Gravity (Westlife album)

Untitled

Gravity is the eleventh studio album from Irish pop band Westlife. It was released on 22 November 2010 in the United Kingdom through Syco Music, RCA Records, and Sony Music. John Shanks is the entire producer of this project while Simon Cowell is the executive producer of this album.

Background, concept, and development

In early 2010, various reports were spreading that the band and their management have decided not to release a second single from Where We Are. According to these reports, a new album will be released in the last quarter of 2010 and the group saying they wanted it to be a sexy album. A confirmation was stated by the band member Kian Egan in one of their Where We Are Tour date in Newcastle saying a new album will come out on November.

In 19 July 2010, it was reported by RTÉ that the group will be teaming up with Shanks. A Westlife insider said: "It's a major coup for Westlife to get this producer - he's produced all the big acts from Bon Jovi to the Backstreet Boys and Take That. "They wanted him for their last album but weren't able to get him. They're thrilled that he's agreed to work with them on this album." It also stated that the recording process started in July 2010. The band also confirmed the album's recording and mixing was finished in October 2010. They recorded the songs in Los Angeles, California, Dublin, Ireland, and London, England. On 17 September 2010, Egan flashed that the first single for the album was already picked by Cowell and a 30-second snippet was played on X Factor UK. Afterwards, Feehily initiated the #westlife11album and #westlifeSAFE as a trending topic on Twitter which was followed by others worldwide to be a top trending topic.

HMV posted the first pre-order link for the album while Play.com was the first among the record stores to post the official name of the album. It was first placed on the 29 November 2010 release date then pushed forward on the 22 November. On 30 September 2010, they officially revealed the date of release for the album which was 15 November 2010. In addition, Egan fully expressed what he felt on during recording Gravity: “It’s hard to believe this is our 11th album but performing is our passion and it would seem like throwing it all away if we stopped."“Both us and Take That go for epic pop songs but them taking Robbie back hasn’t made us think about Brian McFadden returning. It would feel odd to have a fifth person back on stage with us.” In addition Westlife told Digital Spy: "We'd wanted to work with him for a long time, but all his loyalty was to Take That and he didn't want to work with another boyband," "We'd been asking him and asking, but literally within moments of Take That deciding to go and work with Stuart Price, he said yes to us straight away. Afterwards he said he'd wanted to work with us for a long time, but he just couldn't do the Take That thing and the Westlife thing because they were too close." "John created a sound for us in the same way he created a sound for Take That, a sound for Bon Jovi and a sound for all the other incredible artists he's worked with," "He created a sound for Westlife that we haven't had before - it's not a massive departure, but it's definitely a step up in terms of production." Filan also revealed that the group is currently in the process of selecting 12 or 13 songs for the album's final tracklisting from a pool of 16, with all but "one or two" likely to be originals. In 22 October 2010, Shanks stated that they've finished the Westlife record, all approved by Cowell. Shanks stated that the album ended up with two covers in it. In 27 October 2010, the album main release date was changed to 22 November 2010. On 1 November 2010, Mark confirmed the two cover songs on the album are, "Chances" by Athlete and "The Reason" by Hoobastank. In the November 2010 issue of Hello Magazine they told them about their competition with Take That and Walsh and Cowell's involvement in the album,

“You need competition to keep you on your toes,” Nicky Byrne told HELLO!. “I love Take That and have been a fan since secondary school. Everything those boys do turns to gold and I sometimes look at them and think, ‘I wish we had that song,’ but we’ve done OK.’ They have no intention of becoming a five-piece again like their chart rivals, and wouldn’t be inviting ex-bandmate Brian McFadden to join them again. “He left because he didn’t like what Westlife were,” Shane Filan told HELLO!. “Robbie got kicked out of Take That, but Brian left of his own accord. He wasn’t happy. If he did come back, we’d be thinking every day, ‘Is he happy with what we’re doing now?’" Nicky reveals how they had dinner with Brian during a recent trip to LA and got on well. “It was great fun,” he said. “He’s been out of the band for nearly seven years and I couldn’t see him fitting in now. "We’ve done more tours without him than Robbie ever did with Take That and we didn’t split up after he left. It’d be great to get on stage and do a song with Brian for the fans, but I can’t see him rejoining.”
“Louis is on the phone to us every day,” said Shane. “Simon is also very involved. When he is passionate about something, he’ll say, ‘Trust me on this, guys,’ but if we’re opposed to something, he listens to our opinions. He doesn’t need us financially, but he has a genuine love for the band. “Simon and Louis bitch to each other on The X Factor and they do that in real life, too. They fight tooth and nail, even in front of us, and it’s funny to watch.”

