Welcome to Reality (Bonus Track Version)

Album Review

There is a bit of everything in this album, a bit of Coldplay, a bit of Radiohead, and a bit of Robbie Williams. The opening track, "All She Wrote" has the vocal quality of a Noel Gallagher snarl and there is even a riff copied (presumably unintentionally) from Sgt. Pepper's on the track "Guilty Pleasure" which, because the kitchen sink was thrown in, is reminiscent of the New Kids on the Block attempt at sophistication on their track "Tonight." This isn't Ross Copperman's debut, that being an album called Believe, the title track of which was reprised on this album with its intro from a classical string quartet. Believe was released on an independent label three years previously, and with no publicity at all it sank without a trace. With the might of major record company BMG behind this release, Welcome to Reality also sank with very few people getting to hear it, remaining on the charts for just one week at number 59. "All She Wrote" just scraped into the singles Top 40 and should have brought about a wider audience, but BMG appeared to lose interest, the company having much greater and more instant success with their reality TV produced singers than with a genuine rock singer/songwriter, especially one who sounded so much like many other major stars.