Customer Reviews

Back Home

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is definitely one of the top Westlife albums! I didn't appreciate "Allow Us To Be Frank" and "The Love Album", but Westlife did indeed exceed my expectation this time!
The first good news: only 3 covers! 9 original songs!
The second good news: There are equal amount of mid-tempos and love ballads!
Here is an in-depth review of each song:

Track 1 - Home: As I reviewed before for the Home single CD, this song is definitely not the best first single for Back Home. This song is a cover of Michael Buble's famous hit. Not a bad cover, but not great. 3.5/5

Track 2 - Us Against The World: One of the best songs Westlife ever made! Westlife's signature ballad~ Shane and Mark's voices are exceptional (especially Mark's), and their voices blend with each other perfectly! This will make a great second single. Great lyrics and memorable melody! Also, this song has the best introduction (Nicky echoing "Us Against The World") 5/5

Track 3 - Something Right: A mid-tempo song with catchy melodies! Didn't really care about this song at first, but it is stuck in my head now! 4/5

Track 4 - I'm Already There: A cover of Lonestar's country song. This song has great lyrics and Shane's voice made the song more emotional. This song goes with the album theme Back Home! Great song overall (Kian and Nicky got 1 solo line part each!). 4/5

Track 5 - When I'm With You: A great attempt of colliding R&B with Pop! Mark's voice is absolutely amazing, and Shane repeating "When I'm With You" made the song even better! One of my favorite songs on this album. 5/5

Track 6 - Have You Ever: Westlife's cover of Brandy's well-known "Have You Ever". Even though this song didn't give me chills as opposed to other songs, this song still has great lyrics and Mark's vocal (is again) absolutely breathtaking. Another great song! 4/5

Track 7 - It's You: One of the best adjectives to describe this song is...cute! Another great ballad by Westlife. Simple but straight to the point lyrics...and I just adore the melodies throughout the song. Another one of my favorite new songs! 5/5

Track 8 - Catch My Breath: This song fails to stand out for me in this album. It's one of those songs that are not slow, not fast, and not quite mid-tempo... Shane's vocal is undeniably appealing! 3.5/5

Track 9 - The Easy Way: Although not as wacky (and kinky) as their "Hit You WIth The Real Thing" from Face to Face, this song is another unexpected Westlife song. This song has one of the catchiest bridges ever! The chorus is tragically too simple (basically "I love you~ I love you~")...this song is the best uptempo songs on this album. 4.5/5

Track 10 - I Do: Wedding song alert! This song is filled with emotions and shouts "PLEASE MARRY ME!!!" Although not the best ballad, this song has the most wonderful lyrics ever. Shane's voice is absolutely melting! 4/5

Track 11 - Pictures In My Head: Another mid-tempo song. The lyrics are great! And I just can't help but to compliment on Shane's voice again...absolutely stunning!!!! Another great song! 4.5/5

Track 12 - You Must Have Had A Broken Heart: I don't really get the lyrics...but this is another great ballad. 4/5

Not sure where to put this, but Westlife covered Chicago's "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" on Home's B-side, and it is one of the best covers Westlife ever made, so check it out if you can get your hands (or ears) on it!

To conclude, Back Home exceeded my expectation and not one song on this album is a disappointment. Many of the songs fit the theme of Back Home (such as "Home", "I'm Already There", "Pictures In My Head", etc). The only downside of this album is true for their previous albums - too little of Kian and Nicky! But overall, great job lads! Can't wait for the next album!

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.

These guys are just amazing. They can take the worst song and make it a hit. The songs on this CD were outstanding and the way they were arranged was fantastic.

"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.

I have been a serious Westlife fan for 9 years now! I LOVE them very very much and held on through the last 3 albums. Clinching because most of the songs on the other albums were covers. BUT OH WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY! THIS CD IS SOOOOOOO GOOD! Back home makes you feel back home with Westlife, the style of the music, the kind of lyrics we are used to them singing, and even some surprises. I love everything about this CD. I put it on and could not turn it off, in fact I am listening to "the Easy Way" as I write this. The surprsing R&B track "When I'm With You" is wonderfuly arranged and produced. Each song sounds crisp and as if the boys never missed a beat! If you love Westlife, you will not be disapointed! I know I am not!

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!

another great album by Westlife - the best boy band today. they need to come to America!!!! all the songs are great which is unusual on an album.

WESTLIFE IS AN AWESOME GROUP OF MUSICIANS.EVERY CD I HAVE GOTTEN OF THEM FROM AMAZON,IS IN VERY GOOD SHAPE,MOSTLY NEW AT A GREAT PRICE.THE SOUND OF THEIR MUSIC IS VERY PLEASING TO HEAR.AND THE WORDS THAT THEY SING ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD.I LOVE EVERY CD I HAVE OF THIS GROUP..AWESOME..AWESOME..AWESOME!! LIKE ROMANCE ON A CD.....

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

very pleased with service and item quality. New Westlife Album is another fantastic listen as always