Doll Domination - Pussycat Dolls

Despite my sneaking admiration for pop music (well, it was a sneaking admiration until I was dumb enough to start writing reviews of it on here), my enjoyment of The Pussycat Dolls debut album "PCD" still came as something of a surprise. Whilst I've long been an unashamed fan of the kind of manufactured pop put out by the likes of Girls Aloud, the r 'n' b side of things, as done by the likes of Destiny's Child, had largely passed me by. ...
...I thought it was let down by the cover versions it contained.

In the 3 years between "PCD" and "Doll Domination", quite a lot has happened to the group, much of which has helped keep them in the public eye. Lead singer Nicole Scherzinger recorded a solo album, promoting rumours that the group would split, although that album was never released. There was also Nicole's relationship with Formula 1 World Champion Lewis ... more

Despite my sneaking admiration for pop music (well, it was a sneaking admiration until I was dumb enough to start writing reviews of it on here), my enjoyment of The Pussycat Dolls debut album "PCD" still came as something of a surprise. Whilst I've long been an unashamed fan of the kind of manufactured pop put out by the likes of Girls Aloud, the r 'n' b side of things, as done by the likes of Destiny's Child, had largely passed me by. I did still manage to enjoy the album, however, although I thought it was let down by the cover versions it contained.

In the 3 years between "PCD" and "Doll Domination", quite a lot has happened to the group, much of which has helped keep them in the public eye. Lead singer Nicole Scherzinger recorded a solo album, promoting rumours that the group would split, although that album was never released. There was also Nicole's relationship with Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and the reality TV show that was supposed to select a new member of the band, although the winner never actually joined them. The publicity may have helped keep the group in the papers, but the long break between albums hasn't helped sales. Indeed, this album has been far less of a success both in the UK and in the US, selling roughly a tenth of the copies of "PCD" in both markets to date. Given that the publicity machine was working fine, something that really hurt Sandi Thom's second release, the answer to that can only lie on the CD itself.

Whatever may be wrong with this album, it certainly isn't apparent on opening track and first single, "When I Grow Up". This has all the hallmarks of a Pussycat Dolls track, being an up-tempo upbeat r 'n' b influenced pop song. It maybe lacks some of the fun of "Don'tcha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me", but it's a fairly natural successor to a song like that and it's a decent opening to the album, offering a statement of intent to match the "Doll Domination" title of the album as well as being a decent song.

There doesn't seem to be anything obviously wrong with the second track, either. "Bottle Pop" has much more of a techno edge than anything they've done before, but mixed with their more usual pop sound, it's not a bad dance track. The influence of Snoop Dogg isn't that strong and it's a decent enough song, although thanks to the song consisting more of the chorus than it does any verses, it does get a bit repetitive.

Everything still seems fine with "Whatcha Think About That", featuring Missy Elliott. Apart from brief raps interludes from her, this is largely a Pussycat Dolls song and, although it's not as upbeat or as up tempo as some of their earlier work, it's still a decent enough mid-tempo pop-r 'n' b tune. That said, there was a bit right at the end where the voices were heavily synthesised that grated on me a little.

There's quite a change of pace with the piano intro to "I Hate This Part", although the standard r 'n' b drum beat soon comes in over it. This is quite a pop influenced song with the drumbeat being about the only r 'n' b influence. Unfortunately, because of this there's very little that makes this stand out as being a Pussycat Dolls song. It's at quite a slow tempo and doesn't really go anywhere and this could have been a song recorded by pretty much any female r 'n' b singer, especially as the rest of the Dolls seem to have been reduced to playing mere backing vocalists to Nicole here.

Apart from the interesting sound effects, pretty much the same can be said for "Takin' Over the World". There's a far stronger r 'n' b influence here, but the overall effect is to make the song sound like an early Destiny's Child track. It's again a mid-tempo pop song with an r 'n' b influence that has nothing to separate it from any other song or act around and it's little more than bland, processed pop r 'n' b, lacking even the yearning in the vocal that made "I Hate This Part" a little better than it otherwise could have been.

The next track features R. Kelly and Padow Da Don and it's far more of their song than it is a Pussycat Dolls track. In fact, if "Out of This Club" had been listed as "R. Kelly featuring Nicole Scherzinger", that may have been more accurate. This is a standard r 'n' b number, being fairly down tempo and pretty bland, not really going anywhere with only the rap interlude really sticking out. The whole thing lacks the bounce and the pop sound that made "PCD" as much fun as it was.

There's a very familiar feel to "Who's Gonna Love You", which is another mid-tempo pop song with an r 'n' b touch. The chorus sounds very similar to the kind of music Janet Jackson was putting out some twenty years ago. Once again, there is nothing distinctive about this track and it could be any r 'n' singer and it's all Nicole again, with the rest of the group seemingly reduced to backing vocals once more.

The acoustic guitar intro to "Happily Ever After" shocks me every time and I have to check whether I'm still listening to the album I think I'm listening to. Much like "I Hate This Part", this is pretty much a straight pop song with only the drumbeat giving it any kind of edge at all. Again, in common with that track, it's quite a sweet pop song, but it seems like it's just Nicole rather than the group and it's got a very familiar feel, like something the Sugababes would have done, probably better.

