With the silly season almost upon us it is time to haul out the cotton buds and ear-plugs to wear to shopping malls and music stores to protect us against the onslaught of ABBA and all the other 'Silent Nighters' as well as the flood of Christmas Classics, Golden Oldies, Greatest Hits and Soppy Sentimentals which are usually released every end of the year.

This is already the fifth saccharine collection to come my way recently ? and we are still a month away from when the fatty with the beard and funny red suit parks his reindeer sled on our roofs.

The one consolation is that you won?t have to rush out to buy this album because there is not much chance of it being sold out by Christmas or even a long time after that.

I can listen to songs by Burt Bacharach and his long-time associate Hal David without pain. In fact, I quite enjoy their music. But alas Steve Tyrell, although a life-long self-confessed fan, just doesn't bring Bacharach's music back to life.

He has a growly, monotonous, voice totally devoid of any conversation-stopping qualities. And although the backing vocals and orchestration make for quite pleasant listening, it is not nearly enough to rescue this album from the rubbish bin.

And it's got nothing to do with Bacharach's music. The 14 songs here are some of the best he's produced including 'Walk On By', 'A House Is Not A Home', 'One Less Bell to Answer' and 'I Say A Little Prayer for You'.

But give this album a miss because your life will not be any the poorer without Steve Tyrell's rather sterile attempt at reviving the music of a still-great legend.