Girls Aloud - Out of Control

[peachonice]

As for this being a cash-in, I don't see it at all. It's too eclectic and, yes, fresh for that accusation to stick. As for the 'hype and excitement' I think there's PLENTY of that around.

Well obviously there is always going to be loads of hype on PJ about a new Aloud album but don't you think it'd be nice if, for once, they'd have a different release pattern which didn't rely on cashing in on xmas sales? Also it wouldn't hurt to take a bit of time away then actually have a comeback of sorts. It'd cement them as a serious act because at the moment, them churning out an album per year makes them seem a wee bit 'throwaway' and pop puppet who don't seem to grow artistically (cue fans saying 'this is their most mature sound yet!!1!).

 

[Pen Expers]

I honestly think this album could be massively improved with more Nadine. Nadine belting the chorus of Miss You Bow Wow would completely change it, for the better.

No! She still has a major spot, why the HELL is it a bad thing that parts are more evenly dealt? Miss You Bow Wow would not sound better with belting as the main chorus is absolutely perfectly rendered. That's the thing, Nadine does belting, and it fits in an epic, open song like Untouchable, but not in the more intricate numbers.

 

[David_X]

As for this being a cash-in, I don't see it at all. It's too eclectic and, yes, fresh for that accusation to stick. As for the 'hype and excitement' I think there's PLENTY of that around.

Well obviously there is always going to be loads of hype on PJ about a new Aloud album but don't you think it'd be nice if, for once, they'd have a different release pattern which didn't rely on cashing in on xmas sales? Also it wouldn't hurt to take a bit of time away then actually have a comeback of sorts. It'd cement them as a serious act because at the moment, them churning out an album per year makes them seem a wee bit 'throwaway' and pop puppet who don't seem to grow artistically (cue fans saying 'this is their most mature sound yet!!1!).

I think people would criticise them more if they took some time out and came back, they'd get accused of "doing a Spice Girls" even though the'd be doing nothing of the sort.

And I hate to say this but I honestly do think this is their most mature sound yet. It doesn't mean it's perfect, it means it's mature. The lyrics, the melodies, all speak of experience.

And I just a tear in my eye while listening to Untouchable. It's six minutes but it's over too fast for me.

 

[ElectricPlatypus]

I honestly think this album could be massively improved with more Nadine. Nadine belting the chorus of Miss You Bow Wow would completely change it, for the better. I have no idea why she's practically hidden on this album. It worked for the 5 before!

RIGHT?!?! I mean Nadine has always been the unspoken lead singer and while I know many hardcore fans since PSTR really like hearing more of the other girls, I always thought this was good for the band. The vocals are much thinner as a result of lack of Nadine. Sometimes I can't tell if it is Kimberley, Cheryl, or Hilary Duff singing.

 

[cleggar]

Just having a quick look over the lyrics, it struck me how negative and cold a lot of the lyrics are - a fair few of the songs on this album are real shivers down your spine moments for me and i found the emotion behind some of these lyrics really quite chilling

starting to fade

But you turn away
love we left behind
Monday morning/rush hour (dreary monotony of day to day life)
am i not the Loving Kind? (self-doubt)
lost our way
dreaming of yesterday (longing for something in the past)

i was getting lonely/needed you to hold me
shadow in my heart
what could have been
gone are the days of magic/rolling back the rivers in time (again, longing for the past)

i get into debt
used to go for guys that made me cry

don't turn away/just don't leave me now/moving in circles
i stand alone
Turn to stone
did we let it go?
kisses you've stolen
standing in the way of the love we made

it don't matter to me
turning cold
walk away, what a waste

That's exactly what I mean. The lyrics are so cold and negative, it's quite hard to take from a once happy and fun popband. And I don't think they've managed to do it in an inventive way.

"i was getting lonely/needed you to hold me" is not a Girls Aloud lyric. It's so normal and run of the mill.

I actually find some of the parts in the songs embarrassing. They've gone one step too far with the randomness. The chant at the end of Love Is Pain, Nadine's shocking rap in Revolution and the majority of Live In The Country is like a producer said 'Now, how can we be like Girls Aloud? I know, let's talk rubbish and chant things'. And it just doesn't work.

You think singing 'Love Is Pain Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh' in a song called 'Love Is Pain' is embarassing? And how is the randomness of the lyric of 'Live In The Country' any more rubbish than 'But if I thought I had a shocker, all the folks would say go'.

