"Biology" | ||||
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Single by Girls Aloud | ||||
from the album Chemistry | ||||
B-side | "Nobody but You" | |||
Released | 14 November 2005 | |||
Recorded | 2005 | |||
Genre | Progressive pop [1] | |||
Length | 3:35 | |||
Label | Polydor | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Girls Aloud singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
Music video | ||||
"Biology" on YouTube |
"Biology" is a song performed by English-Irish all-female pop group Girls Aloud,taken from their third studio album Chemistry (2005). The progressive pop song was written by Miranda Cooper,Brian Higgins and Higgins' production team Xenomania,and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Composed of distinct sections,it avoids the verse-chorus form present in most contemporary pop music. "Biology" was released as a single in November 2005,ahead of the album's release. Following the disappointment of "Long Hot Summer","Biology" returned Girls Aloud to the top five of the UK Singles Chart and became their tenth top ten hit.
The music video,consisting only of group shots,witnesses Girls Aloud seamlessly moving through various sequences while performing disjointed choreography. "Biology" was promoted through a number of live appearances and has since been performed on all of Girls Aloud's subsequent concert tours. The song,which includes a variety of styles,received widespread acclaim from contemporary music critics. Considered one of Girls Aloud's signature songs, The Guardian referred to "Biology" as "the best pop single of the last decade".
"Biology" is composed of a number of distinctly different sections. The song begins with a 12/8 stanza which samples the main guitar and piano riff of the Animals 1965 song "Club a Go-Go". The tempo then changes to 4/4 and the first verse occurs,followed by two noticeably individual transitional bridges. Around two minutes into the song,the song reaches its climactic chorus before returning to the stanza heard in the introduction. The song repeats the chorus and the introduction is also used as an outro. The song avoids the typical AABA form and verse-chorus form present in most contemporary pop music.[ citation needed ]
Brian Higgins and Xenomania created "Biology" in reaction to Girls Aloud's previous single "Long Hot Summer",which Higgins called "a disaster record". [2] Higgins continued,"I think that [Biology] is a wonderful record –so uplifting. It meant so much to us and it really set Chemistry up well." [2] The lyric referring to "wicked games",which is mentioned in the Animals-inspired riff,was inspired by Girls Aloud almost releasing a cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" as a single. [3]
The song's title inspired the album's title,Chemistry. Both the single and album title refer to the scientific fields of biology and chemistry.
For the new single and album,Girls Aloud employed stylist Victoria Adcock. [3] Promotion for the single received a setback when Sarah Harding was diagnosed with kidney infection. [4] Girls Aloud also announced dates for 2006's Chemistry Tour. [5]
The single was released on 14 November 2005. [6] It was available on two CD single formats and as a digital download. The first disc included the Tony Lamezma Club Mix of Girls Aloud's 2004 single "The Show". [7] The second CD format included a previously unreleased track entitled "Nobody but You",as well as the Tony Lamezma Remix of "Biology". [8] The artwork was inspired by UK punk band X-Ray Spex's album cover Germfree Adolescents . Both covers show each member in a different pose,trapped inside a large vial. A live recording of "Biology" from Wembley Arena was featured on the iTunes version of The Sound of Girls Aloud:The Greatest Hits ,and later on 2008's Girls A Live and Girls Aloud's singles boxset. Both the album version and Tony Lamezma Remix of "Biology" appear on Popjustice:100% Solid Pop Music . "Biology" was released as a CD single in Australia on 20 February 2006. [9]
"Biology" received universal acclaim from music critics. The song was particularly notable for its informal structure. Popjustice referred to the song as "pop music which redefines the supposed boundaries of pop music." [10] BBC Music said "the girls rip through a variety of styles,paces and Neneh Cherry-esque raps [...] all within the same song." [11] Virgin Media praised the song for "blending the kind of saucy cabaret you'd expect to find in a gin-soaked saloon bar with a glorious chorus of fizzing,gliding synths and deceptively breakneck beats." [12] The song was described as "about as far from tired formula as you can possibly get. It sounds like three separate melodies condensed into one,from the Muddy Waters-apeing riff at the start,through to the glorious pop sheen of the verses,and having the sheer balls to wait two minutes before even introducing a chorus." [13] musicOMH noted that the song "breaks all the rules of manufactured pop" and stated that "Biology is yet more proof that Xenomania write the best pop songs around and that Girls Aloud are pretty much the perfect group to sing them [...] it's the single of the year." [14] Stylus Magazine also praised the song. [15]
