As we found to be the case with Nsync, what seems years ago now when we reviewed their albums and traced their history, the boyband was again heavily influenced by the “mammy element”. In the case of the former, US band, it was Timberlake's mother who coined their name, (thus giving headaches ever after to Google) but with Westlife it seems to have been the mother of one of the bandmembers who actually approached impresario extraordinaire Louis Walsh --- in whose honour their main city here is named --- about managing the band and helping them achieve fame. At the time a sextet, and going under the name of IOYOU, the band was quickly pared down to three of the original members, as Simon Cowell rather unkindly remarked they were the ugliest boyband ever, and no-one was going to pay to see ugly people! Bottom line, people! Bottom line! So having dismissed half of the band, Walsh then recruited two more to make the lineup a quintet. The band then consisted of:
Shane Filan (original member)
Kian Egan (original member)
Mark Feehily (original member)
Nicky Byrne
Bryan McFadden
They then went on to release their first album, having been signed to Cowell's BMG label, and following successful support slots with Boyzone and Backstreet Boys in 1998. The self-titled debut, released in 1999, took the charts by storm, powering up to no. 2 and giving them no less than five number one singles.
Westlife --- Westlife --- 1999 (BMG)
It opens with a sugary ballad, one of their many hit singles, featuring the standard tool of the boyband, the close-harmony singing. “Swear it again” isn't the worst boyband ballad I've ever heard, but for my money, it's not that special either. You can't deny these guys can sing though. Of course, like most of their peers they did not write their own material, and had a host of top-level songwriters drafted in to provide them the hits they would sing. Just another example, as I see it, of the plastic and artificial nature of the boyband. There's a nice bit of acoustic guitar on “If I let you go”, but it's soon drowned out by the everpresent digital piano, though there's a half-decent bassline in there. It's kind of a mid-paced song, not fast but not quite a ballad, and yes, it was another number one single.
Nice little guitar solo, almost, but it gets interrupted by the singing, almost as if the guys are determined to remind people who are the stars here, as they see it. Another ballad follows, and I have to admit I have a little soft spot for “Flying without wings”, despite the acerbic title to this piece. It's a well-written ballad and quite stirring, and it builds nicely from a fairly acoustic stripped beginning to a pretty powerful dramatic climax. Another number one for them, in case you needed to be told. Quite short really, with a full choir. And the next one is... another ballad. And another number one.
And so it goes. So far I've yet to hear Westlife, er, rock out in any way shape or form. They seem to be a band (or have been a band) who made their reputation and fame on glossy, girl-pleasing love songs. Ah well. Okay as soon as I say that they finally up the tempo with “No no”, a dancy, poppy bopper with lots of synth and drum machines, then it's back to the piano ballads for “I don't wanna fight”, and looking down the tracklist my heart sinks as I see this album has
seventeen songs! Why oh why? Still, we must persevere so on we soldier, as I note that there is at least a nice guitar solo in “I don't wanna fight”, and following it is the second uptempo track, though “Change the world” does precisely not that, only a step up from the ballads, still pretty twee and sugary. Ugh.
Another ballad proper in “Moments”, not bad really, then they attempt Terry Jacks' classic “Seasons in the sun” (yeah, another number one for them) with an interestingly celtic intro on what sounds like maybe oileann pipes. I find the lack of the echoey guitar from the original makes the song lose some of its impact however, and the sense of pain Jacks conveyed through the lyric just isn't there when you have these guys singing it: just doesn't seem as sincere. Another uptempo ballad in “I need you”, with plenty of those handclap drumbeats I hate so much, then a slower ballad in “I miss you”, until we're brought to another cover version, as they proceed to rip the heart out of Extreme's acoustic classic “More than words”. Sigh.
And on it goes. Alternating between ballads and, er, semi-ballads, the album continues with pretty generic songs like “Open your heart” (NOT a cover of the Human League's new-wave smash, thank the stars!) and “Try again”, with the only interesting thing a sort of celtic flavour instilled by what sounds like oileann pipes but is most likely just keyboard jiggerypokery. There's a brief flash of almost AOR in the opening to “What I want is what I've got”, but it's very quickly tossed aside as the song falls into the dancy/poppy formula, more handclaps and an almost childish rhythm, bit of reggae/island beat thrown in, but basically on this album you get what you expect really, no more and no less. Fans would love it, those who hate Westlife and other boybands will, well, hate it, but those who are undecided are unlikely to be won over by this debut in my opinion. On some versions of the album they closed with yet another cover version, this time of ABBA's “I have a dream”, which again hit number one for them as a double A-sided single released with “Seasons in the sun”.
