And so the time has come.....to comment on the new Girls Aloud album

I haven't written for a while as i had a technological incident which lead me to have to invest in a new computer. But now I'm back in cyber-space and ready to comment song by song on THE pop album of 2008.

First off 'The Promise' - You all know it and you all love it. We've been whacked over the head with it for months now and that infectious chorus is permanently lodged in our consciousness forever...I wrote about the song a few weeks ago just before it's ascent to the number one spot. It's quirky, it's classy and it sounds like nothing Girls Aloud have ever done before, whilst at the same time being exactly the type of thing they should be coming out with in 2008. Is it their best? Not by a mile, but it still fits perfectly in their 19 single cannon.

'The Loving Kind' - Written with help from The Pet Shop boys and now slated for release as their 20th single in January 2009. After all the hype in reviews about this one, i was left some what underwhelmed. It could be that being 'Call The Shots' younger brother, leaves it open to comparison, but then again i was never a huge fan of that song either. It's light, airy europopness makes it perfect for an all encompassing dance remix for the clubbers of the nation. Maybe it will grow on me, but i feel there is more gold in this album and this is merely a silver effort.

'Rolling Back The River In Time' - Girls Aloud do 'Push The Button', kind of. It starts with a blinding semi accapella solo from Nadine, then descends into what can only be described as strongly reminiscent of the Sugababes hit. This is very much a grower, with a more 'Sweet Charity' esque sixties vibes, rather than the Spector heavy 'The Promise'.

'Love Is The Key' - Picture this, Girls Aloud, at a barn dance, playing the accordion, with accompanyment from the vocoder and lacquered with typical kitsch Xenomania lyrics about opposites and you'll kind of understand what this stellar moment is all about (at about 3.51 is when the hoe-down really kicks off).

'Turn To Stone' - Another track heavily influenced by dance music, it's somewhat forgettable compared to the two songs it's sandwiched in between.

'Untouchable' - The longest Girls Aloud album track to date. Fact. The slow and yearning start, with those lachrymose vocals that have become Nicola Robert trademark, slowly builds up to a faster and more punchier vocal from Nadine. It feels like a journey taking you from the safe confines of earth constricted pop music up through the stars to a place where five pop goddesses float around like the open scene from Barbarella (or Kylie Minogue in 'Put Yourself In My Place, 90's music fans). At 4:50 we are hit with the songs Ace card, that amazing lyric about beautiful robots dancing alone. It's the sprint at the end of a winning race and ends on one final celebratory chorus.....if that made any sense at all. In short the whole 6 minutes and 43 seconds are bloody brilliant.

'Fix Me Up' - Girls Aloud goes Boogie Nights, think Benny Benassi's 'Satisfaction' Video, or the one for 'Outside' by George Michael or any filth by Aguilera. Bringing back the woo-woos from Biology, this song could have slot in any post 'What Will The Neighbours Say' Girls Aloud album. It's not really as sexy as the lyrics will have you believe, but i don't think it was ever supposed to be.

'Love Is Pain' - To be honest this is the one song that i often skip when listening to the album. I just find it dull, and feel that it was only put in because of Cheryl and Ashley. It's quite Human League, but not in a good way. The best bits are by Sarah Harding, which is a rarity for a Girls Aloud album, and Kimberley actually nails her part.

'Miss You Bow Wow' - Guitars have gone hand in hand with Girls aloud since 'Sound of the Underground' and the intro starts on familiar territory before bringing back the funny, cheeky side of the Aloud we haven't seen since the days of 'Love Machine'. It brings together elements of all the best bits of our favourite GA tracks, the mash up of styles like 'Biology', the nutty lyrics like 'Long Hot Summer', the quirkiness of the aforementioned 'Love Machine', the house stylings of 'SOTU' and the ridiculous title (see 'Sexy! No No No'). Looks destine to wind up as one of their great album tracks.

'Revolution In The Head' - Ever wondered what it would have been like if Nadine Coyle's dad had been a rude boi? Well this provides a small insight in what could have been. 'Give me a-ting, gimme a-ting' starts the track off and remains the most memorable lyric off the whole album. Compared to this masterstroke the rest of the song feels like it lags behind. It's the slight bump-n-grind style, however, that saves it as a whole.

'Live In The Country' - So Sarah Harding wants to leave London and live in the country. And from this tune it appears she wants to take the whole of London's drum and bass scene with her. It's a hats off moment to Xenomania, who really have proved they can make anything fit with the GA style. They've taken punk rock, fifties blues, the power-ballad and now the find themselves sing alongside a weird array for animal noises. It's almost like Brian Higgins was watching the 'Friends' episode when Ross is performing his unique keyboard skills and thought 'I wonder what that would sound like if you crossed it with Pendulum'. It's hard not to be in awe of the sheer absurdity this song is.

'We Wanna Party' - I only have one comment on this, it's the most disappointing finish to a Girls Aloud album since 'Sound of the Underground'.

So what of the album as a whole? Well it's better than the debut, not hard. It's similar to 'What Will The Neighbours Say' in that is a complete mash-up of styles and experimentation. It doesn't have the flow of 'Tangled Up' nor the absolute brilliance that was 'Chemistry'. Though i feel it unfair to compare it to 'Chemistry' as it was the album that broke new ground for them and for pop bands in general. Who could have imagine a reality TV formed group turning out a concept album about finding love in London celebrity scene. 'Out of Control' , however, is much better than 99.99% of all albums out there at the moment, that is a fact.

And so for the best part of the whole album, quite simply it's this:

Nadine grabbing her heel on the front cover. Genius.