CHERYL COLE
3 Words
(UNIVERSAL) B

So here it is. The first member of Girls Aloud to venture off into the world of the Solo Album. Whilst the five-piece are still that (for now), they’ve taken a year off to focus on solo projects; Nadine’s apparently recording a camp disco-stomper with a song written by Paula Abdul, Sarah Harding’s making movies with Doctor WHO’s David Tennant, Nicola Roberts is being head-hunted by Vivienne Westwood for a new clothing campaign, and Kimberley… well, I’m sure Kimberley’s enjoying her cups of tea on the balcony almost as much as she enjoys watching Chezz on the telle for Sunday nights X-Factor (Hopefully she’s stoned the whole way through because… actually, let’s face it, she probably is, so I might just move on.)

It’s no surprise though that Cheryl Cole would be the first to release a solo album. Although all bets were on Coyle, I’m sure Cole wanted to beat the other four to the punch in order to be remembered as the first to do it, perhaps. X Factor Judge, Tabloid-adored WAG, Girl Aloud, and now; Solo Artist. But can the music on her first long player match her sometimes inflated ego? There seems to be a little bit of proof in this pudding…

3 WORDS (featuring will.i.am)
Cheryl’s previously worked with will.i.am, so it’s no surprise she’s roped him in for her debut. Wise move too; however annoying you might find the Black Eyed Pea, this is proof he’s capable of penning some seriously good pop music. Think BEP’s “I Gotta Feeling”, but if it were actually good. VERY epic breakdowns, this is a heavenly way to open things. Also the next single.

PARACHUTE
Heavy, dramatic marching band happenings with a brilliant middle-8. There’s some hidden brass in there as well, and the final 30 seconds are somewhat magical. The biggest, brightest moment on 3 Words but, quite tellingly, the saddest Cheryl sounds on here.

HEAVEN (featuring will.i.am)
Another will.i.am moment on the record, it’s interesting to note that this is the first song whose verses are structured together more like it was written for a group of, oh, say, five girls? It’s a bit all over the place to be honest and the chorus is fairly aggravating, but underneath there is actually something decent here.

FIGHT FOR THIS LOVE
The first single, and the second best moment on the record. This is a straight-up, urban-pop song that even has a Shannon ‘Let The Music Play’/Debbie Deb ‘When I Hear Music’ 1980’s dancefloor feel to it. Hey X Factor performance of this was off the hook. View.

RAIN ON ME
SOMEONE CALL RONSON! COLE’S FOUND THE HORN SECTION!! But in all seriousness, this is World Class pop right here; there are elements of 1970’s soul and 1990’s urban-pop. The latter actually seems to be a distant motif through 3 Words, actually; there are a LOT of 1990’s elements through the record, just in time for this inevitable nineties comeback we’re due for any day now. “What’s the price of Thunder? Rain on me.” Amazing. It sounds nothing like her though.

MAKE ME CRY
Cheryl turns to disco-funk, and rips into a bit of swearing too along the way! Great track, though some might complain about the repetitiveness of the chorus. It is an initial weakness, but one you do grow to love after a few listens. This felt like album filler for the first few days but is now vying for the title of being my favourite on 3 Words.

HAPPY HOUR
There’s nothing particularly wrong with this – but – song content and pitch of Cole’s voice; is she trying to be Amy Winehouse or something? BUT SINGING ABOUT LOVE AS IF IT WERE THE DRIP. Bit of a bore, this one – not offensive but not really all that good either.

STAND UP
Written for Cole by Taio Cruz, there’s every chance this could be the third single. BONZA chorus that sounds like it could have Cruz on backing vocals. All kinds of brilliant, a highlight, even if it doesn’t sound anything like Cheryl for most of it. I like to sing “Coz I came here to dance, I’m gonna pull up my pants and stand up! Stand up!” during the chorus. Try it; works better.

DON’T TALK ABOUT THIS LOVE
I gave this a bit of a hard time in my print review, but I’ve since changed my mind and actually think it’s quite lovely. Sorry Cheryl; please don’t strike me and call me a Jigaboo.

BOY LIKE YOU (featuring will.i.am)
Sampling Fleetwood Mac’s “Little Lies”, it all just sounds like a bunch of noise by the end of it, and the rent-a-rapper-feel of will.i.am’s delivery just makes this all the harder to sit through. Phoned in much?

