200 Km/h In The Wrong Lane - T.A.T.U.

There are some things in this world that, once you hear them for the first time, never fade from your mind. Other things are promptly beaten into your head until you remember them, whether or not you got the point the first time. Madonna likes to reinvent herself. Jennifer Lopez has a huge heiney. Alicia Keys plays the damn piano. Just a few of the simple things we knew right off - yet are constantly reminded of every damn day. Oh, yeah, and Russian duo t.A.T.u. is comprised of two girls who are in love with each other. Really, they are. Oh, and did you know that they?re also in love with each other? And they?re both girls? What, didn't they mention it on ...  Read the complete review

If I could describe t.A.T.u in one word, it would be controversial. From their first video dressed as schoolgirls, kissing each other in the rain, Lena Katina and Julia Volkova have grabbed the headlines. Of course, how much of this image stems from the girls themselves and how much from the shady Ivan Shapovalov is an interesting debate. Personally, I don’t believe the girls are gay and I think it is all a clever marketing ploy by Shapovalov, but Lena and Julia come across as intelligent teenagers and using a gimmick as a helping hand to success is hardly a new phenomenon. The debate about the schoolgirl image encouraging paedophiles is not ...  Read the complete review

OK, let's do a Delia? What do you get when you take two teenage Russian girls, marinade them in pseudo-lesbianism, add a pinch of Trevor Horn and deep-fry them in controversy? The answer is t-A-T-u, surely the most controversial thing to come out of Russia since Perestroika. Lena Katina and Julia Volkova, believed to be in their late teens, have become million-selling artists all over the world thanks to their catchy pop sound that carries more depth and originality than the bland bubblegum of their British contemporaries. However, it is their relationship with each other that has caused the tabloids to explode in a sea of rage. Whilst being ...  Read the complete review

t.A.T.u is the name of a Russian duo who produce excellent music and are certainly a favourite band of mine. Before I go further, I should add that there is no punctuation abolishment at the start of this paragraph, instead, the unusually punctuated word is something of a logo/ trademark and is known as the correct way to display their name. As they are Russian, there is a strong Eastern European feel to their music, and some of the tracks are actually sung in their native language! This is a review on their 2002 album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, and it housed five singles, although one of these was only released in Poland. The album opens with a ...  Read the complete review

A bit of background - I have no TV, I don't read tabloids, consequently I knew nothing about this band when I first heard them on the radio. For various reasons, 'All the things she said' really got under my skin, so I ended up with a copy of the album. For the record, I don't give a toss if Lena Katina and Julia Volkova are gay or not, or just using it as a gimick. I haven't seen any of their videos so cannot comment. I like the album. I don't listen to much pop, and I hate the terribly manifactured boy and girl bands, It might be an illusion, but these two just sounded a tad more fresh - maybe its the endearing accents - there's ...  Read the complete review