More Brandy than Britney Spears, 16-year-old English girl Billie arrives with a debut album that is funkier, more consistent, and better sung than Spears's ...Baby One More Time. Like that disc, though, this one is highlig... more »hted by its opening title track, "Honey to the Bee." A midtempo pop R&B performance that smolders like classic Madonna, it's an instant semiclassic. The rest of the CD's exhortations to "love me for me" and defenses of her crowd's right to laugh a bit too loud on "Because We Want To" are hardly conceptual coups, but they come across with enough conviction to seem fresh. --Rickey Wright« less
More Brandy than Britney Spears, 16-year-old English girl Billie arrives with a debut album that is funkier, more consistent, and better sung than Spears's ...Baby One More Time. Like that disc, though, this one is highlighted by its opening title track, "Honey to the Bee." A midtempo pop R&B performance that smolders like classic Madonna, it's an instant semiclassic. The rest of the CD's exhortations to "love me for me" and defenses of her crowd's right to laugh a bit too loud on "Because We Want To" are hardly conceptual coups, but they come across with enough conviction to seem fresh. --Rickey Wright
mypetconcubine | Waianae, Hawaii U.S.A. | 05/09/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In england she is the british britney spears ...but she is much better...i have no idea why this album never caught on here i the states..but i think this album rocks...
the song " Because we want to " was a battle cry in britian...it was an athemn...it's one of my favorite all time tracks...Honey to the bee is also a great track as well as she wants you.."
For those who love pop
Danielle | Illinois | 07/03/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I found out about Billie in 1999 when I saw her on TV and when out and bought her cd Honey to B and it has been a regular in my cd player ever since. Here are my thoughts on the songs:
1.Honey to the bee-a fantastic way to start the cd. I love this song and it is one of four that I play the most
2.I Dream-the 2nd of my faves. A beautiful ballad, Billie's voice sounds great on this one.
3. She wants you- the 3rd of my faves and the first up-tempo song of the cd. Very pop sounding.
4.Love groove-a song that took me awhile to like but I like it now. It's a mid-tempo song.
5.Party on the phone-kind of a silly song and is most likely an album filler but it's still fun to listen to. Mid-tempo
6.Officially yours- I like this song. It's about a girl who is reassuring her boyfriend that she is his. Mid-tempo
7.You've got it- good song,very poppy. Up-tempo
8. Saying I'm sorry now- I really like this song, it's a low-tempo slower song.
9.Girlfriend-another kind of silly song but I like this one. Upper-tempo
10.Whatcha gonna do-good song about a girl leaving her boyfriend. mid-tempo
11.Don't forget to remember-the fourth song that I listen to the most. The song starts with the sounds of a diner. upper-tempo.
12.Because we want to- a very Girl Power song. You can tell this cd came out when the Spice Girls were hot because this is a very Girl Power attitude song. A little cheesy but I like it. Up-tempo
"
Rose Tyler Sings!
E.A. Week | Boston, MA USA | 12/20/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Given Billie Piper's recent success as an actress in the UK, it's hard to believe she was once a teenage pop princess, comparable to American Britney Spears. Their lives and careers have had an oddly similar trajectory: an explosion onto their respective music scenes as teenagers, almost immediate success, a highly prefabricated image, romance with boy-band singers, interest in acting, and young marriage that many considered highly unsuitable. The difference is that Piper somehow escaped the pitfalls of teenage pop stardom (including a brush with anorexia) and has forged an eminently respectable second career for herself as a serious actress. Check out the first two seasons' DVDs of the new Doctor Who series for proof of that.
In a sense it's almost a shame that Piper will likely never return to music, because her first CD, Honey to the B (1998), is a remarkably infectious pop concoction. The songs were written by a team of professional writers and mostly consist of boy-girl love songs and anthems to teenage independence; the lyrics range from trite to simplistic to cliche-laden and back again, the music is synth-heavy and multitracked up to the moon... but oddly, that's part of the CD's appeal. You don't pop this into your CD player (or burn it into your iPod library) for its intellectual appeal. You listen to it because it's kicky and fun. What makes the songs work is mostly Piper's fearless delivery--she may not have the greatest range, but she croons and chants and belts out each number with a sassy verve and confidence that's hard not to admire (and remarkable, given that she was only fifteen at the time). She makes the listener believe she's a great singer mostly because she acts like one. You can use a lot of words to describe Billie Piper, but "apologetic" isn't one of them.
The strongest song in the collection--and her strongest song, period--is the title track, the deliciously sexy "Honey to the Bee," a sultry, mid-tempo number whose blatantly erotic imagery might seem hokey without Piper's fifteen-going-on-thirty-five delivery. Other standouts include the equally come-hither "Love Groove," the wonderfully low-key, funky "Don't Forget to Remember," and the ode to teen independence, "Because We Want To" (Piper's first single, which entered the UK charts at #1--she's still the youngest British artist to hold this distinction).
Other solid outings include the highly danceable, "She Wants You," "Party on the Phone," and "Girlfriend." The balance of the tracks, "I Dream," "Officially Yours," "You've Got It," "Saying I'm Sorry Now," and "Whatcha Gonna Do?" are all filler, but above-average filler--there's not one stinker among them, remarkable for such a prefabricated product.
In short, fans of Piper's acting really shouldn't miss out on this fun, thoroughly enjoyable memento of her first career. American fans of Doctor Who will probably be amused to learn that Piper was the "UK Britney" long before she became Rose Tyler."
Pretty good for a 16-year-old
Glen Zimmerman | West Bumblefuch, USA | 01/17/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"One of the more fun and innocent teen pop confections of the Britney era (the term "Britney era" used for demonstrative purposes only), Billie had a couple of decent hits here, but didn't quite get thrust into the stratosphere. It would have been nice to see that happen, because she does pack some likeable appeal as well as respectable if not extraordinary musical talent."
A good example of late 90s teen pop.
Cynthia Selene | Miskolc, Hungary | 02/22/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Maybe won't be known as a classic album fifty years later, but Billie's debut a nice album. It is worth buying mostly because of the four singles, "Because We Want To", "Girlfriend", "She Wants You" and especially the slow groove "Honey to the Bee", but has some surprises for those who think the rest of the songs are fillers. "Officially Yours" is one of the surprises, maybe not as good as the singles but it's still a good song with an R&B flavor. Love Groove sounds like a Janet Jackson song. The other songs aren't that interesting, although "You've Got It" and "Don't Forget To remember" are quite good."