Do Girls Aloud actually NEED to release a new album?

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
it just occurred to me, that perhaps they (and i'm only really using them as an example on the basis that their two singles this year have been generally well received and treated as reasonably siginificant events in the UK poplovers sphere) don't. you can link it to a broader argument (that's already been started on here) about whether the album format still carries the same currency it once did perhaps, but in the case of an act like Girls Aloud, why? follow this rule? why not just keep releasing good singles with bonus tracks, remixes and videos every time but keeping up the appearances in all other areas. how much did their first album sell in relation to the singles? and how much was that offset by the costs of recording, realising and marketing it? (again i know you can apply this argument to many other artists).

any thoughts?

Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:19 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, no.

B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:22 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah, its not kept me up late at night.

doomie x, Monday, 1 November 2004 16:24 (nineteen years ago) link

When Popjustice finish spunking over GA and everything they do, no one else really feels encouraged enough to have a turn.

B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:27 (nineteen years ago) link

i'm just interested in the idea that if Girls Aloud (in this case) DIDN'T release a new album, how that would affect them/their status/reputation (credibitlity?)? if at all?

granted fans might be disappointed by there being less material, but perhaps that would ensure a higher quality>quantity ratio?

Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:30 (nineteen years ago) link

I'd prefer them to keep it at the EPs level. A whole album is too much at once and I'll not give each track a fair listen. Still, I'm looking forward to it. I suppose they're still doing the albums because umm, that's simply the done thing.

I'd like to know the answer to the qu about sales & offset costs.

Downloaded Deadlines / Wake Me Up / Big Brother yesterday, anyone got the rest?

Affectian (Affectian), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:30 (nineteen years ago) link

yeh i've been an advocate of the 'EPs' thing for a while now basically, wrt to a lot of acts. i know it's the done thing but might that be challenged and changed in a few years, realistically?

Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:32 (nineteen years ago) link

I hope so.

Affectian (Affectian), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:34 (nineteen years ago) link

how much did their first album sell in relation to the singles?

I've no idea, but I'd guess tons and tons more? I know that singles are supposed to have recovered their sales somewhat, but surely not enough to build a career on? I dunno, in my world singles are still only for the very hardcore fans (who obv. will buy the albums, too, so no need to do away with 'em) and the very very casual fans (and even there the medium must be taking its last few breaths, I mean, you'd have to be pretty obsessed with a song to insist on having it on CD-single instead of just downloading and yet not care enough about the band to buy the album.)

Creatively I agree it makes a lot of sense for a lot of acts, but that's why you download the singles and buy the greatest hits comp when it comes out, innit? *hugs his copy of the S Club 7 best of*

I'd imagine most Girls Aloud fans find plenty to love on their album tho, same for the fans of any act that music geeks might see as a "singles group".

tons of xposts

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:42 (nineteen years ago) link

most singles these days pretty much are EPs, aren't they? At any rate I'd think most music buyers will still go the "value for money" route, the more songs something has, the more it'll be worth buying.

Girls Aloud are a bit of atypical tho, since they've got the whole reality show thing, so I'm sure tons of ppl bought their first few singles as much for the Event of the whole thing as for the actual music...it'd be hard for acts w/o that type of multi-media appeal to muster up the same kind of hype.

Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:46 (nineteen years ago) link

A 6-track EP for each half of the year would be awsome. I would love for GA to become a special edition EP band all of a sudden. GA's first record sold relatively underwhelmingly compared to the reception for the first 2 singles - the reissue wasn't purely based on the existence of the soundtrack songs.

B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:48 (nineteen years ago) link

i think this question also stemmed from GA's new album feeling 'delayed' - i would've expected it to be released by now.

Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:52 (nineteen years ago) link

No, the singles market is really having a rough time of it these past few weeks. You have Eric Prydz being the lowest selling number one ever for two weeks in a row, and then this week Ja Rule (once again: HOW?) gets the lowest-selling first week number one ever, around 23,000. There's a flood of new, big stuff out this week, but singles sales are falling off. Anyone who releases a 6-track EP is going to have to make it something really, really noteworthy for it to 'work' in terms of sales. Perhaps if it ran at something like £4 or thereabouts. They wouldn't take the risk with someone like Girls Aloud, though.

