What Will the Neighbours Say?

Infobox Album |
Name = What Will the Neighbours Say?
Type = Album
Artist = Girls Aloud


Released = 29 November 2004 (UK) 26 June 2007 (USA) (Digital)
Recorded = September 2003 - April 2004 London, England
Genre = Pop, Dance pop, Power pop
Length = 51:15 (UK edition)
Label = Polydor Records
Producer = Brian Higgins Xenomania
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:apfqxqysldae link]
*BBC Music [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/bwqv/ link]
*Stylus Magazine, (A-) [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=2592 link]
*Virgin, [http://www.virgin.net/music/albumreviews/girlsaloud_whatwilltheneighbourssay.html link]
*The Guardian, Rating|4|5 [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/story/0,11712,1359307,00.html link]
Last album = "Sound of the Underground" (2003)
This album = "What Will the Neighbours Say?" (2004)
Next album = "Chemistry" (2005)Singles
Name = What Will the Neighbours Say?
Type = Studio album
single 1 = Jump
single 1 date = 17 November 2003
single 2 = The Show
single 2 date = 28 June 2004
single 3 = Love Machine
single 3 date = 13 September 2004
single 4 = I'll Stand By You
single 4 date = 15 November 2004
single 5 = Wake Me Up
single 5 date = 21 February 2005

"What Will the Neighbours Say?" is the second album by British all-girl pop group Girls Aloud. It was released by Polydor Records on 29 November 2004 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced by the production team of Brian Higgins and Xenomania.

Album history

"What Will the Neighbours Say?" became the group's second top ten album in the UK album charts, where it was certified platinum. [ cite web | url=http://www.bpi.co.uk/platinum/platinumright.asp?rq=search_plat&r_id=31897 | title=Certified Awards - What Will The Neighbours Say? | publisher=British Phonographic Industry | date=2004-12-10| accessdate=2008-02-24 ] The album was released in select European territories in late 2004; however, it failed to generate much interest due to lack of promotion.

The album title "What Will the Neighbours Say?" comes from a lyric in the song "Love Machine". The line "What will the neighbours say this time?" refers to their debut single "Sound of the Underground," in which they sang "Neighbours banging on the bathroom wall / they're saying "pump the bass, I gotta get some more."

Upon its debut, critical reception was generally positive, with London based newspaper The Guardian calling it a great pop album that is "funny, clever, immediate" and "richly inventive". [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,11712,1359307,00.html "The Guardian"] Review of What Will the Neighbours Say?, 26 November 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2006. ]

Track listing

CD: Polydor / 9868948 (UK)

Girls Aloud's writing credits

Song writing contributions credited to Girls Aloud are believed to correspond to the following:

*"Big Brother" - Cheryl Cole
*"Hear Me Out" - Sarah Harding
*"Thank Me Daddy" - Kimberley Walsh
*"I Say a Prayer for You" - Nicola Roberts
*"100 Different Ways" - Nadine Coyle

Assumptions are based upon who sings most prominently in each song; in "I Say a Prayer for You", for example, Nicola Roberts is the only member to sing.

Covers and samples

*"I'll Stand By You" is a cover of the Anglo-American, rock band, The Pretenders.
*"Jump" is a cover of the American, R&B group, the Pointer Sisters. The song also appeared on the re-issue of "Sound of the Underground".
*The tracks "Deadlines & Diets" and "Here We Go" are covers of the Xenomania songwriter, Miranda 'Moonbaby' Cooper. The original version of the latter was also covered by Lene Nystrom in 2003. The Moonbaby version was used as the theme song for the animated series, "Totally Spies".
*"Graffiti My Soul" contains a sample of the Peblab song, "It's Not the Drug" and was originally offered to Britney Spears.

ingles

"Jump", the lead single from the album, first appeared on the "Love Actually" movie soundtrack and was also included on the re-issue of the group's debut album "Sound of the Underground" (2003). The song, a cover version of the Pointer Sisters hit, reached number two on the UK singles chart and featured a more upbeat side to group who had previously been labelled "moody" by the music media.

The second single "The Show" featured heavy dance beats and a distinctive bassline, and became a top five hit for the group in the UK and Ireland. The single was one of the first to be released on the 3" pocket CD format in Europe. The song also featured a music video centered around a beauty salon called "Curls Allowed", treating a selection of clueless men. It was also grafted onto their next album Chemistry with a different track listing for Australia, because "What Will the Neighbours Say?" was never released there. It became the second single after Biology.

"Love Machine" became the third release and became the group's third consecutive single to chart at number two in the UK and their sixth consecutive single release to go top three. Worldwide the single was also successful, reaching the top-forty in Ireland and Poland.

The fourth single, "I'll Stand By You", a cover version of the The Pretenders hit, became the group's second number one single release in the UK, selling 58,000 copies in its first week. The song was also the 2004 "Children in Need" charity single.

"Wake Me Up", the fifth and final single release, became the first Girls Aloud single to fail to chart within in the top three in the UK, peaking at number four. In Ireland the single reached number six and became the group's eight top ten single on the Irish singles chart.

Another track, "Graffiti My Soul" was going to be the sixth single released from the album, but was cancelled because the girls wanted to start work on their third album, "Chemistry".

Charts

"What Will the Neighbours Say?" debuted at number six on the UK albums chart, and spent 2 weeks in the Top 10 and 8 weeks in the Top 40. After fifteen weeks, it descended from the top-seventy-five, and has since re-charted for a total of sixteen non-consecutive weeks.

In Ireland it debuted at number twelve, remaining in the top twenty for eight weeks.

References

*cite web | title= GirlsAloudWorld.com| work= Worldwide chart positions and track listings| url=http://www.girlsaloud.org/index.php| accessmonthday=7 May | accessyear=2006
*cite web | title= EveryHit.com| work= UK chart positions and trivia| url=http://www.everyhit.com| accessmonthday=7 May | accessyear=2006

External links

* [http://www.girlsaloud.co.uk/site.php GirlsAloud.co.uk] — official website.