I mentioned Girls Aloud when I was reviewing Cheryl Cole's "A Million Lights" album awhile ago, so it's no surprise that I'm reviewing one of their albums. For those of you who don't know who Girls Aloud, they are (well were since they broke up last year) a girl group formed by the show "Popstars: The Rivals". The band consisted of Cheryl Cole, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle, and Sarah Harding. The group released 5 studio albums and 2 greatest hits albums, along with all but 2 of their singles becoming top 10 hits in the U.K. Today I'll reviewing the deluxe edition of their album "Ten" which was the second greatest hits album as well as their final album before splitting up. Here's my track by track review:
1) Something New: The first single from "Ten". It was the group's first single in 3 years and was a perfect song to comeback with. Kimberley and Nicola even rap on the first verse. The video was also perfect. 10/10
2) The Promise: The first single from the group's fifth album,"Out of Control". The song was different from the group previous singles but in the end it became one of their biggest hits. Not only did it reach number 1 in the U.K. but it also won a BRIT award. The video had a 50's/60's vibe. 10/10
3) The Loving Kind: The second single from "Out of Control". This song is one of my favorite songs from the group. Funny enough the song wasn't supposed to be on the group's album. The song was supposed to be for the band "Pet Shop Boys". I'm glad it was given to Girls Aloud in the end. The song does however, sound almost exactly like their single "Call the Shots" but prefer this song over "Call the Shots". 10/10
4) Untouchable: The third and final single from "Out of Control". The song was originally a long song being 6 minutes and 42 seconds, but when it was released as a single it was remixed and shortened to 3 minutes and 49 seconds. The song is mostly known for being the group's first single to miss the top 10 in the U.K. by peaking at 11. While that's not a bad chart position it did break the group's top 10 streak. The song is still really good though and the space themed video is pretty cool. 10/10
5) Sexy! No No No...: The first single from the album the group's fourth album, "Tangled Up". The song begins with Cheryl's vocals being vocodered making the song sound a little creepy. In the video the girls are in dresses only to be in catsuits which works when they sing the part "Sexy, sexy". 10/10
6) Call the Shots: The second single from "Tangled Up". The song was supposed to be on the group's album, "The Sound of Girls Aloud: Greatest Hits" but didn't make the cut. It did better than "Sexy! No No No..." in the U.K. and was also Cheryl's favorite song on "Tangled Up". Their single "The Loving Kind", which was released a year after this song is very similar to this but like I said earlier, I prefer "The Loving Kind" more. 8/10
7) Can't Speak French: The third and final single from "Tangled Up". The video featured the girls in costumes that were Marie Antoinette inspired. This song is probably one of my least favorite singles that the group has released but it is beginning to grow on me a little. 7/10
8) Something Kinda Ooooh: The first single from the group's first greatest hits album, "The Sound of Girls Aloud: Greatest Hits". The song is very catchy but the video was kinda boring with the girls driving sports cars. Cheryl herself had admitted that it wasn't the group's best video. 10/10
9) Biology: The second single from the group's third album, "Chemistry". I'm still confused on what the hell this song is about. Despite that it still became a hit and it's video was somewhat boring. Just a strange song. Not much else to say. 7/10
10) The Show: The first single from the group's second album, "What Will the Neighbors Say". The video for the song showed the girls working in a salon called "Curls Allowed", a play-on of the group's name, where they treat their male customers horribly. Despite the video being hilarious, the song is kinda boring after while. 8/10
11) Love Machine: The second single from "What Will the Neighbors Say". The group did not want this song being released as they feared it would end their career. In the end the song was released as a single and became a hit. The video featured the girls in a nightclub as well as doing a little dance routine. 8/10
12) I'll Stand by You: The third single from "What Will the Neighbors Say". It is also a cover that was originally performed by "The Pretenders". Despite it not getting positive reviews, it still became a number 1 in the U.K. The video featured the girls in a desert with a storm coming later on in the video. 9/10
13) Jump: The fourth and final single from the group's first album, "Sound of the Underground". It is also a cover that was originally performed by "The Pointer Sisters" and was originally called "Jump (for My Love)". The song wasn't on "Sound of the Underground" originally so the album was re-released with this song on it. It was a huge success and the video showed part of the film "Love Actually" since the song was on the soundtrack for the film. 10/10
14) No Good Advice: The second single from "Sound of the Underground". Although Brian Higgins, the man who wrote a majority of the group's songs with Miranda Cooper, wrote the song about a failure of Xenomania signing a deal with London Records, the song feels like it could be about not wanting to fear anyone's opinion on what you should or shouldn't do. I think a lot of people can relate to the lyrics of this song. 10/10
15) Sound of the Underground: The title track and first single from "Sound of the Underground". This song is one of their most well known songs since it not only debuted at number 1 in the U.K. but also made Girls Aloud win "Popstars: The Rivals". It is also my favorite single from the group. The video showed the girls performing the song somewhere underground which works with the song title. 10/10
16) On the Metro: The second new song on this album. It was co-written by Nicola and was also performed by the group on the final tour "Ten: The Hits Tour". The song has a J-pop sound to it but it works. It's a shame this song wasn't released as a single since it's a really great song. 10/10
17) Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me: The second and final single from "Ten" as well as the group's final single all together. Despite being a beautiful pop ballad and having a great video, the song peaked at number 97 in the U.K., making it their lowest charting single. 10/10
18) Every Now and Then: The fourth and final new song on this album. The song starts off slow and by the 1:22 part the music becomes more upbeat song. It's a perfect song to end the standard edition of the album. 9/10
Since this is the deluxe edition of the album, there are ten more tracks. These tracks were chosen by the groups fans.