TRACKLISTING
1. Swear it again
2. If I let you go
3. Flying without wings
4. Fool again
5. No no
6. I don't wanna fight
7. Change the world
8. Moments
9. Seasons in the sun
10. I need you
11. Miss you
12. More than words
13. Open your heart
14. Try again
15. What I want is what I've got
16. We are one
17. Can't lose what you never had
18. I have a dream (some versions)
A meteoric rise to success and fame of course followed. With five number one singles and a chart-topping, four-times-platinum album under their belts, the world was at Westlife's feet. They went on to release a total of eight albums, not including two “specialised” cover albums, one of music by Sinatra and one of love songs, before their eventual breakup earlier this year. I wouldn't have the stomach, nor interest, nor space, to cover all eight of their albums, so we're going to be skipping a bit here and there, as is my usual practice when an artiste has so many albums to pick from.
Their second album was, not surprisingly, another occupant of the number one slot, and gave rise to their first world tour, whereafter they released their third album, which is the one I'm going to look at here. Not a clever choice, really, as it has, wait for it,
twenty tracks! And I thought the debut was long! Sweet Jesus give me strength to face the trials ahead!
World of our own --- Westlife --- 2001 (BMG)
Yielding another four hit singles --- although only a paltry three reached number one! --- “World of our own” became Westlife's third multi-platinum album, and sailed in at number one. Again. It also features more of the evolving songwriting of the band, who only contributed the one track to the previous album but here write seven, this perhaps showing more of a willingness to get involved and perhaps take more control of their music, a common problem as we've seen with boybands. As long as someone's writing your hits, you kind of have to fall into line. In another, but separate sphere, Kylie learned this lesson and struck out on her own, breaking the chains and becoming even more successful and loved.
The album kicks off with yet another hit single for them, this being the somewhat Waterboys-influenced “Queen of my heart”, which I hate to admit is not that bad, with some nice celtic flavour thanks to pipes and accordion and a slow, swaying beat. The melody however is suspiciously familiar, just can't quite place it. Nice kids' choir too. Things jump up a little with “Bop bop baby”, another hit though the only one that didn't gain the coveted (and by this time you would assume expected) number one slot, and the first effort at writing on the album by some of the guys, Bryan and Shane in fact. Nothing special, I'm surprised it was even selected as a single, as indeed were the band, who had been pushing for another track, “Why do I love you”, which was not chosen.
The instrumentation at least at this point has progressed beyond the standard synth/guitar/piano, with some Hammond added on this one, and a rather lovely acoustic guitar intro to another ballad, “I cry”, which has a certain lounge feeling to it, and yeah, I'll admit it's not too bad. I'll be honest, these guys can really do ballads, and they mostly play to their strengths on these albums, which is probably one reason for their otherwise inexplicable longevity --- when they disbanded this year they had been together for fourteen years: that's longer than some of their more ardent fans had been alive! I guess like many boybands before them, they found the thing that worked for them and stuck to it, instead of trying to branch out and reinvent themselves. Sometimes that works, as in Take That's renaissance, but often it can fall flat on its face, and hell, if it ain't broke, right?
Nice orchestral arrangement to this song too, very powerful and emotional, then we're into their cover of one of Billy Joel's songs I hated anyway, but which again hit the top for them, as indeed it did for its writer, “Uptown girl”. You know the score: they basically retrod the territory Joel had stalked in 1983, never straying far from the original. Westlife, like most boybands tended to cover a song in pretty much the same way it was originally sang, not ones for reinterpretation. As long as it sold, after all... There's nothing good I can say about this. I hated it when Billy did it, I hate it just as much when Westlife attempt it. Next up is the song they wanted to be the single to replace “Bop bop baby”, and it's another ballad. “Why do I love you” is okay, but to be honest I don't see a huge difference between the two, and let's be candid here: at the height of their fame and popularity the guys could probably have coughed into a hanky and recorded the results, and it would have gone to number one. I don't think substituting one song for the other was the big decision Westlife thought it was.
And yet another piano ballad hits, this time in the shape of “I wanna grow old with you”, but it's worth marking as it's the first track on the album not only written solely by the guys, but with the assistance of Kian Egan, his first attempt at songwriting on the album and the reunion of the partnership he shared with the other two on the previous album, on the one track. It's pretty good, surprisingly, quite moving, but then you get the dancy, throwaway “When you're lookin like that”, which really annoys me: very Nsync/BSB I feel, almost like the guys were just trying to have a hit that wasn't a ballad. Which they probably were. “We need something to fill the dancefloors, guys! No, not the
slow set! We have enough of them to fill an album .... hmmm, there's an idea!”
