Victoria Beckham
Studio album by
Victoria Beckham
Released1 October 2001 (2001-10-01)
RecordedOctober 1999 – July 2001
Genre
Length45:55
LabelVirgin
Producer
Singles from Victoria Beckham
  1. "Not Such an Innocent Girl"
    Released: 17 September 2001
  2. "A Mind of Its Own"
    Released: 11 February 2002

Victoria Beckham (stylised as VB) is the only studio album by English singer Victoria Beckham. It was released on 1 October 2001 by Virgin Records. Beckham was the last member of the Spice Girls to release a solo album. The album's lead single, "Not Such an Innocent Girl" was released on 17 September 2001. The second single, "A Mind of Its Own" was released on 11 February 2002. "I Wish" was set to be the album's third single as it was being promoted, but following the announcement of Beckham's second pregnancy, the single was shelved and never materialised.

The album was a commercial failure internationally, reaching number ten in the United Kingdom and number twenty on the Australian Hitseekers Albums Chart.

Release

Initially, the album was to be titled Innocent Girl and set to be released on 27 August 2001,[1] but was released on 1 October. Beckham revealed that she felt she had "a lot to prove" with the album's release: "When I started recording this album, I had a lot to prove. I want to prove I can sing and dance and have a vision. I'm really baring my soul on this. I hope people like it. When I was with the other girls I never did a lot of the singing, so this is the first time that people are going to see me and what I am capable of". She added that she hoped the album would do well "and I can have a successful solo career".[2]

The album does not include the True Steppers hit "Out of Your Mind", on which Beckham features along with Dane Bowers, but it spawned two singles, "Not Such an Innocent Girl" and "A Mind of Its Own" which both debuted and peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart.

Singles

"Not Such an Innocent Girl" was released on 17 September 2001 as the lead single from the album. In the United Kingdom, the single faced competition in a hugely hyped chart battle with Kylie Minogue's single "Can't Get You Out of My Head".[3] On the chart date of 29 September 2001, "Not Such an Innocent Girl" debuted at number six on the UK Singles Chart with first week sales of 35,000 units, while "Can't Get You Out of My Head" debuted at number one with first week sales of 306,000 units.[4][5] It has sold about 80,263 copies altogether, becoming the 163rd best seller of 2001.[6]

The music video has a futuristic theme and features two Victorias: one dressed in all-white with blonde hair ("the good girl"), and the other in all-black with jet black hair ("the bad girl"). The video culminates into a "dance-off" and motorcycle race between the two Victorias.

"A Mind of Its Own" was released on 11 February 2002 as the second single from her debut self-titled solo album (2001). It peaked and debuted at number six on the UK Singles Chart and sold 56,570 becoming the 173rd best seller of 2002. There is a French version of the song called "Mon cœur n'en fait qu'à sa tête" (an adaptation of the title into French, or "my heart does what it wants to do").

A third single, "I Wish", was promoted but never materialised. The single version was a remix featuring Robbie Craig, and was performed on TV on Friday Night's All Wright.[7] Following the announcement of Beckham's second pregnancy, the single was shelved. Beckham was dropped by Virgin Records along with fellow Spice Girls Emma Bunton and Melanie B,[8][9] but a statement from her publicist denied reports, claiming: "No-one has been dropped. The Virgin deal has come to a natural end and both parties have decided not to continue."[8][10]

Chart performance

Victoria Beckham faced a chart battle during the album's release week with Kylie Minogue's Fever. Both singers had previously faced a battle in the singles' chart, when their singles were released on the same day.[11] However, Beckham's album debuted at number ten on the UK Albums Chart on 13 October 2001, whilst Minogue's album topped the charts. Victoria Beckham charted for three weeks on the chart.[12] As of January, 2020 the album has sold 54,000 copies overall in the United Kingdom.[13] After Being Victoria Beckham, an official documentary that aired in March 2002, the album re-entered the UK Albums Chart at number sixty-seven.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
BBC Music(negative)[15]
Hot Press(mixed)[16]
NME[17]

Upon its release, the album received mixed to negative reviews. BBC Music described the album as "a mish-mash affair of gushy sentiment and wishy-washy RnB"[15] whilst NME called the album "a new low in shameless pop slaggery".[17]

Track listing

Victoria Beckham track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Not Such an Innocent Girl"
Kipner3:17
2."A Mind of Its Own"
Kipner3:48
3."That Kind of Girl"
  • Kipner
  • David Frank
  • Jack Kugell
  • Kipner
  • Frank
  • Kugell
3:48
4."Like That"
Prime4:01
5."Girlfriend"
The Underdogs3:43
6."Midnight Fantasy"
  • Åberg
  • Anders Hansson
3:15
7."I.O.U"
Frampton3:49
8."No Trix, No Games"
  • Beckham
  • Kipner
  • Frampton
Kipner3:03
9."I Wish"
Soulshock & Karlin4:10
10."Watcha Talkin' Bout"
Soulshock & Karlin3:51
11."Unconditional Love"
Lawrence3:50
12."Every Part of Me"
Soulshock & Karlin5:11
Total length:45:55
Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Not Such an Innocent Girl" (Robbie Rivera's Main Vocal Mix)6:56
14."Not Such an Innocent Girl" (Sunship Radio Edit)3:43

Charts

Chart performance for Victoria Beckham
Chart (2001) Peak
position
Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)[18] 20
Irish Albums (IRMA)[19] 69
Scottish Albums (OCC)[20] 20
UK Albums (OCC)[12] 10

Sales

Sales for Victoria Beckham
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom — 54,000[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "Victoria Beckham - 'I'd watch Geri and Sir Alex Ferguson drown' - NME.COM News". NME. Archived from the original on 23 December 2001. Retrieved 23 December 2001.
  3. ↑ "Kylie and Beckham begin chart race". BBC. 17 September 2001. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  4. ↑ "Kylie Bests Victoria on U.K. Singles Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "2001 Top 40 Official Singles Chart UK Archive". Official Charts Company. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Official UK Singles Chart 2001" (PDF). Ukchartsplus.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  7. ↑ Arlidge, John. Arlidge, John (13 January 2002). "Is this Mr Right?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  8. 1 2 "Posh parts with label". BBC News. 5 June 2002. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
  9. ↑ Timms, Dominic (24 July 2003). "Fuller scores Beckham brand deal". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  10. ↑ Bonnici, Tony (July 2003). "Posh gets push from her record label". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  11. ↑ "Round two for Kylie and Posh". News.bbc.co.uk. October 2001.
  12. 1 2 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  13. ↑ "Albums turning 20 years old in 2021". Officialcharts.com.
  14. ↑ AllMusic review
  15. 1 2 Hodges, Jacqueline. "Victoria Beckham - Victoria Beckham". BBC Music. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  16. ↑ Udell, Phil. "Victoria Beckham". Hotpress.com. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  17. 1 2 "Victoria Beckham : Victoria Beckham". NME. 12 September 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  18. ↑ "Australian Web Archive" (PDF). webarchive.nla.gov.au. 23 August 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2002. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  19. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 40, 2001". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  20. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  21. ↑ "Albums turning 20 years old in 2021". Official Charts Company. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
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