STEPHANIE McINTOSH: Tightrope (Universal)
NEIGHBOURS starlet Stephanie
McIntosh climbed the charts last year with her single Mistake, an annoying, Hillary Duff-esque
piece of bubblegum pop. But the biggest mistake she makes on her debut album is
opening with the lyric “So, welcome to my nightmare”. She's obviously unaware
that this tragic little collection of songs is everyone's nightmare. The album
may be thoroughly coated in over-produced pop gloss, but even that can't
disguise the sad fact that every song is a pitiful, whiny lament about a boy – from
Mistake (“I don't want to make
another mistake like you”) to You Should Have
Lied (“Your stupid mistake made my world crash down”) and You Don't Love Me. She's not helped by
including a seriously bad dance cover of Burt Bacharach's
so-out-of-date-it's-not-funny Wishin' and Hopin’, with lyrics urging girls to do their hair
nicely for their boyfriend to make him happy. What happened to girl power? It's
a pity Miss McIntosh has decided to leave Neighbours
– a line about quitting one's day job springs to mind.