Peter Cashmore,writing for The Guardian ,described "Biology" as "the best pop single of the last decade". [16] Peter Robinson of music website Popjustice said the song was "a great example of a song which pleased people with no passion for pop but also managed to hit the spot with those who totally loved the stuff [...] At once avant garde and relentlessly,demented mainstream,'Biology' quickly became one of Girls Aloud's signature tunes." [3] In September 2006,"Biology" won the award for the Popjustice £20 Music Prize,an annual prize awarded by a panel of judges organised by Popjustice to the singer(s) of the best British pop single of the past year. Girls Aloud had previously won the award in 2003 and 2005 for "No Good Advice" and "Wake Me Up" respectively. The song was listed at number 245 on American review site Pitchfork 's "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" list,despite Girls Aloud never receiving any sort of Stateside push. [17] Billboard named the song #32 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. [18]
Following the disappointing chart position of "Long Hot Summer","Biology" saw Girls Aloud return to the top five on the UK Singles Chart. [19] The single entered the chart at number four. [20] [21] The song fell just one position to round at the top five the following week. [22] It spent a third week in the top ten,slipping to number nine. [23] The song spent a total of ten weeks in the UK's top 75. [19] The song also peaked at number two on the official UK Singles Downloads Chart,held off by Madonna's "Hung Up". [24]
Similarly to the song's performance in the UK,"Biology" returned Girls Aloud to the top ten in Ireland,entering the Irish Singles Chart at number seven. [25] It slipped just two places to number nine in its second week. [26] The single spent three more weeks in Ireland's top twenty before falling. [27] [28] [29] It spent a total of ten weeks in Ireland's top fifty. [30] "Biology" peaked at number twenty-six in Australia,spending six weeks on the ARIA Singles Chart. [30]
The music video for "Biology" was directed by production team Harvey &Carolyn for Alchemy Films,with art direction from Maria Chryssikos. [31] The video,which consists only of group shots,witnesses Girls Aloud seamlessly moving through various sequences in scenes of disjointed choreography. Like the song itself,the video showcases a variety of styles. The music video begins with a curtain being drawn back to reveal the band members posed in black jazz dresses,stood against a black background decorated with expensive-looking candelabra and chandeliers. Nadine Coyle,perched upon a black grand piano,sings the jazzy intro. As the song's introduction ends,the scene then morphs into a room with white wallpaper embellished with black butterflies. Girls Aloud's outfits turn into frilly pink and purple dresses as digitised butterflies begin to float by. The scene transitions into a room with pink wallpaper and black floral patterns,while the group's outfits change into the red and black outfits seen on the single's artwork. The scene reverts to the opening sequence as Girls Aloud perform choreography involving chairs. As the song reaches its climax,the group are seen seamlessly moving between the various scenes and the different outfits. The video ends with a curtain closing.
Peter Robinson noted that the single's video captured Girls Aloud's "distinct visual style and some endearingly shambolic synchronised dance moves." [3] The video can be found on the DVD release of 2006's Chemistry Tour (released as The Greatest Hits Live from Wembley),as well as 2007's Style .
Girls Aloud performed "Biology" for the first time on Top of the Pops on 16 October 2005,wearing the black dresses from their music video. They appeared on CD:UK on 12 November. Following the show,Sarah Harding collapsed and was diagnosed with a kidney infection. [4] [32] They returned to the show just ten days later,performing in the black-and-red outfits seen on the single's artwork against the pink set from the music video. Girls Aloud also appeared on Children in Need 2005 , GMTV , Ministry of Mayhem ,and Top of the Pops Reloaded . They performed the song during the last ever Smash Hits Poll Winners Party at Wembley Arena. [33] Girls Aloud performed "Biology" on a number of Australian shows during their week-long promotional trip,including 9am with David &Kim , Sunrise ,and whatUwant .
"Biology" has been performed by the group at a number of summer festivals and open-air concerts,such as T4 on the Beach in 2007 and V Festival in 2006 and 2008. The song was also performed during promotion of Girls Aloud's 2006 greatest hits album The Sound of Girls Aloud:The Greatest Hits . They appeared on The Album Chart Show , Children in Need 2006 , Davina ,The Green Room,and the Vodafone Live Music Awards.
