Where We Are | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 27 November 2009 | |||
Recorded | July 2008 – October 2009 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 52:05 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Westlife chronology | ||||
|
Where We Are is the ninth studio album by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released on 27 November 2009 in Ireland and on 30 November 2009 in the UK through S Records, RCA Records and Sony Music. Where We Are is the group's first album following a hiatus in 2008. This album was preceded by the lead single "What About Now" (a cover of the Daughtry song) and it was released on 23 October 2009 [1] as a digital download a day later as a CD single. [2]
The group collaborated with numerous notable producers for the album, notably Ryan Tedder of the pop rock band OneRepublic, Jim Jonsin, Greg Wells and Sam Watters, among others. Where We Are is also notably the first Westlife album not to have Steve Mac and Wayne Hector produce or write any of the songs.
The album was met with mixed reviews, although it was still commercially successful, debuting at number two at the UK Albums Chart and got 2× Platinum Certification in the United Kingdom which sold more than 600 000 records. Despite the high peak, it was the first Westlife album not to peak at number one since their 2004 album Allow Us to Be Frank peaked at number three. This is the 7th top-selling album of 2009 in Ireland.
The recording process of the album started in LA on 1 July 2009. The first song they recorded was the ballad, "I’ll See You Again"". [3] "I'll See You Again" was recorded by Ross at Metropolis Studios. [4] For their first single "What About Now" Feehily told The Daily Mirror , "We wanted the first single from our new album to be somewhere between the Westlife sound our fans know and love, and the new direction we're heading in." [5] The song "Shadows" was written by Ryan Tedder and AJ McLean for the Backstreet Boys' seventh album This Is Us but was not selected for inclusion. It was subsequently purchased by record label boss Simon Cowell for Leona Lewis's second album Echo but it was later decided that the song was more suited to a boyband and thus given Westlife to record. [6]
The album also contains an "in memory of" section to Nikky Byrne and Kevin Egan, the fathers of Westlife members Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan.
On 25 October 2009, during the X Factor results show, Westlife performed "What About Now". It was released online the same day. [7] On 26 October they performed on GMTV and were interviewed in addition to hosting a webchat, with a further interview on The One Show on 30 October 2009. [8] They will also perform at BBC Children in Need on 20 November and be interviewed on 26 November and 4 December on Alan Carr's Chatty Man and The Friday Show respectively. [8] They are also doing radio promos in major cities of UK and Ireland from 24 October–November including an interview on BBC Radio One. [9] TV dates were announced later. [10] [11] Following a Swedish promotional tour with performance on Swedish Idol. [12] On 27 November 2009, Westlife performed on infamous UK television shows like Paul O' Grady Show and The Late Late Toy Show . [13]
On 1 February 2010, their official website was revised. They called it as a first phase of 2010 assault. [14] On 10 February 2010, they are invited to Jonathan Ross show for an interview to be televised on 12 February 2010. [15] First week of February, they embarked on a promotional tour of Germany and guested on the Oliver Pocher Show on the third week of February. [16]
"How to Break a Heart" was released as a promotional single on 10 March 2010 in some countries. [17] They got the chance to perform with Boyzone for a track on the Stephen Gately Show in Ireland. [18] They were invited to perform on Sun City Super Bowl Show on South Africa to be held on 19 March and Fashion Kicks 2010 on 13 April. [19] [20]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic Rovi Music | [21] [22] |
BBC Music | (favorable) [23] |
The Times UK | [24] |
Daily Express | [25] |
Digital Spy | [26] |
Entertainment Ireland | [27] |
London Evening Standard | [28] |
MSN UK | [29] |
The Observer | (unfavorable) [30] |
Virgin Media | [31] |
Where We Are received mostly unfavorable reviews, with most reviewers criticizing the album's similar music style, as well as the fact that there is little difference from their previous material.