In an interview with AOL Music UK, Westlife described the creative process of the album as "breath of fresh air". "It's a new beginning for Westlife" is how singer Shane Filan described working with legendary pop producer John Shanks. On the band's site, they put up a new biography that talked about Gravity saying:

The quartet’s eleventh offering, Gravity, sees the Irishmen sail into uncharted waters, wrestle an unprecedented level of creative control and most critically of all – start believing in themselves again. “It’s a really good album,” insists Nicky Byrne. “It’s one producer. It’s one sound. Maybe it’s taken us twelve years to get there. But it doesn’t matter. We’re here now.

“It’s the kind of record we knew we could make and we just needed the right person to deliver it with us.” And that individual was legendary producer John Shanks. He steered Take That’s last two collections, was responsible for Bon Jovi’s recent reinvention and sculpted some of Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion and Sheryl Crow’s most enduring hits.

As sessions sprang into life this summer, first in London and then Los Angeles, it quickly became clear that the recording process would be radically different from anything the lads had ever done before. Nicky recalls, “From day one John said, ‘I’m not going to be ringing Shane up and saying I want him in on Wednesday lunchtime and Kian in on Friday morning. “’’If I’m going to do this, we’re all going to be in the studio together.’ “That was the first time anyone had ever said that to us. He made us feel like a real band again.” And injecting that sense of coherence, togetherness and freedom was critical for the group. They had to confront some painful truths about how much creative steam they were lacking. Shane admits, “We made some choices over recent years that we weren’t happy with. We got to a point where we were selling so much, we didn’t think twice about doing a Rat Pack album or an album of covers of love songs. They were selling millions, but we eventually realised we needed some original songs again. “For us to keep going as a band, for us to remain excited, we had to write our own material, not just record other people’s songs.” And collaborating with Shanks saw the lads flex song-writing muscles that had been little-employed over the previous decade. Nicky explains: “It’s not like it was in the past where we had a lot of covers. John insisted we get involved. Now we’ve got an album of twelve tracks and four are co-written.” Shane reiterates: “It was very natural the way we bonded with John. He really wanted to get us involved in each song. We really feel like we’ve made this album together. We were there from the start to the finish. It feels like we were in the happiest place we have ever been making an album.” Yet, one track confronts one of the most painful experiences two of the lads’ had ever gone through. Kian and Nicky’s respective fathers both passed away over the last twelve months and they explore their grief in the most personal song the group have ever recorded. Too Hard To Say Goodbye is a tender, tear-jerking ballad that many will identify with. “Myself and Kian lost our dads last year. My dad died of a heart attack over night and Kian’s dad died over the course of a year” says Nicky. “We were discussing the loss with John over lunch one day and he said, ‘Let’s write a song about it’. We had tears in our eyes when we were putting it together. But it’s one song we’re all really, especially proud of.” Elsewhere on the collection can be found the results of a conscious effort to erase some of the preconceptions that have weighed heavily around the four piece’s necks for many a year. Nicky explains, “I’m not boring. I know I’m not boring. “I’ve never liked the fact we got tarred with the brush that we were just these four lads who sit on stools, wear suits and sing slow songs.” Beautiful Tonight echoes the crisp, euphoric electronic pop of Erasure, claims Shane, while banger No One’s Gonna Sleep Tonight is “Westlife does the Black Eyed Peas.”

“We’re twelve years in and all at least thirty years of age,” says Mark Feehily. “We could all go home now and we’d be alright for the rest of our lives. “So, if we are going to make more records we want to do it well otherwise we don’t want to do it at all.” And Gravity shows these four individuals to be men of their words...

On a Daily Star interview they told them how was the recording of the album:

"We met John Shanks (producer), got on immediately and the album was done — from not having one song written to being finished, inside three months. We just went for it and we think it’s one of the best albums we've ever done. It’s exciting getting the feedback that’s coming in now. I think we were nervous, not because we didn’t think it was going to work but because of his success rate and who he has worked with before — Jon Bon Jovi, Take That, Backstreet Boys, Sting, Sheryl Crow, you name them. He's a big producer and has had 45 number ones in America. We get distracted in London. In LA, we go over there and we work. Sure it's nice being there. It's amazing. We're not going home each night like when we're here and we have a finite amount of time there. We try to sack off early and go for a beer in the afternoon and things, but we know we have work to do when we're there.

