200 KM/H In The Wrong Lane, http://launch.yahoo.com (US), December 6, 2002

By Dan Leroy (Editor's Rating: 30/100)

Those titillated by the manufactured lesbian romance between these two Russian teens will probably be too busy surfing anime porn sites to notice much about the music here. That's a good thing, because the real burning question about T.A.T.U. is decidedly unsexier: Did the once-great Trevor Horn really work on this project? Once a sonic sculptor so skillful that even lesser clients like Dollar and Frankie Goes To Hollywood attained an Olympian splendor in his hands, there's almost no evidence of Horn's golden touch on 200 KM/H In The Wrong Lane. It's suggested only on the hard-rocking, softcore sleaze of "All The Things She Said," a pop hit that's still just an idiot grandchild of "Relax," at best. The rest of the album, meanwhile, could be any two nymphettes heavy-breathing their way through the Eurodisco songbook. And the rudely remade "How Soon Is Now" is sure to make Smiths fans weep--if they weren't already.

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