Girls Aloud - Tangled Up

"Call the Shots" is amazing.

I never really gave "Sexy No No No" a chance because it didn't seem all that good.

"Call the Shots" is poo. "Sexy! No No No" is trying to be the blessed love child of "Something Kinda Ooooh" and "Graffiti My Soul" but it just ends up as poo too. If any other act released those two songs I would be mildly impressed, but this is Girls Aloud we're talking about...they've raised the bar for themselves and unfortunately their new material doesn't reach it. Hopefully their album will impress.

I like the chorus of "Call The Shots" a lot, not so much the verse. I couldn't make my mind up about "Sexy! No No No" in the end, but I don't think I liked it much.

Cover is vile.

sexy! no etc is one of their finest singles to date.

I'd give "Sexy" about 5 out of 10 points, and 4.5 of those are because of the intro.

"Call the Shots" is good but not amazing.

BTW Mr. Popjustice is going mental about the album, calling it better than Britney's, Kylie's, and the "best GA album so far" etc. But he's only had it for a few hours, plus we all know how Popjustice is basically a GA fansite.

plus we all know how Popjustice is basically a GA fansite.

i don't blame them.

from popjustice: 5. There are NO BALLADS and NO COVERS.

WIN

'sexy no no no' is huge.

Any updates on this album?

I'm surprised it hasn't leaked yet, considering it's less than a week before it's released.

me too. and yeah that artwork.. bleur.

putative d/lrs "don't like the artwork".

No leak? (They must have missed sending our promo).

The album sound really good from the clips.

Anyone heard the album yet?

"Sexy No No No" really only sucks on first listen, when the intro leads you to believe it's some gorgeous, mid-tempo robotic track. But then you go straight into an abrasive chorus, and it's sort of off-putting. Once you actually get used to the different hooks, it's a really nice listen.

I think the track's structure resembles "Biology" (with its three different hooks (all of which are really good)). The only difference is that these hooks don't fit together as well. But not a bad single at all by any means.

I've been totally underwhelmed by the clips. And this bitch needs to leak ASAP!!

I think Xenomania et al were definitely using Biology as the prototype for S!NNN, in this case, how unconventional can a pop song's structure be before it turns into prog. But in this case they tried to marry the loudness of Something Kinda Ooooh (amazing) with the messiness of Biology (amazing) and the child ended up like one of those Conan "If They Mated" photos.

Instrumentally, Call the Shots is lovely (dig that intro!), but the vocals are so wimpy and banal and unmemorable (save for Nicola's part, which is terrific) that it barely leaves an impression. According to people who have heard the album, S!NNN and Call the Shots are the two weakest tracks on the album, and I hope so.

The eagle has landed.

Great Album! Best track IMO is "Black Jacks".

IT'S JUST A FLING BABY FLING BABY, NOTHING MORE THAN A FLING BABY FLING BABY, JUST A BIT OF DING-A-LING-BABY BLING BABY, DON'T WANT RELATIONSHIPS SO SWING BABY SWING BABY.

10/10 for the awful rapping. 10/10 for the huge plastic guitar riff. 10/10 for the great big Kish Kash type drums.

A mere 8/10 for the rest of the album. It's storming, but it's almost a bit too Xenomania-by-numbers in places, isn't it? I'm not really yearning for a ballad, but an It's Magic would do nicely, or something to dilute the non-stop rioutous kitchen sink action going on here.

But it's a minor quibble when there are songs as good as Close To Love or Girl Overboard here.

Mediocre

'call the shots' is their worst non-cover single in a very long time.

but 'sexy no no no' remains a beast.

I like 'Call the shots'. It's like 'Never Gonna Dance Again' by the Sugababes.

a bit too Xenomania-by-numbers in places

OTM. I feel like a lot of songs are remakes of previous songs e.g.

"Watch Me Go" -> "Control the of Knife"
"Something Kinda Oooooh" -> Sexy! No No No..."
"Racy Lacey" -> "Can't Speak French"

etc.

...although IMO there is an improvement upon the old stuff. Tangled up sounds more polished than Chemistry.

black jacks def the standout for me so far

(something disconnected about the vocal for fling, but otherwise that's a lot of fun too)

not feeling yet:control of teh knife, can't speak french, damn, crocodile tears. no 10/10, but no rubbish either.

damn i wanted a 10/10 track :-(

"Watch Me Go" -> "Control the of Knife" this is almost too much isn't it?

when i said "something disconnected about the vocal" actually there is something a bit ho-hum about the vocal lines throughout. i'm not sure what i'm getting at here though

anyone got the exclusive Woolworths extra remix disc.
is it worthy - or just dance-by-numbers remixes ?