William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 1 November 2004 16:54 (nineteen years ago) link

but 'The Sound Of The Underground' and 'Evergreen' had massive first-week sales didn't they? what was the last #1 single to sell 100,000 in it's first week (inc. pre-release orders or whatever)? some artists are more popular than others and i'm confident singles sales will continue to demonstrate that (not to deny the overall sales slump tho)

Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:02 (nineteen years ago) link

This is true. Maybe someone like Radiohead or another band whose albums are an event (rather than their singles) could get away, and get away well, with mini-albums, but their is a reason that the six-track tends to be the exclusive of low-level indie and electronica acts (ie: these people aren't going to be getting big sales anyway). Sales aren't just important for GA though: there's chart position to worry about as well. Remember that they are managed by Louis Walsh, not some kind of benevolent pop-icon.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:03 (nineteen years ago) link

(x-post obviously)

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Evergreen was the first 'democratically elected' reality pop single. Its sales were always gonna be huge. Sound Of The Underground had the CHART BATTULL with Sacred Trust plus it was at Christmas. your last 100,000 seller would have been Eamon, almost certainly. I don't think Prydz has even got close to that yet, only breaching the year's top 10 last week (or so I heard from people that are bothered by this sort of thing). There's big names releasing, but I just glanced cursory-style at the release schedule, and it's hard to see much to get worked up about till Christmas, arguably even next year ('Hounds Of Love', February 28th).

William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:09 (nineteen years ago) link

Good question, stevem. Sure Girls Aloud probably don't need to be an albums act from an artistic POV (I'll let others argue whether they need to from a commercial POV). But right now I think I need them to. I'll confess I'm very keen to hear the new one. Call me an old rockist, but I really feel I want a canon-worthy pop LP to come out some time soon*, and the chances of WWTNS being that bona fide classic seem to be at least better than 50% at the moment.

*I think we're overdue (and no, that piece-of-shit Annie record ain't it).

Jeff W (zebedee), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:35 (nineteen years ago) link

ok you die now

Freelance Hiveminder (blueski), Monday, 1 November 2004 17:56 (nineteen years ago) link

'Hounds Of Love', February 28th

What's this, a new(?) Kate Bush album or just the Futureheads cover.

Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Monday, 1 November 2004 18:21 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah wtf?

piscesboy, Monday, 1 November 2004 19:06 (nineteen years ago) link

It's the Futureheads. Apparently 'Heartbeat' (Annie) is out the week before.

William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 1 November 2004 19:11 (nineteen years ago) link

The new Girls Aloud album is superb. End of "argument."

Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 2 November 2004 08:43 (nineteen years ago) link

I've heard slightly more than half of it and Marcello is quite correct. That said, their version of "Here We Go" is not quite the planet-destroying spectacle it seemed on paper, but since that song is un-fuckup-able, it's still great.

Also, Nadine's ballad at the end is fab.

edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 09:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Oh, despite my ommission on the top 5 albums thread just now, I am holding out some hope for WWTNS?, partly because I want to see how well Xenomania will hold up over an entire album. As far as canon-worthy pop goes in 2004, we've already had JC and Annie, and Shaznay should have been up there. An argument for Tasty could also be made, but not by me.

B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 10:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Tasty was 2003 (right? I know I first heard Trick Me in November) and Shaznay is up there! Really!

edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 10:55 (nineteen years ago) link

I refer to Tasty and In The Zone as "the 2003 latecomers that ruled 2004". I only heard half the Shaznay, so if I am going to be happy with the whole thing, that's another to anticipate.

B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 10:58 (nineteen years ago) link

Tasty and In The Zone are this year's Justified and Stripped.

I keep forgetting that I want the Shaznay, my Annie album still hasn't arrived, and there's Girls Aloud, Destiny's Child and Eminem to come in the next few weeks. As well as picking up Teedra Moses, Christina Milian, Stina Nordenstam, Tom Waits, Nancy Sinatra and oh god hundreds more from the past year...

The Twista album is ace, too.

The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 11:01 (nineteen years ago) link

oh and re: GA and albums - I suspect they need to from a commercial pov, and I need them to from an artistic pov.

The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 11:02 (nineteen years ago) link

Tasty and In The Zone are this year's Justified and Stripped.

He gets it. Although, technically, Schizophrenic and In The Zone are this year's Justified and Stripped (with better songs and live performances).

