GIRLS ALOUD | The Show

INFORMATION:

Available on:
x Girls Aloud - What Will The Neighbours Say? (2004) CD
x Girls Aloud - The Show (2004) CD-S

Credits:
Written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Lisa Cowling, Jon Shave, Tim Powell, Xenomania.
Published by Xenomania/ Warner Chapell.
Produced by Brain Higgins and Xenomania.
Mixed by Jeremy Wheatley at the Townhouse for 365 artists.
Keyboards and programming by Jon Shave, Tim Powell and Tim "Rolf" Larcombe.
Guitars: Shawn Lee.
Keyboards programmed by Nick Coler.

Single information:
"The Show" was the first single released from Girls Aloud's second album What Will The Neighbours Say?, in 28th June, 2004.
Peak position: #2 In the UK Singles Chart.

Notes:
Polydor Records were presented with four song choices for the first single from Girls Aloud's second album. They were: 'The Show', 'Wake Me Up', 'Androgynous Girls' and 'Graffiti My Soul'. They chose 'The Show'. Although 'Wake Me Up' was the preferred choice, it was deemed too hard sounding and the record company simply weren't brave enough to take a risk.

The synth rhythm for 'The Show' was composed by a Xenomania musician called Jon Shave.

The song's lyrics - about not seeing a 'show' until one's heart says so - were intended as a sort of anti-promiscuity message.

REVIEWS:
x (...) the rapid-fire gang vocals of the opening salvo, "Should have known, should have cared/Should have hung around the kitchen in my underwear" is both maddeningly addictive and tantalising. The pre-chorus - well, I'm calling it that even though the song clearly has two distinct choruses - is great, and the woooh-tastic bit toward the end that leads into the last chorus, which is actually the first chorus is virtually impossible to avoid singing along to. The bassline throbs and farts in a wholly enticing manner as well, nodding its head toward GA's underrated album track All I Need (All I Don't) and the whole thing makes absolutely no sense at all. What "the show" is is pretty unclear, it's probably some sex thing, but it doesn't seem important. Edward Oculicz

x (...)"The Show" is certainly the boldest pop song to see release in quite a while. After the success of the last album and the non-single, "You Freak Me Out", one would expect for Higgins and company to come up with another somewhat formulaic, yet infinitely catchy, guitar driven pop gem. Instead, we get this massive electro masterpiece, complete with two different choruses, one of which being an addictive race to the finish, robo-style chant which mentions underwear of all things. Momentum wise, it's strange how the song never really soars, being that just about every Girls Aloud release up to now has. It instead sort of flows and lingers in a constant state of flux, rotating from chorus to bridge to chorus #2 (all of which are fantastic), with a wonderful rolling beat and waves of oscillating synths driving everything forward. The verses are impactful, but abbreviated, almost like Xenomania decided to cut the fluff and just bombard us with the good stuff. It should be noted that despite the unconventional structure, "The Show" continues the Girls Aloud tradition of keeping a dirty, edgy sound while still maintaining that special pop sheen. Shane

x The lead single for their second album, "The Show," was audacious to say the least. With its clipped delivery and gnarled synth riffs barely sweetened, it's SAW doing SST; tungsten and gristle polished to an FM sheen. It's a terrifying peak they have only occasionally returned to-"Wake Me Up," "Long Hot Summer," and the brand-new "Something Kinda Ooh" all feel, to varying degrees, like attempts to recapture its seductive bludgeoning. Paul Scott

x (...) Girls Aloud always deliver the goods when they re making party/funk/pop songs about acting like a lady and generally getting the party started. There s always something slightly unconvincing about Girls Aloud s lyrics, and here the Girls hang around a kitchen in their underwear, and refuse to perform until they re good and ready and something about going hunting (wtf?).(...) Colin Cooper

x In which Xenomania go all meta, showing that perhaps they are cognizant of the actual REAL sound of the underground, mentioning jumping (do you see, their last single was called "Jump" ha ha) and shunning all conventions of classic pop songwriting structure in favour of basically every good song idea Brian Higgins had together because he was too tired to finish it properly. And resident solo hungus Nadine kept nicely in check. Perfect. Edward Oculicz

x This song isn t really about anything, which is quite a big tick in its favour. What it is comes off like a free-association series of hook-lines spat out as fast as the songwriters could manage, all vaguely about girls in love. (...) this song keeps it about as unreal as you could imagine, every vocal sounding doused in lacquer and treatment, Cheryl Tweedy tweaked to sound like a slightly narky fembot while Sarah Harding does her best impression of Princess Zelda crying out for Link, after being announced by a chorus of Ooh-oohs (...) Oh, and the intro! Great singles do generally need the great intro, the thing that makes the listener sit up and pay attention the very nanosecond the laser hits the polycarbonate (adjust metaphor for your recorded medium of choice), and The Show has a corker in this jaggedy synth riff, where the synth doesn t pretend to be any instrument other than a synth, this huge electronic crash DINUHNUHNUH - NI! Nuh nuh nuh DINUHNUHNUH NI! If it s not you oh no, I won t do that. (...) It s all so very incredible, this huge pulsating beast of a record that bounces you about for three and a half minutes, disorienting and obliterating, smashing and crushing, then the ooh-ooh bit, then back to the smashing. It doesn t make sense. It refuses to comply with your feeble humanoid concepts. It s brilliant. William B. Swygart

LINKS:
x video on YouTube
x Wikipedia page