albums and tracks

Of all the things the world needs, an Eoghan Quigg covers album is not one of them. He may have made it to The X Factor final thanks to the teen girls and grandmas brigade, but a win for Eoghan would have been another nail in the pop coffin that already contains the remains of David Sneddon, Steve Brookstein and Leon Jackson.

Bearing in mind that Leon, an X Factor winner, has just been dropped by his record label, along with runners up Same Difference, are we really supposed to believe Eoghan's debut offers anything more than a quick buck for music executives? Give it 10 months and he'll be back at school with a Saturday job at Argos.

On the show, Eoghan's main problem (save the inexplicable hair) was that his appearances were accompanied by so many backing singers that his vocals got lost. The error is repeated throughout the album, most notably on the High School Musical number 'We're All In This Together'.

His eponymous debut includes several of the songs he performed on the show, including the strange choice of ABBA's 'Does Your Mother Know', Michael Jackson's 'Ben' and a wilting, joyless version of Take That's masterpiece, 'Never Forget'.

It was said that Eoghan really found his place when covering Busted's 'Year 3000'. Indeed, it's the only track on the album where he sounds interested, so he must have been delighted when Busted craftsman James Bourne offered up an original song, '28,000 Friends', for the album's lead single. Sadly though, it's not enough to save this limp, uninspired collection from itself.

Talia Kraines