Girls Aloud - Twelve

The history of Girls Aloud is pretty much a series of events that shouldn’t have happened the way they did, ridiculous ideas that turned out great, blessings in disguise and misfortunes that ultimately helped them, all these little contradictions. To begin with, they shouldn’t have a fan like me, a guy who spent the last 20+ years listening to the likes of Depeche Mode, The Cure, R.E.M., New Order and The Smiths. But for me, they fit in there perfectly – pop music at its best, with a bit of a twist, something that makes it unusual.

Bands shouldn’t be formed on a reality TV show through public vote. You can’t put together an effective team by individual popularity alone, the band members have to fulfil different roles and – at least to a degree – get on with each other, viewers are more concerned about sympathy, likeability, looks and some may even consider talent. Also, manufactured bands can’t be any good, that’s the rule, right? And when those great, know-it-all music industry experts had chosen their final 10 (from which the 5 band members would be picked), and then had to replace 2 of them, the 2 returning lucky rejects had no chance of making it into the band, since those experts thought they weren’t good enough to be in the top 10 in the first place. Especially the shy ginger one, who’s not the prettiest (yet), not the most entertaining character (you have to keep in mind: this, just like every similar program done since, was a "reality" TV show, not a talent contest, and the casting reflects that, no one cares what happens afterwards, they need characters to make the show interesting enough for the viewers and the tabloids, you’d better be outrageous than talented), there’s no way she’s going to end up as one of only 2 contestants (in her category) sailing through the whole thing without being anywhere near elimination. And lest we forget, the show is built upon a "girls vs. boys" rivalry, the boys should easily win, no contest.

Anyway, once the elimination process is done, the 2 newly formed groups – competing for the Christmas #1 – surely come up with cheesy covers, some bland and utterly forgettable sentimental waste of time disguised as a pop song, like "Stay Another Day" from East 17. Choosing a song called "Sound Of The Underground" instead must be a joke – you can’t get any less underground than picking your band members through public vote on a Saturday night TV show. In case you accidentally listen to the song, you’ll find that it’s actually quite good, if not exactly underground, it's still a way more adventurous sound than what you’d expect, and the video is also somewhat interesting, definitely too dark and moody to be the Christmas #1. Oops, wrong again.

So, there they were at the beginning of 2003, with their surprisingly good and well-received hit single, in the big city far away from home, in a group with 4 other girls they barely knew, 3 of them were still teenagers, none of them knew anything about how things work, what could possibly go wrong? Perhaps a fatal car-accident, killing their tour manager, the only person who actually cared about the band during the single campaign? How about dragging the cute one with the dimples to court for assault, with some (false) allegations of racism thrown in? Or maybe having a manager, whose contractual obligations end with taking his cut from the incomes, and who clearly can’t be bothered to do any more than that? The cancellation of the forthcoming tour due to poor ticket sales must be the last straw. The most unlikely outcome is that they pull together as a group, strengthened by an "us against the world" mentality, come up with a follow up single that’s even better than the first one (they can get it right once by accident, two in a row is rather suspicious), and work relentlessly, without realising all odds are against them.

There’s a group of 5 girls, you heard them sing live on television a few times, you worked out that 3 of them are OK, but 2 are really good. For some reason, those 2 seemed to be the most popular ones also (being the only 2 safe all through the competition), and they’re the 2 youngest as well, but that’s just a fun fact. Knowing all this, you might expect them to handle most of the vocals, and you surely don’t expect the one, recently gaining a reputation as being “the ugly one” (wrongly, but that’s not the point) to have her role reduced to… eye candy. Luckily, the one actually emerging as an informal lead singer does an incredible job, so they don’t lose much on not using one of their assets.

First year survived (while rival boyband, I mean vocal harmony group long gone), the singles did well, album did alright, but still no proper management, the hype from the TV show has faded away ages ago, they have to come up with something that’s catchy enough to do well on the charts, but also interesting enough to make them stand out, to make people remember them, to gain fans who are actually there for the music, not just the image/looks/novelty, there’s no longevity without those more dedicated fans. So after 3 singles built on guitar motifs (and a 4^th one which was a cover for a movie soundtrack), they release a very synth-heavy track with no chorus, or more precisely so many choruses you can hardly count them? And a song so good, it even makes you forget that the girls look so tanned like they sleep on the surface of the sun every night? It almost sounds as crazy as following it with a rockabilly-flavoured track with ridiculous lyrics, a song that none of the band members like or even feel good about, and turning this "mess" into one of the most recognizable and memorable hits of the decade, later to be covered by an extremely popular indie band, who are championed by the music press. It sounds almost like becoming a credible act. Being asked to release a charity single, and scoring the second #1 with it is a clear sign of going in the right direction – the song might not be too challenging, but covering The Pretenders was hardly the most obvious choice. The second album isn’t flawless, but some songs hint at even greater things to come, and it becomes clear that the song-creating method first displayed on "The Show" – abandoning the usual verse-chorus-verse-chorus-middle eight-repeat chorus to fade pop song format for an unusual structure – is getting more and more dominant. No rules or limitations, anything goes that makes the song more interesting and better.

Another year flew by, it’s 2005 now, time to go on a proper tour, and to get a manager who actually works for them to make the tour possible. A third album is the sort of thing no one expected from the group to even get to, let alone release one that’s almost universally praised by the press, a record including another genius single and lots of great album tracks, and funnily enough their first ever release missing the Top 10, peaking at #11. Finally having a proper team, image much improved, songs popular and inventive at the same time, things really fall into place. An arena tour (and even some festival appearances), breaking the record of "most consecutive Top 10 singles by a girlgroup", and a hits compilation (their first #1 album, eventually selling more than a million copies in the UK alone) followed, they’ve become genuine stars with quality songs and a growing fanbase.

