Reason (Melanie C album)

In 1999, while still a member of the Spice Girls, Chisholm released her solo debut album, Northern Star. It earned favorable reviews from music critics, and became an international commercial success, reaching number one in Sweden, the top ten across Europe, and selling over 2.5 million copies worldwide. The album produced five singles, including the UK number ones "Never Be the Same Again" and "I Turn to You," the latter earning a Grammy Award for its remix, and was promoted through live performances, a documentary, and a reissue featuring single mixes. At this time, she was the only member of the Spice Girls to still have a contract with Virgin Records, since the rest of the Spice Girls had departed from Virgin as solo artists. During this time, things for Chisholm proved to be difficult, as she was diagnosed with depression in 1999. She later revealed that it was difficult for her to handle the publicity and hard work during the Spice Girls days, and some days she would eat too little and exercise to the point of exhaustion. At the end of 1999, Chisholm's depression worsened and she spent days in bed, unable to cope with her day-to-day routine. After being diagnosed with depression she was prescribed antidepressants for 18 months, and also dealt with an eating disorder and a hostile media reaction questioning different topics from her weight to her sexuality. ==Recording==

During the early stages of Reasons recording sessions in November 2001, Virgin Records executives were worried about the musical style of the album, as Chisholm's biggest hits from her debut album were an R&B single ("Never Be the Same Again") and a dance single ("I Turn to You"), and Chisholm had insisted that she wanted to keep making pop rock albums. According to The Sun, a record company source stated that "both Mel and Virgin have agreed that she should keep to the rock vibe that helped her 1999 album, Northern Star, do so well. But that is where their agreement ends". Chisholm had already stated that she wanted to work with new producers, while retaining some of the producers that had worked on her debut album. The original release date for the album was set for October 2002 but it was delayed until March 2003, resulting in a number of articles in newspapers questioning her relationship with her record company, reporting that she was under pressure to lose weight. On an official statement published on her site, Chisholm stated that her relationship with Virgin was "fantastic", the recording sessions were going well and that she had not been forced to delay the release of the album or to lose weight. During the recording sessions for the album, a total of 40 songs were recorded. On 12 November 2002, the album title was revealed on her official site. For the album and single covers, Chishom and Virgin commissioned Sean Ellis as the official photographer. In January 2003, Chisholm gave an official track-by-track review to the press, revealing the album's track list, which was quite different to the final track list. Chisholm stated that she was happy with having some of the Northern Star composers and producers on Reason as well as working with new ones, like David Arnold, Tore Johansson and Peter Vettese. The original album tracklist consisted of 11 songs, with "Melt" and "Yeh, Yeh, Yeh" added at the last minute, while "Wonderland" was later removed and issued as a B-side to the "On the Horizon" single. During the album sessions, Chisholm also recorded "Independence Day" for the soundtrack of the film Bend It Like Beckham, which was later included on the Japanese edition of Reason. Additionally, she wrote "Help Me Help You" for Holly Valance, featured on Valance’s debut album Footprints. == Release and promotion ==

Reason was released on 10 March 2003 in the United Kingdom. Prior to the album's release Chisholm made appearances on TV shows including CD:UK and V Graham Norton, while she gave some interviews to magazines like the Times Magazine, Attitude and Marie Claire. She also performed a four-song set at HMV London. The set list included her past number-one singles "Never Be the Same Again" and "I Turn to You", as well as the first single from Reason, "Here It Comes Again", and the album track "Positively Somewhere." During the webcast Chisholm did a 30-minute interview, where she answered questions from fans from all over the world. Chisholm embarked on the Reason Tour in order to promote the album, starting on 24 April 2003 and including 25 shows in Europe. In September 2003, Chisholm took part on The Games, a British reality sports game show that aired on Channel 4, in promotion of the album, where she was badly injured. Her injury changed the song that was selected to be the third single: "Yeh Yeh Yeh" was originally planned but after her injury, "Melt" was chosen to be launched along with "Yeh Yeh Yeh" as a double A-side, because she could do a small number of performances and "Melt" as a ballad, requiring minimum movement, was thought to be easier to promote. Her injury prevented her from fully promoting her last single and the album further. == Critical reception ==

Reason received mixed to negative reviews from music critics. Alexis Kirke from MusicOMH described the album as failing to impress, calling it an "overly manufactured attempt at pop. Despite Melanie C's new image and press campaign, the album lacks the energy and individuality needed to escape the shadow of Planet Spice. Its more mature approach comes across as calculated rather than inspired, offering little to engage either new listeners or longtime fans." AllMusic gave the album two and a half stars out of five, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine stating that "[the songs] are colourless and characterless, sounding as if their main goal is to get on pop radio." He called the album "a real disappointment after the very good, very promising Northern Star." Drowned in Sound described the album as "just bland in the extreme. Mel doesn't have the vocal range to pull what she’s trying to do." == Commercial performance ==

Reason debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart on the issue dated 22 March 2003. In an interview with The Guardian in 2007, Chisholm said she had “mixed feelings" about being dropped following the poor sales of Reason, but acknowledged that she was "actually quite relieved” as she recognized Virgin Records "were starting to lose faith" in her. In April 2025, Reason received its first vinyl release as part of that year's Record Store Day, which led to the album entering the UK Physical Albums Chart at number 99 on 18 April 2025. ==Track listing==

• Melanie C – vocals • Simon Clarke – baritone saxophone, alto flute • Marius De Vries – keyboards, programming • Luís Jardim – percussion • Chris Garcia – guitar, backing vocals, bass guitar, percussion • Rick Nowels – piano, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric piano, mellotron, synthesizer • Brandon Fields – trumpet saxophone • Mike Busby – guitar • Steve Sidelnyk – drums • Lewis Taylor – guitar, backing vocals • Peter John Vettese – piano • Rhett Lawrence – guitar, programming • Andy Maclure – drums • Jon Stewart – guitar • Paul Bushnell – bass guitar • James Sanger – programming • Olle Romo – guitar • Marcus Brown – keyboards, guitar, mandolin, percussion • Jake Davies – programming • Jamie Candiloro – keyboards, piano • David Munday – guitar • Jerry Hey – trumpet • Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums • Eric Erlandson – guitar • Rusty Anderson – electric guitar • Ian Thomas – drums • Alexis Smith – keyboards, programming • Peter Wilson – guitar • Phil Thornalley – keyboards, guitar • Wayne Rodrigues – drum programming • Kim Kahn – bass guitar • Monte Pittman – guitar • John Savannah – piano, synthesizer • Curt Bisquera – drums • Guy Chambers – keyboards • Richard Flack – percussion, programming • Bill Reichenbach Jr. – saxophone • Phil Spalding – bass guitar • Damian LeGassick – keyboards, programming, guitar • Pete Hofmann – additional drum programming • Phil Palmer – guitar • Claire Worrall – backing vocals ==Charts==