Originally Posted by Shadow2009:
“And as for the Sats vs Girls aloud argument I much prefer The Sats. Girls Aloud, like it or not, had a massive advantage in that they were watched by millions on TV for weeks and then won it at Christmas time guaranteeing a massive selling debut single. Their album was obviously going to either be massive or a flop (as most reality TV albums are) and they were lucky in that the public took well to them. They got numerous top tens at a time when sales were awful and they had Xenomania producing all their music. The public knew each member individually and could relate well to them. They managed to progress their sound into the electropop genre and fit in well with the music of their time. They were also lucky in that they were managed well and didn't have any awful decisions made, unlike The Saturdays.
The Sats had to debut with a poor choice of lead single. To the public they were just a random bunch of girls. For some reason If This Is Love went to #8 and got them a minor hit. Up then came along and sold over 300K and got them a reputation as the girls with the coloured tights and the catchy song. They then released the ballad Issues which thankfully sold some albums and also got a decent peak in the singles charts. Everything was going well - a #8 single, a #5 single and massive hit and a #4 single plus a #9 album which was still selling.
They were building in popularity and their management got too cocky and got them to do Comic Relief. They then missed out on the #1 spot which was a bit embarrasing (even though they got to #2), after that they released a 5th single which was handled terribly (promo on Ant and Dec in March, release date in June) and yet still got to #22 after MJ died and a bunch of his songs charted above it. Then there was the two month break before Forever Is Over was leaked and released. Obviously that got to #2 and plummeted, then the album was released a week after and completely bombed too. Ego was then released and thankfully got to #9 and sold around 300K as well. Now we're starting their third era and management are releasing a very marmite lead single Missing You ahead of Higher (which has been recieved well at their gigs) and now they're releasing in a massive week with an album (only five new songs) released the week after.
IMO The Sats could have had a massive era with Wordshaker but the early release, poor lead single and silly decisions completely ruined it. The third era looks set to bomb as well, and it's all down to decisions like putting a song like Missing You out ahead of Higher.”
Sorry to quote an old post Shadow, but...
It doesn't matter how big an advantage Girls Aloud had with Sound Of The Underground (or any other song for that matter), that doesn't take away from how brilliant a song it was. It's a modern pop masterpiece. You can't honestly compare it with other reality show winning songs like The Climb or Hallelujah *puke*.
And quite honestly I don't care about the fact Girls Aloud were formed by a reality show - they and The Saturdays are both manufactured girl bands. Simple as. Might seem an unbelievable thing for me to say considering how much I slate reality shows on here, but The Saturdays have still become just as publicised as any X Factor artist - they're in the papers everyday, their songs are played on radio stations across the land, and they've appeared and performed on most primetime tv shows (similar to Pixie Lott). I think it's fair to say they are now just as well-known as Girls Aloud.
Anyway, back to the manufactured issue...
Of course Girls Aloud hit the jackpot with Xenomania - it doesn't need me to say why they are so good. But they weren't exactly well-known before they worked with Girls Aloud, so it's not really as if Girls Aloud automatically got to work with some well-known producers. Xenomania have in fact worked with big artists like Britney in the past, but it didn't work out. Girls Aloud and Xenomania just seem to have come up with a winning formula which has resulted in some of the finest, most defining pop music of the last decade. I know it's all subjective, but Girls Aloud's music has been critically-acclaimed - and not just by pop fans, serious critics too.
None of The Saturdays' songs so far come close to matching GA's best imo. They are yet to come up with a song which blows us all away and becomes a truly massive hit. Even if Missing You hits no.1 - which I've said all along it could easily do, considering how they are marketed and how desperate some of their fans are for them to get a no.1 single - that doesn't make it any more memorable. It's still a pretty average song. Forever Is Over managed to reach no.2 even though it got a lukewarm reception (and we all know what happened next with the album). Let's say for instance that it did reach no.1 that week. Would that make it any better or memorable? No chance. It's pretty much been forgotten about already as it is.
Ego was a decent enough song, but imo it's still nowhere near as good or memorable as Sound Of The Underground, Love Machine, Biology, Call The Shots, etc. It sold a lot but they did perform it on Dancing On Ice in front of 10 million viewers, and it was featured in a tv ad for a while. Don't get me wrong - I do like The Saturdays, but they've just not built on their first album success the way they should of. I'm getting fed up of them releasing average songs, regardless of where they end up in the charts.