Music and lyrics

In an interview on OK! Magazine they told how would Gravity sound,

"We just spent three months making the album with John Shanks and I actually - just for comparison - played our last album (which we really loved and we were genuinely really proud of) and there is a massive difference in quality of production on this album. We've definitely moved up quite a bit. And because we’ve done it all with one guy it has a sound from start to finish (our last album was done with five or six people). More of a solid sound. We’ve also written on this album."

In another interview with Digital Spy, they said:

"The lead single 'Safe' is the most Westlife-sounding song on the album. It's kind of like the starting point for the album," Feehily explained, before Filan added: "There are different styles of ballads on there - some of them are really mellow and have really low-sung vocals - and there are lots of midtempo tracks too. "There's a song I love called 'No One's Gonna Sleep Tonight' that's an uptempo dancey record, and another called 'Tell You I'm Dreaming' that's a bit like an Erasure track."

Sony Music Philippines described some of the tracks, "Closer" as epic sounding, country-rock track "I Will Reach You", uplifting/future live hit "No One’s Gonna Sleep Tonight" and the emotional "Too Hard To Say Goodbye". They also posted that the album have Savan Kotecha, John Reid, and Wayne Hector in it. Glasswerk National revealed,

"When you’ve comfortably shifted 44 million albums during a 12-year career that has seen you top the charts on 14 separate occasions, you could retreat into your comfort zone. Yet veterans Westlife have done the opposite on their eleventh collection. They knew they could do better than before, and with Gravity the quartet of Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan have come up with their strongest album ever. Gravity has a renewed sense of heart, soul, vigour and pride. The 12 tracks are crammed with a confidence and poise never before heard from the lads. And John Shanks, who has crafted hits for Bon Jovi, Take That and Alanis Morissette, is the man responsible more than anyone else for this welcome turnaround in approach. His influence is inescapable over Gravity’s duration. He manned the mixing desk during the sessions and co-wrote every single track - four with the band themselves. And from the outset it’s clear this is an outfit with a renewed sense of purpose. ‘Safe’, the first single from the album showcases the awesome emotional weight of an outfit at the height of their powers. Opener Beautiful Tonight sweeps and explodes into life with electronic pulses adding to its sense of euphoria. Chances, a tender meditation on missed opportunity, echoes the grace and drama of Aerosmith’s I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing. I Get Weak is a dark, graphic descent into despair and Too Hard To Say Goodbye a heart-tugging dissection of grief. The peerless pop craftsmanship of I Will Reach You sees the band reach epic new heights; a showcase of their best material to date. Westlife have quietly made the most triumphant album of their lives."

In Philippine Star, Shane talked about the difference of Gravity from the past albums and the maturity of the album:

“I think Gravity is better not only lyrically but also production-wise. I think the songs are of higher quality. There’s a lot more variety in this album. Safe is probably the only really Westlife sound in the album and all the other tracks have something different about them, although still basically very Westlife. We needed to move a step higher. It’s very important to us and to our producer, John Shanks because we’ve been planning to do that for a long time. We are amazed that we’ve finally done it.” “Yeah, I think it is, actually. As a band, we have grown up, you know, and you will notice it in some of our songs. We feel that we just get better and better as we go on every year. The lyrics of our songs are more mature, especially the last song called Too Hard To Say Goodbye. It’s quite an emotional song.”

Album name and artwork

The album cover was first displayed on the music record sites as "Westlife" with black background and white-colored lettering. In 22 October 2010, they released an exclusive video of the album photo shoot to the press and on their official sites. The official photographer of the shoot was Kevin McDaid and Feehily as the creative director. They decided to go for a chic black and white design and in the pics, the band are all dressed down in jeans and t-shirts, making the shots look particularly arty. "Mark, Kian, Nicky and Shane stand separately in a line facing the camera on the Gravity front cover, with Shane leaning cheekily on Nicky's shoulder,"

On 13 October 2010, they announced the official album title Gravity and trended worldwide on Twitter as #westlifegravity after the announcement. Band member Mark Feehily adopted the album title suggested by a fan and confirmed it on his Twitter account first. Redcorvette09 or Fiona Reynoldson, the chosen fan explains

"Gravity" from the Safe lyrics. Maybe it's a dedication to your partners and how they've kept you grounded...or maybe about the music always drawing you back in for another album! Could have several meanings."

