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| Tell a Friend Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:37 am Post subject: Girls Aloud-Tangled Up Album Review |
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Girls Aloud-Tangled Up
If all Girls Aloud’s work up to and including their greatest hits-The Sound of Girls Aloud, released in 2006-represented the first stage of their journey from manufactured girl band to credible pop divas, then Tangled Up is a good way to start the second stage.
When I first put it on, I had high expectations and I wasn’t disappointed. Even though I’d put it on as background music whilst I was messing around with my computer, I was soon up and bopping around, turning up the volume to one decibel short of the neighbours banging on the wall.
With an album like this coinciding with the Spice Girls’ reunion, you can see why the comeback of Posh, Sporty, Baby, Scary and Ginger has failed to set the nation alight.
Girls Aloud’s most recent single, “Call the Shots” (track 1) is a relatively downbeat opener yet is still an infectious, poptastic tune in true Girls Aloud tradition.
In fact, the production of the whole album stays true to that tradition of accessible electronica. However, there is a slightly rockier edge to it this time round, as lilting guitar chords become as frequent as the drum machines and synthesisers that are the signature of the girls’ previous efforts.
There is also a slight change in the tone of the lyrics. The self-confidence and feistiness of classics such as “Love Machine” are replaced by “Sexy! No No No…”’s (track 3) regret that true feelings were never revealed to a crush, despite giving him all the clichéd signals. “Close to Love” (track 2) is along a similar theme, telling the age-old story of nearly entering into the perfect relationship only to fall at the final hurdle. “Can’t Speak French” is about the inability to translate thoughts into words. It sounds like the girls have finally grown up and realised that love can as frustrating as it is empowering.
The quality of the tracks slightly fades towards the end of the album, with songs such as “I’m Falling” (track 10) and “Crocodile Tears” (track 12) being not so much pop revelations, but rather the background music I was looking for that first time I pressed play.
Written by Autumn for UKEvents.net |
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