New Arrival

Despite being quite and anticipated release, somehow this turned out as a disappointment. Despite the big hits (#1, #2 and #10 (I almost typed "big tits"...)) the wholeness is mediocrish.

#1 Floorfiller 9½

Very danceable and energetic, describing what I want to hear when I go out: floorfillers, no spine-chillers and what else do they condemn in the lyrics.

#2 Have a Little Faith in Me 10

Much better than the Kadi Toom song with almost the same name, this should clearly be their next single release if they're too thick-headed to realise that Closer to Perfection would be the way to go. Why couldn't the whole album be full of this kind of stuff?

#3 Shame Shame Shame 5

"My body needs section"? Hopefully not vivisection at least. Or then again... Once again the lyricist has been unfortunate enough to don a title that can be turned against the piece. This crap is a shame. Shame on you.

#4 Let Your Heart Do All the Talking 9

Actually really good for this kind of style. For some reason I always hear "Lets your heart..." and wonder what it is that lets the heart to do its thing...

#5 Perfect Match 8

On the first hearing I didn't understand selecting this as a single at all, but I guess I've learned to understand this to some extent, how naïve a ditty it may be.

#6 The Letter 8

When Chae Jung Ahn sings about a letter, she does it much better. Some nice ideas, though, and an old-time feel.

#7 Cross My Heart 7½

Not without a resemblance to S Club's CMH. The mix of childish and wannabe-grown-up tracks is somehow disturbing.

#8 In the Blink of an Eye 9

Good ballad with some carrying power.

#9 School's Out 8

Definitely not the thing I'd opt to cover but I guess juvenile delinquents need something like this. Daphne & Celeste's version was at least fun.

#10 Closer to Perfection 10

Now we're talking business. The bright gem of the album I would so love to get to dance somewhere, preferably with a choreography to match. I can already see the majestetic hand positions and body twists for the chorus.

#11 My Shangri-la 8

"When we kiss, we've got lipstick"? When you pronounce, you definitely do have lipstick - and I'm not saying where. Gérard Joling's Shangri-la was much better than yours, by the way.

#12 One Night in Bangkok 9

There are many things I don't understand here. Why did they go back covering ABBA? And if they really had to do that, why did they do it with this joyless romp? Either I'm getting too tired or then this album inspires me to use more creative words than the usual "this, track, song, album, chord, chorus, modulation, though, however, at_least, good, bad", yeah, those are pretty much the ones all of my reviews are full of. [UPDATE 060210] My bad, or actually not mine but some certain unfortunate mistagger's, the original artist is in fact Murray Head. Plus I've grown a liking for this, which means a +1 to the score.

#13 Can't Help Falling in Love 9

Another single beyond my grasp. And another question, why did they think that after covering ABBA, it would be suitable to move onto Elvis instead? The video does have many adorable golden retriever puppies that I just can't resist, which gives even the song itself more points.

#14 Heartbreak Lullaby 9

These ballad renditions of otherwise good songs are eternally doomed to be failures. Take, for example, Céline Dion's Sorry for Love (2003 Version), Smile.dk's Butterfly (Romance Mix) - or if you're knowledgeable enough, 7th Sky's Dreams Come True (Prayer Mix). This one's no exception. The original version would've been my number two or three favourite but this one's nothing more than a decent ballad.