BAD DAY

R.E.M.

It's sad how a band that used to turn out quality songs like Orange Crush and What's The Frequency, Kenneth? has in recent years descended to the lacklustre mush that's generally made up the last two albums. Tragic, really. Now, I'm not going to claim to be their biggest fan and pretend I know all the words to Shiny Happy People, but I know they're capable of better. And this is. In fact, this is good. This is very good indeed. Doesn't matter if it's a reworking of an old song that never got a proper release – if U2 can get away with Sweetest Thing, why not this lot? – the fact is, this sounds as though R.E.M. have decided they're interested again. Not only that, Michael Stipe sounds a bit hacked off, that could be down to the angry lyrics he's singing. If I was being picky (as if I would), I'd mention that the song bears just a slight resemblance to It's The End Of The World As We Know It, but seeing as that's one of theirs as well, I'll let them off. This is one of those singles that has "in and out of the charts within a fortnight" practically stamped all over it, but I don't care. I like this one.

GUILTY

Blue

Well now, this is worrying. Just because Westlife have (temporarily) stopped peddling slow songs to the masses, that doesn't mean that someone else should take up the baton, does it? Oh, apparently it does. Silly me. I wouldn't mind if there was something here that sounded interesting, but to be honest, as soon as this drops out of the chart very few people are going to remember that it ever existed.

WORLD FILLED WITH LOVE

Craig David

You know when you hear a song that sounds as though it was designed specifically for a boy or girl band to warble along to? This is one of those songs - it screams "Backstreet Boys" or "A1". The chorus cries out to be sung by four or five people simultaneously, so it's a bit strange to hear Craig David all on his lonesome. Despite that, it's a straightforward pop song - it's radio-friendly, the kids'll love it, I can't stand it. Right then, what's next?

OH L'AMOUR

Erasure

They always say the old ones are the best. In the case of Erasure, that's not far off the mark because they haven't released a decent single since 1994. There was a time though, when Erasure were capable of putting out very high quality pop songs. Stop laughing, they did, you just have to put their songs in context. Back in the late eighties and early nineties, the Stock Aitken Waterman triumvirate practically owned the Top 10. If you think the charts are saturated with Pop Idols and Fame Academy rejects now, that my friend is peanuts compared to the horrors that filled the shelves at Woolies (and all good record shops) - and aside from the different people doing the singing, they all sounded the same. Kids, take it from someone who saw it happen, it was awful. So, given the choice between some one-hit wonders yapping "I'd rather jack than Fleetwood Mac" (see, I told you it was awful) or a band who did stuff like singing in Swahili on It Doesn't Have To Be (they also helped kick-start the Abba revival, but we all make mistakes), who would you rather listen to? Well, I chose to listen to Erasure and seeing as they've got a best of coming out and the Reynolds Girls haven't, I think I made the right decision. As for telling you what the song sounds like, well, for a tune that only reached No.85 originally it's surprising how many people know how it goes. Basically, if you know what Erasure sound like you know what this sounds like, ie. cheerful and electronic. For the re-issue, they bunged in some guitars to give it a slightly acoustic feel and I reckon it sounds a bit better for it. It's the sort of song I have a feeling I shouldn't really like but do anyway.