Scream If You Wanna Go Faster

Scream If You Wanna Go Faster is the second studio album by British singer Geri Halliwell, released on 14 May 2001 by EMI Records. Following the commercial success of her solo debut album Schizophonic two years before, the singer began working on its follow-up with producers such as Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels, Stephen Lipson, as well as previous collaborators, the duo Absolute. The album's artwork depicting Halliwell on roller skates, holding onto the back of a car, was criticised by road safety organisations, who said the singer was setting a wrong example to children.

Scream If You Wanna Go Faster
Studio album by Geri Halliwell
Released	14 May 2001
Recorded	May 2000 – January 2001
Studio	Angel · The Aquarium (London)
Genre	Pop dance-pop pop rock
Length	46:55
Label	EMI
Producer	Gregg Alexander Rick Nowels Stephen Lipson Absolute
Geri Halliwell chronology
Schizophonic (1999) Scream If You Wanna Go Faster (2001) Passion (2005)
Singles from Scream If You Wanna Go Faster
"It's Raining Men" Released: 30 April 2001 "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" Released: 30 July 2001 "Calling" Released: 26 November 2001

Scream If Wanna Go Faster received generally negative reviews from music critics, who criticized the album's production and lyrics, as well as Halliwell's voice range. Commercially, it attained moderated success, reaching the top ten in Greece, Italy and the United Kingdom, whilst being certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and became the 127th best selling album of 2001 in the latter region.

To promote Scream If You Wanna Go Faster Halliwell embarked on a extensive tour across the United Kingdom and Europe, performing on television shows such as Top of the Pops and festivals like Party in the Park and Popkomm. The album also spawned three singles. Its lead single "It's Raining Men" was a success, reaching the number one in the UK Singles Chart. However, following singles—the title track and "Calling"—did not match the same success, peaking at numbers eight and seven in the United Kingdom, respectively.

Background

In 1999, after leaving the Spice Girls, Halliwell released her debut solo album Schizophonic. Three of its singles – "Mi Chico Latino", "Lift Me Up" and "Bag It Up" – reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. The album itself was also a success, being certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[1][2] She started working on her second album in 2000, collaborating with production team Absolute, who produced her previous album, as well as new producers such as Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels and Stephen Lipson. She and Alexander worked together in Los Angeles.[3] Halliwell described the work with Nowels as a "daunting experience", and explained:

"I had never met anyone who was even more pushy about getting things done in the studio than I was but Rick was really driven and worked me very hard. The working day would start at ten and continue until he was satisfied, even if that was one or two in the morning. His songwriting method was simple. He sat me down on a stool in his studio and just told me to sing. He would use the words and melodies I came up with to help me build a song. I was still very uncertain of my talents but Rick's writing style stretched me to my limits. He was a hard taskmasker but I will always be grateful to him, as the work went on. we became great friends. It was very draining".[4]

Halliwell said Scream If You Wanna Go Faster was different from her previous album because she had gone "a much more creative way, I have explored every detail. In this album I have begun to realize that I am an authentic artist able to write songs and do it well.[5] She also described the album as "bright and colourful, but there's deeper meaning underneath if you care and chose to look. Some of it is deep as [a] puddle, some of it is a bottomless pit, like a well".[6] The singer stated that she believed the album was better than her previous one.[7]

Artwork

The album's artwork depicts Halliwell on roller skates, holding onto the back of a Cadillac. Road safety campaigners claimed that the picture was setting a bad example to children and could put their lives at risk. Jane Eason of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said that it was "very irresponsible behaviour" from the singer. She elaborated, "We are very concerned about kids playing with roller skates, micro scooters or skateboards anywhere near roads, never mind hanging onto the back of cars", explaining that a significant amount of problems resulted when similar tricks were used in a film from the Back to the Future franchise. She finished by saying that considering that Halliwell was banned from driving months before the album's release, she found it "very wrong of her to encourage this kind of thing".[8] Mary Williams of road safety organisation Brake shared similar feelings, stating that, "Geri Halliwell is an icon for young children and our worry is that kids will be tempted to copy her. I would have hoped that Geri and her advisers would have had a little foresight into the possible consequences of such a message". A spokesman for Halliwell found it amazing that the cover was taken so seriously, as it was meant to only be a "bright, fun image".[8] The back cover picture featured Halliwell bellowing out the song titles through a megaphone.[9] By each song lyric in the album sleeve, it is specified whether the song is "for the heart", "sexy", "to make you move" or "for the mind".[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
The Birmingham Mail	[12]
Daily Mirror	negative[13]
Dotmusic	[14]
entertainment.ie	[15]
The Guardian	[16]
Hot Press	negative[17]
laut.de	[18]
NME	[19]

