British girl group All Saints were founded as All Saints 1.9.7.5 by music manager Ron Tom, with members Melanie Blatt, Shaznay Lewis, and Simone Rainford. The group struggled to find commercial success after being signed to ZTT Records and were dropped by the label shortly after Rainford left the group. In 1996, they were joined by Canadian-born sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton and signed to London Records under their shortened name. Part of the 1990's wave of British girl groups, their debut album 'All Saints' was released in 1997 and peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, going on to become the UK's third-best-selling girl group album of all time. It contained three UK number one singles: 'Never Ever', 'Under The Bridge'/'Lady Marmalade' and 'Bootie Call', and 'Never Ever' is the third-best-selling girl group single of all-time in the UK. Their second album, 'Saints & Sinners', came out three years later, and was their first UK number-one album, achieving multi-platinum success, and it included the UK number-one singles 'Pure Shores' and 'Black Coffee'. Shortly after the release of their second album, All Saints announced that they were to take a break so that they "could clear the air between themselves". It was later reported that the catalyst for the break-up was a disagreement over who would wear a certain jacket for a photoshoot.
In November 2001, London Records released a greatest hits compilation entitled 'All Hits', which also contained Melanie Blatt's first solo single, 'TwentyFourSeven', a collaboration with Artful Dodger. Springboarding off that first single, Blatt pursued a solo career to variable success, with 'TwentyFourSeven' being her biggest hit, peaking at No 6 in September 2001. She began recording her debut solo album in 2002, working with numerous producers, including Sony Music production team Xenomania, and in late 2003 she released the single 'Do Me Wrong', which reached number 18 in the UK. However, this low charting position led to her being dropped by her label, and so the album she was working on was scrapped, along with the release of her upcoming single 'Blue'. In 2005 she made a return to music with new single 'See Me', which was used in the 'Robots' movie, and she began working on a new album with independent label Swallen Ankle Ltd, written with Matt Hales from Aqualung. During 2005 she played small venues around the UK, performing songs from the album she was working on, including 'In Your Arms', 'I Don't Mind', 'Now You're Gone', 'No Lullaby' and 'Love Sweet Love'. On 24 January 2006 it was announced that All Saints had reformed and signed a record deal with Parlophone, and they subsequently began work on their third studio album, 'Studio 1'. Blatt's solo record was therefore put on hold, and following the success of their first comeback single, 'Rock Steady', which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, and the release of 'Studio 1', it was cancelled completely. Despite All Saints breaking up again in 2009 and reforming for a second time in 2013, Blatt's solo album remains unreleased, and so for anyone who is curious as to whether it would have launched a successful solo career for her, here it is for you to judge.
Track listing
01 Love Sweet Love
02 I'm Leaving
03 I Don't Mind
04 No Lullaby
05 Who I Am
06 Wonderfully Mean
07 We Two
08 Now You're Gone
09 In Your Arms
10 Shine
11 Blue
12 Do Me Wrong
13 I'll Be There
14 Twentyfourseven (feat. Artful Dodger)
