The Pussycat Dolls - Doll Domination

At eighteen tracks long, you'd expect the second Pussycat Dolls album to be more of an endurance test than a pleasurable listening experience.

Somehow the girls have managed to pull it out of the bag, however, producing a surprisingly consistent set of songs.

Sure it has its moments of dross - their vile duet with R Kelly, Out Of This Club is unforgiveably atrocious and their clumsy wordplay is occasionally a little cringe-worthy, with 'I'm just gonna elevate ya like an elevator' (Elevator) the worst offender.

If you're looking for highlights, however, you really are spoilt for choice. Lead Doll, Nicole Scherzinger gives a number of stunning vocal performances, particularly on the album's beautiful ballads, I'm Done and Happily Never After (a song originally intended for her abruptly-pulled debut solo album), while the vulnerability demonstrated by her almost whimper of a vocal at the end of mid-tempo, Ne-Yo sound-a-like, I Hate This Part, is just phenomenal.

We're particularly pleased about the inclusion of energetic, jazz-inflected number, In Person and a cover of Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps, as it stays true to their roots as a burlesque dance act, while the urban pop sound of Timbaland productions Magic and Whatchamacallit already sound like hits in the making.

Prepare for the dolls to dominate once again.

Track you must download:
I Hate This Part

Released:
Doll Domination is released on September 22nd on Polydor Records.