"Biology" has been performed at all of Girls Aloud's concert tours since its release. It served as the opening number of 2006's Chemistry Tour,following an introduction in which a mad scientist creates five women. Girls Aloud then rise from underneath the stage and perform "Biology". [34] It served as the encore for the following year's The Greatest Hits Tour. "Biology" was performed as part of a cabaret section on 2008's Tangled Up Tour,accompanied by a swing-inspired dance break. The song was also featured in the first section of 2009's Out of Control Tour.
UK CD1 (Polydor, 9875296) [35]
UK CD2 and Australian CD single (Polydor, 9875297; 9876700) [36] [37]
| The Singles Boxset (CD10) [3]
Digital EP [38]
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Weekly charts
Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [46] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Girls Aloud are a British pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl Tweedy, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. In 2012, the group was named as the United Kingdom's biggest selling girl group of the 21st century so far, with over 4.3 million singles sales and 4 million albums sold in the UK alone. During their two decades together, the group achieved a string of twenty top ten singles on the UK Singles Chart, including four number ones. They also achieved seven certified albums, two of which debut at number one. They have been nominated for five Brit Awards, winning the 2009 Best Single for "The Promise".
Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenomania has written and produced for artists such as Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Pet Shop Boys, The Saturdays and Sugababes. In particular, all but one of Girls Aloud's studio albums have been entirely written and produced by Xenomania. Sugababes' "Round Round" and Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground" have been credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Gabriella Cilmi's "Sweet About Me" and Girls Aloud's "The Promise" were named Best Single at the ARIA Music Awards of 2008 and the 2009 BRIT Awards, respectively.
What Will the Neighbours Say? is the second studio album by English-Irish all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 29 November 2004 by Polydor Records. Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania were enlisted to produce the entire album, allowing for more inventive ideas. What Will the Neighbours Say? explores various subgenres of pop music.
Sound of the Underground is the debut studio album by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud, formed through the ITV television series Popstars: The Rivals. It was released in Ireland on 23 May 2003, in the United Kingdom and Europe on 26 May 2003, and reissued on 17 November 2003 through Polydor. Girls Aloud worked with a variety of musicians and producers on Sound of the Underground, which was largely inspired by 1980s music. Comparisons were made with artists such as Bananarama, The Bangles, Blondie and Spice Girls.
Chemistry is the third studio album by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 5 December 2005 by Polydor Records. After the success of What Will the Neighbours Say?, the album was again entirely produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Chemistry is a loose concept album which details celebrity lifestyle and "what it's like to be a twentysomething girl in London." A number of the songs avert the verse-chorus form typical of pop music.
"Sound of the Underground" is a song that was the debut single of British-Irish pop group Girls Aloud, and later featured on their debut album of the same title. The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and Niara Scarlett, and produced by Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Following Girls Aloud's formation on the ITV1 reality television show Popstars: The Rivals, "Sound of the Underground" was released 16 days later, on 16 December 2002. Commercially, it was an immediate success; it became the year's Christmas number one in the UK, spending four consecutive weeks atop the chart. It also reached number one in Ireland and peaked within the top forty in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
"No Good Advice" is a song by British-Irish girl group Girls Aloud, taken from their debut album, Sound of the Underground (2003). The song was written by Aqua's Lene Nystrøm Rasted, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. The song has themes of rebellion, reflecting Higgins' general mood of failure after a business partnership fell through.
"The Show" is a song recorded by British girl group Girls Aloud for their second studio album, What Will the Neighbours Say? (2004). It was released by Polydor Records on 28 June 2004, as the lead single from the album. The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Lisa Cowling, Jon Shave, and Tim Powell. The synth rhythm, composed by Shave, represents a change in musical direction from the band's previous releases. "The Show" is an uptempo dance-pop, electropop and Eurodance song with elements of the 1990 rave records.
"Love Machine" is a song recorded by British girl group Girls Aloud from their second studio album, What Will the Neighbours Say? (2004). It was released by Polydor Records on 13 September 2004, as the second single from the album. The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Lisa Cowling, Myra Boyle, and Shawn Lee. The instrumentation was inspired by The Smiths, and created by Powell and Coler. "Love Machine" is an uptempo pop rock song with elements of 1980s synthpop. The single was received favourably by contemporary music critics, who deemed it a joyful track that was different from the single releases by other artists at the time. According to research carried out for Nokia in 2006, "Love Machine" is the second "most exhilarating" song ever.
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