Other GA downloaders should now start weighing in.

B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 11:16 (nineteen years ago) link

No they don't, it's bad enough that I'm being tantalised with lines like "He started as a squeeze but pretty soon he was a tourniquet"!

Tasty is better than Schizophrenic! Although yes, JC is this year's Justin. (Although an argument could be made for Usher.)

The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 11:21 (nineteen years ago) link

Schizophrenic > Tasty. Although Kelis is rowr-er.

edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 11:23 (nineteen years ago) link

Do we have any general details about the album yet? Other than that it's provoked an about-face from Marcello (which is nice to see, i prefer it when he uses his powers for good not evil)?

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 13:16 (nineteen years ago) link

Yes, Tim, I hated their first album so much I gave it four stars in U***t...

Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 2 November 2004 13:21 (nineteen years ago) link

I must admit I'm somewhat concerned that Brian Higgins is running out of ideas because there are no less than four covers on the album - "Jump" is on it, as is "I'll Stand By You" and two tracks from Miranda Cooper's abortive solo career, aside from the excellent "Here We Go" (though I still think Lene Nystrom's version is definitive), that's also the source of "Deadlines And Diets". Then again, "The Show" and "Wake Me Up" are about three different songs in one, so that's forgivable.

edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 13:24 (nineteen years ago) link

Marcello, I meant on Xenomania/Girls Aloud/pop in 04. I *do* pay attention to your pronouncements, you know. (x-post)

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 13:29 (nineteen years ago) link

Tim, Popjustice are running a whole track-by-track spiel on it. It looks to be even better than SOTU...

The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 13:32 (nineteen years ago) link

what are the chances that if I go to Notting Hill MVE they'll have the promo in stock? I don't normally waste my money on them but I might make an exception in this case

zebedee (zebedee), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 13:53 (nineteen years ago) link

currently not very high - polydor have been v choosy about who should receive promos, which of course doesn't mean that some won't turn up in the racks. mine's staying on my shelves, however.

Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 2 November 2004 13:56 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm using 'Love Machine' and (theoretically) Lene Nystrom as barometers for the rest of the record rather than 'The Show', which I just can't enthuse about (but should post on the "electro-house classics thread").

B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Tuesday, 2 November 2004 14:02 (nineteen years ago) link

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/11/04/bmgirls04.xml&sSheet=/arts/2004/11/04/ixtop.html

"We Changed Everything" or "Dueling Egos: Dizzee Rascal vs Girls Aloud"?

B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Friday, 5 November 2004 13:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Re-listening to the original Moonbaby version of "Here We Go" makes it sound like the GA version is the exact same production. I really do still prefer the strained plastic faux-rock of Lene's.

"Graffiti My Soul" may just be the third best song they've ever done. (If they ever top the amazing 1-2 punch of "No Good Advice"/"Some Kind of Miracle" I will be thrilled). It really is crazy bonkers nuts in the best way.

"Hear Me Out" is quite a wobbly, endearing ballad as far as such things go.

edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 07:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Actually, now I think about it, the track that "Graffiti My Soul" most sounds like is not "Breathe" by the Prodigy, it's actually "Stick 'em Up" by Quarashi, but that's likely to be seen as a positive by fewer people. It's loads better.

edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 07:43 (nineteen years ago) link

Was Lene Nystrom's album released this year? I don't know because I don't think it was released at all in the UK but god damn is it brilliant. Perhaps canon-worthy?

Nick H (Nick H), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 21:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't think it was, Nick. I'm asking someone who is going to Japan to see if they can find me the Japanese version with "Paper Bag" on it because THAT is a pop artifact if ever there were.

edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 00:03 (nineteen years ago) link

yes, they do.

adam west (adamwest), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 02:41 (nineteen years ago) link

I adored the Lene album when I first got it but the more I go back to it, the more I think Girls Aloud should just re-record it. It's like a collection of demos for them.

The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 11:51 (nineteen years ago) link

I went looking for the Lene LP last weekend. No joy. HMV Oxford Street had a divider for her next to Aqua, but no copies in stock.

I did get the JC record though, which is indeed excellent.

