It was going to take a lot to follow up Chemistry. It was released 2 years ago, so the girls had a lot to live up to after such a long break.
They made us wait and it was worth it. This is an AMAZING album, possibly their finest work yet. Brian Higgins and his team at Xenomania do another brilliant job with this album and show us all why they are considered one of the best production teams in music.
Tangled Up has many higlights, but the absolute stand out track for me is "Girl Overboard." This song is just fabulous, one of GA's best songs to date. It should be a single, "no doubt about it" (as the song goes). All the girls get a chance to sing and the chorus is sooooooo catchy! I actually didn't like it on the first listen, I thought it was a bit meh, but I listened to it again and it just hit me with how amazing it is. I can imagine a great video for this. GA's best song in eons and the best on this album, definitely.
Another highlight is the dancey track "What You Crying For." One reason I like this song is because Kimberley (my fave GA member) leads the song and takes the reins. The lyrics are really cool in this one. It kind of reminds me of "Love/Hate" from SOTU, it has the same sound, but it's better I think. I loved this one on the first play. The whole dancey feel of the song is just irresistible. Kimba sounds amazing and it has a really catchy chorus.
"I'm Falling" is my third favourite. This is another song I didn't like AT ALL on the first listen, the stratchy vocoded vocals annoyed me. But I went back and listened to it again a couple of days later and just fell in love with it. Now it's one of my favourites. Kimba sings a lot on this one too, so maybe that contributed. If I had to liken it to a earlier GA song, it would be "Swinging London Town" from Chemistry. I LOVE the lyrics on this song - "when I was young I wanted to be a punk rocker, but everybody said no." The chorus is really catchy too and the music is awesome.
"Fling" is yet another highlight. Everybody raves about this one. I love it, but it's not my fave on the album. It's a lot like "Graffiti My Soul" from WWTNS. This song has brilliant lyrics, a great beat and great vocals from all the girls.
"Black Jacks" is a strange, but yet amazing song. Most of the song is chilled out, relaxed and laid back with a catchy chorus, but then it just bursts into a Daphne & Celeste styley chant bit in the middle. The chant bit is my fave bit of the song, it's great! The middle 8 is weird though.
"Close To Love" is another favourite, and another dancey song (the whole album has this feel). The song is riddled with sexual inneundo ("we're gonna need more wood" anybody?), and strange lyrics. It's your usual GA stomper and is loads of fun to sing along to.
"Sexy! No, No, No..." is of course the lead single from the album. Everybody else seems to be rubbishing it, but I love it. It should have been the opening song of the album, the song has the most brilliant opening ever.
"Damn" is another panned song, but I really like it! It sounds like a lot of previous GA songs, like "Racey Lacey" or something similar. It's the poppiest song on the album and has a really catchy chorus. I really don't see the problem with this track, it's cute!
"Crocodile Tears" is the closest you're going to get to a ballad on this album, and it's the closer too! It's more midtempo then anything else and is fun to sing along to.
"Can't Speak French" is a strange one. I absolutely adore the first verse of this song, there's something about Nadine's vocals that make me go OMG. But when the song hits the chorus, it goes kinda boring. I don't know what it is. First verse is good, but I usually change to the next song after that.
"Control Of The Knife" is probably the most meh song on the album. Everybody raves about it, but I find it bland. It's catchy but that's about it.
"Call The Shots" is the 2nd single from the album, but I'm not loving it. I just find it boring and not up to GA's usual standards. Nicola's middle part is amazing however, I listen to the song just for that bit. Apart from that, it's just bleh.
My favourites are:
Girl Overboard
What You Crying For
I'm Falling
Black Jacks
Fling
Overall, a strong album that is up there as one of GA's strongest albums yet.
Possibly their best album yet
Overpriced?
12 tracks
