Girls Aloud – Sound Of The Underground (2023 Reissue, Anniversary Edition, 3 Cds)

Girls Aloud – Sound Of The Underground (2023 Reissue, Anniversary Edition, 3 Cds)

I have a very long history with this album. I remember exactly when their first music video aired on television in 2003. I thought to myself, ‘Well, well… a girl band with musicians!’ Yes, I know that musicians always accompany these types of artists during concerts. But can we really call them a band? Mark King, the exceptional singer and bassist from Level 42, said that boy bands and girl bands are not bands, but singers. I totally get what he means!

However, in 2007, the Guinness Book of Records awarded them the title of ‘Most Popular British Band of the Decade’!

When the five Girls Aloud arrived, I quickly added them to my list of favourite girl bands alongside the British Spice Girls, All Saints, Atomic Kitten, the Irish B*Witched, the German Funky Diamonds and the American Pussycat Dolls.

My favourites have always been the Spice Girls, and they’re the ones I know best, as well as being the only ones I’ve seen in concert. When I listen to them, I know who’s singing what, unlike with the others. The same goes for All Saints: I know Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis’ voices well, but I sometimes confuse the voices of the two Appleton sisters, Nicole and Natalie. And just so you know, they made a rather unexpected and very surprising film (without Shaznay), Honest (2000).

I also don’t know if Girls Aloud had any solo projects, apart from Cheryl Cole (Cheryl Ann Tweedy) who, as you may have guessed, is my favourite.

2003 was the time when I still used to buy singles!!! And I bought THREE! That’s huge! Yes, I had three of their tracks, namely Sound Of The Underground (which isn’t even one of my favourites, even though it’s the best known), No Good Advice (which I love more and more) and Jump, which wasn’t on the original album. An album I had bought for the first time! And now I’ve bought this remastered triple album celebrating their 20th anniversary.

For the record: Girls Aloud is a British girl group formed in 2002 on the talent show Popstars: The Rivals. The group, which initially split up in March 2013, consisted of Cheryl, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding, and reformed in 2023. They announced a reunion tour in 2024. This series of concerts across the United Kingdom and Ireland also paid tribute to Sarah Harding, a member of the group who died in 2021 from breast cancer at the age of 39.

Girls Aloud is the only girl band I have mentioned that has lost a member to date. The late Sarah Harding is featured prominently on the cover, as she is the one in the foreground of the photo. R.I.P.!

Sound Of The Underground is the title of the album, the first track on the album, their most listened to song on Spotify, etc. This reissue contains at least four versions of it (original, alternative version, remixes).

No Good Advice, meanwhile, contains at least six! For me, it’s a pop song with punk lyrics and attitude. As for Jump, I discovered it mainly thanks to the film Love Actually (2003).

As a reminder, when it was released, the album only contained twelve tracks. It ended with White Lies. Love Bomb and Everything You Ever Wanted have been added here on the first CD.

The second CD is my favourite! It contains Jump, two versions of No Good Advice, a song called On A Round which is packed with percussion and drums with incredible rhythmic power. There’s a nice version of Some Kind Of Miracle, followed by the song You Freak Me Out, which is a song that annoyed me a little at first… before becoming my favourite on the CD. Let me explain: as soon as it started, as soon as I heard it, I thought, ‘Oh dear! A very simple song that didn’t require much work…’ And yet! It’s often these kinds of hyper Pop-Rock songs that are the most effective. A friend once said to me, ‘All the songs I’ve written in less than two minutes are the best ones!’

There is definitely something going on in these simple yet powerful songs. These young women don’t seem to be desperately searching for the right harmonies. They each have their own parts, but in the chorus, they sing the same thing at the top of their lungs. These songs also allow for a pseudo intellectual break in the middle of the concert while still thrilling the audience.

There is a cover of Girls On Film followed by a song with the perfect title (Lights, Music, Camera, Action) to follow on from Duran Duran’s fabulous song! One small criticism could be that this cover seems too close to the original, like a kind of copy-paste, as if it were karaoke. But there is definitely a special touch and it’s a very nice tribute.

Fun fact: in 2003, the same year as this reissue, Duran Duran released their sixteenth studio album entitled Danse Macabre (a concept album about Halloween) which contains five covers!

Otherwise, Sacred Trust is a beautiful slow song, but my favourite of the genre remains Forever And A Night. I don’t know how many times I listened to it on repeat to fall asleep back then.

Finally, I am going to be very paradoxical in my conclusion, because I am not necessarily going to give this album full marks. I don’t know if I would have done so if I had had to write this review without the reissue. The fact is that not all the songs are perfect. The original album is brilliant, the second CD is my favourite, but there are still some songs that I listen to less than others. As for the third CD, it’s mainly made up of very long remixes, mostly electro and instrumental… and that’s really not my thing! That said, it’s ideal for cleaning or going for a jog. If you have a gym, you’ll obviously be even more motivated. Obviously, I don’t have to listen to the third CD if I don’t want to, but it’s a bit of a shame. But you can think of it as a family album: each member will have a different preference.

In any case, I will always love this album and I will come back to it again and again.

Here’s a review that sums up my own:

“UK forever!

The girls’ first album is as sweet as strawberry candy! Hi, hi!

We’re treated to dripping pop, not to mention rock tracks such as Sound Of The Underground and No Good Advice.

Excellent album!