Posted February 17, 200718 yr http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1257347.jpg Girls Aloud Biography by Andy Kellman Despite their fabricated formation through a television program called Popstars: The Rivals, Girls Aloud achieved both mainstream success and widespread critical acclaim in their native England. Through Popstars' process of elimination, Girls Aloud's membership amounted to Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, Cheryl Tweedy, and Kimberley Walsh. The group took shape in November 2002, and soon began a streak of Top Ten singles that broke a record for girl groups and remained unbroken through the end of 2006, when the compilation The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits was issued. Their first three proper albums — 2003's Sound of the Underground, 2004's What Will the Neighbors Say?, and 2005's Chemistry — were similarly successful, though the latter stalled at number 11 on the album chart.
February 17, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf900/f952/f95295tjqej.jpg Sound of the Underground (Jan 28, 2003) 3 Stars Review by Johnny Loftus Girls Aloud is the leggy quintet that beat out rival boy band One True Voice for the grand prize during the November 2002 finale of Popstars: The Rivals. A scion of existing U.K. reality shows like Popstars and Pop Idol (which itself spawned American Idol), Rivals followed a similar formula, with one essential twist. After spending weeks building its bands with the normal round of tryouts, kick outs, voting, and drama, drama, drama, the program pitted its final products against one another in an ultimate pop-reality showdown. As usual, it didn't really matter which group won — the finalists were to embark on the normal cash-in package tour as soon as possible. But something funny happened on the way to ringtone fame. Girls Aloud's debut single "Sound of the Underground" debuted at number one, One True Voice imploded, the collaborative tour was canceled, and the Girls suddenly emerged as something more than wide-eyed reality TV winners. The quintet embraced their newfound celebrity and set the lofty goal of being better than the Spice Girls. To that end, there's Sound of the Underground, a cleverly arranged tray of sweetmeats manufactured to firmly establish the Girls Aloud sound. Unlike Sporty, Baby, Scary, Ginger, and Posh, separate personas aren't part of the Girls Aloud marketing arc. Underground's cover features them in matching Fem-Bot silver — there's no individuality beyond varying hair color. No, it's the sound that sells this combo. The hit title track is a mechanistic sashay of twangy surf guitar and sultry gang vocals — Girls Aloud explodes like a five-headed Kylie Minogue. Follow-up single "No Good Advice" is just as good, if not better. That scraggly spy movie guitar returns, but it's fastened to a bopping "Material Girl"-style groove. Underground does a great job of carrying its sound and production through to the end, dropping sizzling guitar parts and kinetic dancefloor jams as deep in the dirt as "Boogie Down Love," its second-to-last track. "All I Need (All I Don't)" should be another club favorite, moving easily between new wave and lighthearted disco. Even "Life Got Cold" — Underground's "2 Become 1" — is a solid ballad, suggesting a less intellectual Dido (sample lyric: "We text as we eat/As we wait for the right of way"). But even in its quieter moments, Sound of the Underground is careful not to let any of the Girls take over. Their voices are average, and negligibly different. Unlike the Spice Girls, Girls Aloud has no self-styled MC or even a knickers-flashing loudmouth. Not yet, anyway. Despite their surprising debut, Girls Aloud and its brain trust will have to work twice as hard to retain the glamorous ground gained.
February 17, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg700/g729/g72954z86nt.jpg What Will the Neighbours Say? (Nov 30, 2004) 3.5 Stars No Review :( ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dri200/i283/i28323i85zp.jpg Chemistry (Jan 10, 2006) 3.5 Stars No Review :(
February 17, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dri000/i099/i09960wfiaq.jpg The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits (Oct 30, 2006) 4.5 Stars Review by Andy Kellman Girls Aloud placed each of the 12 singles from their first three albums — 2003's Sound of the Underground, 2004's What Will the Neighbors Say?, and 2005's Chemistry — within the Top Ten of the U.K. singles chart. Each one of the singles can be found on The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits, a straightforward compilation that adds three new songs — "Something Kinda Ooooh," a cover of Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now," and "Money," which will likely keep the group's remarkable streak of dominance afloat. Unsurprisingly, this all makes for an ideal introduction to Girls Aloud, a group that has never had any form of Stateside push.
February 18, 200718 yr what will the neighbours and chemistry deserve 4 stars/ 4.5 stars! thanks for posting :D
