I really like how mostly comprehensive this is, particularly that it brings together both versions of the album as well as its b-sides (Grease aside but also I don't really like that song in any form so if anything had to go... x). The lack of proper new stuff is a shame but I'll still definitely be buying the 3CD album :wub:

 

Sacred Trust was included on The Sound of Girls Aloud's bonus disc!

Just listened to it, Nadine's vocal is nice but it's such an unremarkable song isn't it? Weird hearing Girls Aloud sing on something so bland.

 

Are the B-sides from this era Xenomania productions or someone else? Just wondering if these were songs that were meant to be on the album but were swapped for more Xenomania tracks.

 

'Life Got Cold' having so many minor edits seems so strange to me, just why? :lol:

 

Agreed that it would have been nice to have alternative mixes for the other singles, I can't imagine it would have been that difficult to do considering we are told all the girls recorded their songs solo so that producers could chop them up and arrange them.

It's really strange re: Life Got Cold! The tags used for the two versions on the singles confused me for so long. :')

 

None of the Sound of the Underground B Sides are Xenomania (and were all snubbed on the the "The Collection"!)

^ They could even release 5 bonus discs - each of the girls sings the entire album on her own. :funky:

^ They could even release 5 bonus discs - each of the girls sings the entire album on her own. :funky:

Honestly I'd be here for that :lol:

 

The Girls Aloud store is now live! :w00t: It's the picture disc, green vinyl and 3CD as revealed a few hours ago, but there's also two t shirts and a hoodie, plus bundle orders include a 12" print for a limited time.

None of the Sound of the Underground B Sides are Xenomania (and were all snubbed on the the "The Collection"!)

Interesting, maybe my theory is correct then. Apparently six songs in total were removed and replaced with four new Xenomania tracks ('Some Kind of Miracle', 'Life Got Cold', 'Stop' and 'Love/Hate') so maybe 'Lights, Music, Camera, Action' and 'On A Round' make up two of those six songs.

^ Oh that's interesting, I hadn't read that about changes being made to the album!

 

Album advert:

 

 

 

Products on the Girls Aloud store -

 

Physicals:

 

 

 

This is one side of the double sided print, I'm assuming the other side will be the album cover:

 

 

 

Clothing -

 

 

 

 

 

I ordered the bundle of the 3 physicals including the print, and I added in the t-shirt with the girls on the front because honestly to me that image is iconic x

 

 

-----------

 

Links

 

Bundle: EXCLUSIVE PICTURE DISC LP & GREEN VINYL LP & 3CD & PRINT

 

Bundle: EXCLUSIVE PICTURE DISC LP + 3CD + NO GOOD ADVICE T-SHIRT + PRINT

 

Bundle: EXCLUSIVE PICTURE DISC LP + T-SHIRT

 

Bundle: EXCLUSIVE PICTURE DISC LP, 7" SINGLE + T-SHIRT

 

Bundle: 3CD + LOGO HOODIE

 

Bundle: GREEN VINYL LP + NO GOOD ADVICE T-SHIRT

 

3CD

 

EXCLUSIVE PICTURE DISC LP & PRINT

 

GREEN VINYL LP & PRINT

 

SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND T-SHIRT

 

NO GOOD ADVICE T-SHIRT

 

LOGO HOODIE

Nicola on Instagram:

To celebrate 20 years of our debut album we’re releasing it for the first time on vinyl ♥️ Included is a picture disk and 3 disc CD that includes rarities and remixes… And cute new merch 😍

Head to our website to see how stunning it all looks. #SOTU20 pre order link in @girlsaloud bio xxxxx

 

Nadine on Instagram:

I can’t believe that our first Girls Aloud album turns 20 years old next month. To celebrate it will be released on beautiful green vinyl and as a picture disc. PLUS – there is a new 3 CD set that includes loads of b-sides and rarities. If you’d like to pre-order a copy follow the link in the biog of the new @girlsaloud Instagram page #SOTU20 💋❤️🫶

 

Kimberley on Instagram:

20 years 🤯🤯🤯 Celebrating 20 years of @GirlsAloud’s debut album, Sound of the Underground⚡️ #SOTU20 Out June 16th 2023, pre-order link in the @girlsaloud bio 💿

 

Cheryl shared the video on her Instagram story with the caption "How has it been 20 years?! 😱😮"

I do rather want that "I don't need no good advice" t-shirt!

undiscovermusic.com article: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/girls-a...deluxe-reissue/

 

Girls Aloud’s ‘Sound Of The Underground’ Turns 20 With Deluxe Reissue

The album’s new editions features a wealth of rarities and remixes, alongside a 24-page booklet with brand-new sleeve notes and unseen photos.

