After a multi-year run of platinum success and Top Ten singles, S Club finally called it quits in 2003. The previous year's
Seeing Double had failed to find the same sales spark, and with
Paul Cattermole's departure and more solo efforts looming, it was the proper time to put the peppy sixsome out to pasture. They were getting a bit long in the tooth for the teen pop circuit, anyway -- besides,
S Club Juniors were already horning in on the action. Best: The Greatest Hits is just that, a surefire look back at the group's grandest moments. Beginning with the irrepressible bop of "Bring It All Back," Best moves through the hokey title anthem ("Ain't no party like an S Club party!"), sweet ballads like "Never Had a Dream Come True," and the rousing disco-lite of "Don't Stop Movin'." These early hits are where it's at for S Club and Best; they were the big songs, and are still indelible reminders of the kooky combo's
Monkees-like TV adventures. After a few lesser tracks from 2002's
Double, Best: The Greatest Hits closes out with "Say Goodbye," S Club's final U.K. single. "Nothing lasts forever though we want it to/The road ahead holds different dreams for me and you" -- it's as melodramatic as S Club was sophomoric. But the song succeeds despite of this, driven as it is by the group's charisma and undeniable charm. [A bonus edition of Best featured two dance-oriented additional tracks, "Everybody Get Pumped" and "Bring the House Down."] ~ Johnny Loftus