Album Review: Girls Aloud - Out of Control

A deluge of artists are releasing albums annually! Sugababes, Britney and Girls Aloud! There are no signs of quality control issues with these prolific pop stars!

"The Promise" opens Out of Control with aplomb and benefits from an extended mix. "The Loving Kind" evokes the electro-pop brilliance of the Pet Shop Boys; whom collaborate on the sensational "Love Is Pain"! "Turn to Stone" is a synthesised tour de force that Gary Numan would be proud of!

This is the band's fifth studio album. There's a melancholia that punctuates Out of Control and it's all the better for it! Critics may argue that Out of Control can't match Chemistry or Tangled Up for sheer experimentation! Indeed the production, at times, is akin to a Tangled Up mashup! However, I'd suggest that no other band, in recent times, in any genre, is as eclectic, or adventurous, as Girls Aloud!

Girls Aloud is a manufactured band that has transcended its origins and produced some of the best music of the last decade! Out of Control crystallises that enviable reputation.

**** out of *****

Girls Aloud release Tangled Up Live from the O2 (Blu-ray) this month!

Album Review: The Saturdays - Chasing Lights

With the economic recession dominating headlines, pop music provides a much-needed diversion, and a burst of optimism, from the crisis of capitalism!

The Saturdays' debut album delivers unfettered pixel perfect pop (with a sprinkling of R&B) that, at times, rivals Fascination Records' 'other girl band' Girls Aloud; none more so than on "If This Is Love", "Up", "Keep Her", "Issues" and "Work"!

"Chasing Lights", the title track, is tailor-made for the Christmas market and "Set Me Off" wouldn't make Britney blush!

The Saturdays (two parts S Club 8) could be accused of merely being pretty Stepford WAGs-in-waiting! Yet, against the odds, Chasing Lights is an ebullient contender for pop album of the year! Girls Aloud and Sugababes have compelling competition in the Official UK Charts. Rejoice. Up is where we go from here.

**** out of *****

Send SMS for free iTunes UK Store Music

Time's running out and I've only just learnt about this offer!

Apple is offering UK residents a free iTunes song! That'll include me then and, sure enough, I've downloaded the Sugababes sensational new single About You Know! Pure retro-infused electro-pop class.

UK readers send an SMS with the words "ROCK," "POP," "LIVE," or "ITUNES" to 85100 before midnight tonight!

The redemption code expires on September 30th! Send that SMS now!

My Favorite Things

Part two of my Review of the Year.

*Album - The Emancipation Of Mimi. After several years in the wilderness Mariah Carey captures R&B magic in a bottle. Runners up: Chemistry (Girls Aloud) and Come And Get It (Rachel Stevens).

*Single - Biology. Those Girls Aloud produce another pop opus. Runners up: You're Beautiful (James Blunt) and Push The Button (Sugababes).

*Movie - Batman Begins. The dark genesis of everyone's favorite psychologically damaged vigilante. Runners up: Revenge of the Sith and War of the Worlds.

*DVD - Lost and Doctor Who Season One Boxsets. This was too close to call! Runners up: Battlestar Galactica and Desperate Housewives.

*Television Drama - Battlestar Galactica. Dangerous and dry sci-fi that avoids the simplicity of the Star Trek franchise. Runners up: Desperate Housewives and Lost.

*Television Sci-Fi - Doctor Who. A slumbering Whovian was stirred by Russell T. Davies, Billie Piper and golden Daleks. Runners up: Battlestar Galactica and Lost.

*Merchandise - 12" R/C Dalek from toy powerhouse Character Options. This year's Buzz Lightyear is the definition of 'must-have'. However, may I direct your attention to the Assault Dalek (with Claw) sold through Toys R Us! This variant is limited to 5000 units worldwide. Runners up: General Grievous Wheel Bike and Transformers Darth Vader.

Behind These Hazel Eyes

American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is rarely off my iTunes playlist.

The Sunday Times Culture section contained an interview with rising star Bridget Moynahan. Her cinematic debut was in guilty pleasure Coyote Ugly (2000). Bridget's recurring role on Sex and the City, as Natasha, had her vilified by Carrie fans. I found myself 'attracted' to her in last year's entertaining diversion I, Robot (2004). Refreshingly Bridget didn't let her hair down!



Today Sugababes round-off a solid album quartet with Taller In More Ways. Cool cuts include the poignant Follow Me Home, Better, Obsession and Push The Button. Ignore the muted press reviews and savor the dulcet tones of Keisha, Mutya and Heidi. Janet Jackson and TLC would be proud!

Minority Report

The announcement of the second Cruise/Spielberg collaboration, The War of the Worlds, is a compelling proposition. H.G. Wells, alongside authors J.R.R. Tolkien and Lewis Carroll, enriched my childhood literary experiences and had a profound impact on my thinking. I discovered Wells' opus via Jeff Wayne's seminal "The Musical Version Of" LP - Sony UK is preparing a 5.1 surround sound edition for release in 2005 - belated thanks to Kevin Simpson's Dad, Nick. The first movie adaptation (1953) was a thinly veiled anti-communist subtext, which secured an Oscar for special effects. With Wayne's filmic endeavour suffering from a protracted gestation, Spielberg has an opportunity to revisit The War of the Worlds as post 9/11 allegory.

Don't miss the chance to download the latest single of the week from iTMS (Europe only). Baby (Off the Wall). The sensuous Sirens hail from Newcastle, UK, and their sound echoes the urban grooves of All Saints and the Sugababes with added feistiness!

The last few days have afforded me little opportunity to post! However, over the next few weeks there will be a duo of major editorials concerning a couple of my hobbies.