Music Review: Westlife - The Love Album

Westlife are the Kings of Balladeers and love songs, so putting together an album of love songs was probably one of the smartest marketing moves done by their record label.
Most people thought with the departure of Delta’s main squeeze, Brian McFadden, the band would collapse but they have gone from strength to strength through their constant touring, and hit singles.

Having just signed a five-record deal with Sony, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop for the Irish boy band. I’m a sucker for the song "The Rose", and have been since I heard it sung by Bette Midler. Not being a fan of cover songs, I was impressed by their version of "The Rose", and think they maintained that special something that goes with the song. The same could be said for the Bonnie Tyler cover of "Total Eclipse of the Heart", although it did lack the depth and power that Tyler brings to it with her strong voice.

One thing I didn’t like was their version of "All Out of Love," with Delta Goodrem. It’s not so much a criticism of them, as it is Goodrem and them together. The magic was just not there, and it sounded in frank, bloody awful. I think the band could have done a much better job if they had omitted Goodrem altogether.

"You Light Up My Life" didn’t really do anything for me, and I think it’s a song that needs a stronger voice, so that was a bit of a disappointment. I also wasn’t a big fan of their version "Easy", which is covered much better by Faith No More. Both songs just lacked the depth I was searching for.

"You Are So Beautiful", well what can we say about that? It is one of those songs that probably shouldn’t be covered for the simple fact alone, no one does Joe Cocker, or his songs better than the man himself. Having said that, it’s not a bad attempt on the song, but it failed to dazzle me.

Article Author: Janine Macdonald

Janine is a freelance music Journalist, who has written for several different magazines, and websites including faster louder, and xwiredonline.

Visit Janine Macdonald's author page — Janine Macdonald's Blog