[Video][Website]
[4.57]
Brad Shoup: A cracking book could be written about t.A.T.u.’s brief swipe at the pop landscape, from the singers’ start in the kids’ group Neposedi, to an idea germinating in the mind of a Russian child psychologist, to the deliriously tasteless MTV Music Awards performance of “Not Gonna Get Us” that gave Ashton Kutcher and Diddy a case of the vapors. In between, you have rain-soaked videos, controversy cut from whole P.R. cloth, and an arranged quote-teen-lesbian-unquote partnership belting out shrill on-the-run anthems, one of which actually was a hit in the Euro-agnostic American market of the time. Alas, t.A.T.u. was all meme and no material, and the schoolgirl pyramid crumbled after a handful of English-language singles. Clearly, we’re now in the poignant exile period. A brooding rock ballad with big bottom-end, “Never Forget” is probably intended to function as a farewell to former partner Yulia Volkova, but actually sounds like Evanescence karaoke night in Quezon City. The ascending, processed phrases at the end of the verses are a nice baroque touch, and there’s a pleasing amateurism to the whole affair, but that’s kind of a problem when we’re more than 15 years into a pop career.
[3]
Katherine St Asaph: This could be the new Evanescence single, had they siphoned some of Amy Lee’s vocal fury into the track. Apparently, that constitutes fixing Evanescence.
[7]
Jer Fairall: Blustery and shallowly melodramatic in the mode of many an Evanescence or Paramore single, yet Lena lacks the shrillness of either, her voice fluttering over this shambling beast of a track rather than pummelling along with it. Commercially speaking, she missed a bet by releasing this between Twilight films.
[4]
Michelle Myers: Ironic that this is so forgettable.
[3]
Alex Ostroff: This is a decent post-Clarkson pop-rock number, and Lena deploys some sweetness of tone in the verses, but the lightness of her voice — an asset when intertwining with Yulia’s in t.A.T.u. — is a huge disservice when set against the weight of the chorus. Drowning in a sea of guitars could have been emotionally affecting, but instead I’m left with the impression that her feelings can’t even measure up to the force of her musical surroundings.
[4]
Alfred Soto: For almost a minute I liked its leisurely plod, especially when Katina’s pure-pop voice measures the distance between plush and prole, then says “fuck it” and goes for high notes I’d expect on a Kate Bush single. But the verses promise, the chorus reneges.
[5]
Edward Okulicz: Shorn of the sexual (and later, psychological) drama that steered the first two t.A.T.u. albums into the highest echelons of trash, “Never Forget” pulls all the right moves to be a denouement of the story which started with “All The Things She Said,” and simultaneously the start of a new era. But great pop that tells a story shouldn’t always answer questions; it should leave some open, or else it’s just for the singer rather than the fan. The power ballad guitars raise a smile but the lifeless singing and bromides deflate the experience considerably. The elements are there, but there’s no thrill.
[6]