The Sugababes are one of those groups that I've always had a quiet enjoyment of, but never enough to really become a fan. After all, a little like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones back in the 1960s, it seems you could either be a fan of the Sugababes or Girls Aloud but not both and my colours have been firmly pinned to the Girls Aloud mast for some time. Except in the case of the recent version of "Walk This Way" they combined to do for Comic Relief, at which point I wanted to kill them all.

The first time I recall hearing the opening track "About You Now" was as a live performance at the end of some daytime TV show. I wasn't overly impressed, as the harmonies at the end didn't sound quite right. The more I listen to it on the album, though, the better it seems to get. It's a catchy dance-pop number with an upbeat tempo and it's quite a bouncy and enjoyable song and the bit at the end sounds a lot better in the studio version.

"Denial" is the latest single from the album, but it's not one of the better songs in my opinion. It's seems a little disjointed, as there's more of a dance beat to it, but it's a slightly more bass heavy and more disjointed tune than the two before. It's another mid-tempo dance-pop tune, with perhaps a slight Euro-pop edge to it, but the more bass influenced sound seems to drag the vocals down and bury them a little.

The title track never ceases to entertain me, but probably not for the reason that the group would hope. The reason for this is that there is a sound effect used frequently throughout the song that never fails to remind me of the sound of the buzzer on "Catchphrase". It's actually a shame that there is this distraction in the song, as it's a pretty decent pop ballad. Admittedly, it's nothing new in the genre, falling for most of the clichés of pop ballad writing, but it's a good example of the art.

Next up "Surprise (Goodbye)" does start with something of a surprise, as it's got a bass heavy refrain to it and the whole song seems to have a lot more attitude than most on the album. The performance of the song isn't really anything terribly special, however, as it's only really that riff that sets the song apart. The vocals work well, but when the attitude is dropped for the chorus, the sweetness of the voices don't seem to work so well with the darker tone of the music and the two seem at odds with each other, as if the two are parts of different songs welded together.

The opening to "Mended By You" immediately tells you that you're going to get another pop ballad, as the slow tempo and the string and piano arrangement are a common feature of that kind of song. As the song gets going, there is a little of an r 'n' b influence creeping in, but as with most of the ballads on the album, there's nothing here that suggests it's a Sugababes song, as it could be swapped with any other girl group's big ballad number. It's well performed, but it's not really anything original.

I wouldn't say that I disliked the album, but there is just so little on it that sticks out. Admittedly, it has it moments and not always in the way they would have intended, but these are only occasional moments in a 12 song album lasting for 43 minutes. I know from previous singles that I have enjoyed that the Sugababes can sing and that they can pull off some decent tunes. However, too often here it felt like they were moving away from their strengths and burying their impressive voices under the musical backing. It is worth noting that the songs from the album that they played live sounded a lot better than the album versions, as they had more power and passion behind them and they made the album sound like they were merely going through their paces by comparison.