sentence: critical reception sharon mawer of allmusic gave the album two out of five stars , stating : '' despite having high hopes after the success of simon webbe and lee ryan 's solo careers , and having a hit single already behind him , duncan james ' '' future past '' was doomed from the outset after the poor performances of the lead singles '' sooner or later '' and '' ca n't stop a river '' , despite the latter being backed by the writing talents of seal .