Pop Life

1991's POP LIFE, the only Bananarama album featuring Jacqui O'Sullivan (who replaced original member Siobhan Fahey when Fahey married Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and left to form the more experimental Shakespear's Sister), is an all-out dance record in the tradition of Soul II Soul and other then-fashionable UK dance outfits. POP LIFE downplays the disco-style Hi-NRG beats and somewhat brittle sheen of the trio's Stock-Aitken-Waterman days. It's a looser, more bass-heavy album, named after but not featuring the Prince hit.
O'Sullivan's voice is throatier than Fahey's, effectively changing the trio's sound. She and original members Keren Woodward and Sarah Dallin mostly sing actual harmonies, rather than the unison vocals familiar from Bananarama's early hits. POP LIFE is considerably different from Bananarama's earlier albums, but it's a satisfying example of post-acid-house/pre-trip-hop UK dance music. Guests include dance maven Youth, ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, and Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook-who originally discovered the trio.