Well... Their success was essentially made of covers
"Eternal Flame and "The Tide Is High" were their biggest tunes and both are covers
Nobody really took them seriously tbh. They didn't worth a mention IMO, especially when we look at the pop greatness of the other British groups.
Their first ever single "Whole Again" was great though.
And the critics disagree that American girl groups are better, like, Girls Aloud's Ten got an 80 in metacritic but you still voted for the American ones. Using critics as receipt when needed?