HEARTBREAKER (will.i.am featuring Cheryl Cole)
This has aged surprisingly well, hasn’t it?

THE VERDICT…
3 Words seems to have slightly suffered from a time restriction. There are a lot of really interesting ideas on this record, and a few songs which are perfect from start to finish, but there are a handful of songs that could have been absolute stompers, but appear to sound somewhat half-finished. And it’s those songs that, unfortunately, are the ones which feel like they were the most rushed. The singles are identifiable, absolutely, and there are golden album-only moments on it, but overall, 3 Words could have really been a bit better, and maybe released before Christmas, rather than October. It would have been interesting to see where Cole could have taken the album had she been given an extra two months to work on it, particularly with the obvious 1990’s urban-pop and 1980’s electronica inspired moments sprinkled across the disc. Everything is here for this to be a truly momentus record, but it just comes down to it only being a half-finished album in a few of its tracklisting placements.

That said, I still haven’t stopped listening to selected highlights from it all week, so go figure.

Read Talia’s ace review, and Mr Discopop’s equally as brill one (I love the Parachute summary. Amazing.)

EDIT. The album INSTANTLY went from a B- to a solid B with the following amended tracklisting:

01. Parachute
02. Fight For This Love
03. Rain On Me
04. Stand Up
05. 3 Words
06. Make Me Cry
07. Heaven
08. Happy Hour
09. Boy Like You
10. Crazy Fool (GA solo-Cheryl b-side)
11. Heartbreaker (will.i.am ft. Cheryl)
12. Don’t Talk About This Love
13. Didn’t I (FFTL b-side)

See? Much better!

Girls Aloud video clips are not exactly renowned for their cinematic brilliance. At times, they are often sloppily choreographed, shonkily edited and look like they’ve cost the record company about £2.50. It’s something we’ve grown to love about the girls; great songs, shit clips.

But in recent times, it seems the Girls (or at least their people) have been spending at least a good £10.50 on each video clip, in particular the last two for “The Loving Kind” and “Untouchable.” Interestingly, those two singles, although being some of the girls strongest work, were the weakest performers they’ve had in a while. Which begs the question as to whether these (slightly) more expensive video clips have anything to do with it. Do the music buying public not want the Girls to look expensive? Or is it because so much money was spent on the video clip, there was not enough money to go and promote the single? Let’s take a look at the evidence… (Click on the song titles to view video clips…)

>>> All 21 of GA’s video clips dissected… after the jump!
Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been three years since British-pop wizards the Pet Shop Boys delivered their last studio album, the dazzling “Fundamental”. There’s no denying that particular record was almost perfect, particularly after the bore that was 2002’s “Release.” “Fundamental” came complete with flawless pop moments in the form of “Integral”, “Numb”, and an arms-aloft, poppers o’clock remix of Dusty Springfield’s “In Private,” turned into an emotionally driven, camp-anthem with a little help from Elton John. There were, however, moments of weakness, like the dire “Psychological” or weak lead single “I’m With Stupid.” It may have been the official comeback album for them, but studio long player number ten, “Yes”, is a cut much more deserving of the title, and one that sees them working alongside Xenomania; Girls Aloud’s top-of-the-pops-force writing and production team.

From the lovestruck beauty of “Did You See Me Coming?”, to the cheekiness of “Pandemonium” (in which Neil Tennant coos “Is this a riot, or are you just happy to see me?”), or the drama of “Legacy”, there isn’t a single skip-forward moment to be found. There’s plenty to crow about in songs like “Vulnerable” (the records greatest, most delicate and heartbreaking moment, made all the more powerful by that impeccable “I’m just filing my nails” lyric delivery from Tennant we’ve all come to know and love), “More Than A Dream” (which needs to be a single thanks to its catchier than V.D. chorus), and “The Way It Used To Be”, which are the absolute hallmark moments on “Yes”.

Opener and lead single “Love etc.” is an erratically complex pop song that throws together one of the most dysfunctional song structures you’ll have heard in years. Bizarre placement of the bridge and chorus before we’ve even heard a verse is classic Xenomania, but this is still 100% a Pet Shop Boys song; an instant classic. And that’s the brilliant thing about this record; it has sprinklings of Xenomania throughout yet manages to present itself completely as a proper and unique Pet Shop Boys disc.

