Sound of the Underground (album) written with the aim of launching their own girl group. The song was originally recorded in 2001 by London girl group Orchid, who disbanded before gaining a firm record deal. It was chosen by Girls Aloud's manager Louis Walsh as their debut single. "Sound of the Underground" was 2002's Christmas number one single and spent a further three weeks at number one. "Sound of the Underground" and another Xenomania production, Sugababes' "Round Round", have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Following the single's success, Girls Aloud proceeded to begin recording their
Girls Aloud was released in April 2009. It peaked at number-eleven on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the first single of Girls Aloud to miss the top ten. Girls Aloud embarked on the Out of Control Tour, which ran from April to June 2009. Their label, Fascination Records released a singles boxset collection to coincide with the tour. In February 2009, Girls Aloud signed a new record deal with Fascination that would see the group release another three studio albums. However in July 2009, Girls Aloud announced that they were taking a year-long hiatus to pursue solo projects, but would reunite for