It's easy to knock the winners of every TV talent show out there, and to automatically predict a mere fifteen minutes of post-victory fame before a career crash and general disappearance from the public conscience. If we're being honest, we do it all the time, though not because it's easy I should add. No, because it's funny. But let's be honest here - for every Steve Brookstein there's a Will Young, for every Michelle McManus there's a Kelly Clarkson, and for every Hearsay there's, well, these girls. And of course the album chart has recently been dominated not only by last year's 'X-Factor' winner Leona Lewis, but also by her predecessor Shayne Ward for whom nasty music journalist types (OK, me) predicted a mere four months of fame. But forget Lewis and Ward, let's talk about Girls Aloud, not only unusual in being a reality-show-created group who have enjoyed longevity, but also a reality-show-created group who have released consistently high quality pop music. And this year's fourth long player, 'Tangled up', was no exception. True, I suspect Brian Higgins and the Xenomania songwriting/production house have as much to do with the consistent quality-ness of Girls Aloud's output, but kudos to the Girls themselves also - [a] for keeping it together as the frontmen of this top pop machine despite the slightly random way they came together and [b] for performing the twelve tracks that make up 'Tangled Up' with suitable style and panache. And for delivering us pop fans here at CMU with another fine album for our collections. Hurrah to them, and hurrah to the tenth CMU Album Of The Year.
http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/albumsoftheyear