The Sugarbabes released their second studio album, Angels with Dirty Faces 15 years ago today on 26th August 2002.
Angels with Dirty Faces was the first Sugarbabes album to feature the second line-up, with Heidi Range replacing Siobhán Donaghy. It was released through Island Records after London Records dropped them, and reached triple platinum status in the UK, peaking at number two in the UK Albums Chart. It did better than the band’s first album, One Touch, staying in the charts for forty weeks.
The first two singles from the album, ‘Freak like Me’ and ‘Round Round’, reached number 1 in the UK, the former sampling Gary Numan’s ‘Are Friends’ Electric?’ and the latter produced by Xenomania. The third single was a double A-side, ‘Stronger’ and ‘Angels with Dirty Faces’ which didn’t reach as high in the charts as the first two, at number seven, but still achieved a place in the top ten. The final single, ‘Shape’ which sampled Sting’s ‘Shape of My Heart’, reached number eleven.
It achieved varying success amongst critics, achieving 3.5/5 stars with AllMusic, 2/5 with The Guardian, and 7/10 with NME.
