NO MORE

A1

Couldn’t agree more.

What? You want more? Well, it’s short, professionally done and sounds like a song that the Backstreet Boys rejected after N*Sync decided against it. It’s not that the song itself’s rubbish, it’s just that nobody concerned with it seemed interested and as a result it’s even less interesting than the road they’ve apparently named themselves after. Ho hum.

SHUT UP... AND FORGET ABOUT IT

Dane

Here we have someone who’s been there and seen it. He’s done the boy band bit (remember Another Level? Oh.), he’s sung with Posh Spice (although the vocoder distorted his voice so much they could almost have got away with having a Speak & Spell sing his part) and, if my memory serves me correctly, he also got into a bit of a ruck with Mark Morrison after an awards ceremony. He also helps present Smash Hits TV. I’m saying nothing. He also appears to be a jolly good bloke from what I’ve seen and heard and this comes through on his first solo single proper. It’s a fairly standard R&B stroke pop tune, but he’s obviously having a good time and the enthusiasm lifts this into the above-average category. I still won’t buy it myself, but this could have been so much worse. See above for details.

ECLIPSE

Regular Fries

The Regular Fries are one of those bands I’d heard of but never actually heard until now. Bit of a shame that, seeing as this screams class from start to finish. It’s one of those understated songs that only kicks in when it needs to and never goes beyond third gear because it simply doesn’t need to. Even the singer barely gets above a whisper – again there’s no point in going for it because the current tactics are doing the job nicely. If American Dream is a dance tune you can relax to, this is a rock tune you can chill out to. Seriously, you can’t not like it.

FEELS SO GOOD

Melanie B

Jolly R&B – be honest, who saw that one coming? She even says “Yippee!” just before the first chorus. Oh dear. Despite all this sweetness and light, I have to say this is dull and repetitive. It’s going to be a hit though and nothing short of global armageddon can stop it. It’d be a tad harsh if that did happen, mind.