Tangled Up [CD]

The fourth studio album from Girls Aloud represents the very essence of the girls' unprecidented five year career to date...a career that has given us some of the decade's most amazing electro-pop offerings - Biology, Something Kinda Oooh and Sound of The Underground to name but a few.
Here's my Track By Track review:

1. Call The Shots - A sultry and mesmerising affair to begin with, a slick mid-tempo electo tune, with some gorgeous vocals from Nicola in the middle eight.

2. Close To Love - Definite potential single, this is catchy and exciting, with the usual off-the-wall GA stamp that made songs like Biology and Something Kinda Ooh brilliant.

3. Sexy! No No No - A veritable Pop Hurricane! This song begins with a haunting electric overture, and crescendos with a torrential storm of angry, sexy pop.

4. Girl Overboard - Think Bananarama in their Heyday, with a modern twist. This is Nu-80s, and it's hot.

5. I Can't Speak French - With the witty lyrics, this had the potential to be brilliant...the melody is not the strongest though, and it fades into something of a filler track.

6. Black Jacks - Again, this is a new sound for the girls. Quite dark, with a slight 70s rock feel...interesting.

7. Control Of The Knife - Reminiscent of Kate Nash/Just Jack, this is the suppposed 3rd single from the album. Sees the girls go off on another classic GA tangent. Very similar to Watch Me Go from Chemistry.

8. Fling - This is absolutely amazing! From start to finish this is the standout track on the album, and if it isn't a single I will be disappointed. Has slight allusions to Bassment Jaxx and some of the best lyrics on the whole album.

9. What You Crying For? - Another interesting one. This is very garage-dancey, and reminds me alot of Real Life from What Will The Neighbours Say.

10. I'm Falling - Awesome song, a sexy electro-stormer with vocoders and sound effects a-plenty.

11. Damn - B52s meets Cyndi Lauper...Not the strongest song on the album, but a solid effort.

12. Crocodile Tears - Although there is no actual ballad on the album, this is about as slow-paced as it gets...and to be honest, we could have done without it. It's hard to see what the thinking behind this one was. I personally would have left this off the album and put the elusive 'Girls Are Back In Town' from the Sunsilk adverts as the album's closer. The weakest effort on the album by far.

Overall, I love this album! I'm not sure if it has the same mass appeal of Chemistry. However, it is definitely a more grown-up approach to music from the U.K's premier Girl Band...and with Spice Girls coming back with mediocre songs like Headlines, it's nothing short of relief that Girls Aloud can be counted on to keep being inventive and consistent with their own brand of infectious music.

Girls Aloud have never been an act who allow their singles to stand out as the only decent tracks on an album. Their double platinum hit What Will the Neighbours Say? remains one of the best pop albums of the past decade and experimentation on Chemistry resulted in album tracks which out did the singles released from it.

Tangled Up is no exception. In keeping with tradition, Girls Aloud's fourth studio album delivers some of the cheekiest, most genius lyrics of our times and whats more....there's not a cover in sight!

In true Girls Aloud style, 'Close to Love' and 'Girl Overboard' kick us off by leaving you desperate to go clubbing, whilst the haunting almost-ballad 'Crocodile Tears' closes an album you just won't want to end.

'Black Jacks' sees a brand new 'chanting' side to the girls, whilst 'Cant Speak French' is a nice break from the electro-dance feel of other songs on this album.

So many hidden gems, so many quality tracks. The more you listen, the more you understand the true brilliance of this album. Even the tracks that didnt hit you straight away begin to really stand out.

This has to be one of the best albums of Girls Aloud's career.

Barcode: 0602517505803

In a world filled with indie rubbish and sloppy American import trash, Girls Aloud are a precious rarity. As Nicola puts it so brilliantly in the album's booklet, it's really annoying when bands start off well but then go downhill from then on. Thank God then that it's been the opposite for Girls Aloud, Tangled Up proves they really do just keep on getting better. Like always their albums are consistently good from start to end, filled with state-of-the-art pop tunes that fulfill all the criteria - they're fun, catchy and damn good to dance too.

So let's have a look at what the gorgeous girls have treated us to this time round.

First up is Call The Shots, a song that oozes class and is accompanied by a brilliantly stylish video. I think one of the reasons why this song has been so successful is that not only is it a fantastic pop record but it represents Girls Aloud showing a new maturity to their music, something that has allowed more universal appeal to the public and appealing to critics, hence the BRIT award nomination this year.

Close To Love is 80s synthpop dancefloor amazingness. Now, Girls Aloud are famous for their witty, feisty lyrics but this takes it to a new level. Any song that has the line 'Guy with the terrible hair, back off' is a winner in mye eyes. Fling continues in much the same vein with some seriously suggestive lyrics but this time put to a riotous punk-rock bit of guitar thrashing tumbling into a filthy bassline.

Sexy! No, No, No... is still my favourite Girls Aloud song, holding a particularly special place in my heart. It sounds like something Depeche Mode would come up with, a storming mix of rock and electro and with that amazing video. We launch right into another stunning track next with Girl Overboard, one of the album's finest highlights, euro-dance brilliance that screams 'future single'.

Black Jacks is intruiging, tinged with echoes of Blur/Supergrass Britpop with some remarkably indie sounding shouty raps. Damn continues on the same lines, both tracks simple, all-round pop fun laced with that dash of everything that makes Girls Aloud so great.

I wasn't initially that keen on Control Of The Knife but now i totally love it. It's Reggae style in the vein of Chemistry's Watch Me Go and part of it's appeal is that relentless beat/guitar combo that i reckon would go down a right treat at summer parties.

What You Crying For and I'm Falling present Girls Aloud at their most adventuruous, this time venturing into drum n' bass with amazing results. The latter is pumped full of distorted vocals and guitar and sounds like the soundtrack to some high energy Hollywood action/thriller movie.

And then we have Crocodile Tears, a mid-tempo slice of epic beauty. Like Sexy..., this was written by the Girls themselves and once again presents an intense maturity to them and shows real potential as to what they could come up with in the future.

So... after all that, you get the message, the album is absolutely amazing so go buy it!