It’s incredible to see Neil and Chris producing their best record since 1993’s “Very” a good 25 years into their career. And maybe they’ve found the right tools (like salt to a meal, there are small servings of Xenomania added to “Yes” which gives it its subtle bite) in order to bring out their sonic flavour.

On a final note, the other night I came up with what I thought was the most hilarious joke. I sent it to Popjustice but, alas, I don’t think they found it as hilarious as I did.

Q: What movie do the Pet Shop Boys call their absolute favourite?
A: Love, Actually.

Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week. Please; try the veal.

Worra‘review! > > >
Fizzy? Yes! > > >
D’banter’yes! > > > (HEY! I’m one of those American Life fans!)
Will W. + EQ = Yes! > > >
Dan’s INCREDIBLE 25 years of PSB fact machine = YES! > > >

And Yes! (er, enough of that perhaps), I’m back to blogging properly. Sorry it’s taken me 27 different breakdowns and large gaps in between posts… I do hope you’ll forgive me. x

When Girls Aloud announced in 2006 they were coming to Australia to try and crack our local market, I set up a separate (R.I.P.) website called ‘Girls Aloud: Boogie Down (Under) Love’ with relevant information for people to help/stalk the girls whilst they were in the country. Campaigns were launched, the whole shebang. The girls came, “Biology” was released to minimal promotion or work from the record company, and the whole visit was pretty much a waste of time (not for me as I got to meet them, but, you know, I’m sure they weren’t too pleased about debuting at #26.)

There’s a new renegade group who are now trying to do the same. Years later, Girls Aloud are still a pop force to be reckoned with, and it’s genuinely unfathomable for me to understand why Universal Australia won’t even *release* their music here. Sugababes sell just as low and yet I have been able to purchase all of their albums locally.

There’s a way you can help. There is a facebook group here. Join it. Read through it.

There are also the following video’s. Let’s have a gander…

“I approve.”

I’ll be purchasing a copy of the donktastic Alex K remix of “Call The Shots” on the 27th through iTunes. You can do the same too by clicking here (on the 27th, mind.)

My beloved Girls Aloud have, after 7 years, finally won themselves a Brit Award at the annual UK music awards night.

Taking the gong for Best Single thanks to “The Promise”, the UK popstrels were, in a move which takes the Girls back to their roots, winners of the award thanks to a public vote.

I’m pretty happy. Incredibly happy, even. I heard the news this morning at work and I reacted almost as if I’d won the bloody thing myself. Am avoiding all internet videos of the awards though as it’s being aired on Australian television next week some time, and I’d like to save myself for big-screen-plasma viewing. So it’ll be a while before I actually see the acceptance speech, which in itself is going to be a very, very hard task for me to complete.

Congratulations to Girls Aloud, a long overdue achievement.

I am (quite seriously) going out on the town tonight with my BFF Ben to celebrate.

And so it begins; the obligatory list season. As usual, I’ll kick it all of with my 10 favourite video clips of the year. Whether or not these songs are released in 2008 or 2009 doesn’t matter; the clip surfaced in 2008 (excluding #7, which surfaced after I’d compiled my list last year), and that’s all that matters to me.

01.  GIRLS ALOUD – The Loving Kind

Finally! They’ve given us something worth watching. After years of still-quite-good but cheap-looking video clips, Girls Aloud have blown me completely out of the water with this, the latest for their upcoming single “The Loving Kind.” This is proper, pop star territory, and the clip alone is solid enough to launch them properly in other countries, don’t you think?

02. LILY ALLEN – The Fear

Everything feels right in the world now that Lily’s making music again, doesn’t it? And this clip is a million levels of adorable. Naturally, it all comes complete with that infamous Allen bite you either love or hate. No matter what she does, or who she slags off, I just cannot hate her. There’s something very special about Lily…

03.  JUSTICE – Stress

This caused a bit of a ruckus when released earlier this year, so much so I had emails from people condemning me and the website for hailing it as a piece of brilliance. Whatever. The clip is still gold, and you can read whatever it was I crapped on about in regards to it by clicking here.

04.  MIAMI HORROR – Don’t Be On With Her

Miami Horror wanted to make an authentic 80’s looking video clip for his televisual debut, and I think it’s safe to say he’s hit a bloody home run with this. An absolute corker and a rock-solid throwback to an era when video clips were important, and not relegated to a tiny screen on YouTube.