Mixed Up remix disc trax:

1. The Show" (Tony Lemezma Club Mix) 5:46
2. "No Good Advice" (Doublefunk Vocal Mix) 6:53
3. "I Think We're Alone Now" (Tony Lemezma Baubletastic Remix) 5:32
4. "Sexy! No No No..." (Tony Lemezma's "Yes Yes Yes" Mix)6:14
5. "Something Kinda Ooooh" (Tube City Remix) 5:32
6. "Wake Me Up" (Tony Lemezma's "Love Affair") 7:01
7. "Jump" (Almighty Vocal Mix) 7:34
8. "Biology" (Tony Lemezma Remix) 5:15

ha ha, sound at the start of Fling = the 'L O S T' title sound (not rly, but close)

.. and the verdict pisces ?

as i have absolutely none of these remixes, nor have i ever heard of this Tony L who seems to have been in demand the most.

Nothing as good as Biology, Wild Horses, It's Magic or Swinging London Town, but nothing as bad as No Regrets or Waiting either.

is Lemezma just a Higgins alias?

kind of agree that this album is mostly 7s and 8s out of 10

oi! waiting kicks arse!

not heard it although i think the lemezma mixes have all been out before. and i REFUSE to listen to a remix of NO GOOD ADVICE in much the same way as dylan-fans would with that mark ronson remix.

LOL @ jump-up drum'n'bass bests on What You Crying For...give it to Natural Born Chillaz immediately!

Oh and the origin of the name Tony Lemezma (or Le Mesmer to give him his proper spelling )in case people aren't big Alan Partridge fans:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/partridge/life/images/150_130_2tony.jpg

TS: GA's token DnB album track vs Dizzee's token DnB album track

i think we both know the answer to that one stevem :-)

damn what is that Fling noise???

and they totally stole rihanna's "um-ber-ella" pronunciation for WYCF...bless 'em.

Dizzee any day, sorry.

I don't quite see why people are going "OMG they even do drum and bass!" on this one, partly because the song itself isn't all that but mostly because hey did everyone forget Sound of the Underground already?

gpwm matt, it's just, i dunno, it seems a little incongruous/pointless on ths new song here.

Drum n bass track sounds like BROKEBEAT ERA

I think "Fling" either samples or is very inspired by this tune:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1427876761

The rap parts also remind of Run DMC/Jason Nevins' "It's Like That".

And the intro of the song is very similar to that opening sound from Lost.

moguai are credited on Fling!

(not to be confused with mogwai)

ana - are you on the PJ forums?

Did Moguai have a second hit that Xenomania have been able to plunder?

Alan - yes. Some of what I said was noted there.

Tim F. - a third hit, apparently. Not only did Moguai co-produce Sugababes' "In The Middle", but he was also involved in "Something Kinda Ooooh".

Haha really? That explains why the closing seconds of Something Kinda Ooh are, basically, Get On.

Close to Love = man alive! Can't believe that's not the next single.

too filthy

on that subject does Girl Overboard (right at the start) have the line "give me something i can stick dick in"?!

it IS! and i thought they were singing something even filthier in the chorus at first.

The great Stylus -> DiS exodus continueth:

http://drownedinsound.com/release/view/12119

it's their fourth album, DP.

Subbing error, boss, don't blame me.

i admired the zing at jud3 r0gers or whoever it was.

I love 'Fling', and the album is not bad, but 'Chemistry' was better. I don't miss the ballads though.

one of the gurls in the liner notes refer to it as their 5th album, cos they're including Sound of GA. (SoU, WWTNS, C, SoGA, TU)

'Or, if you don’t want to conduct the violence yourself, maybe just tell Cheryl that Brian Higgins was actually born in Lagos.'

rolleyes.gif

From the liner notes:

Cheryl: "We are now onto our fifth album (who would have thought it)."

Kimberley: "It feels amazing to be releasing our fifth album."

Nicola: "Album number 5. That's madness isn't it!"

(Also from Nicola: "Most bands seem to be great at the beginning and then kind of get shit but it's gone the other way round for us.")

