Some Kind of Miracle (song)

"Some Kind of Miracle" is a song by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their debut studio album Sound of the Underground (2003). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. One of six songs produced by Xenomania for Sound of the Underground, "Some Kind of Miracle" was also remixed by Illicit.

"Some Kind of Miracle"
Song by Girls Aloud
from the album Sound of the Underground
Released26 May 2003
Genre
Length3:09
LabelPolydor Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

Receiving comparisons to The Bangles and Geri Halliwell, "Some Kind of Miracle" was praised by contemporary music critics as a stand-out track from Sound of the Underground. "Some Kind of Miracle" was intended to be the album's fourth single, but these plans were canceled upon the recording of "Jump" for the Love Actually soundtrack.

Background and composition

Following the success of their debut single "Sound of the Underground", Girls Aloud began work on their debut album. Initially, Brian Higgins and Xenomania had only produced "Sound of the Underground" and second single "No Good Advice". Higgins said, "They'd sent them off to these other Swedish guys and different people in the UK [...] I said, 'There are two completely separate groups on this record. We need to get rid of six tracks and I'll replace them'. We did that and allowed the album to stand up as a body of work."[1] "Some Kind of Miracle" was one of six songs that Higgins and Xenomania ended up producing for Sound of the Underground.

"Some Kind of Miracle" was written by Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Lisa Cowling, Tim Powell, Shawn Lee, and former B*Witched member Edele Lynch. The song, originally titled "Should I Stay or Should I Go", has "layered vocals with its slow tempo despite being more formulaic" than other Xenomania productions.[2][3] Described as "a breezy summer pop song about trying to bag a guy,"[4] the song was said to sound like "a 21st century Bangles", as well as former Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell.[5][6]

Release

"Some Kind of Miracle" was originally intended to be the third single from Sound of the Underground until Polydor Records noticed the warm reception fans gave "Life Got Cold". It was then decided that "Some Kind of Miracle" would be the album's fourth single.[2] However, the opportunity arose for Girls Aloud to release a single for the Love Actually soundtrack when director Richard Curtis requested they record a cover of The Pointer Sisters' "Jump".[2] The re-recorded version of "Some Kind of Miracle" that would have been released as a single appeared on the re-release of Sound of the Underground later that year. Remixes of "Some Kind of Miracle" had also already been commissioned. Illicit remixed the song, which later appeared on the rarities disc of Girls Aloud's Singles Box Set in 2009.[7] Bootleg vinyls featuring the remix were unofficially released by Illicit.[8]

Reception

Contemporary music critics praised "Some Kind of Miracle" as an album highlight. In a review of Sound of the Underground, BBC's Ian Youngs stated that "there are more gems to be found," describing "Some Kind of Miracle" as "lovely."[3] Jacqueline Hodges, also writing for BBC, praised "Some Kind of Miracle" as "superficial pop at its purest. With a vocal hook that gnaws its way into your brain and leaves you afflicted with a tendency to repeat it again and again in your head, it must qualify for future chart success."[9] It was also labeled a stand-out by Anne-Louise Foley of RTÉ.ie, who said it was one of the tracks "that give[s] your ears and hips a big tug," and pinpointed it as a possible future single.[10] Other critics predicting it would be a future single included Colin Somerville of Scotland on Sunday[11] and Victoria Newton of The Sun.[12] Martyn Leek of the Sunday Mercury described the song's sound as having "a syrupy 60s feel",[13] and Lisa Verrico of The Times wrote that it was "a breezy summer pop song about trying to bag a guy",[14] while Paul Connolly of The Times suggested a similarity to "Beautiful Stranger" by Madonna.[15] Gemma Pike of Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News noted, "The tempo is slowed a little for Some Kind of Miracle, which has a Geri Halliwell pop song feel to it, but is classier and better produced."[6]

Track listing
CD1
  1. "Some Kind of Miracle" (Single Mix) 3:19
  2. "Don't Want You Back" 3:20
  3. "Some Kind of Miracle" (Illicit Mix) 7:57
CD2
  1. "Some Kind of Miracle" (Single Mix) 3:19
  2. "Some Kind of Miracle" (Album Version) 3:09
  3. "Everything You Ever Wanted" 2:53
  4. "Some Kind Of Miracle" (Video)
Digital download & Boxset
  1. "Some Kind of Miracle" (Single Mix) 3:19
  2. "Don't Want You Back" 3:20
  3. "Some Kind of Miracle" (Illicit Mix) 7:57
  4. "Some Kind of Miracle" (Album Version) 3:09
  5. "Everything You Ever Wanted" 2:53
  6. "Some Kind Of Miracle" (Karaoke Version) 3:20
  7. "Some Kind Of Miracle" (Video)

Personnel
  • Written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Lisa Cowling, Tim Powell, Shawn Lee, and Edele Lynch
  • Produced by Brian Higgins, Xenomania and Jeremy Wheatley
  • Keyboards and programming by Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Matt Gray and Tim "Rolf" Larcombe
  • Guitar by Shawn Lee
  • Mixed by Jeremy Wheatley at Townhouse Studios
  • Published by Warner Chappell / Xenomania Music / Copyright Control

References
  1. Andreas Soteriou (13 April 2010). "Brian Higgins: The Pop Don't Stop". Ponystep. Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  2. Robinson, Peter (2009). "Jump". The Singles Boxset (Booklet). Girls Aloud. London, England: Fascination Records. p. 13.
  3. Ian Youngs (23 May 2003). "Girls Aloud trounce pop rivals". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  4. Lisa Verrico (23 May 2003). "Hello, girls". The Times Online. London: The Times. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  5. Angus Batey (30 May 2003). "Girls Aloud - 'Sound Of The Underground'". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  6. Gemma Pike (15 May 2003). "Girls aim to make a noise". Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  7. "Girls Aloud – The Singles Box Set". Discogs. Zink Media. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  8. "Heather Small / Girls Aloud – Proud / Some Kind Of Miracle (Illicit Mixes)". Discogs. Zink Media. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  9. Jacqueline Hodges (11 June 2003). "Review of Girls Aloud – Sound of the Underground". BBC Music. BBC. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  10. Anne-Louise Foley (13 June 2003). "Girls Aloud - Sound of the Underground". RTÉ.ie. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  11. Colin Somerville (25 May 2003). "Album reviews: Sound of the Underground: Girls Aloud". Scotland on Sunday. p. 7.
  12. Victoria Newton (30 April 2003). "Aloud blast from the past". The Sun. p. 17.
  13. Martyn Leek (25 May 2003). "CD reviews: Girls Aloud". Sunday Mercury. p. 44.
  14. Lisa Verrico (23 May 2003). "Hello, girls". The Times. p. 14.
  15. Paul Connolly (31 May 2003). "Girls Aloud: Sound of the Underground". The Times. p. 15.
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