Egan said to the press people that the band will give something special to the chosen fan but it was yet undecided.

Critical reception

Entertainment Focus said:

"First up is Beautiful Tonight and if you were expecting Westlife to keep on doing ballads and sound like choir boys you are in for a surprise as the first track on the album is a very popy and fresh. The song which could easily be released as a single really comes to life during the chorus. This is the Westlife we fell in love with a decade ago. Next up is current single Safe and hopefully a momentarily relapse of the band as we are treated to a ballad (a nice one nevertheless), which to be fair with its piano and soft sound is perfect for this cold season but still it’s a ballad! Anyone familiar with Westlife’s music will know that most of their tracks start of slow to then peak into the most grandiose manner and this is certainly true for I Will Reach You, which sounds suspiciously familiar (think What About Now) and follows the bands classic style. The Reason is another great track on the album and you know this one. Hoobastank’s only hit (this side of the pond anyway) sounds just as epic but if you were expecting Westilfe to be adventurous and change the track in the slightest you are in for sour disappointment. Fortunately for our Irishmen we loved the original. Didn’t we mention a few songs earlier how we liked when Westlife did the pop stuff too? Well fear not cuz it might take a few ballads to get there (8) but then you’ll reach No One’s Gonna Sleep Tonight! The track isn’t what we would call Westlife’s best pop anthem but it definitely lifts the mood of the album. Highlights on the album include the really catchy Closer. The track follows Westlife’s trademark sound, quiet then massive amounts of beautiful harmonies meet your ears and for a moment you become a silly romantic again. Another favourite is I Get Weak an overly romantic and dramatic track that just doesn’t seem to get old as we put it on repeat every time. Filan’s angelic voice never ceases to capture our attention and then Mark Feehily proceeds to do the same and before you know it I Get Weak has sucked you into its world of unison harmonies and yeah better get those tissue papers ready. Westlife’s new album Gravity is a far cry from last year’s Where We Are but still these guys know what they are doing and it will be a long time before we don’t remember who Westlife are. There are definitely some outstanding tracks on this album but also a lack of variety.

Hannah Spencer from Contactmusic.com expressed,

Gravity kicks off with an up-tempo pound of a pop song in 'Beautiful Tonight', complete with its catchy chorus and strong, foot-tapping beat; you can always rely on Westlife for a hefty smattering of cheesy, romantic lyrics and this album proves no exception right from the start. By the time track two rolls up, we're straight back to trademark Westlife ground with the first of Gravity's many down-tempo piano-led pop ballads beckoning, like many that have preceded it, many a lighter/phone light waving moment. Complete with the customary slushy string arrangement, the albums' lead single, 'Safe', is a prime example of the big-budget easy listening blend that Westlife have perfected over the years; the following contents of Gravity never falter from their well-established high standard which may not be everyone's bag, but is undoubtedly well-perfected. The introduction to track three sounds great familiarity; it's clear when the vocals enter that 'Chances' is in fact Westlife's cover of the Athlete track. It has to be admitted, Westlife do the song great justice, opening with the familiar solo piano chords flanked by gorgeous solo cello, and later kicking into the chorus with a big string arrangement. The track lends itself well to become a strong pop ballad true to the Westlife blend which always seems to start sparsely before building into powerful arena-filling songs. 'I Will Reach You' is another catchy, string drenched sing-along number that follows in the same vein like much of the content of Gravity; cliché yet comforting and crowd-pleasing love songs. Track six's introduction offers the same familiarity felt with the earlier Athlete cover; this time it's Hoobastank's 'The Reason'. Maybe a less well-known track to cover, the mix keeps the rock edge of the original which is perhaps a little unusual for the ultimate clean, mother-pleasing quartet, Westlife. Gravity continues with the same mature, down-tempo pop ballads from the haunting vocal of 'I Get Weak' through 'Before It's Too Late', another piano-led ballad over a smooth and gentle bed of strings which expressively builds into a powerful arena-filling sing-along, to the albums' beautiful conclusion, 'Too Hard To Say Goodbye'. Along the way, 'No One's Gonna Sleep Tonight' and intercepts as a more up-tempo pop song and similarly, the laid back funky feel of the opening of 'Difference In Me' contrasts many an easy listening ballad. Complete with two complimentary cover versions amongst a host of blatant trademark Westlife numbers, Gravity doesn't offer anything groundbreaking, nor does it offer anything to take Westlife to another level; it's just a good, strong consistent if safe effort to maintain their high standard.