Robert Spellman of Daily Express gave the album two stars out of five, saying that "all the songs sound alike and deal with heartbreak." [25] Lauren Murphy of Entertainment Ireland gave a similar score, stating that "as maudlin and one-dimensional as any of their recent material", although she praised Feehily's vocals. [27] Rick Pearson of London Evening Standard called the album's songs "bland" and "uninspiring", concluding that "Where We Are finds Westlife exactly where they were at the beginning of the decade." [28] Ben Chalk of MSN UK stated that the album is "aimed squarely at the sort of person who buys one album a year, usually at Christmas, to listen to in the car." [29] Hugh Montgomery of The Observer criticized the album's "usual...over-production, ersatz yearning and (anti-)climactic key changes." [30] Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy panned Where We Are, saying that "there isn't a drop of passion, genuine emotion or soul to be found anywhere." [26] Ian Gittins of Virgin Media gave the album one star out of five, saying that "The only emotion...is a sinking sense of déjà vu." [31]
Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic and Rovi Music gave the album three and a half stars out of five, noting the group's usual musical structure, although he praised the album for containing "many first-rate songs...and the production is polished to perfection." [21] [22] Mike Diver of BBC Music gave Where We Are a favorable review, referring to many "surprises" contained within the album, although he notes that "their style has barely changed." [23]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "What About Now" | David Hodges, Ben Moody, Joshua Hartzler | Steve Robson | 4:11 |
2. | "How to Break a Heart" | James Scheffer, Louis Biancaniello, Sam Watters | Biancaniello, Jim Jonsin, Watters | 4:04 |
3. | "Leaving" | Carl Falk, Bryn Christopher, Steven Lee Olsen | Carl Falk, Quiz & Larossi [a] | 3:57 |
4. | "Shadows" | Ryan Tedder, AJ McLean | Tedder | 4:01 |
5. | "Talk Me Down" | Simon Petty | Steve Anderson | 4:01 |
6. | "Where We Are" | Tedder, Savan Kotecha | Tedder | 3:57 |
7. | "The Difference" | Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, Brian Kennedy Seals | Cutler, Preven, Kennedy Seals | 3:30 |
8. | "As Love Is My Witness" | Conner Reeves, Jonathan Shorten | Martin Terefe | 4:07 |
9. | "Another World" | Steve Booker, Sophie Delila | Booker | 3:16 |
10. | "No More Heroes" | Kotecha, Emanuel Kiriakou, Lindy Robbins | Kiriakou | 3:58 |
11. | "Sound of a Broken Heart" | Wayne Wilkins, Biancaniello, Watters, John Reid | Biancaniello, Watters, Wilkins | 3:51 |
12. | "Reach Out" | Mark Feehily, Shaznay Lewis, Chris Braide | Greg Wells | 3:56 |
13. | "I'll See You Again" | Andy Hill, Shelly Poole | Kiriakou, Hill [a] | 5:17 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
14. | "You Raise Me Up" (live at Croke Park) | Brendan Graham, Rolf Løvland | Decca | 5:00 |
Notes
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Ireland (IRMA) [48] | 3× Platinum | 45,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [49] | Gold | 7,500^ |
Sweden (GLF) [50] | Gold | 20,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [51] | 2× Platinum | 600,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Country / Region | Date | Format | Label | Catalogue |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ireland | 27 November 2009 | CD, Digital download | RCA Records | 88697611272 |
Philippines | 28 November 2009 | Sony Music Entertainment | ||
New Zealand | 30 November 2009 | |||
Norway [52] | ||||
South Africa [53] | ||||
United Kingdom [54] | S/Syco Music | |||
Hong Kong [55] | Sony Music Entertainment | |||
South Korea [56] | 1 December 2009 | |||
Europe [57] | 2 December 2009 | |||
Finland [58] | ||||
Malaysia [59] | ||||
Sweden [60] | ||||
Netherlands [61] | 3 December 2009 | Sony Music | ||
Taiwan | 4 December 2009 | |||
France [62] | 8 December 2009 | B002RHP88S | ||
Japan [63] | 23 December 2009 | Sony Music Japan | SICP2509 | |
Thailand [64] | 21 January 2010 | Sony Music | 88697611272 | |
Australia [65] | 22 January 2010 | |||
China [66] | 25 January 2010 | |||
Austria [67] | 5 February 2010 | |||
Germany [68] | ||||
Switzerland [69] | ||||
Mexico [70] | 15 March 2010 | 886976112721 | ||
Czech Republic [71] | 5 April 2010 | 289173 | ||
Slovakia [72] |
|
|
Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 after 14 years and later reunited in 2018.
