Make the place sizzle like a summertime cookout

Continuing my trip back through the 2006 album charts.

02/07/06 : PCD - Pussycat Dolls

Well, this is a tricky one.  The album I should be writing about here is Liberation Transmission by Lostprophets which was a new entry at #1 this week, but they've somewhat been edited out of musical history following the conviction of their vocalist for some very unpleasant crimes indeed (if you're not aware of what he did then take my word for it that you are better off as you are - he went away for 29 years, so that gives you some idea of the seriousness).  

Part of me feels that excising the band completely because of the activities of one member is somewhat unfair on the other members, but I don't know what their thoughts on the matter are so it's just best that I comment no further.  However, whatever my opinion, none of their albums are available on my streaming provider of choice so I can't listen to it anyway - and I seem to recall I didn't particularly like their stuff either, so I can't say I'm too disappointed at having the decision removed from me.  

We then also have two best-ofs to ignore - the somewhat musically contrasting pair of Fatboy Slim and Nina Simone, until finally we get to this.  And I'm really not expecting to like this either...

And I can't say I loved it, but it's very much a game of two halves.  The first half is mostly songs written for them whereas the second half is a somewhat odd combination of covers and poorly executed mash-ups.  

Considering the original songs - they're at least bearable.  "Don't Cha" has a good hook to it, (but when you listen it, there's really very little else to the song) and I actually didn't mind "I Don't Need A Man" - it was very Little Mix (although there's obviously an argument that Little Mix are very Pussycat Dolls).  "Beep" is a weird song though because it uses beeps to censor out potential rude words which made me think it was a clean version, but no - the beeps are part of the song.

Conversely, the cover versions really aren't very good at all, with "Tainted Love" in particular being absolutely massacred, as is "Feeling Good" - I'd rather listen to the Muse version, which gives you an idea of exactly how bad it is.  All the cover versions being bundled together also just accentuates how bad they all are - I know the ladies weren't exactly picked for their vocal abilities, but they sound incredibly weak in places.  I'd also struggle to say that you get the impression that too much effort went into the album - I can't help but feel "that'll do" was a driving force behind the production.

We're at #7 this week on their 42nd week of a 73 week run.  WHAT?!?  At least this was as high as it ever made it, but even so - shame on you, 2006.  The top five this week were Lostprophets (a new entry), Keane, The Kooks, Fatboy Slim and The Zutons and the next highest new entry was Plan B at #30.

Wikipedia has far more on this album than it deserves (377 milliPeppers), although it's fair to say the coverage is at least balanced.  I did learn something -  "Don't Cha" is actually a cover, being first recorded in 2004 by Tori Alamaze who gave up her rights to the song to get out of her record deal.  It also makes the point that the album hung around for so long because of the success of the singles - the first four all made the top three in the UK charts.  There are also a lot of other famous musicians involved in the album - Buster Rhymes, will.i.am, Ceelo Green, Timbaland and, obviously, Siobhan Fahey from Banaramana.  She supplied a Shakespear's Sister backing track which was mashed up with Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" and "although Fahey did not like the group's version, financially she was delighted"!

Critically, the reviews were mixed between those that hated only the slow stuff and the cover versions and those that hated it all.  Our old mate Robert Christgau came up with the fantastically sniffy comment that it was "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like" whilst others praised Nicole Scherzinger for at least being able to sing and that it was "clear that she really needs to keep around those dancing, singing/not-singing gals".  Or, as another critic described them, "glorified strippers". Commercially, it did OK I guess, selling over five million copies and is, somewhat astoundingly, the fourth best selling album by a girl group in the UK ever.  Wonders will never cease.

"Customers also listened to" Misteeq, Sugababes, Girls Aloud and Jamelia - all of whom have their critics, but I'd pick any of their output above this I'm afraid.  It's bang average at best and utterly atrocious in places.  And that's me being nice about it.

25/06/06 - Not as annoying as you might expect
09/07/06 - In which an opinion is re-evaluated