It???s one thing to be celebrated, and it???s quite another to become inescapably iconic. Hard-Fi stumbled into the latter with their debut Stars of CCTV, reflecting on life in satellite town UK with stark iconography, articulately pitched lyrics and accessibility sprinkled with the credibility of The Clash???s rebel poise--a rare achievement, perhaps only equalled by Arctic Monkeys??? and The Streets??? snap-shots of teenage life. An icon is not infallible however, and it looked like Hard-Fi???s commuter train to realism-central might have been derailed in the run up to this album???s release. Their cocky, misguided decision to declare the death of the album cover simply by printing the words "NO COVER ART" on theirs was a bad joke at best. And while the diagnosis for the album itself may not be quite so bad--the buoyant swagger of "Suburban Knights" opens things up without breaking stride--Once Upon a Time in the West does lack the thematic weight of their debut. Musically it is more mature; there are strings everywhere, the ska influence remains but the bright-light club ambience of old is largely smoothed over. "Television" bags a chorus worthy of expectation, blokey-gospel to the extreme, but throws around so much pre-school sloganeering against culture and politics that its effect is dimmed. "We Need Love" is less preachy and works better. "Can???t Get Along (Without You)" is a dumb Motown-esque love song, doesn???t suit their posture at all, but is just the kind of bubblegum they might have to rely on if their socio-realism has gone flat. --James Berry

Heard this album and it made me feel like being sick. Saw the band on TV and the lead 'singer' made me feel like turning to violent crime. Please stop buying this rubbish so I never have to hear their awful songs again. I would rather eat my own faeces than have to listen to this crap.

This album in my opinion is just as good as their debut.

It didn't grab me that much when i first listened to it, but after a couple of listens i really started getting into most of the songs.

There's a couple of weaker songs on the album, but even they are ok.

Stand out songs for me are Shall i overcome, and Can't get along without you.

All in all a very good listen.

I think Stars of CCTV is one of the best albums I have ever bought, and this one is just as good, a little less in your face but it really grows on you.

This band are absolutely s***. the songs are over produced, fazing out any decent sounds of instruments being palyed well (or at all), the lead singer can't sing - i've heard better down the Oliver Twist on a thursday night! i saw them live - pathetic. the band looked bored (which i would, if i was playing crap like that), the lead singer tried to appear spaced out, gripping his mic like some sort of t**. the crowd were flat cos we were all bored. i am a huge fan of music, well bands. i'm from the brit pop era where proper bands like oasis came from. Toaday we have new greats, like the view, the enemy and kasabian. we have modern takes on some of the punk stuff like Jamie T. whats this supposed to be? i've heard better lift music.

the debut album by Hard-Fi would always be a hard act to follow, though it was far from faultless. While their uptempo tracks bounce along with a great Clash-like swagger, they have yet to master an excellent down tempo numbers - past efforts all sounding like horribly contrived, self concsious "slow" songs. Have they improved on this? No.

Sadly, poor slow songs and bad lyrics dog this record - strongly suggesting a rushed second album caused by record company pressure. Top of the thumbs down list is "Can't Get Along Without You"; what could have been a solid Mowtown-esque stomp is ruined by schoolboy lyrics; "I took smack so I could get high / I got hooked and I nearly died".

There are some excellent moments which should be given merit - and possibly offer a glimpse of what this record could have been; "Suburban Knights" outshines everything else considerably. This is followed by the superb "We Need Love" - a dark, synth led track with a melody akin to The Pet Shop Boy's finer moments.

What we are left with is moments of greatness within unrealised songs; the chilling chord change in the chorus of "I Close My Eyes" is let down by underwritten verses, "Watch Me Fall Apart" could have been epic had it not been so akin to a mix of a poor man's "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and a Robbie Williams b-side. "Television" simply tries too hard - sounding like a gobby 17 year old trying to impress by talking politics and failing dramaticallty amid a hammed up "Halejulah" chorus.

If Hard-Fi make a third album they need to improve upon this, I doubt that their songwriting is diverse enough to last very long in this industry.