Химия: Альбом Girls Aloud

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. Chemistry was universally acclaimed by a number of contemporary music critics upon its release. Despite a relatively low chart position (peaking at 11, the lowest charting release by the group), the album yielded four top ten singles and was certified platinum in the United Kingdom and Ireland, selling over 390,000 copies. The album was followed by the Chemistry Tour, which had Girls Aloud performing in arenas for the first time.

After the success of What Will the Neighbours Say?, which was solely produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania, the production team was asked to create Girls Aloud's third studio album. Chemistry was entirely produced and written by Xenomania, apart from a cover of Dee C. Lee's "See the Day." The album was recorded in 2005, following the What Will the Neighbours Say ? Tour. Parts of the process were shown in the fly on the wall documentary Girls Aloud: Home Truths.

Chemistry explores a more innovative approach to pop music, straying from the typical verse–chorus form present in most songs. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote that Chemistry is "a record that dispenses with the tiresome business of verses and instead opts for songs apparently constructed by stitching eight different choruses together." BBC Music exclaimed that Girls Aloud "have resuscitated its corpse by wedding chart friendly melodies to experimental avant garde sounds". The album takes influences from a wide variety of sources, including "everything from French chanson to piano pounding blues to the clipped R&B of the Small Faces". Guitars are present for most of the album. Yahoo! Music says "there's nary a 'formula' in sight. There are as many sudden tonal and tempo switches as the tricksiest Chicago art rock band. And all but one song here gives guitars a starring role." The album was described as "a concept album which relates to the girls and what it's like to be a twentysomething girl in London". The Guardian said that the album's "lyrics sound like Blur's Parklife rewritten by the editorial staff of Heat magazine" and "holds a distinctly ambiguous mirror up to noughties celebrity." also "delves into the [ ] topic of bondage."

The album opens with "Intro", a 42 second introduction, "Wild Horses", track four on the album, "features a mock choirgirl intro segueing into a breezy acoustic rocker [ ] like a harder St Etienne." The song is followed by "See the Day", a cover of the 1985 Dee C. Lee single which has been "given a glossy 21st century refurb". "Watch Me Go" was described as "deliciously slutty" and includes rapping similar to Betty Boo and Neneh Cherry. "Whole Lotta History" was called a "lush ballad", "Whole Lotta History" has also received comparisons to All Saints' "Never Ever". as well as a "well produced, upbeat pop tune, with a great hook in the chorus" by The Sentinel. The song, like "Watch Me Go", also includes Betty Boo esque rapping. The bonus disc contains Christmas music, including covers and original songs produced by Xenomania under the moniker Randy Snaps. The songwriters also took on Christmas related pseudonyms. In Australia and New Zealand, the album was released on 20 February 2006; however, it failed to generate much interest. Additionally, Chemistry and other Girls Aloud releases appeared on the US iTunes Store on 26 June 2007.

The album's first single was "Long Hot Summer", released in August 2005 as a "buzz" track to regenerate interest in the girls. The song was earmarked for release on the soundtrack of the 2005 film Herbie: Fully Loaded. The plans fell through, but the music video had taken inspiration from the movie's car theme and Girls Aloud portrayed mechanics. The song was not well received by critics, The follow up "Biology" was critically acclaimed and saw Girls Aloud return to the top five. Peter Cashmore, writing for The Guardian, described "Biology" as "the best pop single of the last decade". In September 2006, the single followed in the footsteps of "No Good Advice" and "Wake Me Up" to become the winner of the Popjustice £20 Music Prize. Just four weeks after the release of "Biology", Girls Aloud released a cover of Dee C. Lee's "See the Day" in the race for Christmas number one. It became their lowest charting single at the time. The final single was "Whole Lotta History", which became their twelfth consecutive single to chart within the top ten. The video, filmed in Paris, France, was their first to be set on location and outside of the United Kingdom. In Australia "Biology" was released as the first single in early 2006 peaking within the top 30. However second single "The Show" flopped peaking within the top 75 resulting in the third intended single, I'll Stand By You to be cancelled despite promotion earlier that year with single "Biology".

Chemistry became Girls Aloud's first album to miss the top ten when it debuted at number 11 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 81,962 units. Despite peaking at a low position, the first week sales outsold the band's debut studio album, Sound of the Underground, which debuted at number 2 with 37,077 units sold. Chemistry debuted at number 34 on the Irish Albums Chart, and peaked at number 31 four weeks later. However, the album was certified platinum in Ireland.

"Singapore", a track recorded during the album sessions that was not picked for the final album was later released on The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits compilation limited edition bonus disc. "On My Way To Satisfaction", a track recorded during the album sessions that was not picked for the final album was later released on the St. Trinian's soundtrack. Footage of Sarah recording the track was shown on Girls Aloud: Home Truths. The song is registered on ASCAP under the name "Red Raw". "Black Jacks", a track that was eventually released on Girls Aloud's fourth album, Tangled Up, was originally recorded during the sessions of Chemistry. "Models (Theme from Off the Record)" is a remix shorted version for Girls Aloud's television series titled "Off The Record" and appears on the second disc of Something Kinda Ooooh. A music video for "Models" was produced for use in their 2013 and pays a homage to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, with the girls backstage wearing the trademark pink dressing gowns.