Lee Ryan was clearly the most talented singer in boy band Blue, but he didn't do himself any favours with his comments about September 11 (basically, he thought we should be more concerned about dolphins). His first solo album, however, is just about good enough to suggest that he deserves a second chance. Ryan is known to like fast cars and faster women, and all those late nights have helped to give his voice an attractively gritty quality. Not all the material here does it justice, mind - in particular, there's a few ballads that Westlife would probably have rejected for being too soppy. Given the right kind of pop-soul tune, however, Ryan is more than capable of pulling out all the stops and producing performances that have 'hit' written all over them. The new George Michael? It's not impossible.
