The Good That Won't Come Out

The Good That Won't Come Out
Compilation album by Alesha
Released	March 17, 2008
Recorded	2004 - 2007
Genre	Pop, electronic
Label	Ensemble
Producer	Alesha
Alesha chronology
Alesha Is the Queen (2007) The Good That Won't Come Out (2008) The Second Coming (2008)

The Good That Won't Come Out is a compilation album by British recording artist Alesha. It was released on March 17, 2008, by Ensemble Entertainment in celebration of Alesha's five-year career. The Good That Won't Come Out is a rarities album comprised of demos, outtakes, and alternate versions. While recording her commercially successful fourth studio album Alesha Is the Queen (2007), Alesha scrapped material from early sessions rooted in alternative rock and later sessions that marked a shift towards electropop.

Upon its release, The Good That Won't Come Out became Alesha's third album to top the charts. To promote the album, Alesha starred in her own MTV Unplugged special. The concert featured acoustic performances of various hits as well as cover versions and previously unreleased tracks. Alesha also released the Diamonds & Dollar Bills EP with Putanovska, which was a number one bestseller on the singles chart. The EP featured "Diamonds & Dollars" from The Good That Won't Come Out.

Background and development

Alesha began her recording career in 2003 with the release of her debut album Look Out Below and its 2004 follow-up Hungry for More. In 2005, Alesha shifted towards guitar pop with the release of her third studio album Buried Underneath; it was Alesha's first album to peak at number one. Alesha began working on her fourth studio album, continuing to experiment with alternative rock influences. She worked with fellow recording artist Amy Marshall and rock group girlASKboy. These songs ultimately appeared on Alesha's "admittedly premature" greatest hits compilation, Chic/Freak (2006). After recording "Happy Slappers" with Sarah Summers, Alesha found herself returning to an electropop sound; however, almost an entire album's worth of material was scrapped.

In 2007, Alesha released her fourth studio album Alesha Is the Queen, which was certified diamond and produced a commercially successful string of singles. Five years into her career, Alesha decided to commemorate the milestone with a collection of rarities – demos, outtakes, alternate versions, and some brand new material. According to Alesha, the new material was designed to be "the complete opposite of [Alesha's] last album." Several ballads as well as acoustic or rock-oriented songs were selected to appear on The Good That Won't Come Out. The artwork for the record reflected the contrast with Alesha Is the Queen (2007) by using the same vector-based design with darker imagery. The album, however, is not a complete departure from Alesha Is the Queen, containing several uptempo, pop songs as well.

Music and lyrics

Although the album celebrates five years of Alesha's career, the majority of the songs on The Good That Won't Come Out were taken from more recent years of Alesha's career. Alternate versions of "Infernal Superstar" and "Built This Way", singles from Alesha's third studio album Buried Underneath (2005), appeared on the album. The pop remix of "Infernal Superstar" had been performed live by Alesha on The Queen Tour and appears here in studio form. "Built This Way" features alternate lyrics. A demo version of the infamous 2007 single "Power Power" with different lyrics and only Alesha's vocals is also featured.

In addition to these alternate versions, demos of songs written for other artists are featured on the album. Natasha Hilton's "Diamond Rain" and Josie Matthews's "Girl, Interrupted" were both written by Alesha and released in 2007. A recording of Kelly West's "Gone", not to be confused with Alesha's own single "Gone", is an iTunes bonus track. In 2005, Alesha released the single "Midweek Sex" with Kandi and CeCe Winston. Kandi had originally wanted to release a cover of Norwegian singer Annie's "Heartbeat" as the single before changing her mind; that cover version is featured on The Good That Won't Come Out.

"Introduction" was originally written to serve as the intro for Alesha Is the Queen in 2007, but ultimately nixed. A cover of "Moonbaby" by the eponymous singer, known formally as Miranda Cooper of Xenomania fame, was also recorded in the Queen sessions. "Lost in Time" is a ballad from the Queen era that was performed on The Queen Tour. "Devil's Centerfold" is an electropop sequel to "Infernal Superstar" that Alesha recorded for the album. "All I Can Do" and "Let the Band March on" are acoustic outtakes that Alesha highlighted in her MTV Unplugged concert. The final two songs are live recordings of Elliott Smith and Rilo Kiley cover versions taken from the Unplugged performance.

Reception

In a brief review, AllMusic's William Ruhlmann called The Good That Won't Come Out a collection of "alternate takes, surprising cover versions, and different mixes of familiar songs make this a delight for collectors and hard-core fans. To anyone else, it's pleasant but non-essential." The album peaked at number one on the official albums chart, Alesha's third album to top the chart. It sold 400,144 copies and was certified platinum.

Tracklisting

1. "Introduction" (from Alesha Is the Queen sessions)
2. "Heartbeat" (with Kandi & CeCe Winston) (canceled single)
3. "Moonbaby" (from Queen sessions)
4. "Diamonds & Dollars" (with Putanovska (previously unreleased)
5. "Power Power" (demo) (demo with alternate lyrics)
6. "The Drugs in You" (from Queen sessions)
7. "Girl, Interrupted" (demo for Josie Matthews)
8. "Diamond Rain" (demo for Natasha Hilton)
9. "Infernal Superstar" (Pop Remix) (studio version, as heard on The Queen Tour)
10. "Devil's Centrefold" (sequel to "Infernal Superstar")
11. "Built This Way" (alternate version) (features alternate lyrics)
12. "Lost in Time" (from Queen sessions)
13. "All I Can Do" (as heard on MTV's Unplugged)
14. "Let the Band March On" (as heard on MTV's Unplugged)
15. "Baby Britain" (Live & Unplugged) (Elliott Smith cover)
16. "The Good That Won't Come Out" (Live & Unplugged) (Rilo Kiley cover)

Bonus tracks

• "Gone" (demo for Kelly West) — iTunes pre-order bonus track
• "London Brat" (Live & Unplugged) — iTunes bonus track

Notes

All songs written by Alesha Kurdadze except:

• "Heartbeat" — written by Anne Lilia Berge Strand, Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland
• "Moonbaby" — written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and Matt Gray
• "Built This Way" (alternate version) — written by Samantha Ronson, Dallas Austin and Alesha
• "Baby Britain" — written by Elliott Smith
• "The Good That Won't Come Out" — written by Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett


Artwork

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  Front cover

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  Back cover

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Urapopstar Top 40 Albums Chart	1