Although the ballads are good (the less said about the faster songs the better, really) the problem I see with Westlife records so far is that there's no real variety. It's either soft, poignant, heart-rending ballads or boppy dance numbers, with the former far outweighing the latter by a long way. Id like to hear, I don't know, an acoustic, an acapella, a hard rocker --- sorry, did I just say that? I really
am tired! --- well, something different, something to break the chain, throw in some interest into what have been for the most part boringly predictable albums. Yeah I know: what am I saying? Someone get me a cup of strong coffee! Oh wait, I don't drink coffee. Oh god, here's another ballad...
Well, it's “Evergreen”, which though it wasn't released as a single did take X Factor winner Will Young to the number one spot, and yeah it's okay, but follows the general format of a Westlife ballad, which is becoming a little tiresome now. And we're not even halfway through this twenty-track album. Where's that coffee? Whaddya mean, I said I don't drink coffee??!! Do I have to do everything myself? Title track is up next. Heads it's a ballad, tales it's what I'm going to call a “dancer”. Oh look! It's a dancer. Half-decent almost hip-hop beat to it, okay guitar but ultimately pretty empty. Another three ballads follow, one of which, “If your heart's not in it”, captures my state of mind perfectly. To be fair, “When you come around”, which is another Egan effort, this time with Nicky Byrne and some other non-Westlife members writing, is a lot better. In fact, it's the first time they approach anything close to even soft rock rather than pop. Okay, it's not that good, but of the fast tracks on this album (there aren't that many) this would definitely be my favourite. Like the guitar work in it too.
The boys more or less stamp their authority on the next two tracks also, each written or co-written by one or more Westlife members, with the orchestrally-inclined ballad “Don't say it's too late” by far the best of the two, “Don't let me go” being one of those singalong/clapalong happy type uptempo throwaway songs. But then there's an acoustic intro to “Walk away”, another nice ballad but a little different, though when it hits the chorus it falls into the usual format, and “Love crime” is nothing to write home about, though “Imaginary diva” makes you wish you were somewhere else. It's a soul/funk song something in the mould of Kid Creole's “Stool pigeon”, but with a female vocal which is not credited anywhere I can see, and to be honest it doesn't even seem like a Westlife song, though it is co-written by some of them. Well, I was complaining about them not taking chances and doing something different, wasn't I? This is certainly that, anyway.
Then they really do it, as far as I'm concerned. By taking on my alltime favourite love song, Sarah McLachlan's gorgeous “Angel”, they've crossed the line! They do an okay job with it, but again don't do anything different with it. I think it may be Kian singing, but to be honest I don't care. They've blown it with me, just as I was beginning to warm to them. Well, not hate them as much. Well, tolerate ... look, they've just lost any possible goodwill that was coming their way from me, okay?
Not only that, but there's then a “hidden track” tacked onto the end of this unutterably beautiful song, so it becomes a carrier for “Bad girls”, which is a really annoying dance song that really should have been left off the album. If you're going to finish an album, then you could go a long way to do better than closing with “Angel”, and there were already at this point nineteen tracks, but no, they had to squeeze one more on, and it's not even worth stretching the running time of the album for.
To quote Charlie Brown: good grief.
TRACKLISTING
1. Queen of my heart
2. Bop bop baby
3. I cry
4. Uptown girl
5. Why do I love you
6. I wanna grow old with you
7. When you're looking like that
8. Evergreen
9. World of our own
10. To be loved
11. Drive (for all time)
12. If your heart's not in it
13. When you come around
14. Don't say it's too late
15. Don't let me go
16. Walk away
17. Love crime
18. Imaginary diva
19. Angel (including “hidden track” “Bad girls”)
Everything was rosy with Westlife for this period, despite persistent rumours of a split on the cards. They embarked on two more world tours, released a fourth album and then came the news that had been threatening for over two years, as Bryan McFadden announced he was leaving the band, to concentrate more on his family life. He eventually engaged in his own, moderately successful solo career. McFadden was not replaced in Westlife, and they continued on as a quartet, releasing another three albums between 2003 and 2006, and in the process duetting with Diana Ross and also having number ones with more cover versions, this time of Barry Manilow's “Mandy” (hey, Take That had already wrecked “Could it be magic”: why not?), “You raise me up” and Bette Midler's classic love song “The rose”. With most if not all of these, and other, original singles hitting the number one spot almost constantly, it seemed like Westlife were none the poorer for McFadden's departure, and that their stripping-down to a four-piece was selling even more albums for them. During this time they emulated Robbie Williams by looking to the past for a cover album of Sinatra/Rat Pack songs.
In 2007, they released their ninth album --- seventh proper, discounting “Allow us to be Frank” and “The Love album”, which were both covers --- and it of course went directly to the number one spot, yielding them yet another three hit singles, however no number ones this time. Hmm. Was the Westlife ship beginning to let in water? The album's certainly shorter than the others we've reviewed up to now, a mere twelve tracks. Let's give it a listen. Yes, we have to...