 

Published on April 27, 2023

By Tim Peacock

 

To celebrate it’s 20th anniversary, Girls Aloud and Polydor/Fascination Records will be releasing a special deluxe edition of the band’s debut smash hit album Sound Of The Underground, the first in a series of exciting reissues of their studio albums.

 

The classic album will be released as 3CD deluxe edition featuring two bonus discs of B-sides, rarities and remixes, alongside a 24-page booklet with brand-new sleeve notes and unseen photos. The album will also be available on vinyl for the very first time on both green colored vinyl and a limited edition picture disc. The 3CD track list will also be replicated on streaming and digital on all platforms.

 

Fans can also today hear the first release from the album, “Sound Of The Underground (Alternative Vocal Mix),” which is available now on all streaming services. This alternative mix of the song from the archives has never been released digitally before, and see the band members singing different lines of the iconic song to the original. Last year a limited edition 7″ vinyl release of the song was released, with this alternative version as the B-side to raise funds for The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal.

 

After beating their Popstars: The Rivals competitors to the Christmas Number 1 in December 2002, Girls Aloud’s “Sound Of The Underground” single went on to spend four weeks at the top of the chart and heralded in a run of 21 magnificent chart smashes that defined a decade in pop.

 

Remembering the creation of the Sound Of The Underground album Nadine recalls, “The aim was to bring in as much creativity as possible and make something as strong as the single “Sound of the Underground.”

 

The album’s undeniable spine is its six tracks produced by Brian Higgins and the Xenomania collective. Girls Aloud arrived to the recording sessions to find a small army of songwriters concocting hooks, lyrics and rhythm tracks in every room, which Higgins would later piece together into sparkling and surprising pop songs. A vital part of the process was the wide-ranging conversations he would have with individual band members.

 

“I would sit down with Brian and he’d say something like, ‘OK, so you’re a 17-year-old girl from Northern Ireland, now living in London.’ What’s going on in your life?’” Nadine recalls. “Those chats were really important because they helped to drive our musical direction and make our songs genuine.”

 

The bolshy stomper “No Good Advice” was then released in May 2003 as Girls Aloud’s second single and debuted at number two. Much as they had done with “Sound of the Underground,” the band turned the song’s lyrics into a formidable statement of intent. “But I dig the music that I’m making, baby, and I’ll break it into your brain,” Nadine sings on the second verse. “No Good Advice” has gone down in history as a Girls Aloud classic and a band favourite, but this doesn’t mean every band member is enamored with the music video.

 

“It was a 24-hour shoot from 6am to 6am the next morning, and I had a trouser rip situation that had to be gaffa-taped shut!” Cheryl says.

 

The original version of the track included lyrics that needed to be censored to ensure radio play – the original uncensored version appears on the deluxe 3CD set. Higgins and Xenomania also produced “Life Got Cold,” the album’s wistful third single which became Girls Aloud’s third consecutive top three hit when it was released in August 2003.

 

However, what came next was arguably even more important. When the Sound of the Underground album was reissued that November, it included a fourth hit, a rollicking cover of the Pointer Sisters’ “Jump” recorded for the soundtrack to British rom-com movie Love Actually.

 

“It was a make-or-break song for us as a band,” Kimberley says, explaining that its success persuaded their record label to invest in a second Girls Aloud album.. “‘Jump” saved our career,” Nicola states. “It was four on the floor so it could be played in the clubs, but it was also familiar enough to be played on the radio. And at this point, it was probably our most digestible single.” The song remains one of the band’s most-streamed songs of all time.

 

In October last year Cheryl, Kimberley, Nadine and Nicola held The Primrose Ball, a charity gala event for The Christie NHS Foundation Trust and Cancer Research UK, as part of The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal. Hosted by Cheryl, Kimberley, Nadine and Nicola, and presented by Fearne Cotton, the evening saw performances by Olly Alexander, Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs) and Will Young, with a live auction including an original canvas depicting Sarah Harding by The Connor Brothers. More recently, a limited edition 7” vinyl release

of the band’s debut single “Sound Of The Underground” was released, also to raise funds for The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal. The single was backed with a never-before-released alternative vocal version of the song from the archives which now appears on the new 3CD set of the new album reissue.

 

the first in a series of exciting reissues of their studio albums.

