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[Andrew.]

I’ve never got this at all I never bought Wordshaker so I’ve been rediscovering it since it was put on Spotify and it’s a pretty decent album, probably their second best behind OYR and not even far behind that pop classic! *.*

They’d come off a successful debut era with three big hits and two moderate ones and a decent selling single in FIO but the album never got anywhere and even when Ego smashed it just about scraped a third week top 40. Forever Is Over remains an underrated gem (💗) but it absolutely wasn’t something that would sell an album for a fairly new act beyond the first few weeks. But even so, when you look at the success of Chasing Lights it would've done much better?

Discuss ;o

[JulianNial]

I'm sure by now had it not been replaced with Headlines and they didn't rush into releasing Headlines, it would have atleast been Gold by now. Forever Is Over being the lead could have been a bit of a blip, although I'm fine with that because I like the song for them. Probably they should have released the album after either Ego or One Shot as second single after Christmas and it would have lasted much longer in the charts and it would have benefited greatly from iTunes gift cards. I wouldn't have expected a 4th single, but then obviously we get into this mess of what if they didn't release Headlines or what if it was released as a full 3rd album but later.

[Hallucinate]

I would say it was a combo of Forever Is Over being the lead single and the fact it had a ridiculous title. If they had lead with Ego - I think the story would have been very different.

Ultimately it was the right thing to move on to Headlines as we got Higher from it, but I do think they gave up on Wordshaker too quickly.

[missingyou]

OK so my two cents..

* The FIO styling was very slutty and they completely regressed by the time Headlines came out and never went back to it (thank god!) but they went very little mix slutty for a few months

* FIO is like many have said, a poor choice of lead for the album. I would have led with Ego, then followed with One Shot and then Here Standing.

* The font and colour of the logo was too pale, it should have been the purple like the FIO cover so it would have stood out more

* Ego should have been released across Europe. Cheryl was having huge success with FFTL in 2010 across the continent and Ego could have some similar.

* Headlines! could then have been a repackaged Wordshaker in the Fall or Summer of 2010.

[Jessie Where]

A combination of its lead single and being swallowed up in a busy time.

[JulianNial]

I do prefer the idea of a repackaged Wordshaker with just the 5 added tracks. One Shot released to bridge the gap between Ego and Missing You. Would have stood a chance to be Platinum.

[SGrey]

There is nothing wrong with FIO imo. It went to number two, is silver (I think?) and was a good change up. Curse Chipmunk for getting to number one over it the problem really was the album build up and not releasing Ego sooner followed by the album. FIO then Ego then the album would have been more effective.

[Jessie Where]

There is nothing wrong with FIO imo. It went to number two, is silver (I think?) and was a good change up. Curse Chipmunk for getting to number one over it the problem really was the album build up and not releasing Ego sooner followed by the album. FIO then Ego then the album would have been more effective.

I remember FIO scraped #2 and dropped down like a brick, I like the song but I wouldn't say it was generally well received or a great launchpad for an album.

Of course after the album's release, it dropped off very quickly and was very difficult to revive it by that point.

[Nina West]

In my opinion the album felt very rushed and yes I do agree that 'Forever Is Over' wasn't the best choice for the lead single, despite it's high peak of #2 but then plummeted down pretty fast, and plus the sound and image on that was way to Americanized and soulless. 'Ego' would have been the far better choice and if it was the lead then it would have definitely charted better than it's #9 peak.

They could have easily squeezed out a few more singles, if the project wasn't so poorly handled and having the wrong lead single probably didn't help. My choices would have been 'Ego' for the first single, then 'One Shot' to follow in the new year, then 'Here Standing' for a March/April 2010 release. If 'Ego' was the lead single, then I think the album could have definitely had a better chance on the charts and had a longer shelf life, and still go ahead with the 'Headlines' repackage release later in the year.

"EGO" [Oct '09]
"ONE SHOT" [Jan '10]
"HERE STANDING" [March/April '10]

[SGrey]

I remember FIO scraped #2 and dropped down like a brick, I like the song but I wouldn't say it was generally well received or a great launchpad for an album.

Of course after the album's release, it dropped off very quickly and was very difficult to revive it by that point.

It did plummet indeed but I don’t think it ruined Ego’s success so FIO was quite harmless really it was the badly timed album release that needed to be changed!

[JSG]

I remember FIO scraped #2 and dropped down like a brick, I like the song but I wouldn't say it was generally well received or a great launchpad for an album.

Of course after the album's release, it dropped off very quickly and was very difficult to revive it by that point.

I'm pretty sure FIO was like rhw lowest selling #2 single in many many years too? I could be mistaken bur that's in itself didn't bode well at all.

[ThePensmith]

I think - and this is just my take on it - Fascination/Polydor were panicking a little bit. Let's not forget 2009 was the first year without a new Girls Aloud album on their release schedule that autumn, as they were taking a break. They had the first Cheryl album, true, but nobody had a clue how that was gonna perform, at least not until 'Fight For This Love' came along. I know I was certainly averse to the idea of no new GA album at the time.

This then, I expect, is what put pressure on 'Wordshaker' to do well, so that The Saturdays were kind of stepping up to the platform that Girls Aloud were leaving vacant for a bit, and for Girls Can't Catch or Mini Viva (RIP) to assume the setup they had taken a year previously as the 'new girls'. Obviously it didn't work out that way.

I still love the album though, and 'Forever Is Over', it's got some of my favourite songs of theirs on it like 'Denial' and 'Lose Control'. Maybe it shouldn't have been launched after just the one single, but if they'd left it later to release the album that probably wouldn't have done them any favours either. Still, it's relative underperformance meant they were able to turn things around and tour again with the 'Headlines' campaign, so it was a blessing in disguise.

[Jordanlee]

More singles should’ve been released from the album to keep the longevity.

Headlines was such a bizarre move they should’ve pushed some of the Wordshaker tracks.

Their debut album didn’t debut high but it ended up selling well because it had longevity what the follow up never did.

Tbh though albums weren’t really their strong point.

[-0-0]

More singles should’ve been released from the album to keep the longevity.

Headlines was such a bizarre move they should’ve pushed some of the Wordshaker tracks.

Their debut album didn’t debut high but it ended up selling well because it had longevity what the follow up never did.

Tbh though albums weren’t really their strong point.

'Headlines' was an incredibly smart move!