虽然人气超旺引来盗版，但是2002年岁末t.A.T.u的首张大碟「200km/h In The Wrong Lane/超速快感」照样攻佔各大排行榜，陆续在德国(五週)、奥地利(五周)、英国(四週)、爱尔兰/南非/瑞士/纽西兰等国拿下冠军，专辑已于全球销售300万张，更在日本创下发行首週以20万张改写白金唱片销售、空降日本国内/国际综合榜冠军、刷新日本史上国际新进艺人等最佳排行纪录；日、奥地利、匈牙利销售榜冠军。首支单曲'"All The Things She Said'"，蝉连英国冠军(五週)、欧洲Music&Media单曲销售榜冠军(六週)、日本国际榜与日本国内/ 国际综合榜双料点播冠军、韩国电台点播榜双週冠军、问鼎德国/澳洲/纽西兰冠军，全球销售逾182万张。

It makes no sense to discuss 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, the first album by Russian dance-pop duo t.A.T.u., without focusing on the gimmick, since that gimmick is the band. Of course, gimmicks have always been central to pop music, including much of the greatest pop music, but few have felt as tawdry as t.A.T.u.. Which is, of course, that the girls are teenage lesbians. Or to shoddily paraphrase Charlie Sheen in Being John Malkovich, "they're hot teenage lesbians, and how can you not be into that?" Well, it's easy not to be into it when Julia and Lena appear to have been run through a marketing processor so they could become two Sapphic tarts who sing songs with suggestive titles like "Not Gonna Get Us," "Show Me Love," and "All the Things She Said" (it's likely a coincidence that the latter two share titles with songs by Robyn and Simple Minds, respectively, but perhaps not), while covering that perennial anthem of tortured unrequited love and lust, the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?" (it was strong enough to withstand Love Spit Love's cover; it's strong enough to weather this). Perhaps this would have been fun if the music were fizzy, trashy, and disposable, the way Brit-pop novelty Shampoo was on its lark We Are Shampoo. Instead, it's heavy, portentous Europop, often helmed by Trevor Horn, and badly sung by two cute girls with annoying squawks for voices. With those relentless, gloomy beats and those voices that cut against the grain, it's easy to concentrate on nothing but the gimmick, because it's more fun to talk about Russian teenage lesbians than listen to this noisy, oppressive murk. Even then, you'll feel unclean, given the shamelessness of the exploitation in this whole crass, commercial enterprise.