Daily Star added: Now the lads are all in their 30s it makes sense that they move on from their wildly successful template of syrupy ballads and covers to something tougher and moodier. And they pull it off with aplomb. All tracks were produced by John Shanks, a fella who’s worked extensively with the likes of Bon Jovi. You can hear it in the vocal arrangements which are less formulaic and key change-y than previous offerings – and there’s a rawness to the guys’ voices. Some of the tracks sound like the kind of rocky power ballads Brian Adams would have sung in his hey day. But it’s no nostalgia fest, X and X nod to the synthy R&B sound which is so popular right now. But as always it’s on the big booming ballads that the lads are at their peak. Before It’s Too Late and I Will Reach You, written by Mark, are spine-tingling. While on OK! Magazine, "With everyone talking about Take That’s reunion and reinvention as an electro pop band, you may have missed the fact that Westlife have undergone a bit of a sonic makeover themselves. Gravity is their most varied and daring album yet, mixing classic pop and rock with subtle electro wizardry. Recent single Safe is their most soaring song in ages, while Chances is a widescreen epic that could melt the hardest of hearts. Closer and Tell Me It’s Love are pretty immense, too. Impressive." Allmusic.com stated:

"But despite claims that Gravity, incredibly their tenth studio album, is the best and most varied of their career, its 12 tracks produced by John Shanks (Bon Jovi) aren't exactly a huge departure from their late-noughties output. Indeed, the likes of lead single "Safe" and "Closer" are the kind of epic Take That-esque pop/rock ballads that they've attempted on their last two releases. And while the first half of their career saw them rely heavily on covers of distinctly easy listening favorites Barry Manilow, Bette Midler, and Brian Kennedy, Gravity continues their more recent tradition of reworking U.S. soft rock anthems, with Hoobastank's "The Reason" given the same MOR polish as previous renditions of tracks by Lonestar and Daughtry. Apart from the minor flashes of electro on opener "Beautiful Tonight" and "No One's Gonna Sleep Tonight," the rest of the album is filled with the same kind of clichéd "stand up for the key change" ballads they are notoriously famous for. The only surprise appears with a faithful cover version of "Chances," the string-led epic from Brit-pop also-rans Athlete, a rather offbeat inclusion considering their predictable and unadventurous history. However, Westlife aren't exactly well known for their original streak, so hardcore fans are unlikely to be disappointed with its safe and familiar sound. But with far more exciting and inventive material from their contemporaries, it could struggle to match the success of their other multi-platinum releases."

BBC continued:

Predictably, Gravity’s 12 tracks prove not timeless, but as outside of the realms of ambition, place and time as the 10 albums that have come before. Gravity is the musical equivalent of greetings-card copy, and sees the four-piece attempting to break into a sentimental sweat... with a rockier edge. Or at least that’s how they’d like this album to be billed. The reality is a host of songs as predictable as Westlife have ever been, with the standard quota of covers (two), the standard quota of upbeat numbers (two) and the standard quota of ‘wholesome’ (throughout). They meet their own standard, sure – but Westlife are becoming their own boilerplate so much so that the style guide has gone over word-limit. Lyrically, Gravity is full of the regular wist – “so if I’m dreaming / don’t wake me up I’m so alive,” sings Shane Filan on Beautiful Tonight. But even if there is some emotion or situation-specific context to the songs on Gravity, they’re lost in that same waterbed of cliché. The songs on Gravity aren’t as de facto soppy as their previous albums, perhaps because of John Shanks (Alanis Morissette, Carlos Santana, Bon Jovi) coming on board as producer – but this isn’t a move in any direction at all, more just a marketing strategy. There’s a cover of Hoobastank’s The Reason, and another of Athlete’s Chances, and that seems enough to set Westlife’s intentions in stone. To suggest there’s any passion for rock is as ingenious as the story that the album’s one-word title came from a suggestion on Twitter, as has been played out. For music made to sound so easy on the ear, Mark Feehily’s vocals often sound shrill; but such is the temporary nature of these songs that a trace of character outside of the middle-ground just slips by. Westlife aim for the real-instruments respect and songwriting nous of Gary Barlow, but fall flat on an overuse of words desperately trying to be genuine – it’s all about empathy, and familiar imagery alongside the cliché. There’s not an arrangement here without lilting piano suspensions, lush strings, a windswept chorus and a defiant key change – and it’s questionable what this album has to offer to anyone other than a completist.