Scream If You Wanna Go Faster received generally negative reviews from music journalists. Christian Ward from NME gave the album one out of ten stars, and commented that Scream If You Wanna Go Faster was the sound of "Crisis Spice arriving back in a pop climate she should have dominated after 'Schizophonic'" and that Halliwell would "never get it right, which for a while, like Sarah Ferguson, was part of her pathetic charm. Now, she doesn't have a clue any more. In an attempt to be a 21st-century pop Liza Minnelli, she's bypassed the interesting stuff and gone straight to her very own Muppets In Manhattan".[19] Website entertainment.ie also gave the album one out of five stars, whilst commenting that the album was "an unmitigated disaster: Geri dutifully has a go at rock, reggae, disco and rap, all equally superficial, unconvincing and instantly forgettable. Her vocals are weak, the songs are formulaic and the album as a whole is a boring, irritating mess".[15] Another negative review came from Caroline Sullivan of newspaper The Guardian, who said that even in its "thoughtful" moments, it is "sunk by [its] production-line sound and Halliwell's limited range".[16]

The Birmingham Mail's Alison Jones described the album's tracks as "rang[ing] from the bland to the not so bad", and noted that "the overwhelming impression of this album is that all the lyrics have been written with the aid of the little book of cliches, giving them the resonance and emotional depth of the contents of a fortune cookie".[12] Ian Sturgess from the Daily Mirror commented that Halliwell "has gone all out to make a record that's sassy, irreverent and brimming with down 'n' dirty attitude, but which ends up way off the mark".[13] Lisa Oliver of Dotmusic gave the album a mixed review, whilst saying Scream If You Wanna Go Faster "is never going to be a seminal album to change your life and return to again and again. But it is an album you can happily bop along to and sing along with at the top of your lungs during a drunken night out. You can't really ask more of a pop album than that".[14] Jose F. Promis of AllMusic was more positive, noting that despite a few dull moments, the album was "diverse, uplifting, and fun through and through -- only the most hardened and cynical listener would be incapable of finding a song to tap their foot to".[11] Scream If You Wanna Go Faster was later included on Gigwise's list of the worst albums of the 2000s decade.[20]

Chart performance

In the United Kingdom, Scream If You Wanna Go Faster sold 9,000 copies on its first day of release,[21] and although it was expected to reach the top three,[22] the album debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart on 21 May 2001, selling around 22,000 copies in its first week.[23] It remained 16 weeks inside the chart, and became the 127th best selling album of 2001 in the United Kingdom.[24] The album was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Across Europe, Scream If You Wanna Go Faster attained moderate success. It Austria, it debuted at number 43 on 3 June 2001, reaching its peak of number 30 two weeks later.[25] Similarly in Germany, the album reached number 29 on the album chart.[26] It experienced more success in Greece and Italy, reaching numbers five and eight, respectively.[27][28] According to Halliwell, the album's low sales made "disappointment hit [her] hard. I was so proud of the record that I wanted the progress I had made to be recognised. The way it was looking, though, it wasn't even going to be heard".[29]

Promotion

To promote Scream If You Wanna Go Faster embarked on a extensive tour across the United Kingdom and Europe. She performed several tracks of the album on television shows such as Top of the Pops,[30][31] and festivals like Festivalbar,[32] Party in the Park,[33] and Popkomm.[34] Halliwell performed in July 2001 at annual fashion event Donna Sotto le Stelle in Rome to promote the album. Halfway through the performance, she jumped into the Fontana della Barcaccia at the Spanish Steps. However, the singer angered locals and was fined by Italian police, who said the singer would be fined £320: "It is an offence to jump into the city fountains and the locals feel why should she be allowed to do so and get away with it?"[35] Halliwell responded by saying "The Italians said I could do it".[36]

Singles

"It's Raining Men" was released as the album's lead single in April 2001. Despite low expectations from the record company,[37] and claims that radio stations would not add the track to their playlists,[38] the song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for two weeks. It became Halliwell's fourth consecutive number-one single in the United Kingdom, selling 449,000 copies in the region alone,[39] and becoming the 13th best seller of 2001 there.[24] The song was a huge success in France; it sold over 812,000 copies,[40] and was certified Diamond by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP).[41] With the song, Geri Halliwell won the "International Song of the Year" award at the 2002 NRJ Music Awards in France.[42]

"Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" was released as the second single from the album in August 2001. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number eight, which became the lowest-charting single of Halliwell's career at the time, being considered a failure by British press.[43] The single also was not as successful as the previous single across Europe, peaking at numbers 66 and 67 in Switzerland and Germany, despite reaching the top ten in Italy.[44]

Considered by Halliwell herself as her favourite song on the album, "Calling" was chosen as its third and last single in November 2001. It matched the moderate success of previous single, peaking at number seven in the United Kingdom, and reached better positions in Germany and Switzerland than the title track.[45] Due to the underwhelming performance of the single, no further singles from Scream If You Wanna Go Faster were released, and Halliwell moved to Los Angeles for several months and took a break from the music industry.[46]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Scream If You Wanna Go Faster.[47]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer	Length
1.	"Scream If You Wanna Go Faster"	Geri Halliwell Rick Nowels	Nowels	3:38
2.	"Shake Your Bootie Cutie"	Halliwell Gregg Alexander Nowels	Alexander Nowels	4:02
3.	"Calling"	Halliwell Peter-John Vettese	Stephen Lipson	4:25
4.	"Feels Like Sex"	Halliwell Tracy Ackerman Andy Watkins Paul Wilson	Absolute	3:24
5.	"Circles Round the Moon"	Halliwell Ackerman Watkins Wilson	Absolute	3:59
6.	"Love Is the Only Light"	Halliwell Elofsson Lipson	Lipson	3:26
7.	"Strength of a Woman"	Halliwell Nowels	Nowels	4:03
8.	"Don't Call Me Baby (not the Madison Avenue tune of the same name)"	Halliwell Watkins Wilson	Absolute	3:42
9.	"Lovey Dovey Stuff"	Halliwell Ackerman Watkins Wilson	Absolute	3:39
10.	"It's Raining Men"	Paul Jabara Paul Shaffer	Lipson	4:18
11.	"Heaven and Hell (Being Geri Halliwell)"	Halliwell Elofsson Lipson	Lipson	3:31
12.	"I Was Made That Way"	Halliwell Vettese	Lipson	4:47
Total length:				46:55

Japanese bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer	Length
13.	"Brave New World"	Halliwell Vettese	Ian Masterson	4:10

Personnel

Geri Halliwell – vocals Wayne Rodrigues – drum programming, Pro Tools editing Rick Nowels – acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards Chris Garcia – bass guitar, drums, guitar Rusty Anderson – electric guitar Milton McDonald – guitar Charles Judge – keyboards Andy Duncan – programming Jorgen Elofsson – guitar Greg Kurstin – keyboards, clavinet Simon Clarke – flute

Tim Pierce – guitar Mike Higham – guitar, additional programming David A. Stewart – keyboards David Rainger – electric guitar Peter-John Vettese – keyboards, programming, backing vocals Stephen Lipson – acoustic guitar, programming Tracy Ackerman – backing vocals Claudia Fontaine – backing vocals Danielle Brisebois – backing vocals Beverley Skeete – backing vocals Sue Ann Carwell – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2001) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[48] 55 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[25] 30 Canadian Albums (Nielsen)[49] 43 French Albums (SNEP)[50] 133 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 29 Greek Albums (IFPI)[27] 5 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[51] 33 Irish Albums (IRMA)[52] 15 Italian Albums (FIMI)[28] 8 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[53] 20 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[54] 22 UK Albums (OCC)[55] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position Italian Albums (FIMI)[56] 82 UK Albums (OCC)[24] 127