After this moment of blandness, the Eastern sounding intro that opens "Magic" comes as a minor wake up call, sounding a little like the opening to "Buttons" from their first album as it does. Unfortunately, whilst it shares many of the pop and r 'n' b influences to that track and even "Whatcha Think About That", it never reaches above mid tempo and doesn't do enough throughout the song to be anything more than slightly interesting.

There's a major synthesiser intro to "Halo" which reminds me a little of Vangelis before the r 'n' b edge becomes apparent. This comes as something of a pity, as it's a very standard mid-tempo r 'n' b influenced pop tune and something that any artist could have done. The introduction is really the only interesting part of the song and the rest of the Dolls seem to be acting simply as backing singers to Nicole again here. It's not a bad song, just rather bland and indistinctive, like much of the album.

Fortunately, things really liven up for "In Person". It's a peppy, upbeat, up-tempo pop tune with an old style 1960s musical backing in parts and does sound slightly reminiscent of some of the old Motown tunes in the backing, although the vocals sound too modern and pop influenced to help the whole song feel that way. It's a decent enough song with added attitude, but it lacks a lot of the fun of the first album.

Unfortunately, the fun quotient wasn't to last long on the album and "Elevator" is back to the bland nature of the album. It's another mid-tempo pop-influenced r 'n' b song and sounds like something Rihanna might have done. Whilst this isn't such a bad thing in its own right and this is one of the better straight r 'n' b tracks on the album, it's not the kind of thing I really expected from a Pussycat Dolls album.

Unfortunately, the blandness is lasting longer than the upbeat songs and "Hush Hush" is another example of that. Much like "I Hate This Part", it's pretty much a straight pop ballad, with slight hints of the r 'n' b influence in the drumbeat. Once more, with the rest of the group reduced to backing singers for Nicole, it's another song that any female vocal group could have done just as well and there's nothing distinctive throughout the entire track.

The r 'n' b influence is a lot stronger on "Love the Way You Love Me", but it's again another forgettable mid-tempo pop track which again reminds me of pretty much any other girl group around at the moment and not necessarily one of the better ones. Once again, just like "Hush Hush", the song just keeps going on and there's nothing distinctive about it at any point or in any way.

Just when the album is looking like a completely hopeless case, along comes "Whatchamacallit". Whilst it's not a classic track by any means, it is at least reminiscent of the sound from "Pussycat Dolls". It's a mid-tempo dance-r 'n' b number, which reminds me most of "Buttons" from the first album, having a slight Eastern influence running through it as well. It's got more attitude than most of the songs on the album and for a change it sounds like the whole group are fully involved, instead of just being backing vocalists.

Once again, however, the highs on this album prove to be few and far between. "I'm Done" is apparently Nicole's song for her boyfriend Lewis Hamilton. This is a simple pop ballad, which in common with "Hush Hush", but it's a song that would have worked beautifully on a Delta Goodrem album, but doesn't seem in keeping with the Pussycat Dolls. I do quite like this track, but that's more because I'm a Delta Goodrem fan than for any other reason. It's a sweet pop ballad, but that's not this group's best sound.

After all the cover versions on the first album, I thought "Baby Love" may be another, but it's actually an original r 'n' b track. Once again, it's rooted in mid-tempo and doesn't really go anywhere, but it's got a feeling of some old Janet Jackson numbers and it's a pleasant enough listen and quite like "Elevator", it's not a bad song but like much of the album, the kindest thing that can be said for it is that it's completely inoffensive.

After all this nothing, the album does end on a slightly higher note. Possibly inspired by their cover of "Sway" on their first album, "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" has a Latin influence and whilst it's perhaps a little too slow to mambo to all the way through, it's a very modern dance hall number. The chorus also seems to take inspiration from the first album and has a jazzy feel, not too dissimilar to some show tunes. It's not a great track and it is very short at just over 2 minutes, but it does at least offer something a little different, which the rest of the album hasn't been able to claim.

At 18 tracks and 62 minutes in length, this is an album that by sheer playing time alone would be pretty good value. Unfortunately, most of the hour of music here is instantly forgettable and so the album would stand up to repeated plays simply because you can't be sure if you've heard the songs before once you play it again. AT prices such as £7.99 from Play or £6.97 from Amazon, the quality on show simply doesn't make this value for money. Indeed, even the Amazon Marketplace price of £3.84 feels too expensive, but copies can be found from 99 pence on eBay, but with postage added, it really isn't worth paying any more than that.

To answer my initial query, it is the content of the CD that has led to its failure. The group have tried to trade in their sense of fun, which is what made them different for song craft on this album. Unfortunately, they just don't have good enough songs to manage it and they've ended up sounding just like anyone else. Given that most of the group seem to have been relegated to the background for this album, it possibly also explains why Nicole's solo album wasn't released, as it would probably have sounded just like this, which means it wouldn't have been good enough. 

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