It's funny the way that 'Tangled Up' is spoke of like 12 instantly catchy and melodic pop songs. Play 'I'mFalling', 'What You Crying For?' or 'Damn' to someone that has never heard those songs before and I'm sure you'll hear them humming along instantly (<<<<< sarcasm).

This album is business as usual for Girls Aloud - ie. a good mix of straightforward, big catchychorus pop songs and more random, mental and ultimately hard to get into concept tracks.

I think you should try and live with the album a bit longer before you start throwing words like 'embarassing' around, otherwise come 6 months when you love the album the only person that's going to be embarassed is yourself.

I mean the way it's chanted. It's just bizarre and doesn't work. Not the words themselves. And I'm Falling isn't embarrassing because it has a theme to match the music - the downfall of a popstar. The lyrics fit and make perfect sense. Dreaming of rural life over drum n bass? Come on!

Those three Tangled Up songs are catchy and were instantly memorable. They definitely had stronger hooks than the majority of this album.

If we all lived with an album 6 months before forming our opinions, these forums would be very dull. I've listened a few times and it's how I feel. And anyway, if in time I come to enjoy the songs, I won't be embarrassed, I'll be happy!

 

[usernametaken]

Sainsbury's seem to think the album will be number one on Monday. How lovely and optimistic of them!

The artwork is so bloody ugly! I actually thought about not buying it!

 

[cleggar]

The back cover is absolutely disgusting. Nobody in their right mind should have allowed that to go out into the public.

 

[David_X]

I actually think Live In The Country, a song which could have gone horrificly wrong, actually turned out brilliant. I love the way it starts as quite dark drum and bass, and then becomes very upbeat, and then starts singing about the country! The juxtaposition works very well, but what I love most is the desperate hopefullness in the lyrics.

"Everything will be okay if I live in the country" just aches of someone stuck somewhere they don't want to be, whether literally or in a relationship. It's the naive hope in it that, for me, sometimes even creates a moving moment.

Then of course, the animal noises come in and it's just like waking up from a dream.

 

[someboy0716]

I too wish there some more Nadine. She's their best vocalist, she should be featured more prominently.

 

[Smoke My Cigar]

The back cover is absolutely disgusting. Nobody in their right mind should have allowed that to go out into the public.

I didn't think the back cover was that bad from the small scan on the Woolies site but after buying the CD today and actually seeing the back cover it is FUCKING AWFUL. The font, the spacing, the text size, placing on the back, it's all so wrong.

 

[cleggar]

I actually think Live In The Country, a song which could have gone horrificly wrong, actually turned out brilliant. I love the way it starts as quite dark drum and bass, and then becomes very upbeat, and then starts singing about the country! The juxtaposition works very well, but what I love most is the desperate hopefullness in the lyrics.

"Everything will be okay if I live in the country" just aches of someone stuck somewhere they don't want to be, whether literally or in a relationship. It's the naive hope in it that, for me, sometimes even creates a moving moment.

Then of course, the animal noises come in and it's just like waking up from a dream.

I'm all for seeing deeper meanings within songs. I still think Black Jacks is about the plight of a prostitue stuck in love with a man she's paid to have sex with. I love exploring that.

But I do just think Live In The Country is just about living in the country. Nothing more. That's why it doesn't work for me. It's such a vapid and superficial subject for a song.

 

[cleggar]

The back cover is absolutely disgusting. Nobody in their right mind should have allowed that to go out into the public.

I didn't think the back cover was that bad from the small scan on the Woolies site but after buying the CD today and actually seeing the back cover it is FUCKING AWFUL. The font, the spacing, the text size, placing on the back, it's all so wrong.

I have never felt so powerfully over something so pointless. It is just horrendous! I honestly want to meet whoever designed it and find out what on earth they were thinking.

 

[Feltano]

The magic of lyrics though, or for any piece of writing, is that it is completely open for analysis - and because of the very ambiguous way that Xenomania often write their songs, Girls Aloud are prime targets for this.

Something like 'i was getting lonely/needed you to hold me' might seem like a generic pop lyrics but in the context of the song and if you wish, taking into account the Girls own lives, it can take on a whole new life

I love the whole Nadine intro on Rolling Back... that and the Cheryl middle-eight part make this song for me

 

[David_X]

I actually think Live In The Country, a song which could have gone horrificly wrong, actually turned out brilliant. I love the way it starts as quite dark drum and bass, and then becomes very upbeat, and then starts singing about the country! The juxtaposition works very well, but what I love most is the desperate hopefullness in the lyrics.

