Record Rack

** 1/2 Spice Girls, “Forever,” Virgin. No “girl power” posturing. No cotton-candy sonic colors. No Ginger Spice. Incredibly, the English group that made garish fluff-pop commercially viable again has turned almost, er, subtle. Adjusting to millennial pop tastes, the quartet morphs into a modern R&B-pop; act on “Forever,” abetted by such high-profile producers as Rodney Jerkins, who helmed the TLC-esque single “Holler.” Whether on dance numbers or ballads, the Girls muster more vocal passion and authority than on 1997’s bland “Spiceworld.” It’s still fluffy, but occasionally guilty fun.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.