Black Jacks running down my back...

continuing my list of albums that narrowly missed the top 50 of the decade;

The Veronicas - Hook Me Up - 2007

Over to 2007 once again and Australian twin sisters The Veronicas unleashed their second album in Australia, although unbelievably it didn't come out here until just a few weeks ago!!! A huge step forward in sound from their debut, this electro pop stormer was well ahead of its time. Hook Me Up was an edgy comeback single and Untouched was pop perfection with strings to kill...the song of course later became huge in the US and UK two years later, despite being one of my favourite songs of 2007 haha! Other gems such as This Love, I Can't Stay Away, Revenge Is Sweeter (Than You Ever Were), and a personal favourite, In Another Life, made this a real gem.



Atomic Kitten - Feels So Good - 2002

One of my favourite girl groups of the decade, Atomic Kitten's second album after the Jenny re-working of their debut Right Now in 2001, Feels So Good was a far more polished affair than the edgy pop of the debut. Like most 2002 singles and albums, the songs were well produced, shiny and most likely had some involvement with various hit factories and song writers somewhere in Sweden. It did however rise above the generic pop of their Pop Idol contemporaries. Their reworking of The Tide Is High was excellent, as were the singles, The Last Goodbye/Be With You, It's OK, Love Doesn't Have To Hurt and the Kylie penned, Feels So Good.



Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold On Be Strong - 2008

Any excuse to post Mine All Mine is a good one...Norway's 2008 Eurovision competitor, Maria Haukaas Storeng, managed to make a whole album full of soul pop that tapped perfectly into the boom of the genre in 2008. An excellent album and the perfect antiodte to the excellent but generally quite depressing debut from Duffy, the album unfortunately never made it over to the UK but almost certainly could have spawned some hit singles had she managed to get some airplay. Mine All Mine is of course one of the duets of the decade by the way...



Missy Higgins - On A Clear Night - 2007

Australian singer Missy Higgins' second album, On A Clear Night, was another triumphant second outing and most certainly not a victim of 'the sophomore slump'. A soundtrack to dramatic and expensively produced US TV shows for years to come, Where I Stood was a perfect album opener, Steer was an uplifiting first single, and the uptempo strummers Peachy and 100 Round The Bends were both just as good. Excellent album from a lady who should be massive worldwide.



Girls Aloud - Tangled Up - 2007

I think there was something in the water in 2007, there were an unbelievably high number of good albums!!! Girls Aloud's fourth album, Tangled Up was similar to the Atomic Kitten album just featured in that this was a much more polished and slick affair in comparison to previous more edgy albums. The 'perfect pop single' Call The Shots is one of their signature songs, the risky Sexy! No, No, No (at least the perfect Cheryl vocoder intro), the classic GA sound on Can't Speak French and then the fantastic unreleased moments Girl Overboard and Black Jacks, made this an absolute marvel. Stunning pop album showing the band's continuing evolution.