Of all the Spice Girls, Emma Bunton tended to disappear into the background. Her four partners in the group all had powerful personas, and Bunton's bland sweetness simply could not compete next to Victoria Beckham's sultry ice queen Posh Spice or Geri Halliwell's brassy, sassy Ginger Spice. So, when the Spice Girls parted ways after 2000's abortive Forever it seemed inevitable that she would simply fade away. Then again, at one time it seemed inevitable that Gary Barlow would eclipse his former Take That bandmate Robbie Williams on the pop charts, and it didn't turn out that way, so first impressions shouldn't be trusted when it comes to British teen pop groups ? a theory that receives further support with the release of Emma Bunton's superb second album, Free Me. It, quite simply, isn't just the best Spice Girls solo album ? which, given such disasters as Geri's Scream if You Wanna Go Faster, isn't that hard ? it's the best Spice-related record, and the best mainstream British pop album since Robbie at his h