Close to Love is Rachel Stevens COME AND GET IT standard brilliant.

lol 2005

when i said "something disconnected about the vocal" actually there is something a bit ho-hum about the vocal lines throughout. i'm not sure what i'm getting at here though

I feel the same way, like the vocal lines don't really fit, especially on the "fling baby, fling baby" part. Actually I don't like "Fling" at all. I also think Nadine's voice (is it Nadine?) is too rough for the first verse of "Girl Overboard", they should have used someone else.

So yes, there are no 10/10's but plenty of 9/10's.

To follow-up on my previous songs comparison/recycling old ideas theres also:

"Real Life" + "Models" -> "Damn"

"Call the Shots" is *amazing* except the verses are *terrible* - going to Ableton my own edit.

i initially thought this album was VERY frontloaded but i've warmed up to several of the middle & later tracks.

i've totally warmed to the whole thing.
the only album this year i have actually tried to sing along to.
black jacks is tingle up the spine brilliant.
no 10/10's ?
mad buggers the lot of you.

don't speak french and black jacks are good yep

I started off quite liking it then the returns steadily diminished. The year's biggest disappointment.

the sound of the credit bubble bursting < / instant carmody>

oh. and in regards to the Woolworths exclusive remix disc.
its one long 38 minute megamix as opposed to seperate tracks.
not essential in the slightest but a lot of fun.

love that 'Star Trek beam' sound in 'Fling'

don't speak french and black jacks are good yep

to expand, both have choruses so secretly strong that i can only loop them in my head and not remember anything else about the song in both cases

biggest wishes for 08:

1) Xenomania In Dub - expanded instrumental/dub edits double CD
2) much more of the proposed 80/160bpm bassline-rave-snap hybrid
3) waffles invite

apparently they are now the 100th all time best selling artist in the UK, brushing David Essex aside.

I hijacked the chart thread to talk about this, very late, but I want to keep brushing through some thoughts because I have tried for nearly 2 months to love this album but I cannot, and I have previously frothed at the mouth about Girls Aloud and "No Good Advice" is surely one of the 20 best pop singles of all time, and yes, their last two albums have been consistently strong, give or take a "No Regrets".

This album has TOO MUCH BLOODY REPETITION which torpedos some strong songs. "Close To Love" is definitely the sonog that suffers most from this - it has some indelible hooks but the way it repeats everything over and over makes it sound abnormally long, rather than sleekly compact. It's longer than "The Show" and has about half as much in it.

Also, Miranda Cooper was, before this album, one of the best lyricists in the business. Witty lines, some that make you think, some that use rhymes you wouldn't quite expect ... the lyrics on this are almost all terrible and unimaginative, and that, combined with all the repetition makes the songs sound unfinished - i.e. the chorus to "Girl Overboard", which is otherwise fine in a not-quite-as-good-as-"The Show" fashion. Repetition dulls wit, and there's not as much here to begin with. "Damn" and "Crocodile Tears" seem particualrly phoned-in here.

"Can't Speak French" is probably my favourite behind "Call The Shots" because its loungy groove kind of suits the fact that it really only has one verse and unlike, say, "Wake Me Up" or "The Show" it doesn't have that huge middle-eight-as-verse bit to mitigate. And the hook is very sympathetic too.

I love how "Control Of The Knife" sounds, it's like rave-ska or something (and I'm happy for them to keep doing "Watch Me Go" as long as they eventually put one of 'em out as a single), but again, repeating that "cheap talking me" bit over and over does nothing for it. JUST WRITE A SECOND BLOODY VERSE, MIRANDA, or get Giselle and Niara in to do it for you. "Black Jacks" works because it DOES do that multi-song bit and the chorus hits with quite a lot of force even though it's kind of slow. And Nadine is really excellent on this one and the first verse has some good lyrics too, for once!

"What You Crying For" is no more substantial than the similar, and so-so "Love Hate" off the first album. "Damn" could also have fit on the first album quite nicely too. "Crocodile Tears" is just awful. I never want to hear them do the distorted/punk guitar thing ever again because "I'm Falling" and "Fling" are pretty rotten as well.

In short, once I get to "Control Of The Knife", I basically want to go back to the beginning than want to listen to tracks 8 and beyond.

Given that it had been 2 years since their previous album, I can't think why they have less to work with than they did considering how astonishingly inventive "Chemistry" was just one year after "WWTNS"?