05.  VAN SHE – Changes

There’s something quite charming about this clip, which is essentially a bunch of photographs put together as a film from one of the boys many tours of Japan this year. It’s just really, really cute, and looks rather mindblowing on a HI-DEF big screen TV.

06.  THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS – The Age Of The Understatement

Epic.

07.  ASHLEE SIMPSON – Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)

Simpson does Salvador Dali, whilst still retaining all of her pop credentials. Jessica Who?

08.  ROISIN MURPHY – You Know Me Better

Subtle brilliance. And how’s about those divine costumes?

09.  ROISIN MURPHY – Movie Star

Anyone that pays homage to John Waters and Divine deserves a pat on the back in my books. But when that someone is Roisin Murphy, well, a pat turns into a gigantic hug. Something I got from the woman herself earlier this year.

10.  MUSCLES – The Lake

Even if he doesn’t appear in the clip (boo!), this is still a stunningly pieced bit of music video. That sequence at the end with the disgruntled old man clasping onto the woman’s foot reminds me, strangely, of Kristin Davis’ death scene on Melrose Place. Bravo!

GIRLS ALOUD
Out Of Control
(FASCINATION) A+

Girls Aloud are more than just a pop group. Though, really, were they ever ‘just’ a pop group? The rapid climb from reality show winners to respected performers is somewhat of a blur for anyone who’s been following them from the beginning. Within 12 months of their inception, any reality-tv-born shackles that could have held them down were banished; the combination of their charm as a group, those incredibly collated songs and no issue to tip pop music conventions upside down on its head has seen the girls delivering their unique brand of panty-liner-punk to the worlds pop climate for the last six years. This is a group whose affections are felt by an eclectic base of music lovers. Indie-gods the Arctic Monkeys, Nu-ravers The Klaxons, bizarre Brit-rocker’s Franz Ferdinand and even Coldplay’s Chris Martin are all strong supporters. In the words of Martin, Girls Aloud are the ultimate form of life. They are a pop music institution that will headline a main-stage rock festival alongside the Kings Of Leon and The Verve without any sense of irony, no matter how high the hair or thick the make-up. They are an act that have given us cheeky quips like “she’s made seduction a work of art, a PHD with her legs apart” and “shut your mouth because your shit might show.” They flip the finger to the world below; you can’t mistake their Biology. They have given pop music so much over the years, and – what may come as a surprise to anyone who thought they’d never outlast their second album – they continue (with dizzying success levels) in this giving fashion for record number five.

Opening with the swoozy-sixties-driven lead single The Promise (their fourth UK #1 single, and 19th Top 10 hit) fires Out Of Control in an exceptionally euphoric fashion. Typically, Girls Aloud and their producers Xenomania don’t piss-fart around with your conventional verse-chorus-bridge musical proceedings; preferring to throw in 6 different choruses and maybe a verse into the track and letting your ears be done with it. And when Cheryl Cole, whose recent marriage troubles have made headline news across their home country of England, sings “if you wanna convince me start again, if you wanna be with me in my arms” right before that insanely enormous key-change, you can’t help but feel the lyric. And there’s a lot of things to be felt throughout the rest of this record. Pop champions the Pet Shop Boys lend their writing talents to the albums second track, The Loving Kind, which serves as a finely-crafted sequel to the girls’ highly-acclaimed single Call The Shots from last year. The truly devastating lyrics come in thick-and-hard; “standing on a crowded platform, carelessly we lost our way/you may be disinclined, to find the love you’ve left behind, so kiss me then make up your mind, I’m not the loving kind.” But it’s Nicola Roberts’ (who shines the brightest throughout this whole album) powerful middle-8 (brilliantly placed after the very first chorus), where she coos “I’d do anything, sing a song that lovers sing, if I could change your mind, then am I not the loving kind?” Insert 10 million sad-faced emoticons right here please.

Rolling Back The Rivers In Time is a deliciously Hawaiian-infused (!?!?) number with a so-cheesy it can’t help but work chorus and a robotic middle-8 from Cole. Love Is The Key begins with a heavenly chorus of choirmen singing to the Gods, before it rips into a Paula Abdul/That Cat She Danced With in Opposites Attract style pop song that sounds more like what Gabriella Cilmi probably wanted to sound like when making her debut album.