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[57]	Gold	100,000^*
United Kingdom (BPI)[58]	Gold	100,000^^
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "BPI Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
2. "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
3. "Halliwell And Alexander Team Up". 12 January 2001. Archived from the original on 22 June 2001. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
4. Halliwell 2003, p. 147
5. "Geri Halliwell presenta en Madrid su nuevo disco 'Scream if you gonna go faster'". Hola (in Spanish). 9 May 2001. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
6. Stevenson, Jane (15 May 2001). "Halliwell unfazed by good, and bad, publicity". Jam!. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
7. Halliwell 2003, p. 225
8. "Geri Bad Example!". NME. 20 April 2001. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
9. Sinclair 2010, p. 311
10. "Geri Halliwell - Scream If You Want To Go Faster". Clickmusic. Archived from the original on 13 April 2002. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
11. Promis, Jose F. "Geri Halliwell - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
12. Jones, Alison (26 May 2001). "CD reviews: Rock & Pop". The Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
13. Sturgess, Ian (12 May 2001). "4 play: What's new on CD, film, video and DVD". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
14. Oliver, Lisa. "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on 21 August 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
15. "Geri Halliwell - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". entertainment.ie. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
16. Sullivan, Caroline (11 May 2001). "Life on planet fame". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
17. O'Hare, Colm (7 May 2001). "Scream If You Want To Go Faster". Hot Press. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
18. Teichmann, Klaus. "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 6 October 2018.
19. Ward, Christian. "Halliwell, Geri : Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". NME. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
20. "The 50 Worst Albums Of The 2000s!". Gigwise. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
21. "REM lead Geri in album race". BBC News. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
22. Lane, Harriet (20 May 2001). "The making of New Geri". The Observer. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
23. Mohan, Dominic (19 May 2001). "Despite hard work Geri's album loses out to REM". The Sun. ISSN 0307-2681.
24. "Top 200 Singles and Albums of 2001" (PDF). Official Charts Company. 5 January 2002. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
25. "Austriancharts.at – Geri Halliwell – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
26. "Offiziellecharts.de – Geri Halliwell – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
27. "Hits of the World". Billboard. 113 (25): 81. 23 June 2001. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
28. "Italiancharts.com – Geri Halliwell – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
29. Halliwell 2003, p. 206
30. "From the 00's – Geri Halliwell – Calling". Archived from the original on 2 April 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
31. "From the 00's – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men". Archived from the original on 2 April 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
32. "Taormina, tutto esaurito al Festivalbar due sere con Geri, Vasco e Pino Daniele". La Repubblica (in Italian). 17 June 2001. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
33. Clarke, Betty (10 July 2001). "Three-minute pop songs triumph again". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
34. ""Stars 2001 - Die Popkomm Gala" mit Geri Halliwell, Echt, Missy Elliott, Jamiroquai, Dante Thomas feat. Pras, Right said Fred u.v.a." (in German). 13 August 2001. Retrieved 7 September 2020 – via Presseportal.
35. "Geri's Rome romp". Dotmusic. 28 July 2001. Archived from the original on 29 March 2002. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
36. Reiter, Amy (20 July 2001). "Was there risky business?". Salon. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
37. "Geri's record company has 'little faith' in her new single". Ananova. 26 April 2001. Archived from the original on 21 July 2001. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
38. "Tabloid Hell - April 11". NME. 11 April 2001. Archived from the original on 17 April 2001. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
39. Copsey, Rob (29 June 2017). "The ultimate Official Spice Girls solo chart: all their singles ranked by sales". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
40. "InfoDisc : Les Certifications (Singles) du SNEP (Bilan par Artiste) – Search for "HaliwellG."". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
41. "Certifications Singles Diamond - année 2002". Disque en France. Archived from the original on 12 December 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
42. "NRJ Music Awards 2002" (in French). NRJ. 18 November 2002. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
43. "Geri single to flop?". Dotmusic. 1 August 2001. Archived from the original on 16 December 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
44. "Swisscharts.com – Geri Halliwell – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
45. "Swisscharts.com – Geri Halliwell – Calling". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
46. Halliwell 2003, p. 222
47. Scream If You Wanna Go Faster (CD liner notes). Geri Halliwell. EMI Music. 2001. 7243 5 33369 4 3.CS1 maint: others (link)
48. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
49. "ALBUMS : Top 100". Jam!. Archived from the original on 13 December 2004. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
50. "Lescharts.com – Geri Halliwell – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
51. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2001. 31. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
52. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Geri Halliwell". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
53. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
54. "Swisscharts.com – Geri Halliwell – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
55. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
56. "Gli album più venduti del 2001" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
57. "French album certifications – Geri Halliwell – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
58. "British album certifications – Geri Halliwell – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Scream If You Wanna Go Faster in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

Book sources

• Halliwell, Geri (2003). Just for the Record. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-091-88804-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Sinclair, David (2010). Spice Girls Revisited: How The Spice Girls Reinvented Pop. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-846-09068-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)