Shane Steven Filan is an Irish singer best known as a member of the pop vocal group Westlife, which was formed in 1998, disbanded in 2012, and regrouped in 2018. Westlife has released thirteen albums, embarked on twelve world tours, and won several awards, becoming one of the most successful musical groups of all time.
Brian Nicholas McFadden is an Irish pop singer and television presenter. He rose to fame in 1998 as a member of the Irish boy band Westlife. Following his departure from the group in 2004, McFadden released his debut solo album, Irish Son. He has since released four studio albums: Set in Stone, Wall of Soundz, The Irish Connection, and Otis.
Face to Face is the sixth studio album by Irish boy band Westlife, released in the UK on 31 October 2005.
Coast to Coast is the second studio album by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released on 6 November 2000 by RCA Records. Five hit singles were released from the album: "Against All Odds", "My Love", "What Makes a Man", "I Lay My Love on You" and "When You're Looking Like That". The album was a commercial success in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, selling 1.8 million copies in Britain alone. The album was the third-best selling of 2000 in Britain. As of October 2001, it sold seven million copies worldwide.
Irish boy band Westlife have released twelve studio albums, sixteen video albums, one live album, three karaoke albums, thirty-eight singles, twenty-one promotional singles, nine compilation albums and fifty-four music videos. Formed on 3 July 1998, the group was made up of singers Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden. The band was signed under Simon Cowell, Clive Davis, and Jordan Jay and under record labels' BMG, S Records, Arista Records, Sony BMG, Syco Music, Sony Music Entertainment and RCA Records from 1998 to 2012 and currently on Universal Music Group and Virgin EMI Records from 2018. The last four members remained active until their last live concert performance in the Europe's third largest stadium Croke Park on 23 June 2012 and have reunited on 3 October 2018 for new music and tour. Based on the British Phonographic Industry certifications, the group have sold more than 32 million records and videos in the United Kingdom alone across their 20-year career–8.8 million singles, 12.5 million albums and 1.5 million videos. Their biggest selling album is their first Greatest Hits compilation, followed by Coast to Coast, with seven of their albums selling one million copies or more. Their biggest selling video is "Where Dreams Come True", which has sold 240,000 copies to date.
Back Home is the eighth studio album by Irish boy band Westlife, released on 5 November 2007 through Syco Music, Sony Music and RCA Records. The album was produced by Steve Mac, Quiz & Larossi, Per Magnusson, David Kreuger and Rami Yacoub, who also produced some of the group's previous material. Back Home was the group's final album before their temporary break from music in 2008.
The Back Home Tour is a world tour by Irish boyband, Westlife in support of their ninth studio album, Back Home. The band toured the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.
"What About Now" is the seventh single from American rock band Daughtry's self-titled debut album. The song is a ballad, that was written by Ben Moody, David Hodges, and Josh Hartzler, who is married to Amy Lee. It is one of only two songs on the album not at least co-written by Chris Daughtry. The song was announced as the band's next single on their website. It was officially released in the U.S. on July 1, 2008.
Walking on a Dream is the debut studio album by Australian electronic music duo Empire of the Sun, released on 3 October 2008 by Capitol Records. The album was produced by band members Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore, along with Peter Mayes and Donnie Sloan. It was recorded and mixed by Peter Mayes at Soundworks Music Studio in Sydney at various times throughout 2007, with additional recording by Chris Vallejo at Linear Recording, also in Sydney. In 2010, the song “Half Mast” was sampled on rapper Mac Miller’s song “The Spins”, which was featured on his breakout mixtape K.I.D.S..
Echo is the second studio album by English singer Leona Lewis. It was released on 9 November 2009 including 16 November in the United Kingdom, and 17 November 2009 in the United States. Its worldwide release was through Sony Music. The album charted across the globe, including the US, UK, Canada, across Europe, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, with commercial success.