19) Graffiti My Soul: This song was on "What Will the Neighbors Say". This song was originally given to Britney Spears' fourth album, "In the Zone" but wasn't included although she did record a version of the song that has still not seen the light of day. The song is one of my favorite songs that the band has ever done. It was supposed to be the fifth and final single from "What Will the Neighbors Say" but it was cancelled so the group could record their album "Chemistry". That annoys me so much. The version on this album is said to be a remix but I don't really hear a difference between this and the original. 10/10
20) Wake Me Up: The fourth and final single from "What Will the Neighbors Say". The song was supposed to be the first single from that album but the label that it was too hard and waited to release it later. It's a little rockier than the previous singles from "What Will the Neighbors Say" but it's really good and had an awesome video. Glad it was put on this album. 10/10
21) Wild Horses: A song from their album "Chemistry". I don't really listen to this song that much and would've preferred "Racy Lacey" from the same album, to be on here instead of this song. 7/10
22) Swinging London Town: This song was also on the "Chemistry" album. Despite it being one of Nicola's favorite songs, I don't like it that much. I wish that the group's cover of "Wicked Games" that never got released was on here instead of this song. 6/10
23) Whole Lotta History: The fourth and final single from "Chemistry". This was my favorite song and single from "Chemistry". It's a beautiful ballad about reminiscing about an old relationship. The lyrics and the groups vocals are perfect and video was terrific. 10/10
24) Crazy Fool: A b-side from the single "Whole Lotta History". I don't really listen to this song that much at all. I wish that "Nobody but You", the b-side from "Biology" was on here instead of this song. 6/10
25) Girl Overboard: A song from "Tangled Up". Rumors are that this song was almost the first single from the album until "Sexy! No No No..." was released instead. Thank goodness for that because I don't really like this song that much. I would've replaced it was "What You Crying" from the same album. 6/10
26) Black Jacks: Another song from "Tangled Up". Despite it being a good track vocally, I still find it a little boring. I wish that "Revolution In The Head" from "Out of Control" was on here instead. 7/10
27) Hoxton Heroes: The b-side from the single "Can't Speak French". I find this song to be way better than "Can't Speak French" though. It talks about how some bands are all the same despite them claiming they're the next best thing. I love this song and wish it was released as a single. 10/10
28) Memory of You: The b-side from the single "The Loving Kind". It is a trance-like track originally called "Japan" was originally done by the trance project "Candace" with vocals by "Louise Griffiths". New verses were written for the song, which would explain it's name change. It should've been a single since it's really good and was also covered by Nicola herself as a b-side for her single "Yo-Yo". 10/10
That's probably the most tracks I've ever reviewed for an album. But I don't mind since Girls Aloud were a great band. My favorite songs on this album are : "Sound of the Underground", "The Loving Kind", "Graffiti My Soul", "Whole Lotta History", "On the Metro", "Sexy! No No No...", "something Kinda Ooooh", "Something New", "Wake Me Up", "Untouchable" "The Promise", "Hoxton Heroes", "Memory of You", "Jump", "No Good Advice", "I'll Stand by You", "Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me", and "Every Now and Then." Out of 280 points I give the album 248 which is 88%, a B+. Awesome! It's a shame they broke up but they're all doing well. Sarah's working on her debut solo album, Nadine just had a baby, Kimberley is now pregnant, Nicola's working on her second album and writing songs for Cheryl's fourth album, and Cheryl's working on "X Factor" as well as working on her fourth album.
No comments:
Post a Comment