Britain has always taken the underdogs to their bosom's so its no surprise that flopstars Liberty were hailed the real talent of the show. Just look at how we suppossedly loved Princess Di for her bulimia and self-mutilation or more realistically how we took Morrissey and Jarvis to our hearts. However the loser tag can only take you so far and when Liberty were forced to change their name by law following a court case with an unknown band of the same name the questions were raised of can Liberty survive it or more importantly will V2 still stand by them? They did of course and even though we all loved "Just A Little Bit" who really could have imagined it going straight into the top spot.

The album "Thinking It Over" is not only a great album, but also an album that packs more tunes into the first 30 seconds than Hear'say have done over the space of their first two albums. The genius behind it though is that fact that they weren't just another pop act - they were a pop act that went out clubbing and soaking up UK Garage and R&B and released tunes that your older sister could listen to rather than competing with the dual affections of Barbie or the Tweenies. In fact the worst song of the 14 track collection is the previous single "Doin' It" which at times recalls a limp Britney / N'Sync lite vibe.

On other tracks they work with the Artful Dodger (Thinking It Over), Michelle Escoffery and K Gee (Wanting Me Tonight) and Mushtaq (No Clouds). When you think that these producers and writers have worked with everyone from Damage and All Saints to some of the hottest crossover garage hits of the past few years you realise the backing that Liberty X have behind them. With the band themselves co-writing 9 of the 14 tracks you also have to give them credit for not handing total control over to the men in suits.

Alongside Sugababes, Liberty X are one of Britain's pop treasures and a band that are truly in  control of their own destiny. But Liberty X are the band that break the rule and somehow I don't think we'll be having this discussion about Gareth Gates in 12 months time.

Alex McCann