I Look to You is the seventh and final studio album by American singer Whitney Houston. It was first released on August 28, 2009, through Sony Music in Europe, then August 31, 2009 with Arista Records in the United States before being released by RCA Records in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2009. The album was Houston's first non-holiday studio album since 2002's Just Whitney. It received favorable reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 66/100 from Metacritic and debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number one with sales of 305,000 beating her previous career best first-week sale of 205,137 units with Just Whitney (2002), and it was her first album to reach number one in the US since 1992's The Bodyguard. Additionally it became her fourth chart-topping album, thus extending her as the female artist with the most cumulative weeks at the number one position.
Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is the twelfth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on September 29, 2009 in the United States, by Island Records, Def Jam Recordings and The Island Def Jam Music Group. After promotion for her previous album, E=MC² (2008) ended, Carey began to work on a new album, producing songs with Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and revealed the album's title through Twitter. Carey said that Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel would have "big ballads", and that "each song is its own snapshot of a moment in a story".
The Where We Are Tour is a tour by Irish pop band, Westlife in support of their ninth studio album, Where We Are. The band toured in numerous counties in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Faroe Islands, Scotland and Wales. The 14 May date of the tour, which took place on The O2 Arena, London, had a live broadcast on Sky Box Office. It was also taped for a concert DVD, Where We Are Tour: Live from The O2, which was released on 29 November 2010. This was the third hottest tour of May 2010 according to Billboard.
5.0 is the sixth studio album by American rapper Nelly. It was released through Universal Motown Records and Derrty on November 12, 2010. The album features guest appearances from Kelly Rowland, Keri Hilson, DJ Khaled, Baby, Sophie Greene, Ali, Plies, Chris Brown, T.I., Yo Gotti, T-Pain, Akon, Talib Kweli, Avery Storm, Murphy Lee, Dirty Money and Sean Paul while production was handled by Infamous, Dr. Luke, Mr. Bangladesh, Jim Jonsin, Multiman, Polow da Don, Rico Love and The Runners, among others. 5.0 is predominately a hip hop and pop music album with subtle influences of R&B.
"One" is the first single by Swedish house music supergroup Swedish House Mafia. A vocal version titled "One (Your Name)", featuring American musician Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D., was released in July 2010. The song also appears on the group's mix album Until One, and the studio album Until Now.
"Safe" is a song by Irish pop group Westlife from their tenth studio album Gravity (2010) and this pop rock ballad was released on 14 November 2010 as the album's lead and only single in the United Kingdom. It was written by John Shanks and James Grundler, and the single version was produced by Shanks, Richard "Biff" Stannard, and Ash Howes. This song is the group's last physical single under the tutelage of Simon Cowell, having left Syco and Cowell in March 2011. "Safe" debuted at number four in Ireland. It charted at number ten in the UK, becoming their twenty-fourth and last top ten single, meaning that they had one top ten hit in three different decades. The song was featured in the 2011 movie Dolphin Tale starring Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson and Morgan Freeman.
Gravity is the tenth studio album release by the Irish boy band Westlife and it was released on 22 November 2010 in the United Kingdom. John Shanks produced each song, barring the bonus track on the Japanese edition. The album was preceded by the lead single, "Safe", which was released on 14 November 2010.
Greatest Hits is the second greatest hits album release by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released on 18 November 2011 by RCA Records and Sony Music. Greatest Hits follows their previous compilation Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits Volume 1 (2002) and was their last before their split in the months following its release. The album is the group's first album not under Syco Music and not under the tutelage of Simon Cowell, having left Syco and Cowell in March 2011. The album contains 14 singles spanning throughout the band's career and 4 new songs produced by John Shanks. The standard edition of the album contains eighteen tracks; an expanded deluxe edition features a bonus disc and a DVD containing nearly all of the band's music videos up to that point. The album's lead single "Lighthouse" was released on 14 November 2011.
Spectrum is the eleventh studio album by Irish pop vocal band Westlife, released on 15 November 2019 through Virgin EMI Records. It includes the singles "Hello My Love", "Better Man", "Dynamite" and "My Blood", and features songs co-written by Ed Sheeran, Steve Mac, Ryan Tedder, Camille Purcell, and James Bay. It is the band's first major album in eight years, and their first album under Universal Music Group and Virgin EMI. The album debuted atop the Irish Albums Chart and UK Albums Chart. It is also the biggest selling album of the record label by a UK signed artist in 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)