Album: Cheryl Cole - '3 Words'

From nobody to Nation's Sweetheart (TM) in five years, you can't accuse Cheryl Cole of not having made something of her life.

It's hard to hate her - she seems pretty humble, she's gorgeous, she looks like fun - but if you don't totally love her, it's really easy to downright dislike her. Which, when it comes to her debut breakaway effort, makes it practically impossible to approach it with zero preconceptions.

However, pretending you've never heard of Ms Cole when you put on this record might be a good thing. Opener and title track is four and a half minutes long, and is one of four of the eleven tracks to feature the rather dull tones of will.i.am, and it's an overlong, limp offering. Nodding to house, it's less pop than you may expect - a common denominator throughout 3 Words - but it's not the slick, grown up effort that it is possibly supposed to be.

Crashing on, and quelle surprise - the theme of the record seems to be about a couple, and lots of battling, and lots of love, and lots of forgiveness. Yawn. If Cheryl Cole is trying to tug her fans' heartstrings with these endless references to the waste of space that is Ashley Cole, she's in danger of snapping them.

Fight For This Love is a worthy number one single and a definite high point of the record - even if it does sound like Mel C covering Kelis - but again, the same theme! Happy Hour ups the tempo a bit - much of this record is vague hip hop lite - but isn't enough to redeem the record, and is yet again about a man. Even when she's, er, urban, she's still playing the lovestruck Disney princess: "You're head to toe fly," she intones on Boy Like You, featuring, once again, will.i.am, who's obviously convinced this Geordie bird she's secretly from LA.

After a point, the romantic mush starts to feel like brainwashing. Although Cole probably didn't write the lyrics, she's still singing them. When you battle through the schmaltz to find yourself wondering if ballad Don't Talk About This Love is actually quite good, it's time to turn 3 Words off - which is a shame, as Heartbreaker (on which Cheryl admittedly only offers backing vocals) is for some reason the closing track, and one of the strongest.

If you find Cheryl Cole remotely annoying, avoid this record. It will do nothing to change your mind about the Newcastle girl-done-good who despite her best efforts needs to get a grip, frankly. Come back, Girls Aloud...Cheryl needs you.

Check out Cheryl Cole on MySpace at www.myspace.com/cherylcolemusic

Buy 3 Words on CD from Amazon for £7.60 or download it from 7digital for £5.