Come And Get It

The album opener, 'So Good' is a perfect dance track featuring a strong electro beat/bassline and a dark choral backing reminiscent of New Order's Blue Monday; yet the whole thing is completly pop. Things keep on the right track with the 'rockier'
'I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)'. 'Crazy Boys' is just fantastic with it's stomping beat and its chorus could fit
nicely into a James Bond movie theme song. My favourite, 'Funny How' sounds like the Pet Shop Boys gone Kylie (you could almost swear it's Neil Tennant's melancholic vocals on the intro). I could go on describing how 'I Will Be There', 'Negotiate With Love', 'Some Girls' 'Dumb Dumb' are equally brilliant in different ways, but that would take too much space. Even if the rest of the songs were filler (which they aren't) this would be an outstanding pop record, miles away from Funky Dory and better that Annie's Anniemal.

The opening track 'So Good' is more than just a Kylie cast-off - it has an excellent single woman mantra chorus and an immense synth breakdown, making it the perfect pop stomper. 'I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)' touches on a new sound for Rachel, it's nicks the beats and chants of Adam & the Ants and teams them with a whole load of squelchy computer noises and over produced vocals. It makes for a great combo.

'Crazy Boys' sees Richard X on production duties. You get the obligatory squelchy synths, only here they're more gritty and appealing. The track isn't as immediately catchy as 'Some Girls' but it grows on you and definitely confirms Richard X's status as one of the top pop producers.

'I Will Be There' is an electro-ballad; it has all the soothing, dreamlike sounds of your average pop ballad only with more of a beat. A definite album highlight. 'Negotiate With Love' was good in that it helped Rachel progress from the dire 'More More More' cover. It has an excellent surf guitar and pretty good lyrics for a pop song.

'It's All About Me' has an excellent intro, a sample from The Cure's 'Lullaby' which I think works well and gives the impression that the track is going to be excellent. Unfortunately it slightly falls short of pop excellence. It's still very good, but a bit generic. 'Secret Garden' is another Kylie throwaway from the Body Language days; it definitely follows the sound of that album with its sickly and somewhat ambitious vocals that Rachel seems to struggle with. It has a few catchy lines and does grow on you. But the verses sound a bit disjointed.

'Nothing Good About This Goodbye' is the album highlight. It's not a patch on the original by Alexis Strum but it doesn't matter because the song itself is a pop classic. This song deserves to be a big hit, and hopefully it will be.

Everyone knows 'Some Girls' as it was one of the biggest tracks of 2004 and rightly so. 'Je M'Apelle' sounds like it's trying to be R&B but don't worry it's not. Parts of the song are good, but I never seem to listen to it in its entirety.

'Funny How' to me, sounds like Geri Halliwell's 'Ride It'. It's a bit naff and doesn't compete with some of the better tracks on the album. 'Every Little Thing' sounds like something S Club could have done, it's all very poppy and head bopping. Finally you have 'Dumb Dumb' another one of the better album tracks. It sounds like a track Britney could have recorded; it's all very electro with the popping computer synths and tinny drums.

Basically, the album is great if you know you like pop music. If you liked any of Rachel's singles than you can't go wrong with this album. It's a vast improvement on her debut and does deserve to do well.