I do forget there was a reissue, on the week of the reissue where did the album peak does anyone know?

 

#42 in November 2003.

 

I was looking at the chart run and thought #17, but that was in August when 'Life Got Cold' helped it re-enter the chart.

I adore the first three singles from this album - I really enjoyed the moody tempo change for Life Got Cold and it always takes me right back to summer 2003 <3 It’s Jump I’ve never been mad on personally, it’s decent for a cover but I never listen to it out of choice.

 

The other songs I really fondly remember from this era are Forever And A Night (lovely early 00s ballad) and Some Kind Of Miracle, which I think would have turned out to be a solid enough single choice. Not #2 like Jump but a top five at least with the radio mix. Don’t Want You Back was really good too.

Edited April 2, 20214 yr by gooddelta

#42 in November 2003.

 

I was looking at the chart run and thought #17, but that was in August when 'Life Got Cold' helped it re-enter the chart.

Shame it didnt have more of an impact, maybe that's why they didnt do re releases much after it.

Sound of the Underground reissue reached #42 on 7th December 2003, and it sold 26,000 copies to place there. Mis-Teeq’s Eye Candy reissue (released on the same date) didn’t make the Top 100, so it was a very competitive time in the album chart!

 

On Sunday 30th November 2003, which was the day before the reissue came out, Sound of the Underground’s total sales were 143,000. At the end of 2003 its total stood at 245,000, meaning it sold 102,000 copies in December 2003. 245k was enough to make it the 71st best selling album of the year.

 

It ended up being a fairly decent trickle seller for them. 4 years later, at the end of December 2007, Sound of the Underground was on sales of just under 355,000 - an increase of 110k. At the end of 2006 it actually re-entered the Top 100 for two weeks - #67 on 31st Dec ‘06 (it sold over 9,000 copies in that week) and #70 on 7th Jan ‘07.

 

I don’t think the performance of the Sound of the Underground reissue was a reason for their future albums not having reissues - it’s more that the future albums didn’t really require them. Their other albums went Platinum a lot more quickly, and these eras weren’t dragged out long enough for reissues to be viable. They had new Q4 targeted releases in 6 consecutive years - a pretty hectic schedule!

 

December 2003 - Sound of the Underground (reissue)

November 2004 - What Will the Neighbours Say?

December 2005 - Chemistry

October 2006 - The Sound of Girls Aloud

November 2007 - Tangled Up

November 2008 - Out of Control

Great sales breakdown and info, thanks for posting, overall it was a big success.

I don’t think the performance of the Sound of the Underground reissue was a reason for their future albums not having reissues - it’s more that the future albums didn’t really require them. Their other albums went Platinum a lot more quickly, and these eras weren’t dragged out long enough for reissues to be viable. They had new Q4 targeted releases in 6 consecutive years - a pretty hectic schedule!

Agreed, it's more of a case that 'Sound of the Underground' needed a re-issue as it wasn't as successful. Given the huge success both commercially and critically of their debut single, I'd say the label expected much better things from the album. 'No Good Advice' was probably expected to do better too; it lingered lower down the charts for ages including almost returning to the Top 40 which I'm putting down to excess stock.

 

I've got the impression that their early 'moody' image wasn't resonating, hence the complete image makeover in 2004, but you can see changes being made before then with 'Jump', a fun 80s classic with an equally fun and cheeky video, or 'Some Kind of Miracle', a much lighter song than their previous singles that was specially re-recorded to refocus on the two most prominent members. I think after securing a hit with 'Jump', they were right to move onto a new album rather than potentially diluting their turn around in fortune.

It was all handled fairly well overall and they managed to grow their success on album which was crucial for a band like them .

It was all handled fairly well overall and they managed to grow their success on album which was crucial for a band like them .

 

And also very rare! The fact that their debut album is their worst selling is almost unheard of for a girlgroup and/ or reality television act. I was listening to a podcast about Hear'Say the other day and to see how they went from having a #1, three times platinum album to a #24 album in less than a year, makes the success the girls had even more impressive.

The demise of Hear Say was so quick, I didnt expect the downturn to happen so quickly. Girls Aloud def broke the mould of growing success and as you said it was rare for a band like them to have their debut album been their least successful despite it been successful in it's own right.

The demise of Hear Say was so quick, I didnt expect the downturn to happen so quickly. Girls Aloud def broke the mould of growing success and as you said it was rare for a band like them to have their debut album been their least successful despite it been successful in it's own right.

 

It's VERY strange to see how fast their decline was (at the same time, also a choice to release two studio albums within the same year?). Maybe going a bit off topic now, but it's interesting to compare as Girls Aloud basically stromed into the scene a year after Hear'Say in a similar way.

I don't think Hear'Say particularly cared about their craft or had the drive for sustaining a career in the same way Girls Aloud did either.

Edited April 6, 20214 yr by Tawdry Hepburn

And also very rare! The fact that their debut album is their worst selling is almost unheard of for a girlgroup and/ or reality television act. I was listening to a podcast about Hear'Say the other day and to see how they went from having a #1, three times platinum album to a #24 album in less than a year, makes the success the girls had even more impressive.

 

This sounds like my kind of podcast! Do you have a link?

The debut album is 18 years old! :o It was released on 26th May 2003 in the UK.

 

Thinking back to the time of its release, I assume I was either preparing for or sitting my Year 10 exams, so the album must have been quite a distraction for me! I really loved it at the time, in a way I hadn’t truly loved a girl group album since Spice Girls releases. Even though Girls Aloud went on to release even better albums, Sound of the Underground is still special to me. I must have played No Good Advice hundreds of times, I was obsessed! Looking back, there was an amateur vibe to their styling and general presentation, but the raw potential was clearly there, despite them having only been a group for 6 months. They just had something special. :wub:

They really were the second Spice Girls!

There was such a great buzz about them back then, they were definitely that bit edgy with their first 2 singles which helped them stand out and go on to the success they had.

Life Got Cold was released as a single 18 years ago today!

 

 

http://girlsalouddiscography.weebly.com/uploads/2/5/5/6/25564815/396490590.jpg http://girlsalouddiscography.weebly.com/uploads/2/5/5/6/25564815/162643917.jpg

 

It reached #3 in the UK. I seem to remember that this made them the first artist in UK chart history to have their first three singles peak at #1, #2 and #3 respectively!

I always remember been so disappointed with this choice as a single, i found it a huge comedown from the previous 2 singles and its a single i have never really warmed to over the years.

Life Got Cold has grown on me a lot over the years, it always used to be one of my least favourites but I do like it a lot these days.

I liked it at the time, I still do but it's not a red hot favourite of mine now and something I mainly go back to occasionally for the nostalgia value.

 

I always remember when the Radio 1 DJs kept calling it a cover of 'Wonderwall' :lol:

I don't think I've actually ever heard Life Got Cold.

 

I can definitely hear the similarities with Wonderwall.