Jeff W (zebedee), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 12:25 (nineteen years ago) link

is the full thwack of the whole of what will
the neighbours say on soulseek yet?

piscesboy, Wednesday, 10 November 2004 12:35 (nineteen years ago) link

No, as far as I know it's not on soulseek at all. Some tracks have filtered out to the masses in other ways, though.

edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 12:36 (nineteen years ago) link

Girls Aloud need to split up and let the fit Irish one (Nadine ?) with the good voice have the solo career.

Really, she makes the others look bad.

latetotheparty (latetotheparty), Thursday, 11 November 2004 15:06 (nineteen years ago) link

It was my understanding that Lene's album wasn't put on general release in the UK so I had to download it and burn it off because I'm buggered if I'm paying import prices.

It is ace but Lene's pice de resistance is co-writing "No Good advice".

Nick H (Nick H), Thursday, 11 November 2004 21:55 (nineteen years ago) link

Nothing substantial, just like the cover.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/tubesocks/123.jpg

Reminds me of
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/tubesocks/charliesangels10.jpg & http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/tubesocks/voltron.gif

Alone we are nothing, together we are an unstoppable force for good!

Gregory T (tubesocks), Thursday, 18 November 2004 19:29 (nineteen years ago) link

i just got this and Gwen Stefani in Woolworths buy one get one half-price.

'Wake Me Up' is the best non-single i've heard so far (halfway through 1st listen).

Hari Ashurst (Toaster), Monday, 29 November 2004 11:59 (nineteen years ago) link

Haha, I just put this on, myself - I'm quite excited actually.

Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Monday, 29 November 2004 12:05 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah me too


ok 'deadlines & diets' is actually quite good. I expected to have to skip the slow ones.

Hari Ashurst (Toaster), Monday, 29 November 2004 12:15 (nineteen years ago) link

Amazingly, my favourite song so far - 'I Say A Prayer For You'. So they can do ballads, then. Blimey.

William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 29 November 2004 13:21 (nineteen years ago) link

This might just be me but the before the vocals kick in on 'I Say A Prayer For You' it reminds me a lot of The Handsome Family. In a good way.

Hari Ashurst (Toaster), Monday, 29 November 2004 13:24 (nineteen years ago) link

omg I've been hearing the lyrics of "Love Machine" wrong all this time! I thought it was "your car's late, a big mistake, you gotta hang around in the limo for as long as I take" but it's actually "your CALL's late, a big mistake, you gotta hang around in LIMBO for as long as I take" which is just as good.

The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 29 November 2004 13:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Something about this isn't quite clicking right now. They may well live to regret top-loading the album with singles. Equally, I may well live to regret listening to it on shuffle, because the iPod is determined to topload it with the ballads, which just doesn't put you in the mood for anything. I may also not be listening to it at sufficient volume, and my stereo *koff* may be breaking down in any case.

Plus, 'Real Life'... isn't really very good, is it?

William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 29 November 2004 18:23 (nineteen years ago) link

I know what you mean but really it's a side-effect of 1) having heard so much of the album already - they've released 4 singles from it already! plus "Here We Go" - and the fact that there are so many ballads, all of which are great but not massively immediate ("Deadlines & Diets" aside). So it hasn't really gelled yet. But it will, because I can't get enough of the bangers which I hadn't before including "Real Life" but especially "Graffiti My Soul" and "Wake Me Up".

The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 29 November 2004 18:28 (nineteen years ago) link

On the other hand - Graffiti My Soul. I was gonna make some dead-clever point about how this was the first release date I'd been anticipating in goodness knows how long and hwo the internet and having to write about the record may have altered my perceptions and expectations but - SPIKE HEELS AN' SKINTIGHT JEANS GOTTA FIST FULL OF LOVE IT'S COMING YOUR WAY BABY!!!

William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 29 November 2004 18:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Best description I've read of Graffiti My Soul: the second coming, with NINJAS.

edward o (edwardo), Monday, 29 November 2004 23:13 (nineteen years ago) link

one month passes...
There isn't a bad moment on this.

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Saturday, 8 January 2005 22:03 (nineteen years ago) link

It might actually be better than 'We Didn't Say That!'

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Saturday, 8 January 2005 22:03 (nineteen years ago) link

To my mind both albums do actually sound like greatest hits packages, in that almost every song on both of them would or have made great singles. They've managed to get my end of year vote two years running (although 2003 they have drawn with "Kish Kash", not sure).

Nick H (Nick H), Saturday, 8 January 2005 22:51 (nineteen years ago) link

I haven't raved about this album here yet, wtf!

It is pretty much perfect. The sequencing is odd - "I'll Stand By You" between "Love Machine" and "Jump", wtf, also the two ballads to close it make for a very muted ending which on first listen is a bit of a let-down. However. They're REALLY GOOD - especially Nicola's solo one, she sounds so sweet and vulnerable! Taking the whole 'girl singing into her hairbrush to herself' trope to its logical conclusion, ie it actually sound like it was recorded in her bedroom. "Big Brother" is so big and maximalist, I'd say that a remix from someone like Armand Van Helden would make it the best thing ever were it not for the fact that they have totally pre-empted that - no remix could make it better.

Cis and I were talking about how Sound Of The Underground epitomised a certain type of small-town mindset: the teenage girl gang hanging around on street corners, bored out of their skulls with provincial life and provincial boys, longing to escape. And What Will The Neighbours Say? is the sound of those girls five years on, career girls in the big bad city and loving it, supremely confident and sassy but not yet world-weary. "Thank Me Daddy" may thus well be the key song on the album.

(nb Cis was the one who thought of this theory)

The Lex (The Lex), Saturday, 8 January 2005 23:34 (nineteen years ago) link

btw who is going to see them on TOUR? I am going on May 29, and it will be so so exciting.

The Lex (The Lex), Saturday, 8 January 2005 23:35 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm growing to love the sequencing. It's like a carpet bombing with the four singles upfront, and then the group troups move in to shore everything up.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 8 January 2005 23:40 (nineteen years ago) link

'cept "I'll Stand By You" is not a BOMB, it is a BALLAD.

The Lex (The Lex), Saturday, 8 January 2005 23:45 (nineteen years ago) link

Can we all now admit "Love Machine" is better than "The Show"? Like I said at the time, riot grrrl Stray Cats.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 9 January 2005 00:00 (nineteen years ago) link

I've always thought "Love Machine" was better! Though either would've been my single of '04 anyway.

The Lex (The Lex), Sunday, 9 January 2005 00:04 (nineteen years ago) link

"Wake Me Up" is being rerecorded with less alcohol references apparently so it's more suitable for The Kids.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 9 January 2005 00:05 (nineteen years ago) link

Also can we talk about how "Deadlines And Diets" SO should've been the theme tune to Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason instead of Jamie Cunting Cuntum doing Evercunting Cunt.

(xpost NO, does that mean "Graffiti My Soul" is being re-recorded with less fisting references? and surely it is too late as the kids have had 1 1/2 months to be corrupted so far?)

The Lex (The Lex), Sunday, 9 January 2005 00:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Also, I wanna reiterated the point I made on my blog (and backed up by Ed O), that "Real Life" is a blatant rip-off of the great overlooked Europop song of 2004, "Voce Mi Aparecu" by Kaleidoscopio.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 9 January 2005 00:13 (nineteen years ago) link

Can I add another vote to "Love Machine" over "The Show", although both obviously kick arse. They seem to wheel out the monster single for the second release from both albums ("No Good Advice" over "Sound Of The Underground").

Nick H (Nick H), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:13 (nineteen years ago) link

The Show's video was better though!

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:15 (nineteen years ago) link

yes, by the slightest of margins... Cheryl's mouth shaping that perfect O in "Love Machine" counts for a lot.

The Lex (The Lex), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:16 (nineteen years ago) link

Can we rate GA videos?

1. Life Got Cold
2. The Show?
3. Love Machine?

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:23 (nineteen years ago) link

1. The Show
2. Love Machine
3. No Good Advice (it's all in the surf guitar bit: first time round the girls hold these perfect blank still life poses, second time they nod their heads and give themselves over to the music, still in this absorbingly blank way)
4. Life Got Cold
5. Sound Of The Underground
...
...
476389282. Jump

(I have not seen I'll Stand By You!)

The Lex (The Lex), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:29 (nineteen years ago) link

WHY IS NO-ONE GOING MENTAL ABOUT HERE WE GO IT COMES OUT OF NOWHERE AND IS WOW, it totally lifts the second half of this album from "really good" to "this is the second half of the best album I've heard this (er, last) year".

