_ Unofficial Xenomania fansite. Facebook Twitter RSS
End of Decade: lists (part 3)
Posted at 4:47 PM, 16 January 2010 -

The online music websites are publishing their "best of the decade" lists. This is the third round up of the Xenomania songs/albums that appear on those lists.
See also: part 1 and part 2.


Associated Content: The Top 10 Greatest Albums of the 2000s

7. Rachel Stevens - Come and Get It (2005)

The second solo album by British pop singer Rachel Stevens, of S Club 7 fame, "Come and Get It" was deemed a chart failure and Ms. Stevens's musical career was put on indefinite hold although the album was a critical success, even making a list of the "1000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die." It has gone on to become a sort of cult phenomena in the U.K. The album spawned the singles "Negotiate with Love," "So Good," "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)," as well as underground hits "Crazy Boys" and "Nothing Good about This Goodbye."


NME: 100 Tracks of the Decade

97. Sugababes - Round Round (2002)

Xenomania in excelsis, and one of the ’Babes finest moments

Probably one of Xenomania’s most perfect tracks, ‘Round Round’ is mean, it’s taut, it’s sexy and it’s awesome. Preceding ‘Sound Of The Underground’ by several months, it never falls into the slightly nudge-nudge Carry On ‘knowing’ territory that Girls Aloud often do – Sugababes were by far the cooler proposition. The chugging, locomotive introduction and whip-smart rhythms are totally dancefloor irresistible and the classic Destiny’s Child you-ain’t-all-that lyrics (“I don’t need no man, got my kicks for free”) perfectly nonchalant, in the days when they could still draw on Mutya’s sultry drawl.



The Stylus Decade: Top 100 Singles

65. Girls Aloud - Biology (2005)

"Biology" is all hooks—sprouting in all directions, stuffed with more complex subtext than they're often credited with, hooks that build and build until "they give it up, and then they take it away/a girl's got to zip it up, and keep her head in the shade." And that's not even the chorus, or at least not the only one. You can't mistake their biology, but whatever Girls Aloud's genesis or growth, the reason they're so beloved is because they're pretty infallible at making this kind of surprisingly, loveably deep (with hooks, with ideas, with personality) pop.



Cambridge News: Soundtrack of the decade

Girls Aloud - The Sound of Girls Aloud (2006)

While the girls themselves spent the decade looking impossibly glamorous (and occasionally, in the wee small hours, a bit “tired and emotional”), evil genius Brian Higgins and his Xenomania writing/production team have doggedly applied themselves to creating some of the finest, shiniest pop records of all time.

From the moment Sound of the Underground’s driving surf guitar riff merged into those retro electro beats and that urgent, panicky vocal about “water running in the wrong direction”, it was clear we were in uncharted territory. Since then, Higgins and co have barely put a foot wrong. From the plangent twang of No Good Advice to the frankly bonkers free-for-alls of The Show and Biology, this singles collection is pure, lipglossed pop perfection.

Girls Aloud - Biology (2005)

Why use one chorus when five will do?



GayDarNation: Albums Of The Noughties

5. Girls Aloud - Chemistry (2005)

Purists can talk all they want about innovation, sincerity and credibility, but as much as it might hurt them to admit, the quest for the perfect pop song will always remain music's ultimate goal. If, by the time of their second album What Will The Neighbours Say?, Girls Aloud had stepped out the shadow cast by Popstars: The Rivals, with Chemistry, their third album, the foxy five-piece took a stiletto heel to any memory of the reality show and stomped it to death. They were a real band, with killer songs.

Of course, Brian Higgins and the rest of the Xenomania hit-making team were the real geniuses, but could anyone have delivered this album's closer ‘Racey Lacey’, which lambastes promiscuous females, with such tongue-in-cheek brilliance? And no matter what anyone says, ‘Biology’ is among the best singles of the last 20 years.

Labels: , , ,

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Keep on posting such stories. I love to read stories like that. By the way add more pics :)

January 24, 2010 at 8:07 AM  



x Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home

Older posts: May 2008 . June 2008 . July 2008 . August 2008 . September 2008 . October 2008 . January 2009 . February 2009 . March 2009 . April 2009 . May 2009 . June 2009 . July 2009 . August 2009 . September 2009 . October 2009 . November 2009 . December 2009 . January 2010 . February 2010 . March 2010 . April 2010 . May 2010 . June 2010 . July 2010 . August 2010 . September 2010 . October 2010 . June 2011 . July 2011 . August 2011 . December 2011 .