{"id":8061,"date":"2015-01-10T20:07:53","date_gmt":"2015-01-10T20:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/195.21.21.161\/epop\/?p=8061"},"modified":"2015-01-18T18:35:46","modified_gmt":"2015-01-18T18:35:46","slug":"westlife-debut-album-by-westlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2015\/01\/westlife-debut-album-by-westlife\/","title":{"rendered":"Westlife: The Debut Album by Westlife"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RETRO<\/a><\/p>\n

Our first Retro Review of the Week is the eponymous debut album of Irish boyband, Westlife.\u00a0 Formed in 1998, they disbanded in 2012 with a massive 41 date farewell tour, culminating in a concert in Dublin’s Croke Park, which was aired live via satellite in cinemas across Europe.\u00a0 The band consisted of Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan and Brian McFadden.\u00a0 Brian left in 2004.<\/p>\n

Listening to their debut album, released in 1999, it’s easy to see how in 14 short years they were able to pull off such a farewell tour.\u00a0 The album is very slick, with unchallenging songs, but it’s nonetheless *listenable*.\u00a0 It’s easy-going, middle-of-the-road music, with the boys being themselves unchallenging, and easy enough on the eye to set the hearts a-flutter of teenage girls and their mothers alike.<\/p>\n

Standout songs would have to be the fan favourite, “Flying Without Wings” and “No No”, with the latter being a peppy little number, which I envisage would have had some catchy dance moves (I can see sweeping arms for “no no” – am I right?).<\/p>\n

\"Westlife\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Middle-of-the-road worked well for Westlife.\u00a0 They sold over 50 million records worldwide, which included studio albums, singles, video releases, and compilation albums.\u00a0 They hit the number one spot 14 times in the UK, and reached the top 10 in that country a total of 26 times over their 14-year career.<\/p>\n

In 2012 they were recognised by the Official Charts Company as the 34th biggest-selling singles artists in the history of British music.\u00a0 They didn’t however get their big break in the US, achieving only one hit single, “Swear It Again”, the lead track from their debut album.<\/p>\n

“Westlife” isn’t a bad album.\u00a0 It’s got some real hits and no real misses.\u00a0 It’s not an album I’d go back to over and over again, but I can see why fans love it.<\/p>\n

\"Westlife1\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our first Retro Review of the Week is the eponymous debut album of Irish boyband, Westlife. <\/p>\n

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<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[594],"tags":[111,597,595,251,637,596,126,173],"class_list":["post-8061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retro-review-of-the-week","tag-album","tag-boyband","tag-croke-park","tag-dublin","tag-featured","tag-flying-without-wings","tag-ireland","tag-westlife","post_format-post-format-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/RETRO-REVIEW-OF-THE-WEEK1.png?fit=804%2C479&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5yMhl-261","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8217,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2015\/01\/win-westlifes-westlife-and-the-love-album\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":0},"title":"Win Westlife’s “Westlife” and “The Love Album”","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"10\/01\/2015","format":"image","excerpt":"To celebrate the launch of our new website, and to introduce our new feature, \"Retro Review of the Week\", we're giving away two Westlife CDs!\u00a0 For your chance to win a copy of Westlife's debut album, \"Westlife\" (released in 1999) as well as \"The Love Album\" from 2006, simply answer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Archived Competitions"","block_context":{"text":"Archived Competitions","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/archived-categories\/archived-competitions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/westlife2000.jpg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/westlife2000.jpg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/westlife2000.jpg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/westlife2000.jpg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/westlife2000.jpg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44762,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2019\/01\/westlife-return-with-new-single-hello-my-love-out-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":1},"title":"Westlife Return With New Single ‘Hello My Love’ Out Now","author":"Lisa Hafey","date":"10\/01\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Westlife are back, with their first new single in eight years. 'Hello My Love' is released today, Thursday January 10.","rel":"","context":"In "Concerts"","block_context":{"text":"Concerts","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/concerts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/49705979_10157064327150439_6046190307718987776_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/49705979_10157064327150439_6046190307718987776_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/49705979_10157064327150439_6046190307718987776_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/49705979_10157064327150439_6046190307718987776_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, 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Week","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/archived-categories\/retro-review-of-the-week\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/RETRO-REVIEW-OF-THE-WEEK1.png?fit=804%2C479&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/RETRO-REVIEW-OF-THE-WEEK1.png?fit=804%2C479&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/RETRO-REVIEW-OF-THE-WEEK1.png?fit=804%2C479&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/RETRO-REVIEW-OF-THE-WEEK1.png?fit=804%2C479&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":72127,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2021\/10\/windmill-lane-recording-studios-release-their-limited-edition-vinyl-album\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":3},"title":"Windmill Lane Recording Studios Release Their Limited Edition Vinyl Album","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"29\/10\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, Ireland\u2019s Iconic Windmill Lane Recording Studios releases a limited edition vinyl album in association with Universal Music Ireland.\u00a0 The album features artists long associated with world-famous studios such as The Cranberries, U2, Elvis Costello, Westlife, and many more.","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/windmill-lane-recording-studios.jpg?fit=1061%2C732&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/windmill-lane-recording-studios.jpg?fit=1061%2C732&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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"Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/No-One-Knows-Sleeve.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/No-One-Knows-Sleeve.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/No-One-Knows-Sleeve.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/No-One-Knows-Sleeve.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/No-One-Knows-Sleeve.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34346,"url":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2018\/03\/ben-davidson-fallin-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":8061,"position":5},"title":"Ben Davidson – ‘Fallin’ In’","author":"Essentially Pop","date":"29\/03\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Ben Davidson's latest single, 'Fallin' In', was released through Energise Records on the 22nd March, with remixes out today.","rel":"","context":"In "New Artists"","block_context":{"text":"New Artists","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/category\/music\/new-artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ben-davidson-2.jpg?fit=851%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/ben-davidson-2.jpg?fit=851%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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