B...b..but the TRENCHCOAT!

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:34 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't remember the trenchcoat! However your No 1 placing has inspired me so much that I will see if I can retrieve my Life Got Cold single later on and watch it.

Greg have you heard the Lene version of "Here We Go"? It was on her album in the 03, it's big and brassy.

"Real Life" is going to make a lot more sense when hot weather rolls around y'all.

The Lex (The Lex), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Also, am I the only one who thinks the haircuts they give in The Show are actually really good?

(I haven't seen it either, I don't think! I mean, I have a pretty strong memory of it coming up on The Hits but like when I think back it's pretty undeniable that there are only three of them in the video and they're all bloinde and singing an Atomic Kitten track).

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:38 (nineteen years ago) link

The trenchcoat is amazing! I once wrote a girl a letter that was actually an annotated issue of 'I

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:40 (nineteen years ago) link

grr! That should read:

The trenchcoat is amazing! I once wrote a girl a letter that was actually an annotated issue of 'I <3 Pop' magazine, the bit about Life Got Cold like overspilled the page.

I haven't heard the Lene! Is it even better?

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Aw! I want boys to write me letters like that.

You must hear the Lene album, it is like a collection of Girls Aloud demos! I still haven't decided who does "Here We Go" better though: I think the Girls win on the verses, but Lene bellows the chorus better.

Another classic moment in the Love Machine video - the bit where, as they're teetering into the club, Cheryl gets distracted by a band member and the other Girls have to drag her away.

The Lex (The Lex), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:47 (nineteen years ago) link

I really miss I <3 Pop actually, I think I secretly edited and wrote it in my sleep, they covered exclusively Avril, GA, Gareth, SC8 and Busted, never Blue or Westlife or Holly Valance or anyone boring like that. I have an ILP wallet that says L8R SK8R on it and I would so carry it everywhere if 2005 wasn't "get straight" year.

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:54 (nineteen years ago) link

Lex, what do you think of Ciara's silly top on the Goodies vid?

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:55 (nineteen years ago) link

If you don't want that wallet I'll have it kthx.

Right, the reason this thread makes me slightly sad (as well as very happy) is that I DON'T HAVE MUSIC VIDEO TELEVISION ANY MORE. I have been bereft of it since October. This is a total nostalgia trip for the days when I'd spend like half a day flicking between TMF, The Hits and MTV Base non-stop. So... I haven't seen the Ciara vid :(

The top she's wearing on her album cover is awesome, though.

The Lex (The Lex), Sunday, 9 January 2005 23:59 (nineteen years ago) link

I have music TV. Unfortunately, it's Polish, so all I can watch all day is Green Day, HIM, and Polish rap.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 10 January 2005 00:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Guys, I'm going with "meh" on this one. And I may never dance to 'Love Machine' again.

Barms, Monday, 10 January 2005 00:04 (nineteen years ago) link

two months pass...
1. I'll Stand By You
2. Hear Me Out
3. Here We Go
4. The Show

Jesus, even I don't like my taste in music anymore!

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 06:18 (nineteen years ago) link

all those songs are great, Greg!

every single Girls Aloud ballad ever has a way of insinuating itself into your soul without you noticing (while you're being stunned by the full-on assault of the other songs).

The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 09:38 (nineteen years ago) link

Not "I'll Stand By You."

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 09:44 (nineteen years ago) link

including 'I'll Stand By You'! I am really moved by their version of it. my best friend and I held hands when they sung it at G-A-Y the other week, it was a beautiful moment.

The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 09:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Ah it's become an anthem now has it?

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 09:59 (nineteen years ago) link

yes! there may even have been lighters, aloft.

The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 10:02 (nineteen years ago) link

somewhere between go-go's and blondie is girls aloud.
they are so sexy,their videos are nice and they have charisma.they put videos and games on their cdroms.

coyleboy, Wednesday, 23 March 2005 10:24 (nineteen years ago) link

"I'll Stand By You" works really well in the context of the album, although that's probably by coincidence rather than design.

I was playing "Smackdown vs Raw" on the PS2 whilst listening to the album, and Ric Flair's pre-figure four strut was timed in synch to "Jump", so that gets points as well.

Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 11:09 (nineteen years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.