As it is, I probably rank this one as their weakest album. The lack of a song the quality of "No Good Advice" or "Some Kind of Miracle" really shows this time around.

'Fling' is great - wasn't sure at first but it's really about the bassline not the 'guitar' hook/chorus.

ughh 'fling' is SO naff

audio equiv of hairy-palmed married middle age office worker sneaking a peek at someone else's page 3 every lunchbreak for 40 years

ysi?

speaking from experience there, r|t|c?

way better en francais

I don't understand...CSF sucks. Why is everyone in love with it?

Because it doesn't suck and is in fact very good, and it's "Tangled Up" that's a bit crap. I am loving the fact that all the indie kids on here don't "get it" and think it's crap and it's going to be a massive hit, showing how out of touch everyone is with what the kids actually like! :)

"Hoxton Heroes", the CSF b-side is marvellous. Good tune, nice and stompy, quite quotable and brief and breezy too. Good job, better than half the songs on the album. CSF in French is good fun too.

lol @ me being an "indie kid"...take that back!

I think I "get" CSF, it's just that what I "get" is a loungy and downtempo number that's not nearly as interesting or catchy as any of their pre-Tangled Up singles (not counting their ballads because they are all crap, except maybe Life Got Cold?). I like Fling, I like Control of the Knife, SNNN was good, but otherwise most of the album is sub-par. I guess I prefer "typical" Xenomania that crafted stuff like "Models" and "Biology" and "Something Kinda Ooooh," and not the nu-Xenomania from this album.

Tangled Up RANKED, four months on.

1. Call The Shots
2. Can't Speak French
3. Black Jacks
4. Sexy! No, No, No
5. Girl Overboard
6. Control Of The Knife
7. Close To Love
8. Damn
9. What You Crying For
10. Fling
11. I'm Falling
12. Crocodile Tears

Girl Overboard needs to be in the top 2.

If it were about 40 seconds shorter, sure! It should be the fourth single so we get to hear a good radio edit that trims some of the fat.

"Girl Overboard" is in my top two! I'd rather "Close to Love" be the next single, though.

1. Close to Love
2. Girl Overboard
3. Call the Shots
4. Sexy! No, No, No
5. Black Jacks
6. Can't Speak French
7. Control of the Knife
8. What You Crying For
9. Crocodile Tears
10. I'm Falling
11. Damn
12. Fling

I LOATHE "Fling." It just sounds like a whole lot of shrieking to me.

"Hoxton Heroes" = Girls Aloud's "The Takeover"?!?!

"You took some acid back in '99 / You said it blew your mind / And it helped you write rhymes / So / You bought a trilby and a cheap guitar / You thought you'd be a star / Didn't get you that far..."

"Just 'cause your dad knew the Rolling Stones / You've got the Primrose set in your cell phone / Don't kid yourself, you're an indie clone... / We've seen it.... before / Get a sound of your own..."

"Yeah...you could make history / If you just stayed off the whiskey..."

(btw, any Englishes wanna fill me on on "RAMA" and "the Primrose set"?)

I know that Primrose set = Kate Moss & friends

I heard "RAMA" as RADA (i.e. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art).

But then again I heard "Primrose" as "Pringle" so what do I know?

I like the song.

"Don't kid yourself, you're an indie clone... / We've seen it.... before / Get a sound of your own..."

haaaaaa

i think they should zing hot chip, next.

As I said, both Xenomania and GA were great until they thought they knew how to do it.

Xenomania really dragging their heels elsewhere.

The Gabriela Climiefisher single that's being played to death on R2 is one of theirs and it's terrible.

As with everything on Tangled Up it feels more like the extended middle eight of a song rather than an actual song.

Xenomania's "400 hooks and no actual song" approach really does need taking out back and shooting.

The Gabriela Climiefisher single that's being played to death on R2 is one of theirs and it's terrible.

^^^^^ This song so fucking bad.

ech, i think it's more listenable than the other post-amy/ronson mob.

Only in the sense that Barbara Dickson is more listenable than Elkie Brooks.

^^^ Truth.

Xenomania no longer fun for a bunch of bloody blokes - top story

Cimli song's OK. i suspect the new Franz Ferdinand will also be OK.

Xenomania's "400 hooks and no actual song" approach

all the more reason for Higgins to knock out that 'In Dub' mix just for me

OK is not enough in these troubled shitbin times.