"Everything will be okay if I live in the country" just aches of someone stuck somewhere they don't want to be, whether literally or in a relationship. It's the naive hope in it that, for me, sometimes even creates a moving moment.

Then of course, the animal noises come in and it's just like waking up from a dream.

I'm all for seeing deeper meanings within songs. I still think Black Jacks is about the plight of a prostitue stuck in love with a man she's paid to have sex with. I love exploring that.

But I do just think Live In The Country is just about living in the country. Nothing more. That's why it doesn't work for me. It's such a vapid and superficial subject for a song.

Ah, but that's where you need to dig a little deeper.

And what's really sad is that I prefere looking at the back cover than the front.

 

[Pen Expers]

The undertones of "Live in the country" aren't necessarily sad or melancholic, but the lyrics are still not "vapid and superficial". Things don't have to be about love to be meaningful, or grim to be intelligent. The naivety of it resonates well with me, sort of a "I know utopia doesn't exist, but I'm gonna yearn for it either way".

 

[RHOPJ]

Also it wouldn't hurt to take a bit of time away then actually have a comeback of sorts. It'd cement them as a serious act because at the moment, them churning out an album per year makes them seem a wee bit 'throwaway' and pop puppet who don't seem to grow artistically (cue fans saying 'this is their most mature sound yet!!1!).

The same could be said about...well, Britney. Her comeback last year seems to have heralded another comeback this year. And many would say Britney is a brainless pop puppet whose music is totally throwaway. Those comments, however, aren't really accurate and I say that for Girls Aloud as well. Even the Sugababes have 'churned a new album out' when you consider how recent Change was.

 

[Smoke My Cigar]

The back cover is absolutely disgusting. Nobody in their right mind should have allowed that to go out into the public.

I didn't think the back cover was that bad from the small scan on the Woolies site but after buying the CD today and actually seeing the back cover it is FUCKING AWFUL. The font, the spacing, the text size, placing on the back, it's all so wrong.

I have never felt so powerfully over something so pointless. It is just horrendous! I honestly want to meet whoever designed it and find out what on earth they were thinking.

Notice how whomever 'designed' the album and single artwork doesn't have their name listed anywhere. It was obviously in-house or they just gave Sarah and Nadine some crayons and Microsoft Notepad and told them to get creative.

 

[RhythmNative]

If we all lived with an album 6 months before forming our opinions, these forums would be very dull. I've listened a few times and it's how I feel. And anyway, if in time I come to enjoy the songs, I won't be embarrassed, I'll be happy!

I'm not saying don't have an opinion, but if it were me, and I was just listening to it for the first few times, I wouldn't use sweeping statements like 'embarassing' because that suggests a little more than 'I don't like this one because...'. I really didn't like 'Love Is The Key' on my first review, but I held back on slating the talky American accent chorus because I've become used to things that sound weird and out of place in pop music becoming endearing with repeated listens.

I just find it odd as well that you've picked out the bits you have. Yeah 'Live In The Country' is weird and silly - but you've heard Racey Lacey right? Some of the comments in the last three pages are like walking into a forum of people that are approaching this album without the benefit or ever hearing a Girls Aloud, or Xenomnia album before...

 

[lisaj]

I actually think Live In The Country, a song which could have gone horrificly wrong, actually turned out brilliant. I love the way it starts as quite dark drum and bass, and then becomes very upbeat, and then starts singing about the country! The juxtaposition works very well, but what I love most is the desperate hopefullness in the lyrics.

"Everything will be okay if I live in the country" just aches of someone stuck somewhere they don't want to be, whether literally or in a relationship. It's the naive hope in it that, for me, sometimes even creates a moving moment.

Then of course, the animal noises come in and it's just like waking up from a dream.

That's that the kind of thing Neil Tennant would write about, escaping to a better life. Pet Shop Boys influences are all over this album. I've had six listens today and I'm definitely warming to it now. I have to disregard previous albums and view this independently.

 

[RHOPJ]

Or Lisa, as I did, listen to Chemistry and then this. I threw Tangled Up off my iPod for Chemistry last night and listened to it as I went into town today which is fortuitous for me because it just works for me.