Reviewed by Tony Cummings

IN THE MAINSTREAM

There's a great deal of tosh said and written about "throwaway" teen pop and particularly the TV created stars like Gareth, Will and their ilk. To wrinkly music snobs, these singers have no talent and are simply puppets manipulated by cynical record producers working for even more cynical multi-nationals. The truth is pop music has always been an uneasy alliance between those with the creative talent (be that singing, songwriting, record production, playing instruments) and those with the business talent (like turning a one time Bradford cathedral choirboy and singer in the Abundant Life worship group into a bone fide pop star). Gareth's album is far from a masterpiece, his covers of "Unchained Melody" and "Suspious Minds" might have given him number one hits but to the oldster who can remember the original hits, these renditions come uncomfortably close to karaoke. But neither is it as anodyne as some of the predictably savage reviews have claimed. The Daily Mail, for instance, stated that "Too Serious Too Soon" and "That's When You Know" are "turgid ballads" but in truth both are rather attractive. And the "Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake)" chart topper is as hookey a pop confection as you can get. All in all, not a bad pop album in this far from young reviewer's book.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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