Over a year on from their public humiliation of not becoming Hear'Say, Liberty X must be having something close to the last laugh.
Whilst Myleene, Shrek & Co. lumber from one 'It's going horribly wrong!' headline to the next and trying to keep their dignity with some very obviously staged new-member auditions, Liberty now-with-the-legally-required-if-slightly-crap X, kept their head down and got on with spending some time on creating something with a bit more substance.
Succeeding by aiming for a slightly older age group than the 6-and unders of the 'Say, it also helps that Tony, Jessica, Kevin, Michelle and Kelli are unafraid to be a little bit saucy with edgy R&B pop, wearing nice lines in perv-wear. It's almost as if the judges of Popstars were doing them the bigger favour.
'Thinking It Over' has been, well, very thought over, with an array of pedigree production talents sheening the band into a foxy Top-Shop R&B machine most evident on title track, the very fab chart-topper 'Just A Little', the Gabrielle-ish 'Holding On For You' and a nifty cover of Mantronix's 'Got To Have Your Love'.
Over 14 tracks, there's admittedly a couple of moments where the band carelessly slip into repetition, but overall it's still far superior - and more likely to outlast - anything that's come so far from the reality pop show phenomenon.
