful Intentions has received Gold certification in Germany and Switzerland. In Portugal, it has gone Platinum (9 weeks at number 1).

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
laut.de	[7]

AllMusic editor Matthew Chisling found that the "new creative control that Melanie C had over her album broadened her horizons considerably; Melanie allowed herself to fly more freely on Intentions, giving her solo music a sharp new look. On Beautiful Intentions, Melanie C developed her style into an aggressive pop-angled album boasting heavy beats with dramatic rock swings doused in musical cyclones of energy. She borrowed qualities from other heavy-talented rock divas such as Anastacia to produce a more bombastic sampling this time around." He concluded: "The final product is simply dazzling; and Beautiful Intentions is without a doubt the strongest solo album by any of the Spice Girls. Truth be told, it was one of the strongest solo pop albums of 2005, regardless of artist."^[2] Paul Taylor from Manchester Evening News also compared the songs with Anastacia's self-titled 2004 album and called it "a much finer album than we had any right to expect."^[8]

Betty Clarke, writing for The Guardian remarked: "Released on her own, self-funded Red Girl Records label, the album is a bitter attack on her old employers. A chorus-led confection of vulnerability and hurt, its needling intent – "You'll Get Yours" and "Don't Need This" are just two titles – and aggressive pop-rock sound make it Chisholm's strongest album to date."^[9] Irish website Entertainment.ie found that "she certainly delivers these riff-laden songs with gutsy conviction, and her backing band are as tight as they come. But the overall sound has a generic, processed feel to it, and poor old Mel can't write an interesting lyric to save her life. Beautiful Intentions certainly rocks hard, but ultimately it fails to convince."^[10] Matthias Manthe from laut.de called Beautiful Intentions "a rock-solid album that doesn't compromise on chart compatibility; Sitting between the rock and pop chairs without stepping on anyone's toes. Mel C sings pleasant tunes about love and the injustices of business."^[7]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Beautiful Intentions.

Beautiful Intentions track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Beautiful Intentions"	Melanie Chisholm Paul Boddy Dele Ladimeji	Greg Haver Boddy	3:52
2.	"Next Best Superstar"	Adam Argyle	Haver	3:29
3.	"Better Alone"	Chisholm Peter-John Vettese	Haver	4:35
4.	"Last Night on Earth"	Chisholm Phil Thornalley Dave Munday	Haver	3:28
5.	"You Will See"	Chisholm Carsten Kroeyer Jacob Binzer Ajelown Owais Deborah Joshua	Haver	3:29
6.	"Never Say Never"	Chisholm Charlie Grant Peter Woodroffe	Haver Grant Woodroffe	3:11
7.	"Good Girl"	Chisholm Tore Johansson	Haver	4:07
8.	"Don't Need This"	Chisholm Greg Hatwell Marc Lane	Haver Hatwell	3:50
9.	"Little Piece of Me"	Chisholm Richard Buckton Woodroffe	Haver	3:00
10.	"Here and Now"	Chisholm Mathew William Benbrook Simmons	Haver	4:29
11.	"Take Your Pleasure"	Chisholm Paul Boddy Dele Ladimeji	Haver	3:11
12.	"You'll Get Yours"	Chisholm Vettese	Haver Vettese	4:43
Total length:				45:26

2006 re-issue edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"First Day of My Life"	Enrique Iglesias Chambers	Richard Flack	4:04
2.	"Beautiful Intentions"	Chisholm Boddy Ladimeji	Haver Boddy	3:52
3.	"Next Best Superstar"	Argyle	Haver	3:29
4.	"Better Alone"	Chisholm Vettese	Haver	4:35
5.	"Last Night on Earth"	Chisholm Thornalley Munday	Haver	3:28
6.	"You Will See"	Chisholm Kroeyer Binzer Owais Odedere	Haver	3:29
7.	"Never Say Never"	Chisholm Grant Woodroffe	Haver Grant Woodroffe	3:11
8.	"Good Girl"	Chisholm Johansson	Haver	4:07
9.	"Don't Need This"	Chisholm Hatwell Lane	Haver Hatwell	3:50
10.	"Little Piece of Me"	Chisholm Buckton Woodroffe	Haver	3:00
11.	"Here and Now"	Chisholm Benbrook Simmons	Haver	4:29
12.	"Take Your Pleasure"	Chisholm Boddy Ladimeji	Haver	3:11
13.	"You'll Get Yours"	Chisholm Vettese	Haver Vettese	4:43
14.	"First Day of My Life" (Making of the music video)			4:05

Brazilian bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"First Day of My Life"	Iglesias Chambers	Flack	4:04
14.	"Everything Must Change"	Chisholm Henry Priestman Guy Batson	The Erneez	3:32
15.	"Warrior"	Chisholm Johansson	Johansson	3:47
16.	"Runaway"	Chisholm Johansson	Haver	3:24

Japanese bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"First Day of My Life"	Iglesias Chambers	Flack	4:04
14.	"Runaway"	Chisholm Johansson	Haver	3:24
15.	"Next Best Superstar" (Culprit One club mix)	Argyle	Haver Culprit 1[a]	5:29
16.	"Better Alone" (pop mix)	Chisholm Vettese	Haver Jon Dixon Pete Craigie[a]	3:56
17.	"First Day of My Life" (acoustic)	Iglesias Chambers	Flack	4:04

Portuguese re-release bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"First Day of My Life" (RFM − live acoustic)	4:05
14.	"Better Alone" (RFM − live acoustic)	3:01
15.	"Here and Now" (RFM − live acoustic)	3:27
16.	"Next Best Superstar" (RFM − live acoustic)	3:21
17.	"Beautiful Intentions" (RFM − live acoustic)	4:03

Singaporean bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Next Best Superstar" (Music Video)	3:31
14.	"Better Alone" (UK Music Video)	3:59
15.	"Beautiful Intentions" (E.P.K)	17:52
16.	"Photo Gallery"	3:00
17.	"Biography"

Portuguese bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Next Best Superstar" (music video)	3:31
14.	"Better Alone" (European music video)	3:06
15.	"First Day of My Life" (music video)	4:04

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Melanie Chisholm – vocals Paul Gendler – guitars Trevor Barry – bass guitar Martin Slattery – piano Paul Stanborough – acoustic guitar Greg Hatwell – guitars, backing vocals Jenni Tarma – bass guitar Nick Nasmyth – keyboards

Richard Flack – percussion, drum programming Vinnie Lammi – drums, percussion, additional programming Fergus Gerrand – drums, percussion Paul Boddy – synthesizers, programming Peter-John Vettese – synthesizers, keyboards Jimmy Robertson – additional programming Clint Murphy – additional programming

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Beautiful Intentions Chart (2005) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 12 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 90 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 98 French Albums (SNEP)[14] 98 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 15 Italian Albums (FIMI)[16] 68 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[17] 28 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[18] 1 Scottish Albums (OCC)[19] 9 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[20] 52 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 31 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 14 UK Albums (OCC)[23] 24

Year-end charts 2005 year-end chart performance for Beautiful Intentions Chart (2005) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 88 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 70 2006 year-end chart performance for Beautiful Intentions Chart (2006) Position Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 85

Certifications and sales

Certifications for Beautiful Intentions

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[27]	Gold	100,000^
Portugal (AFP)[28]	Platinum	40,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[29]	Gold	20,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.