Westlife Album: “Back Home”

It's Westlife, the way you expect it. More solid ballads with great leads shared and excellent backing vocals as well. 11 songs and 1 cover of "Have You Ever" sung before by Brandy (written by Diane Warren). The guys actually get that right on the mark not a huge fan of covers but still it's done well.

While most my might look at this as them staying in a certain position and not expanding the sound musically. I'm an avid fan of Westlife and have been for years so my opinion might be a little skewed. But i really love the fact that they bring you solid songs (mostly ballads) minus "The Easy Way" written by Rami/Kotecha/Birgisson. It makes you almost think it might be another group singing this as they relatively do few uptempo songs which i really dont mind.

The guys have a solid and expanding niche and are comfortable doing what they do best singing ballads with earnest and passion that will have you feeling them as well. I've noticed though on this album that Westlife didnt write any songs on this cd. I'm sure they are busy touring and all that but. I hope on the next cd that they expand themselves a bit and add their own touch to the songs that they sing. It would only make them that much better (that's really the only knock against the cd that i have at the moment).

As it stands right now the favorites of mine on "Back Home" include:

Us Against the World

Something Right

I'm Already There

Home (1st single)

It's You

Catch My Breath

The Easy Way (uptempo)

I Do

Pictures in My Head

this cd clocks in at 47:32 so pretty close to 4 minutes a song average. It's an excellent cd throughout and while not long. It's not something you'll be inclined to forget in the future. So with all that being said. It's great to have a new cd from Westlife and will continue to only further their success in the music industry in Europe and abroad as well.

"Back Home" is as good as an original Westlife album will get. Soaring ballads and pleasantly catchy (but not overbearing!) midtempo tunes make this album an enjoyable listen for anyone who even remotely likes melodic pop music- just keep an open mind and don't think about the "boyband" tag that much, as it has no relation to the quality of the music itself. Hey, Westlife are good at what they do. If you want great vocal pop, here it is. Unlike the other 8 albums in Westlife's catalog, "Back Home" is decisively mid-tempo and is a thoroughly consistent, back-to-the-roots pop album.

The vocals are what make this album so enjoyable. The interplay of the singers prevents this album from becoming stale and predictable; Mark's rich, soulful voice is the mainstay of Westlife's music- his growth as a singer is evident as he soars easily through climactic ballads and displays clever use of the falsetto and mastery of vibrato, while Shane's soft and easy tone provides the contrast that makes this album so likeable. Nicky and Kian provide the trademark harmony and also contribute occasional lines here and there. Their contributions add a nice fullness to the Westlife sound, although frankly Westlife have been a two-man band since Brian Mcfadden left in '04 anyway. While they do have unique voices (more suited to rock music, to be honest), Nicky and Kian take a severe backseat to Shane and Mark's leads.

They're merely pop vocalists with somewhat limited musical talent (though Kian plays an acoustic and sometimes an organ during live gigs) but this time Westlife have made a damn fine pop record. "The Easy Way" and "Pictures in My Head" are two potentially annoying fast-paced songs with catchy melodies if you're not into the more boyband-y side of pop, but overall this is a worthy album for the closet sentimental pop-lover in all of us.

Standouts: "Us Against The World", "I Do", "Catch My Breath", "I'm Already There", "You Must Have Had A Broken Heart", "When I'm With You"

... actually, the entire album is very good, highly recommended for fans and those interested in acquiring a Westlife album for the first time.

Westlife is still going strong with this album, every single song is just as good as the one before it...if you are a true Westlife fan, this is a must cd to buy!

As usual, this is a great Westlife CD. This band only seems to get better with age!

I'm a big fan of Westlife, but I don't think that this album is their best. The songs are OK, but they don't really stand out as special like so many on their older albums. If you like the Westlife sound, check out the group "D-Side" for a similar sound and style. Their latest album "Gravity" is full of the kind of powerful songs that are the Westlife trademark.