It was not until late May of that year that fans were treated to the first play of Girls Aloud's electric 5th single, 'The Show.' Having toned up and been given a brand new look, the girls shot back into the limelight and into the Top 3, as the notched up another #2! Oh, and they picked up a Glamour Award for Band of The Year.
Prior to the release of their 5th single, Girls Aloud were involved in a campaign gearing up to the launch of their new look and single.The groups official website also had a countdown to build up suspense amongst fans.
Once again they hit the road, performing at universities and summer gigs ensuring everybody knew the Girls Aloud were back. Sadly, towards the end of July Nadine's family suffered two sudden bereavements and she returned home to Ireland to be with her family. Being a strong person, Nadine was back with the band after two weeks and promotion for the 6th single began almost immediately.
'Love Machine' is unlike any of the girls previous releases and once again shocked the public just as 'Sound of the Underground' and 'No Good Advice' had previously. After a mixed reception the public grew to love the track at it became their 6th consecutive Top 3 hit by going straight to #2. This meant that only the Spice Girls had performed better with their first 6 releases!
As fans awaited the release of their eagerly anticipated 2nd album, it was revealed that Girls Aloud had been chosen to sing 2004's Children In Need single - fighting off the likes of Busted and Geri Halliwell. Rumours quickly circulated that 'The Power of Love' would be the 7th release, only for it to be revealed that the actual track was to be a cover version of The Pretenders' hit 'Ill Stand By You.' Yet again there were worries about whether they could pull it off...and it turns out they could! The girls filmed a stunning video on a mock beach to go with the ballad and promotion began soon after.
Nadine's family suffered another loss in the early stages of promotion, and Nicola unfortunately lost an uncle not long after this. But the girls battled on, singing live on almost every TV show they appeared on - silencing critics who said they couldn't cut it live. An MTV special saw them perform Jump, Love Machine, The Show and Sound Of The Underground live as well, leaving fans gagging for a tour.
Even more excitement brewed as tracks from 'What Will The Neighbours Say?' began to leak with Wake Me Up, Here We Go and Graffiti My Soul gaining great praise and confirming that the edge was definately still there! But before the album hit the shelves, I'll Stand By You got its release. On the Tuesday after its release fans stood by for midweek positions to be revealed and, to their delight, Girls Aloud were heading straight for the top spot. After a phenomenal performance on Children In Need sales boomed and on the Sunday it was announced that Girls Aloud had scored their second number one single after almost two years - selling almost 30,000 more copies than any other release that week!
A few days later, the girls second album hit the stores. It became the weeks highest new entry on the album charts, reaching #6 and and selling twice as many copies as their debut, 'Sound Of The Underground.' Sales continued to grow and the album was certified platinum in under three weeks, selling well over 300,000 copies! The unbelievable success of 'What Wll The Neighbours Say?' led Polydor to announce Girls Alouds first ever UK Tour.
