So which was the best Sugababes line-up?

We've been polling on this question for a few days and votes are trickling in.

Surprisingly, the original line-up is leading the contest. I say surprisingly because the greatest success and the greatest hits came when Heidi joined the band - when Freak Like Me and Push the Button stormed the charts.

Okay it's not that surprising. We know that young as they were, the originals were three talented young women. Unrecognised as she is, Siobhan has proved herself a talented song-writer. It seems that many of the songs on the under-stated One Touch album were written by the girls. What could they have achieved if they stuck together? Sadly that required commercial success - and that involved handing their fate to others.

Personally I've got mixed feelings. In the face of public opinion, I maintain that Change was the greatest and most perfect album. Yes, that's the next poll! But I was stunned by One Touch from the time when I first heard it, several years after it came out. It was so different from the overblown pap and synthesised absence of melody that characterises most pop music. And really Angels, with its double number one, five singles and two classic live performance tracks should be acknowledged as the best.

Sugababes - Change

I began thinking of this song yesterday. It's a great song and it's mainly Keisha. She could probably do it solo comfortably. And it sums up the story - Change. There was always going to be change. The Sugababes have lasted much longer than any other comparable band - if there were comparable bands. Change isn't necessarily bad. It's just different. Things are "never gonna be the same again". A great solo performer is about to emerge from the ashes. And there will be reunion performances and they'll be great events.

Sweet7 - to buy or not to buy?

I'm struggling on this. I really don't want to spend the money on something that I'm not going to enjoy. But it's now a matter of conscience - having downloaded Sweet7, the new version, I ought to pay for it. Besides, a portion of the royalties will go to Keisha, who has some song-writing credits, I believe.

The album's getting uniformly bad reviews. That's no surprise. Catfights and Spotlights had mixed reviews - even though it was an authentic Sugababes album. There's a clutch of reviewers who've never liked the band and cannot be bothered to listen properly.

Best Sugababe album tracks

Most pop bands are only remembered for their singles. The Sugababes are a band that has made great albums, from start to finish. You could find songs on their albums, beautifully written, sang and produced that never rated a video but in some cases became gig favourites.

These are the tracks, never released as singles, that stand out to me. :
from Angels with Dirty Faces:
Virgin Sexy
Breathin' Easy
from Taller in More Ways:
Ace Reject
Better
from Overloaded:
Good to be Gone
from Change:
Back When
3 Spoons of Suga

What do you think? What are your favourite album tracks?

Notice I've only drawn from four albums. On One Touch, Three and Catfights it's a little harder to pull out songs that really stand out.

My favourites from these would be:
One Touch
look at me
real thing
Three
We could have it all
Conversation's Over
Catfights
Every heart broken
Can we call a truce

These are personal choices. Judging by the songs the band performed live, their own choices would be:
One Touch
One Touch
promises
one foot in
Three
Whatever makes you happy
Situation's heavy
Buster
Catfights
Hanging on a Star
Every Heart Broken
She's like a star

A classic Sugababes performance

This was that performance of Breathin' Easy at Glastonbury with, what is now, the classic line-up of Keisha, Mutya and Heidi. The song was a brilliant ode to youthful friendship - and, listening to it now, replete with irony - tucked away at the end of the Angels with Dirty Faces album. Although it's a classic song, it prefigured the direction in which the band went, moving away from dance tracks to ballads and close harmonies and culminating in the sound of Change.

Keisha lets rip -

No, not on Twitter! This is a great video compilation posted on youtube some months ago by a fan, including a clip from the Sound of Goodbye from Catfights. It's entitled Keisha's high notes - but really it just highlights the strength of the ex-Sugababes' voice and, also, the way it has developed over the last decade.

Aint it crazy how you think you've got your whole life planned
only to find out it was never in your hands
(Change)