Although some thought releasing a compilation must mean the end of the group, they go on. Another cover released as a charity single (this time teaming up with another group), another #1, then another arena tour, then on to album 4. It’s no longer surprising from them to release a quite weird song as lead single, with an interesting video to match. The album doesn’t include any slow ballads (weren’t really their strong point anyway), making room for even more wonderfully quirky pop gems, strengthening their star-status, leading to an even longer tour with huge production.

We are in 2008 now, and a platinum album (with a 24-date arena tour, plus additional open-air gigs during the summer) isn’t the easiest thing to follow. Even huge success can seem like a relative failure. Luckily, one of the girls lands a role in the judging panel on the biggest show on TV – a kind of "musical talent contest", a reality show not too dissimilar to the one that started their career. The show doesn’t only lift her into "Nation’s Sweetheart" status, but also raises the band’s profile, propelling both lead single and album 5 straight to #1.

The album has a more mature (and somewhat less experimental, but still great) sound, after all, they’re all at least 23 by now. Having a song co-written by the Pet Shop Boys, and Johnny Marr playing on another one are clear signs of how big they are. Another noticeable thing is a slight change of roles. On previous albums, most songs had Nadine in "starring role", with her singing most lines or at least setting the tone for a song by singing the first verse, and having the strongest presence overall. On the other hand, Nicola had very few lines in the key tracks, filling up her quota mostly on songs that didn’t even make the tour setlists. By the time of the Tangled Up Tour, she finally seemed to find herself, accepting her natural features rather than covering them up, gaining in confidence, looking so striking it was impossible to take your eyes off her, and turning her few lines into the highlights of the songs. I have no way of knowing how big a part her being ready to step forward played, or how Nadine now living in the USA or her rumoured solo plans affected the recording process, but they kind of switched roles, those roles being based on my impressions rather than clearly defined.

In 2009, the band kind of reached their natural conclusion. Finally receiving a BRIT Award meant they got the acknowledgment they craved, the "Untouchable" single ended their run of the consecutive Top 10 singles (with history repeating itself, another great release peaking at #11), the tour on the back of an extremely successful single and album was bigger (including even a horn section) and longer than any other before. There simply wasn’t much left to achieve (at least in the UK, which seemed to be their focus), and after going non-stop for 7 years, they could use a breather. Since then, some comments suggest that the break wasn’t actually a decision made in total agreement, but from an outsider point of view, it seems like a point where you can stop. Unfortunately, we now know that this break effectively broke up the band – the momentum was lost, and the girls’ various projects (and maybe some interpersonal relationships) made the break longer and longer.

When they finally got back together for their 10^th anniversary in 2012, it almost seemed like they were only doing the reunion because they’d promised it so many times. It’s been 4 years since their latest album, some of the fans have moved on, and the music industry changed a lot, and the expectations – partly set by the quality of their own work, partly by the long waiting period – were practically impossible to live up to. Only half of the new songs – 2 from a grand total of 4 – were done with the production team who worked with them from the start. Giving individual songwriting credit to a sole band member (however deservedly) on 2 songs hinted at not having much of a future: during their active years, all their contributions were credited to the full band, probably to make sure they all earn the same amount of money, avoiding unnecessary tensions. Also, whatever they said, however positive they tried to be about being back in the band, spending years away from each other makes it impossible not to grow apart, and the more time you spend together, the more apparent the differences become. Like when you’re on tour, for example.

To add an admittedly biased, but "can’t help it" kind of observation: the "Ten" era Girls Aloud were no longer a band of 5 more or less equal members, it was "Queen Nicola, and the other 4 who are only there to make her shine even more by comparison". OK, the comparison bit is pushing it slightly, but it's just my opnion, feel free to disagree. Still, I’m not only talking about her looking radiant (the others aren’t particularly bad to look at either, to say the least), more about her vocals on tour standing out so much, that every time someone follows her lines, you wish it was still her singing. It’s not accidental, that a review only mentions her vocals, youtube comments are full of  stuff like her "finally getting the attention she deserves", "how could X or Y always get the lead, didn't they hear Nicola sing?" among the usual things, obviously. And there’s more. A friend of mine not familiar with the band (and more impressed by Sarah’s considerable charms) picked Nicola as "the one who sang the most" after watching the first few songs from the show, proving her contributions being the most memorable during those songs (it couldn’t have been the quantity). But that’s still subjective, how about her being the only one from the band co-writing songs? A quick look at the single sleeve shows the girls forming a queue, with her at the front. (Should I say "leader of the pack"?) The album sleeve, where they stand next to each other, have her in the centre. The planned but abandoned second single, their first ballad since 2005-6 feels like its only reason for existence is to show off her vocals in the chorus. When they make a grand entrance during the show (appropriately enough, during "The Show"), appearing one by one during an instrumental section (so the song doesn’t dictate a certain order), she’s the first one to emerge (literally, being also the only one who doesn’t simply walk onto the stage) making the biggest impact. And guess who do we find as central figure on the sleeve of the live DVD? Yep, it’s Nicola again.

To sum up, I’m obviously not too happy about them not being around as a band anymore, but thanks to the recording technology I can still enjoy their work, and I'd rather have the fond memories and a great catalogue of songs than watch them forcing themselves to keep something going that no longer works for them.