Let's gooooo :w00t:

The CD2 and CD3 track lists have been updated to reflect what shows on Apple Music:

 

CD2: B-Sides And Rarities

1. Sound Of The Underground (Alternative Vocal Mix)

2. Jump (From “Love Actually”)

3. Girls On Film

4. Lights, Music, Camera, Action

5. On A Round

6. No Good Advice (Parental Advisory Version)

7. Sacred Trust

8. Life Got Cold (Radio Edit)

9. Grease (From “Greasemania”)

10. Hopelessly Devoted To You (From “Greasemania”)

11. Some Kind Of Miracle (New Mix)

12. You Freak Me Out (From “Freaky Friday”)

13. No Good Advice (Original Demo)

14. Stay Another Day

 

CD 3: The Remixes

1. Sound Of The Underground (Instrumental Breakdown Mix)

2. Girls Allowed (Almighty Radio Edit)

3. Some Kind Of Miracle (Illicit Mix)

4. Life Got Cold (Stella Browne Vocal Mix)

5. No Good Advice (Dreadzone Vocal Mix)

6. Jump (Almighty Vocal Mix)

7. Sound Of The Underground (Flip & Fill Remix)

8. Life Got Cold (29 Palms Remix Edit)

9. No Good Advice (Flip & Fill Remix)

10. Jump (Flip & Fill Remix)

11. No Good Advice (Doublefunk Vocal Mix)

12. Girls Allowed (Almighty Vocal Mix)

 

I'm ever so slightly disappointed with that because I did like the chronological order. On the other hand I can understand why they'd want Jump to feature more prominently on CD2, as track 2 rather than track 10, for instance.

 

The main curiosity is that CD3 has bumped off three of the remixes that bravado.de initially listed:

 

Sound Of The Underground (Brian Higgins Remix)

Life Got Cold (Stella Browne Edit)

Life Got Cold (29 Palms Remix)

 

I suppose the Life Got Cold remixes are no great loss because there's already the Stella Browne Vocal Mix and 29 Palms Remix Edit versions anyway. Omitting the SOTU Brian Higgins remix is a shame though, it's one of their best mixes, so that's a bit :thinking:

Arghhh dunno what to get !

Arghhh dunno what to get !

Everything! :w00t:

For whatever reason all of the bundles are unavailable for me, it just directs me to buy each product individually.

I picked up the CD Set, the Girls Aloud T-Shirt and the Hoodie.

I’ll likely pick up the NGA T-Shirt when I order the Vinyls. So exciting!

I know I'm posting a lot today but I've noticed that they've updated their Spotify page's banner to the album cover! On the desktop version at least. It's still showing the Out of Control era picture on my phone.

 

Their YouTube page has a default picture and banner for the first time - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDHgzFz9vVUjk5YOU4lwa2g - I'm glad their team is making the effort to update things across their social media etc.

 

Also Liam mentioned this earlier but the SOTU era videos all have new default YouTube pictures now, although NGA/LGC/Jump are not 4K yet. Chris Fox teased with an "👀" response at someone who asked whether 4K versions of those are coming!

 

 

 

 

 

Farewell to the previous default pictures:

 

For whatever reason all of the bundles are unavailable for me, it just directs me to buy each product individually.

I picked up the CD Set, the Girls Aloud T-Shirt and the Hoodie.

I’ll likely pick up the NGA T-Shirt when I order the Vinyls. So exciting!

Bundles and vinyl are UK only from the official store (why???), and the green vinyl is already sold out on Bravado.

Apparently US customers can buy from here, but the picture disc isn't here: https://townsendmusic.store/products/artist/Girls+Aloud

Bundles and vinyl are UK only from the official store (why???), and the green vinyl is already sold out on Bravado.

 

Ahh. I just assumed the Vinyl would be up for pre-sale later. I didn't see it at all on the website this morning.

 

Apparently US customers can buy from here, but the picture disc isn't here: https://townsendmusic.store/products/artist/Girls+Aloud

 

Worked for me in Canada as well (with a higher cost to ship compared to the official website).

I was planning on buying both Vinyls. Perhaps they will add more availability on international orders at a later date (Steps did this last year with the Platinum release). I do want the Picture Vinyl + the NGA T-Shirt. It would be the only two items I haven't had a chance to purchase :lol:

I'm excited to see where this charts, wouldn't surprise me if more was to come like hmv exclusive etc

I'm excited to see where this charts, wouldn't surprise me if more was to come like hmv exclusive etc

I hope so! I feel like a pink vinyl, green cassette & pink cassette would good additions to the format line up! But I won't hold my breath :cry: