Join Chris and Chantel Nicole as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Girls Aloud's groundbreaking debut album, "Sound of the Underground." We take you on a track-by-track journey, discussing the production, vocals, lyrics, videos, performances, and more! 

"Sound of the Underground" Tracklist:

1. Sound of the Underground
2. No Good Advice
3. Some Kind of Miracle
4. All I Need (All I Don't)
5. Life Got Cold
6. Mars Attack
7. Stop
8. Girls Allowed
9. Forever and a Night
10. Love/Hate
11. Boogie Down Love
12. Don't Want You Back
13. White Lies

Yes, we know the UK had bonus tracks, but you'll just have to stay tuned for Part 2 when we'll discuss those along with the other b-sides from the era!

Transcript (from YouTube):

I like dirty sheep get down sister like I was locked in the galactic battle and I was just trying to find the bathroom like you know this really could have been a single in a different  timeline for sure like a lot of people were just throwing their tracks at these girls totally viewer discretion is advised your fave will be criticized that's Chan that's Chris and welcome to CCTV the non-stop pop show and today we're reviewing girls aloud's debut album sound of the Underground [Music] welcome to CCTV at your go to Global pop music podcast join us for a unique experience as we combine our artistic expertise from the studio and performing on stage with Insider Knowledge from working behind the scenes get ready for insightful reviews in-depth analysis and captivating discussions about the songs and careers of your favorite artists plus we have exclusive interviews with a diverse range of Music Industry professionals including artists producers choreographers and more become part of our fantastic crew including Lisette Lily Emily Kevin and Juliet by joining us on patreon at patreon.com cctvpause or you can subscribe now and let's explore the world of pop music together and today we're talking about pop royalty it goes loud and they're celebrating their 20th anniversary of their debut album so we have done a girls Aloud Pop 101 episode before where we did discuss their whole career and journey so definitely me go check that out but any new thoughts on girls Aloud Jan ah you know since 2020 new fans still still a baby and still in my infancy um I like them um I have the pajamas they make because you got them for me I'm so excited I wear them all the time I've worn them things out okay um I don't have any other merchandise from them unfortunately but I do I do enjoy them I don't have extra CDs or anything but I do listen to them and um uh they're like my they were my favorite new girl group before like new jeans came around and like a little seraphim and K-pop side but I was like I need a new girl group to get into so yeah they are definitely they've definitely been that for me so shower time has always been fun with the 10 album and I will say that okay what about you nice yes I mean I've been a huge fan since the very beginning um I used to watch top of the pops every week uh and you know they got Christmas number one in 2002 and the second I saw that performance I was already like interested was a downward spiral after that not downward but you know it went down the hall of you know girls allowed fandom yes up the hole maybe up the whole sounds more positive yeah sending ascending into heaven with a bunch of Victoria's Secret angels that could sing that's that's my that's how I was like Chris they're all beautiful they're like Victoria's Secret Angels he's like funny you should say that and then shows me a video of them oh yeah the show but yeah so this is an interesting era because they didn't really start out looking like Victoria's Secret models though you know they were very young um it took them a minute to figure out their image figure out their sound yeah yeah before the Invisalign before the

I'm teasing because I definitely I definitely need braces myself so don't come don't come at me for coming at them um but you yes that being said we're gonna hop right into it and talk about sound of the underground yes so sound of the underground is British sensation girls alouds debut album and it was originally released May 23 2003 and as I noted it is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year 2023 with a special Deluxe release so it is the perfect time for us to take a little Deep dive yeah going down the hole actually now like pop the hole up the hole oh we're going up the hole Yeah Deep dive up the hole I think I love that um so after running paw Stars the Rival a talent competition aired on ITV girls Aloud was signed to Paula door records and the album is the only project by the group that was not fully produced by the xenomania team and it features tracks done by other notable British musicians after turning in the first draft of the album to the label Brian Higgins from xenomania heard it and was not impressed and convinced Paulie door records to let him and his team replace some of the songs Just a month prior to the album's release date the album peaked at number two on the UK album charts and the project was eventually repackaged and re-released in November 2003 following the success of jump but we will stay true to the original tracklist for today's episode look at them doing a repackage you know what come on now we love a good repackage I want to try one one day I repackage just throw some songs I didn't that'd be fun just this hair I just love that that has become a K-pop staple more on the SM side right like some of the other labels only do it anymore but girls Aloud were setting the trend too back then through that oh my God look at you guys look at you ladies so let's jump right into it and go track by track to discuss the production vocals and lyrics and give our ratings for each song be sure to join along in the comment section below and let us know what your ratings are and let us know what your favorite tracks are because you will definitely read them and respond your least favorite tracks because that's sometimes more fun to discuss right oh snap yeah all right so the very first song on the album is sound of the underground and this one was done by members of xenomenia Brian Higgins Miranda Cooper and Niara Scarlett and this was girls aloud's debut single released only 16 days after the final lineup of the group was chosen on pop stars of the rivals it was 2002's Christmas number one and remained at the top of the charts for four weeks and The Song Remains and is continuously referenced as a Timeless British pop classic it's definitely an alternative vocal mix of the song was released in 2022 on vinyl which featured different vocal takes and different members singing different lines and all the proceeds went to the Sarah Harding breast cancer appeal which is part of the Christie charitable fund and this mix and a brand new accompanying music video using unreleased footage was released in April 2023. oh man this song you know I think it's so cool the genre mixing and this track and it is I think every time I I've seen the concerts that you showed me it's always like a big hit with a kind of like oh my God yeah I mean again it's the Christmas number one but also it's actually good it's actually good um yes I guess with me like growing up here in America it's one of those things where it's like when you watch a like on American Idol or any of those other shows the debut single the Christmas single would always like this cheesy like ballet not even cheesy cheesy but just a bell and you're like what the heck so I like that pop stars are like nah nah nah I got two weeks let's let's put something out let's put something out right now I think it fits too not to sit here and be like the competition I mean to be fair they actually did have the B side the sound of the underground was a it was a really boring cover of stay another day which we'll talk about in another episode but I think that was it was either that or sound of the underground and from what I read I don't know if it was members of Girls Aloud or contestants that did not make it in but some of them were very confused originally sound of the underground so that makes sense this this is a little strange one and it wasn't their rival like the guy voice yeah sorry guys not for nothing sounded underground kicked your butt okay they came in with surf guitars and this nice little UK jump pattern that we have come to love and like on the show I mean we always liked it but we talk a lot about it on the show and it's always like a mild bias I feel like oh it's UK garage or like jumping base oh we like it uh mostly me over here but um it makes the song feel really cool and daring especially with that surf guitar I feel like you know I'm on a jet ski in a Bond movie and they're the Bond girls um I liked it I think mixing the elements of pop and dance and punk that's what makes the song uh encapsulates the whole energy and rebellious Spirit of this album and like what music was going at the time and even the way the girls looked they had like this really edgy look with the St the pin straight hair and the and the humps and the hair and the eyeliner and the eyeshadow and the lack of eyebrow like that was all the rage back in there because I remember not having eyebrows um I read somewhere uh speaking of reading in places uh that Samantha Mumba actually passed on this track which is crazy but I can think I could hear it right the first verse and the second verse are so and I can't lie Nicola and um Sarah their voices lean more toward like a higher pitch so when they start going lower it gets little Fin and it sounds almost a little too like innocent it's not the right word but like it's almost too thin but other women like Kim um Nadine Cheryl let me saying Kim like her best friends but you know they kind of have a thicker tone so they can sit on that comfortably and go into their lows and make it kind of sound a little bit more like sultry um but yeah I would have been so interested to hear what Samantha would have done with it because she opted for I'm right here and I'm like girl no offense but for all um the song is definitely cool like I said coming from a survival show or a reality show excuse me competition show it sets a nice tone for the group in general because it's just like after this they can either get really cool even more cooler or they can just get worse and luckily it just you know as we continue throughout this album we'll find out what happens right um and shoot even their name is cool girls allowed like come on it's so much better than no boys allowed right on the nose it's like no the girls are allowed and they are allowed the voice is are allowed so I love that um and the iterations of the live performances definitely show a lot of vocal girl because that first one that they did the top of the pops was like it was nice but they started adding more experimentation and take more risk with the melodic interpretation of certain parts so it just made things more fun um for sure I think this song is it's cool I like it yes and it's aged really really well actually yeah yeah I mean that guitar riff down that's already cool like I remember the first time I heard that like no other girl group was really doing any sound like this so already when it gets kind of metallic and the bass line is so strong and it just it just stood out immediately from the second I heard it um and you know when you have a title like sound of the underground you know you naturally think of the subway and like dark tunnels and stuff and the song does feel like that like it yeah it genuinely feels like you're like underground the subculture so yeah the whole build of the song is really cool I love the keyboard hits that coming into pre-chorus that really build a lot of tension and then you know the train arrives when the chorus comes oh like it's super Rocky the guitar riff becomes really upfront in the mix as well and then it pulls back again for the verses so I think the whole dynamic is really well done um mentioning the vocal like yeah like you had mentioned the whole song is sung pretty low and I think as they got older their voices also naturally got older so it became a bit easier to sing but it was kind of a struggle for them I think at first to kind of project like when you watch some of the first few performances um especially the one when they on pop stars um when they had like found out that they had gotten the number one like that was a bad vocal yeah but in the recording I think they did a good job I think you know the whole point of it is to be kind of icy and kind of cold throughout the whole thing and really aside from Nadine's kind of more Soulful Bridge they all handle that pretty well I do think Nicola did get shafted a little bit in the vocal distribution so it was nice to hear her sing a couple more lines uh in the alternative version yes totally okay yeah and then Kimberly actually noted in her autobiography that I think the very first version that they had heard so basically Brian recorded all 10 of the final contestants and so they had all these different versions of the songs depending on the different lineups but I guess the first version he submitted Kimberly wasn't in it at all so it's just the other War so the version they recorded the video to actually was like not the final one which is why they have the footage of them all singing the entire song so that's interesting yeah yeah you never know what's gonna happen exactly yeah yeah um going on to the music video though I love it what do you think of the video the video is interesting because I was just in this cage again it's giving subculture like this is where the freaks live you know except they're like what 17. right yeah she's a baby at the time oh my goodness uh but yeah no it's just it's just giving you know where the cool girls you know we smoke cigarettes out here we Pink Ladies but not um you know what's so funny like last night well last night we're recording this on May 22nd but last night I performed and I sang with the mic stand now that I'm watching the video I was like oh snap I should have done the sound of the underground Korea I literally thought you did that because you had we're thinking of this I was like oh she's doing sound of the underground it's so funny well you know I think it's so fun because I I jokingly say that they couldn't dance in our pop 101. but this was fun choreography like they can dance I just think it's so funny how sometimes they have to do certain things you can tell who's comfortable who's not but whose personality makes up for the lack like Kim okay Sarah's not a dancer but you can't tell her she ain't got personality right so I think those are kind of things that you look at and you're like you know what these girls are gonna be fine they're gonna be darn fine okay and that's why I like that's what I liked about the video it's just one scene kind of just looking around at each other ooh ladies smoldering and such but you see the personality um not one scene but that one performance scene specifically I think it's just you can tell like they're still they're still good at what they do individually not like or a group yet but it still doesn't feel like I'm trying to outdo the other so I appreciate that for sure yes it is kind of insane that they literally filmed it I think maybe two days after they got into the group yeah they did a really good job like you're right they didn't try and overdo it they're all quite subtle in it and Cheryl and Nadine yo that star quality is jumping out already yeah yeah that's amazing that you get from them is insane I'm good at it so good yeah and I do love the mic stand routine it's definitely one I'd point to a lot because you know I love a mic stand routine but I think a lot of that comes actually from from this as well um I also love in the music video the part that always makes me laugh is Nadine's Bridge because she's lip syncing it's the sound like have you noticed that it's so weird I don't understand

like a toothless yeah yeah but yeah going into the performance isn't kind of just the evolution of it I I like that they for a lot of it they've not always done the mic stand routine oh yes but they do still reference it like I think the tangled up one is my favorite where they kind of use their male dancers that's the props instead but if you actually watch the routine that they're doing it's actually an interpretation of the mic stand routine yeah so I kind of love that like it's kind of awesome that they did that um and yeah just watching their confidence grow as performers uh like would you would you watch the 10 performance like vocally it's kind of a mess that whole tour kind of is but just you can just feel though like how powerful they are as a unit yeah and it was just such a huge Evolution from you know the beginning when obviously it took a minute to like get the chemistry right so yes yes chemistry we love that album too um let us know if you want us to have a review of that you see how I did that look at that that's welcome to CCTV y'all that's what we do give us a comment give us a comment all right um so what do you rate this one I'll give this one a tongue I can't lie I liked it when I first heard it too I'm a sucker it's a 10. up next is no good advice by the members of xenomania Miranda Brian Nick cooler Lisa cowling lynnae nice drum of Aqua best known for Barbie girl this is the lead single from the album and it peaked at number two and Brian said he was feeling inspired by a field deal with a record label and the idea of persisting in spite of people's advice about that he also noted that the girls allowed members were unsure if the song fit their sound when they first heard it but he questioned them and they changed their mind and their historic partnership was solidified through Alliance yes it's so funny because reading those interviews uh you know about kind of after the fact when Brian was like yeah they didn't like these songs I was giving them like they thought they wanted to just kind of do the generic girl group thing and I'm just very happy that they rethought it and also the label didn't let that happen oh should I hear that this song is awesome like what a perfect follow-up to sound of the underground like it's it's still accessible to all the fans that loved it but it's still different enough that it's not derivative and it fits their age as well like this kind of like middle school high school brattiness of it it's kind of awesome while still be accessible to like a slightly older audience as well like I can still sing along to this song and still relate to like a lot of it so oh heck yeah that hasn't made a bad decision it was just like you know what it's okay and also someone gives you advice and you're just like I don't need your advice I don't need to take that please don't yeah um but yeah so the production is really cool it's Rocky but it's super processed too so it's not just like a bad rock song like it's actually like a cool Dynamic there the drums are clearly fake but then the guitars are really prominent and like that riff is really really cool uh and I love the staccato production of the verses like and then you get kind of the longer kind of the more wide feeling kind of guitars and everything that come in for the chorus is just again a very nice build um vocally Nadine owns this one like I think Brian from the very beginning I mean she got the you know she got the whole bridge and sound of the underground like she was I think from my understanding he was very captivated by her voice from the very beginning so even though you know there isn't an official lead singer here but you know you look through their discography and she clearly was that role dominating yeah and it's just such a unique vocal tone and she sounds awesome um I do love the Unison pre-chorus because it kind of just adds to that kind of angstiness of like a bunch of like young people yelling uh and then I'm very excited for the uncensored version to come out because that last line in the pre-chorus never made any sense so it finally will I'm in tears you know when you're trying to keep it clean and pop right oh my God and then of course have to shout out the talky ending of the song um again just a perfect amount of sass there with all the vocals I love Nicolas last line and frankly I don't even care like so nonchalant um and you like that one I like dirty sheep

um yeah you know I agree with you I think this is such a rebellious little track it is bratty but it's not like petulant um and I think that's because the catchy hooks the harmonies um the Unison singing the the believable attitude that's what helps too it doesn't feel like you know oh here we go on and it's just like no it's like here I go not alone a metal finger to other way that's so fun um and also again it's just rebellious it has like that punk Spirit without being a punk song right so I think that that that helps their appeal um and I feel like this song just because of all those Collective qualities that I listed it makes the song feel like an Anthem with some depths rather than some tune for a tantrum um like this song truly embodies like let me eff around and find out for myself it's it's it's definitely definitely something that I think anyone could relate to um and I know I can't say that I have a light to it I don't take people's advice I was kind of a goody goody but as I've gotten older I'm just like you know what I'm starting to see that you are saying something that doesn't make any sense or nothing I want to apply to myself so I kind of go ah don't let me know in my head also I don't know why I know why I just said it why um and I love the Sunday trips that they mentioned like in the speaking part two or like you know going to church and church visits and stuff like that because it then kind of leans itself to like the tambourine challenge you hear and the tambourines like I think it's so cheeky to have something like this going on in terms of like the verses and I mean the lyrics and then kind of have like a visual cue like in the music video that music video man what's up with that what's going on can you explain that because you were I were around for that find it hilarious I mean I assume they were trying to just you know have a unique look and those silver outfits were a choice yeah they were definitely a choice um I will say even though those those outfits are slightly hideous though I love the album cover like I think it is a very memorable look and it is it does stand out like on a shelf you know what I mean yeah so at the end of the day I know they're embarrassed about the outfit than this video too but it did its job at the time yeah it did okay um I will say I think it's I like the car and like the phone booth and all that it's more like the overuse of effects that really kills this video for me oh you know like obviously the fire candy fire awful but even like the them like glitching in and out moments of that were cool but it was happening so much that I was like okay like come up with something else here

um I will say though like them again as performers like they did a good job like you know they got they got some new haircuts you know some of the confidence that's grown a little bit um a lot of them are kind of feeling themselves a lot while they were like you know on the car and rolling around oh my God yes with her hair and her leaning she's great so you know what I enjoyed it I think it did what it was supposed to do you know it just has not aged well at all no I think the whole thing was just like you know not angels with dirty faces nothing shout out to sugar babes but it's giving like you know Sexy Little Devils you know um it's just they're proudfully naughty those tambourines were giving tambourines are a church Staples so for them it's like I'm not going to church it kind of makes it and I started watching it more and I listened to the lyrics I was like oh that explains those random jingle jingle Jingles all those performances because at first I was like why y'all got Sonic Rings right now I was like oh my God it's killing me but I understand I'm totally good enough so cheeky I love that I will say the dancer teen though is awful um I think they use the same choreographer for this whole era I think it wasn't until the show that maybe someone else came on but like this choreography and we'll reference it for the other album track the stuff that they they performed as well but like all the like bending over and like it's just like a lot of hair flips that it's just like not very creative so sorry to whoever you were that did it but it just was not inspired but the later kind of Torah performances and stuff I love the what will the neighbors say tour performance um you know obviously they're in the school girl outfits yeah they do have the nod to the tambourine for that little extra dance break they added so I think that culminated it in a really good way um and then once they started performing it more like the tentor and stuff like the attitude that they had was absolutely perfect like Nadine was doing the absolute most like in a good way yeah I'm crying in a good way yeah so how would you rate this song I will also give this one a 10 how about you yeah I think this is a 10 this is 10 quality for sure all right so moving on to track three which is some kind of miracle and this one was done by Miranda Cooper Brian Higgins Lisa cowling Tim Powell Sean Lee and Adele Lynch of Bewitched who are all part of the xenomenia team and it had additional production by Jeremy Wheatley and so this song was originally chosen as the third single from the album but life got cold received a huge reception from the fan so the track was pushed to being the fourth single but then the group had the opportunity to record jump for the film Love Actually so the song was never released as a single so yeah it just was not meant to be but the group did actually re-record a single version in a different key and with brand new production and this version ended up appearing on the re-release or repackage in November 2003. this one is um interesting I mean I could hear this in a rom-com from the 2000s or one of those like Hilary Duff or Lindsay Lohan fronted movies it's like a light and bright and has some twangy guitar riffs and it reminds me of something from the 70s um I don't think psychedelic would be a stretch of a description I think um I think what really kind of made me feel like oh this could be in a in a like a Hilary Duff movie or anything like that like a Freaky Friday even um was just the kind the tone that it had it's it's bright and it's almost kind of pedestrian and I don't know that's pedestrian that's not the right word oh it's not fair to say but I I don't get the Dynam dynamism oh yeah there it is I don't get the dynamism that we got with the other two songs right so we're starting to kind of hit that lull Point um and I have to say lyrically like like the hanging out with the slacker friends pretending that I'm cool line again it just gives me teenager yeah so I was just like yeah I could see you know straight to cassette kind of you know movie thing ABC family kind of movie thing going on here um the higher key version I can't say I don't like it um I actually think it added a little bit of life to the track um the distribution like line speaking though isn't great throughout this yeah so I'm sitting here just like okay with the rest of it like if I was a new fan and I was trying to which I which I was at the time I was like where the rest of them at you know what I'm saying like that's my first question where the rest of them at um it would have been nice to have tones like Nicholas or even Sarah uh you know hit those higher notes um but maybe it wasn't in a comfortable place for them to hit those notes like maybe they recorded it and it was just like okay let's get someone else to do it you know who has a little bit more of a controller voice I mean it happens in Kpop all the time like you'll have members record a song and then you're like you know what let's also come in or even when we spoke to Belinda Chapel of Bardot she mentioned that everyone recorded this one song but then they realized that one of their members just knocked out the parts they let her have those parts right so um yeah I think with the vocal distribution stuff for this song it's interesting because the original album version had way more of Sarah and Kimberly yeah got a line here or there and Nadine and Cheryl didn't really come in as often they all kind of it was much more even then the second one was basically all Nadine and Cheryl you had some kind of weird duet stuff happening in the pre-chorus you know where the other three would kind of come in and Kimberly still got a couple lines but like I also wonder if maybe they thought that people kind of recognized Nadine and Cheryl's voices more from the past two singles so maybe they wanted them to lead the single version I think that's possible as well um I do not like the single version at all actually um I think it does add some energy and there are some interesting added elements the production like Nadine does this extra little ad-lib at the end of the first chorus that's nice um but I think it actually takes away from I think going back to kind of the school girl kind of thing it felt like I was at a middle school high school dance and you have this like awkward girl in the corner watching her Crush dance with someone else and like having a little mini breakdown in the corner yeah so that kind of like awkwardness that innocence like I think even with the way the vocals are like Sarah and Kim and everyone they sound more innocent like Nadine and Cheryl naturally I think just the way they sing they sound more confident the other three feel a little more tepid I think and so that fit with kind of the awkward girl thing so like I think if that's what they're going for I prefer that if they're gonna do that um but I think as a song like I'm very glad the universe never let this be a single I don't think it would have done well for them because I do think it's just a tad boring like the chorus Melody is a little hypnotizing yeah it is a little oh and um and then you know there's no Bridge like or like okay I don't know it just didn't feel fully fleshed out so yeah the universe didn't want this as a single either so it was never meant to be I will I will personally give this one a seven because it's just this is average to me yes I will go with the 7.5 up next is all I need all I don't by Ava Knox not Ava Max I almost said Ava Max Chris Peters and Drew Peters are they Brothers I believe so amazing keep it in the family we love that all right so Chris what do you think about uh

sorry I was like terrible rendition of that one no I enjoyed that um yeah I actually like this one a lot I think it's one of the more experimental tracks on the album like the production reminds me of something Kylie would do

situation with the really breathy delivery and I think Cheryl and Sarah do a really good job the like vocal fry that they put on throughout the whole thing and how it kind of dry it sounds it's like yeah the whole thing just it it has a really cool vibe to it and then the harmony is super tight in that chorus and then you have Nadine leading it so there's kind of a different energy for that as well so I think the dynamic is pretty cool it does feel like kind of just like a group of female robots oh my God

um like they can't have water which is why there's like so much vocal fry like I don't know very very electronic like very yeah metallic again um and then there are like little ad-libs at the end too that just give it a little bit more life so I really enjoyed this one I remember the first time I heard it I didn't really think much of it but through the years I've grown to appreciate it more yeah right that's a good word to say kind of describe that kind of the feeling to the sentiment I have toward the song is appreciation for the attempt of something different I think on the album it doesn't after listening to everything together there's nothing that really kind of calls back to it uh it's not bad at all I enjoy it I think you my notes are very similar to yours in terms of like the harmonies and I there's like this weird like spinny wood sound I do not know that instrument that percussion instrument that goes that sounds stupid because I can't make a wooden sound little things like that just kind of just give it this little quirky feel and I'm like how does xenomania not do this and I think maybe if they would have kind of taken the reins a little bit on this one they could have added some more funkier things or just something else like I think the bridge is where it kind of just starts to chill out a little bit because before they start singing again there's this instrumental that just Vamps and I'm like okay now any day now so that's the only thing I'm just like yeah okay whatever but I think this song is so hypnotizing and yeah I can just imagine a bunch of like robots

have they ever performed this one I think I don't think oh look look right see yeah this is a track I would love personally me myself would love to sing on stage just to kind of chill out and kind of have fun with the crowd because this is it's it's fun you just kind of think it's just it's easy but it also requires a lot of like kind of sultriness and I think all the girls had it you know even Nicola with her young self she could deliver this and still have a good time without feeling the pressure of needing to like belt her face off or anything like that so I really do appreciate the vocal ease but then the also the technique that's required to actually deliver the song properly so yes um but yeah sonically I just don't think it fits yeah that makes sense it's funny though because I remember back when it was first released that album cover is kind of what I would imagine this music video to be like like another callback to more kind of silver like wires and stuff everywhere like I don't know I always felt that like the album cover could have been like a single cover for this song oh so it would have been nice yeah anyway what do you rate this one I'll give it eight I was gonna give it 7.5 I actually like the song probably because it's not like a Kylie track right yeah um yeah I'm gonna give it an eight also the next song is life got cold and this one was done by Miranda Brian Nick and Lisa of xenomania and there is a credit to Noel Gallagher of Oasis which was added after the song's release due to the similarities of the songs guitar riff and chorus Melody with oasis's hit Wonderwall and the song written about the directionlessness of Modern Life was chosen as the third single from the album following a positive reception from fans after the album was released and it peaked at number three following its release in August 2003. did you not notice the Oasis like similarities I was getting so angry lastly before we were going to go see Janet last week I was going to the bathroom the song was playing right and I'm like [Music] like I said I kept singing I kept going back to the lyrics of this song because I could not pinpoint I literally literally hear my notes the song has a familiar Melody that I can't pinpoint I sing the song on my mind but cannot figure out the lyrics the song sounds familiar to a track I've heard before there you go I'm so irritated but yeah no I I like this song because it's one of those not a girl not yet a woman like life without Direction kind of tracks it's very wistful I saw somewhere that someone said it was a wistful I thought oh yeah that's a great word and I would say a little cynical as well because the whole I don't believe in Romeos and heroes anymore I think that is oh man that's tough like when you've given up on like finding love or even people being able to save you like what else is there uh and I think that song the song leans itself to that like once all this is done once all the words are said all the things are done being done what do you have to do when you look inside yourself I'm like girls go off okay because sound of the underground the lyrics were very abstract like water running in the wrong direction that's not really you know it's fun but it isn't substantial as much as this song is so it's nice to kind of hear these ladies who are very beautiful very simply and awesome do this kind of song and deliver this kind of lyrics um and losing one's Soul as a lyric is kind of tough to hear too because it's like wow um but uh I'm gonna let you talk about the production plan but when you talk about the music video I've got to make comments about that because there was so much going on in terms of the Thematic elements of this song in contrast to what was going on on stage in the video too yes so uh yeah I'll let you go ahead what do you think so I was definitely one of the fans at the time that was advocating for this as the single I think the first time I heard the first couple times I heard this album this song always really stood out like was always super memorable and of course the wonder wall comparison as well because I Remember Loving that song too so I also heard that immediately the production overall is nice you know it's a nice kind of pop rock guitar led a little moment and I do love how melancholic and pensive the whole thing is you know you get again the vocal delivery is really good like again they all kind of sound a little Innocent but then they all sound a little sad you know it's just really yeah it's really really Dynamic there and um I love the lyrics especially in the verses the text says we eat as we live like some of the the Cadence of it is really interesting some of the words chosen to rhyme are not very conventional yeah so yeah I think it's just super memorable in that way uh and um you know the song has no Unison singing yes you know you get some harmonies from Kimberly but that's pretty much it so it's just interesting you know we we talk about so much K-pop now and I haven't really gone back and really listen to this album and girls loud stuff like really deeply in a while like I've kind of just you know had it on the background and stuff but it's funny just kind of hearing the influences oh my God totally totally I mean they were taking all those European tracks honestly speaking of like on the tones that you were mentioning and like the cadences I was like oh my God how would sugar babe sound singing this like mutia's voice oh my God oh that would have worked for sure I'm talking about the MKS version of sugar there's no offense to hide even Heidi Heidi has a good high voice she's good but I would love to hear like lost taped version of sugar babes do this song like oh my God it'd be so cool um but also we talk about sugar waves on the show as well so be sure to tune that in it's plug episode apparently um but yeah what do you think about the video my friend what are your thoughts I'm now more excited to hear your thoughts after you just gave us that little preview it's a movie it's not that it's not as special as I'm making a sound but I'm just like where is it going I mean to be honest I think the music video is kind of boring um it matches the song at least you know but like the the blue hue that they put on it is just like really really dramatic um some of the scenes are nice like some of the shots are nice like I like Nicola kind of sitting in is it a kitchen or like a cafe or something um I like it at the bus scene I think is memorable but yeah this it doesn't have much Replay that value for me not at all man this video is so weird because it's like it's one of those things where the video doesn't really I don't know what the direction was in this video I don't know the director said to them before they started I'm not sure if they really know what the lyrics are about because they know maybe I wrote them and I get it what he talking about sipping on coke and stuff I don't what is happening um because Nicola and Sarah are like somber in the beginning right even Kim she's sitting there you know she understands she understood but then you got Cheryl and Nadine Nadine serving face yeah it's running like it's the runway in The Matrix and I don't know what's going on their jackets are flapping and they're like

and I'm like ladies you know what the song's about and even the live performances with the choreo I think what made me go like purple was it

so much all the shoulders and the hands yes yes yeah whoever Craig got this no offense but full-on defense what the heck were you thinking okay um my favorite is after the first course when they all turned back and they do this weird like thing where they like lift their heads up and like yeah oh man the choreography for this is awful yeah which luckily on tour they just kind of stood there or sat there which is sad that was the right decision

life sucks don't believe in here like come on now I will say I have to shout out to what will the neighbors say to our version the live band sounds so good and you get so many extra harmonies like when Nadine and Sarah are like delting like the second verse the start of the second verse like uh the live version is just Second To None like it's so much better than the original yeah that's hilarious so I like when they they perform because they actually differentiate from the track itself no need to eat the CD all the time okay Pop um so yeah that being said what would you what rating would you give this song um I will give this one a nine how about you all right I'm gonna give Wonder cold also I'm gonna give Wonder Cola nine up next is Mars attack and it's done by Allison Clarkson AKA Betty Boo Paul Carter Amanda glanfield and produced by Betty Boo and the beat Masters rumor has that this song was at one point considered to be the second single before no good advice came along [Laughter] thank God because it would have been too much of a repeat after sound of the underground oh sometimes music labels don't what why would you do that I know I know I do remember the rumors though I think it was called can't stop rocking and that title was kind of being you know it was in like news articles and stuff like can't stop rocking so like I think that's why everyone was like oh this must have been the second single at some point um but yeah you know Betty Boo and the beat Masters are a very interesting partnership I guess um I would have loved to see what they would have given the group kind of later on like after Girls Aloud sound was kind of more established I think it would be interesting for them to come back and actually kind of adapt to that because I think that these songs they don't feel like they were written for a girl group right um I mean yeah I'm talking about this song and then another a couple other ones that we're going to talk about later um you know like this song is interesting like first off it's called Mars attack and there's no reference of planets or really anything to do with that in any of the lyrics um but I will say it does sound like an alien invasion you know like it's like aliens partying on a beach or something is what I picture with this one but it is fun it has a really catchy chorus I think the verses have some interesting moments like there's some weird structures and little moments that only happen once uh and I do love the little moment before the final chorus as well get down sister I'll dance like weirdly A Soulful there yeah um and yeah I could definitely see as you mentioned like why like if you got sound of the underground as the only brief and it's like hey we have this brand new girl group this is their number one single like we need more stuff like this it makes sense that this is what you would give or come up with you know yeah yeah it's a little sillier than sound of the underground but it still fits in sonically um but really my biggest gripe with this song is how prominent Betty's vocals are yeah like way louder than some of the other members like what choice is that like in the performance like Nicolas lip syncing to something but it's not her no that's my No I said the Nicola Nicola uh Nicolo boot part the nickel Betty Price and Boop Boo the Nicola boo Parts it's great it's fun though but let the girl sing yeah like Betty like you it's fine if you recorded the demo but like take yourself off it was giving JLo track it was giving early 2000s JLo track I was like what's going on is on here but yeah no um it's one of those things where I think It's a Good callback it's not in the underground like you said and the title reminds me of like one of those beasts that you find on YouTube where they'll name the beat something and they think they have to name the title of the song that too you're like no that's just the name of the beat so they had in my mind

um but you know being a singer that writes songs whose titles will never appear in the the lyrics whatsoever I understand it because you know because how frantic as you mentioned it sounded um I think it definitely injects a dose of fun futuristic pop into this album along with the sound you already heard what's on the Underground that UK that drum pattern and the song Blends all these elements of like nice I almost like disco but it's almost a little funky um Electro pop and it's really groovy it almost feels like oh that Groove is in the heart but again it's from this era of music that is just so strange and then when you hear like dance dance acts recreate 70s music 50s music this is what we get it's like we have all these synths now we have computers it's not just a band playing let's see what the heck we can do and I think this is fun because like really catchy hooky moments um the the one is so frantic that I like so much is Nicholas and Betty's part the hey baby hey baby

and I love that they get a dance break because they shake and wiggle so much again I know I keep joking and saying they can't dance well I didn't say that now but in the Pop 101 but whoever choreographed for them has them doing this weird body roll where they scoop Down super low like 90 degrees and come back up and I hate it so no like to be fair to what you were saying like they're not giving choreography that is like catered to their abilities yeah like it's inherently awkward yeah and so when you have people who are not natural movers like if you watch Cheryl and like can really like they they learn to adapt to it so they kind of make it look as good as they can but then you have like Sarah and Nadine they're like you told me to bend over and roll I'm gonna do that all that being said though what would you what would you rate the song because I don't think we had any negative notes but yeah I think it's a solid album track I'll give it a 7.5 okay yeah I think it doesn't fit on the album that again if it was like oh here's the brief like you mentioned I think that would explain the sound yeah um but yeah I'll give it a 7.5 top at you all right so the next one is stop which was done by Miranda Brian and Matt Gray of xenomania so from my understanding this was one of those last minute tracks that he added uh you know at you know when he was like these songs suck like I need a right Replacements very quickly I believe this was one of them and you can kind of tell because it's a little Half Baked um I would say it's a nice kind of Summer pop track I like that kind of distorted guitars and the pre-chorus they're kind of fun but everything's just a little muted you know there's nothing too creative production wise um Nadine sounds good you know I think she did what she could with it um and melodically I would say parts of it are fun to sing along to I like the na na Nas that kick in for that second chorus as well just to give it a little bit of a build and a little bit of a structure but otherwise it's just a bit forgettable for me um especially given kind of the later albums and stuff like this is not a song I ever really turned back to in any way but I'm so curious I wish with the deluxe version that they gave us these these horrible tracks that Brian had to replace because I'm just so curious what they sound like you know this is a quote yeah it would work to use but obviously he felt the need to replace them if they were that bad he was like listen I'll risk it all I'll risk it off right now just please let me change something um this song is um okay okay okay it's going back to what I said about um the other song what was it The Pedestrian one um oh some kind of Miracle some kind of Miracle yeah it it's just it's not bad it's just a little effort and yeah I mean it's one of those things where it's like we got like a day left put your best hitter in the in the stew do not do anything else don't just throw her in there don't worry about like trying to get the notes right just she can do it and I think that's kind of again it's a testament is what I was saying it's just she's good right um

I do wonder why not just try it go for it like were you doing this us formatted approach or was it like me just kind of like over here speculating with my jokes I don't know I mean she sounds good but there are some fun parts that the girls could have jumped on like like Sarah's starting the second verse like it's a um it's a good times roll into one she could have did that like that's so her she kind of pinned did that like little things like that or even harmonies that were like that could have been stacked in that bridge especially with that wonk the wonky sounds there like there's so many opportunities that were missed like how how hard is it to go all right love sing this part oh yeah oh yeah and she goes oh yeah oh yeah okay you love oh yeah oh yeah it's not that hard just do it it's not that hard right yeah um I will say like sonically speaking it sounds like a reject Ally and AJ song and granted they would release music like three years later but I could hear it on their their um their earlier stuff with Disney I could totally hear it um and again I'm just trying to figure out if the song is meh because of just the one voice even though it's a good voice it's still just a metal like Arrangement or if it's because the song structural or structurally and I'm leaning more toward the ladder because I don't think mindine could have did anything that wasn't asked of her so I'm yeah I think if the production was given way more oomph I think yeah the other members got some moments and stuff this would have been elevated it just feels rushed yeah and they're just half baked like I mentioned um so yeah um so what do you rate this one um I'll be nice I'll give it I'll give it a six that's a little bit lower but that's harsh it's not a bad song it's just not yeah I'll do 6.5 I mean yeah it's not a bad song in itself I think it more just suffers in the in the actual production and stuff of it all right up next we have girls Aloud with girls allowed and it's written by Brian McFadden of Westlife and Jonathan shorten produced by Graham stack well first I'm I'm sure these writers thought they were so clever with this world with this little word play here [Laughter] um I I will say I wish xenomania produced it because it's such a generic dance pop production um and I think that really takes away from it because the song itself is actually pretty good yeah I think that I think the way it was done like the over kind of the overly done just like disco influence distorted like sits and like uh you know really generic dance beat and everything it's just yeah yeah I think it's a solid like girl group pop song but it just makes it very faceless and it's just the fact that it's called Girls Aloud that it's like oh it was written specifically for them well if you didn't tell me that you know what I mean like yeah you could it could go to anyone um so that I think if xenomenia took it they could have done something really cool with it so that disappoints me a little bit um that makes sense and I do love though that a random Westlife member wrote it because this is very not Westlife at all but but uh I do actually like the vocal production on it though like at least each member gets a moment or two um there's some nice Unison moments that have a really good blend in the way that they produced it um I love I love Sarah getting to randomly take some leads in the final courses as well so clearly they were thinking about like who was singing what because Nadine was doing the ad libs at the time so they were like oh she's singing the ad-libs so then now this number needs to take lead here um so you know there was some thought put into that uh and I think the lyrics are really really fun I love the second verse with Sarah and Nicola um so yeah I think as a song like I said it's good but ah the production just not there yeah yeah like a lot of you man um this feels like a Max Martin wannabe kind of track to me it's not a good dead ringer I won't goes that far as to say like oh it is a cop is a derivative I won't say that but I'm like come on come on um and I think the track is fun like if thematically fits in with the girls like rebellious in a flirty style um I like the concept about going to the only place like where our girls allow wow wow that was cute um I love that like hello um I will say that the bridge section like that never give up remind you of the Spice Girls um there's certain moments of the Sun that reminds us again it's like this is like the DJ mashup brand of me but it's just it's welcomed it's not bad it's like never give up never give up I'm like interesting and also the drums toward the end there's like a slight section of drums that sound very Samba e so I was getting spice up your life for like two seconds again again I could be reaching but my brain is like whirring whirling excuse me with like different kind of like we gotta get you some DJ equipment so you can demonstrate your mashups yeah y'all because I'm like weirdly stroking the air join our patreon and we'll start building a fund oh my God yes y'all help me help DJ Shan get her life together um but yeah like things like that again I was just like I like that I like the bridge it's so much fun the song is fun but it's just it's just I don't think it was for them specifically because this girl's allowed y'all change the lyrics around as many y'all voted for them don't do that or maybe they did write like hey we have a girl group just go off they're called Girls Aloud and they weren't expecting sound of the underground to be the sound or anticipate it's in the media saying this is my baby don't touch it like you know like this is my squishy um so who who knows at this point I feel like a lot of people are just throwing their tracks at these girls totally you know and this was this one kind of feels like that and whatever was trendy at the time so they did promote this randomly on TV as well there is a CD UK performance so what'd you think of that chair choreography the pre the show chair choreography you see my face right now man that performance whoever came up with that Quail from Mars attack was throwing the same choreography but just on a chair yo yo the fact that they were hiding behind the chair oh my God that's my favorite part for like four eight counts they're just like that's what I'm hiding behind the chair oh my God it's hilarious like what is that see me I would have had some male dancers on the stage kind of like you know doing something something I mean they got male dancers later on on tour but that would have been perfect there's empty chairs with the open toward the front if you want to turn it around with the opening the pack maybe it would be like okay we just see lumps but oh my god oh and then again they get near the chair you know what they do Bend and roll and I'm like yo whoever choreography stop stop I'm sitting down with the handheld mic kicking their legs and doing fans and stuff I'm like get me out of here um more hands too you get the life got cold little hands too um yeah not very creative choreographer that they had in the beginning um luckily they changed the choreo for the tour the what will the neighbor say to her which I loved that performance the first off they made it just full-on disco which which was great and then we have the whole the freak say Chic little moments in there perfect so yeah redeem the song being performed live really brings it to love I like the song it's just for me I'm like this ain't y'all but then performing it that way you described the way we saw it I'm like okay I can see this I can see a little bit more but yeah yeah so yeah so for the recording I will give it a 7.5 because yeah I think that's a song it would be higher but the production brings it down how about you I I would I almost think what I like the eight I was like yeah okay up next is forever and the night done by Gary Miller Mark Mueller Andy goldmark and Brian Rowling if you didn't like my generic singing but you like this generic song I question your taste and you're not invited to the CCTV brunch Chris would you please kick us off oh my god um I think when they were a ring this album they probably sent sound of the underground and then they're very boring cover of stay another day as the two briefs yeah and this is what we got we got this really bad attempt at another kind of like valid winter single and it even actually has the same structure a stay another day uh in kind of every way like even vocally like you have Cheryl doing all the verses you have the dean leaving the courses the song itself is quite boring especially those verses oh my gosh that Melody is just so boring you know at least the chorus is is pretty like I think if you could use that chorus and write a better song around it but the production is so horrible on this song like I don't know if it's the production or if it's the mixing but it's so muddy you know what I thought the same thing it sounds like something from the 90s like the production itself so I'm thinking the mixing might be leaning toward that because I'm just like very muddy bear it's giving like a cassette tape or like late 90s like B-side and then also who are all the random women singing the bgvs there are so many random women on this song and I don't think Kimberly Nicola or Sarah are on it at all right I thought I was tripping I was like I'm not paying attention I've rewinded it we're wounded rewounded I rewounded a couple times and I thought I was tripping I was like there's no way y'all sat here it was like phoning in it was like like come on it's annoying because I know I'm a fresh fan still a toddler here in the fandom I get it but like this kind of ballad compared to like how good their ballots get as they progress It's so irritating even without that kind of knowledge I could listen to that and be like no like I know ballots don't have to be so you're the love of my life no one else has what we have you don't have to do that like who does that like throw some women on it this be a hit God no don't do that it just makes things feel a little fillery and uh the chorus is too simple I'm sorry with that guitar the guitar solo with the bridge and the wind time pipe thing before Nadine takes us home it's giving 90s demo I'm listen again if you like this song I do apologize but you are not invited to the CCTV brunch if you are new to CCTV I mentioned this back an hour forever Spice Girl review the brunch is where you want to be we can't play this song

Oh Lordy yes um so yeah I'll give this one a five how about you oh it's a five for me too all right so moving on to track 10 and we have Love Hate by Brian Niara and Eve bicker of xenomania all right yeah that intro was Funky Boy it's just like like let me not recreate sounds that I know are computer generated because I'm not a computer um but it is interesting because it draws your attention right before those drums come in um and it's a third track right at the end kind of somewhere toward the end that keeps the spirit of sound of the underground alive um and it still sounds fresh so it's like the the the genre is familiar but the approach is a little different like the the lyric the lyrics tell a story like a very generic story of a situationship but at least the arrangement is so much more stimulating than the last track oh my god um I like the guitar section toward the bridge it is interesting and it's a nice break from all the vocals um but speaking of the vocals I like the spaces in between each verse like they're singing and it's a little slight break and they sing some more and and I don't know if it's Nicola or Sarah but someone hits a nice little um head voice moment I think in one of the verses and I'm like oh yeah that's new I haven't heard that in a second no it's interesting because I haven't heard a lot of headways with them singing

none of that I'm like y'all could do it and some of you have the perfect vocals to have a nice clean little or something there's a couple songs I could use some oohs um but I digress um but yeah I think this is a this is an interesting one for sure and it's definitely a little bit better than Mars Attacks um not as fun but still still still um solid for sure yeah I think that's Nicola who's doing that little moment you're referencing and um I just have to say in general Nicola has been shafted during this entire album I think it's really only life got cold that she gets kind of a real moment in a song She's literally not in a lot of these songs or she gets a little bit so I'm very glad she kind of gets her flowers later on in the discography but I remember being very mad about that in the beginning uh but yeah this one's great uh the whole kind of drum and bass and garage thing those two influences are just so prominent in this one and obviously they're prominent in like sounding underground stuff too but in this one it's just very very clear um I love how it kind of mixes that dreaminess with that really harsh beat in the production it's just a really cool Dynamic and the chorus super fun to sing along to I think it is a very generic story but the whole kind of opposites kind of love hate you know me yeah like it's catchy and it's fun um and yeah they do all sound great um I I also think it's interesting in Cheryl's verse I don't know if you noticed they have her exhaling at the end of each line but the exhale is a separate take so it kind of overlaps sometimes with her line um and that's just for some reason always something that I've listened to and looked out looked for I guess or something I've noticed every time I've listened to the song um and I think this song is a great indicator of what they kind of we're gonna do after this album because I think this song could actually be on some of the other later albums it sounds a bit more mature I think yeah a great way to kind of bring back the xenomania because we haven't had them in the last couple tracks uh so I think sequence wise I I like that they kind of place this one near the end yeah yeah no honestly I think this song kind of has like some Stakes to it like it's just like it feels very like you know like a fight scene between like those action movies yeah there's a frustration there's a nice frustration yeah that's the word it's nice yeah I think thank you God see in a minute came back because goodness I need something like a palette cleanser that's the word you use do we talk about certain things or yeah we listen to certain soundtracks we're like oh that's terrible I need a ballet cleanser I'm like oh I love that yeah this one's a pellet cleanser for sure and uh it actually has a pretty good rating I almost gave it a 10. almost almost but then I was like you know what no I'm sorry no because the lyrics are just a little it's not quite there like you can hear the potential and and and the the top line that the melody is almost there but it's not quite so I'm gonna give it a 8.5 okay I'm gonna go in nine all right so the next one is boogie down love which was written by Betty Boo Paul Carter and Amanda glanfield and again produced by Betty Boo and the beat Masters so they're back after their little Mars attack um and they did do a b side I think they actually submitted a couple other tracks as well that we'll talk about in our part two um but this one's interesting uh it sounds kind of like 70s and 80s but then still kind of has that futuristic alien thing going on for it yeah um my favorite part is Nadine's kind of Soulful pre-chorus that comes in for that second verse and I do think the chorus is Fun the love me yeah the chance and then that kind of distorted and kind of kind of those little Whispers that come in afterwards like it's just an interesting chorus and again mildly chaotic but not to the point where it's noisy which I appreciate

a little bit just a little bit because I think it's chaotic but I think yeah I wasn't like overwhelmed at all during it I just heard the ending I didn't care for it was toward the end for me honestly like when all like the lasers come in oh my God don't get me started yes thank you the lasers um but I actually appreciate all the energy at the end like I think this would have been a fun one to see them perform oh yeah I think so too I think we would have gotten more of the bend over and body roll so maybe not love me love me

love me join us if you're watching

um but yeah I I think it is um quite interesting because the song shocked me at first I was sitting here like mind my business just left the last one

I was like what it's very wiry and wonky and I felt like I was in the you've seen that Batman dancing like from the Adam West Batman [Laughter]

um or or even a SpongeBob episode um but yeah no it was it was interesting because when I heard the the chorus that love me I was just I thought of pick me choose me love me

so I just like not me I'm like why why I was supposed to contacts and I listened to the rest of the words and I was like okay good I gotta get it it's not as like pick me as I thought it was but you know at the end it gets a little crazy because you get the bells and the whistles and the distorted sounds and then again I feel like I was locked in the galactic battle and I was just trying to find the bathroom [Laughter] trying to get out so it was a bit much for me a little bit but no I think they sound so cool The champ is cute um they sound kind of sexy the song is sexy in tone the production is just a little quirky that's it it's not a bad thing though it's just crazy so that being said um on my way to the bathroom I did catch a groove so I will give this um I'll give it a seven I'll give it so it's not bad okay I'll do a 7.5 I enjoy it up next we have Don't Want You Back by Anders badge Michelle Bell and Arthur Ferguson and this is the only track on the original tracklist of the album that was not included on the November 2003 repackage and I wonder why um I don't agree with that at all I think that was the wrong decision because this was actually another standout track for me actually when I first heard the album you know I love a British girl group so while this song is quite generic and could be like an atomic kitten song or something that's probably why I love it um because I actually think the song itself is great I think it has a really really nice melody yes the lyrics are a little cheesy but I think just as a nice pop song it does its job um you know the Swedish people came through you know um and again they all sound really really good again Nicolas I don't think is even on it but Nadine sounds great on those pre-choruses and then you get Sarah's Bridge which I think is with Kimberly with the harmonies and she gets that nice big note that's the first kind of big belts that we've had in minutes now um so I actually really really like this song I think maybe not so much for girls Aloud right for girls Aloud maybe it's a bit nah okay but for a girl group song I think it's good and maybe that kind of speaks to like just how good girls Aloud are as well um but I still listen to this one I enjoy it I I hear you I see you but I do not agree with you no joke I'm teasing um but you know I'm not gonna lie this because it does sound so generic I'm just like ah I think the chorus is nice I think that's where I I like the vocal stacking I just don't care for The Melody of it I don't want you back I just feel like even for a generic Puck girl girl group song it could have been so much better oh my God um and they have so many fun tracks on this album then you get to this song and I'm like I began to wonder when will it end so I can get back to the fun because it was just like oh come on oh listen I like the harmonies in the chorus like I said um and yes Nicola keeping her up until the end it's not okay y'all need to stop doing that yeah guys I'll do it it's not fair because I only heard her like not like I was like oh there she is and she's even there

before Sarah's Bridge no that's Sarah the whole thing oh no poor baby damn I was trying to give Nicola a bone dang no I don't think Nicola's even in this damn I wish we could have got a live performance I feel like this is one of those songs that they would totally deliver because they know how to emote well I will say that a lot of the songs have been a little bit fun in nature um but this one I feel like was like a true serious track and I would have been interested in maybe seeing a performance maybe that would kind of maybe change my mind um the lyrics are a little bit generic um but I do appreciate the sentiment of like not letting someone back until they love you for real but still you know you could have better so I like that because that's relatable as hell um so relatable and uh yeah that's pretty much all I have to say about it's not it's not a standout track for me okay yeah so why would you rate it it's gone I'm sitting at seven right now okay I'm going for 8.5 because I do enjoy it let me know which one do you agree with yes comments do you like the song all right yeah so we're at the last track of the standard album yes we know the UK had two bonus tracks but you'll just have to stay tuned for part two of our review when we talk about those and also all the other b-sides for this era yes yes so track 13 is White Lies which was done by Tim kellett and sandria Nordstrom I think Sarah's yeah yeah I think if she was more r b influenced her with her singing style she could have gone to a cute little roof with it I suppose just like this blur yay yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah the guy books you couldn't do anything else because the song leads itself because the song leans itself toward like that that Spice Girls style of r b where it's still Pop um or the story pop sounded at the time like I feel like she could have just like really gave it because Cheryl she sounds really good on this I feel like this kind of South fits her voice and she would end up in like some generic girl group that came from like a show this she would kill this because she sounds good on it because she has a nice like balance between the pop tone and like being able to kind of get a little Soulful a little bit I mean not she's not in a Dean but they both have their strength and I think this is Cheryl's kind of style for sure especially when you see what she does like kind of solo um but yeah I could imagine them strutting down the street singing to the camera with this chorus it is so like yeah [Music] it's angry but it's really pretty um um the song again is generic but the girl's personalities is heard in the song so the vocal production whoever vocal produced it did a really good job um it's not too much it's not too little and the Nicholas Bridge oh my God I love it but I also do think they use only one take because there's no differentiation in the One Tone and I'm like give the girl a chance dang oh um you know I do enjoy this song it sounds like um How Soon Is Now from The Charmed soundtrack and also some other um like again random pop song from this time period so I like the the the quirky little weird electronic sounds is in it as well as some of the like quote-unquote natural sounds of the guitar and the drums so yeah but it's kind of that's that's kind of that kind of classic Swedish pop thing like the rock influence with the pop sensibilities all these Max Martin trainees you know all coming out to like write their own songs um yeah I enjoy this one I think like you said it is again a tad generic and again that's really is just a testament to how awesome xenomenia was at making girls Aloud really have their own thing going but again I think this is a great girl group song I think any other number of girl groups could really have released this as a single yeah as a successful single yeah I think this song is actually very very good and almost it was kind of Wasted by giving it to girls loud in a way um yeah but I think it's super super catchy the chorus is awesome I love the ruin and everything like that little Hook is really really fun and super memorable and the yeah like you said the vocal production is really nice like the little Unison vocals through the chorus and the and kind of the post chorus as well like just really really well structured and um yeah again a nice amount of sass a nice amount of frustration from each of them as well yeah so yeah I think it's a solid track um again an outlier and girls alouds discography yeah but a peek at what maybe a generic album would have looked like for them like this really could have been a single and another timeline for sure yeah for sure for sure I I think this one's good um and I think maybe because the two back-to-back like clinical generica songs um I think this one appeals more to my personal taste of around that time what was out so I think that's why I'm like oh yeah this one I don't mind it being generic but I just don't think it fits on this album yeah towards them right so yeah oh it's so hard to do these ratings and not consider the whole scope of like I know I know not even like what they're gonna do next which is the album itself and like what they were their image and everything you know so what do you rate it though I'm curious I will give it a nine I think it's one of the highlights from this album how about you yeah it's a pretty solid outro I'm going to give it um I mean I'll give it 8.5 okay all right so we're at the cut or keep section now so if you had to cut a song off this album what would you choose and why before I get my response if you'd like to cut one song from this album and keep one song to this on this album please definitely drop a comment below we'll read it um we love your responses because some of y'all are so funny yeah please join in I choose to cut forever in a day and a night in a day and a night and a night in a day I just I just I just no it's not strong enough even with the other ones that we rated pretty like on the lower spec side of the spectrum it just doesn't even stand it doesn't even hold a candle to you know on the lower tracks that I rated so nah get rid of it no no yeah I'm gonna have to agree with you on that I was trying to justify it at one point where I was like maybe they felt like they needed a ballad on the album just to like give it a little bit more of you know just a range but like just as the song it sucks like the actual song is terrible like in every way so I can't even justify it with that um yeah um okay if I had to keep a song that's really hard I think the one that still jumps out the most to me is no good advice like even more than sound of the underground I think no good advice is such an awesome track um yeah I'm gonna agree with you on that one too look at us yeah yeah that one's yeah because all the good songs became singles at this point it's just like I mean keep them keep all but a couple yes exactly all right so I guess as a final rating and just overall thoughts I think at the end of the day it's a solid girl group album I think like we've been alluding to this whole time this is Girls aloud's Least successful least popular album like among the fans in general like they were clearly still trying to figure out what they were going to do and um there are so many flashes of Brilliance and yes there are a couple Duds and it's not the most cohesive project but I appreciate some of the risks they took like with the Betty Boo tracks um I think it's interesting to listen to to kind of just hear their potential vocally and kind of just what they were trying to do I don't know I think it's kind of just interesting to listen to Just in the breadth of their discography because it's the only album that xenomania didn't do I think I'll actually give it an eight like I think if you if you took this album and compared it to a lot of other girl groups and their debut albums it stands up yeah and one thing I've noticed uh with UK pop especially around this era it was a lot of that's not a lot of it's not a fair word to say but I noticed there was this trend of hearing it was cool and popping in America and Brit popping it a bit um it's not a bad thing because every country needs their representative so and so right it happens throughout music but I can say without a doubt because they decided to lean towards sounds that were very prominent in the UK soundscape it made it like oh hang on now what they doing what they're doing so I think that's what definitely set them apart too they were just like here is um UK Pop's new sound right even if they didn't know that was going to happen the goal was this UK based group here it is Spice Girls are kind of like where are they here's what we got and I think this is a good kind of like attempt at trying to capitalize on the success of a TV show group you know so I agree I want to give it an eight nice yeah so yeah so the socials have been posting a lot of unseen pictures and we got the alternative mix of sound of the underground and the accompanying video with the unreleased footage which was a nice surprise so I'm just glad they are celebrating all of this I think like I mentioned this is arguably their worst and least successful album so if they're doing the most for this project I'm excited to see what they're gonna bring out for the other albums um and I've decided to do our part too because some of these these sides are a mess oh stop oh my god

oh no honestly this mess that you were talking about uh we'll see what happens because I I want something that's probably never gonna happen um and I don't want to say it to have someone say it's never gonna happen they said it's not gonna happen but you know I won't say it's never gonna happen but uh it's nice to kind of see them together you know people talking again and such if they want to release more pajamas I will buy them because they're I mean well you will buy them for me and bring them please

but uh yeah no it's nice to kind of see this them as like cool again and being willing to release things and talk about it and talk about the fun they had I do wish um I do wonder if any girl groups coming down the line will acknowledge them um a little bit more and I think it'd be fun to kind of talk about like their their effect on K-POP even with denim I think it's a fun episode to kind of talk about but I think a lot of my wishes for them are pretty similar to you I was pretty much in alignment with yours I'll take what I can get yeah I think you know end mix it's time do a biology cover like that'd be awesome thank God I was gonna say one of the Betty Boo songs and mix need to take it

well thank you all so much for listening and or watching we would love to know what you think about the album have you purchased any versions of the new 20th anniversary edition let us know and if you haven't yet go check out our girls Aloud Pop 101 episode where we discuss the group's entire career and also let us know what other albums you'd like to hear us review by commenting below or messaging us at CCTV pops on all social media and of course if you want priority choice you can come join our crew on patreon don't forget to like subscribe and turn on notifications for our YouTube channel and if you're enjoying the show on a podcast platform please give us a follow rating and review until next time that's Shan that's kiss and we're signing off from CCTV the non-stop pop show [Music]