Turn To Stone takes the girls back into the synth-driven territory of their Pet Shop Boys collaboration; but a darker, moodier response to love and its perils. Untouchable, clocking in at near 7 minutes, is not only Out Of Control’s brightest moment, but probably the second greatest Girls Aloud song to date. How many mainstream pop groups do you think could get away with creating a 7 minute song that, come to the end, you wish had gone for longer? Untouchable is as precious musically as it is lyrically; “and in my dreams it feels like we are forty storeys tall, when you’re around, we’re untouchable/I know that love shouldn’t be so hard, and sometimes we’re swimming with the sharks, but you light up and keep me out the cold.”

But it’s one particular line in this song that really trumps all the others, the song lyric of the year, which pops up during Nadine Coyle’s epic middle-8. It’s the kind of lyric that would make the likes of disco romantic Dan Whitford from Cut Copy incredibly proud and, possibly, shed a tear. “Without any meaning, we’re just skin and bone, like beautiful robots dancing alone.” Again with the sad face emoticons; gut-wrenching, resonating, heartbreaking; it’s absolute poetry. This probably won’t be a single, but it should be. Without a doubt, this is the song of the year.

The wonder continues with the electrifying Love Is Pain, in which the girls declare “just be faithful to me”, which comes to an incredible end with a remarkable shouty-section courtesy of Cole. Fix Me Up removes the balearic tone developed by the three aforementioned tracks by funking things up; it’s very Prince and The New Power Generation. The hilariously titled Miss You Bow Wow comes complete with two choruses, the second which sees the groups brilliant and always rowdy piss-pot Sarah Harding sing “I remember living the dream, 20 minutes in the hotel bar, then I slipped into your girlfriends jeans,” which then throws in a phone call to 999 “to get a doctor.” Absolutely Bonkers. And just when you think it can’t get any better, the last 55 seconds turn the song into a clever instrumentation of electro-pop blips-and-bops. It’s this odd, experimental and unusual song structure that make Girls Aloud so relevant and important.

Revolution In The Head sees the girls venture into the dancehall soundscapes, and they do it incredibly well. Coyle’s opening ‘give-it-a-ting’ rap is seductively satisfying, whilst the chorus brings awareness to the fact that a revolution of the head “don’t count for nothing, you gotta move the mask.” Live In The Country takes the girls into their beloved Drum ‘N Bass territory; a sound they’ve played with three times prior to this album over the years. It’s a spikey song, summoning up thoughts and dreams of living life in the country, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, with the spellbindingly sexy Kimberley Walsh singing about smoking pipes and strawberry shortcake. But then there’s the following line, which comes from loveable drunken lout Harding, “every night when I crash you can see it in my face, I look like I’m dead on my feet.” Slightly poetic coming from a girl who has, at times, been spotted falling out of taxis across Swinging London Town. Record closer We Wanna Party, a cover of a Lene pop song from years gone by, is excellent for the “we’re so depressed we wear our shades at night” line alone. It serves as a bonus track but, oddly, in a rather twisted fashion, fits into the theme running through the upper eleven numbers. “We wanna party but we’ve got no nerve.” Charming.

If 2005’s cheeky Chemistry was a concept album about the uncertainty and travels of celebrity, and 2007’s Tangled Up was also a concept album dealing with throwing caution to the wind and living life in a proverbial fast lane, then 2008’s Out Of Control is the Girls’ concept record about the growth, the life, and the end of love. A record which, in an impressively mature fashion, also conceptually delivers a theme of settling down. This is, fittingly, the groups most grown-up body of work to date.

There is a reason why Xenomania’s work with Girls Aloud is consistently flawless. Their collaborations with other artists, though definitely not terrible in the slightest, lack that inspiring and experimental complexity their work with Girls Aloud does. They are each others ultimate muse. Neither works as well without the other (a prime example of this are the non-Xeno tracks on the Girls’ debut album Sound Of The Underground), and both parties are probably aware of that. Album number five is not just one of their best musical outputs, it very well may be their very best. Pretty impressive.

This is world-class, life-affirming pop music that has the ability to take your breath away with each note.

Thank the Gods for Girls Aloud.

>>> PAUL FIZZYPOP’S ACE REVIEW.