While Financial Times said: The same can’t be said of Take That’s old Irish rivals Westlife. Instead of Progress’s bold modern approach, Gravity sticks with the trusty formula of big key changes and big positive choruses. It’s not a formula to discount lightly, as 44m album sales prove, but the procession of identikit ballads proves woefully one-paced and risk-averse. Expect Take That to win this chart battle. Magic UK said: "The phrase 'if it ain't broke' was never more apt here. The guys are on familiar territory, and I mean that in a positive way - there really isn't a duff song on the whole album, and if you've loved what Westlife have released on the previous ten long-players then you're going to lap this one up! The big ballads are here, of course, they saved my favourite of the lot until last - 'Too Hard To Say Goodbye' features a haunting celtic flute which for me makes this the stand-out track. The albums two faster songs are the bright opener 'Beautiful Tonight' and 'No One's Gonna Sleep' which sounds a bit like a future Eurovision entry for the Emerald Isle. Elsewhere the single 'Safe' is one of their better releases of recent times, classic Westlife. 'I Get Weak' is another big ballad with all the Westlife hallmarks, whilst the mid-tempo 'Closer' has some really wonderful harmonies. Listen out also for the big chorus on 'Chances', which reminds me in places of 'All By Myself', the old Eric Carmen hit. All in all a fine album which should ensure that Westlife continue to sell just as well into the next decade." Entertainment.ie said: "Of course, 'Gravity' is still riddled with the boys' signature ballads, produced to within an inch of their lives as always, but by upping the pace on just a couple of songs, driving the likes of opener 'Beautiful Tonight' and 'No One's Gonna Sleep Tonight' with easy-going dance pop beats, the whole tone seems to have lifted. These few upbeat moments are still the minority though, and the remaining slow numbers are predictably slathered in mountains of cheese that even the sweet stripped back piano and sweeping strings of 'Chances' can't manage to break through. An unlikely cover of Hoobastank's 'The Reason' has translated easily to its new pop format, its contrived lyrics and mushy sentimentality perhaps a little more at home in a genre that thrives on clichés. And Westlife have kept the very worst for last, as the Celtic flute on 'Too Hard To Say Goodbye' appears to have been included purely for the American contingent that believes all Irish live at the bottom of a rainbow on top of a big pot of gold. So then, 'Gravity' is still a fair way off being a halfway decent record, but as Westlife go, it could have been a lot worse." NZ Herald continued: "The fact that the most powerful song on this 11th Westlife album is a cover of Hoobastank's pop/rock hit Reason is a good indicator of what the rest of the album holds. Clearly, after selling 44 million records the Irish boy band feels it has little to prove, and their most devout collectors might be pleased with the predictability of this release. But others will find one windswept love song rolls into another forming a puddle of melodically sound but not-the-slightest-bit-inspiring soup."

Promotion

Main article: Safe, Gravity Tour

Schedule

Date	Country	Venue	Notes
Promo Tour
October 25, 2010; 11:00	111 Broad Street, Birmingham	Heart FM	Pre-recorded interview for Heart Breakfast
October 25, 2010; 11:00	4 Oozells Square, Birmingham	BRMB	Pre-recorded interviews for BRMB Breakfast Show, Mercia Breakfast, Wyvern Breakfast, Beacon Breakfast and Heart Nottingham
October 25, 2010; 15:30	Stoke Road, Stoke-On-Trent	Signal Radio	Pre-recorded interviews for UTV Network and The Wave (Swansea)
October 26, 2010; 07:50	Castlefield Quay, Manchester	Key 103	Live interviews with Key 103 (08.00) and Radio City (09.00) and pre-recorded interviews for Aire FM, Viking FM, Rock FM and Hallam FM
October 26, 2010; 10:50	Waterfront Quay, Salford	Real Radio	Pre-recorded interview for Real Breakfast Show, Real Radio Wales, Real Radio NE, Real Radio Yorkshire, Network Special and Networked Evening Show
October 26, 2010; 15:00	Castlefield Quay, Manchester	Key 103	Pre-recorded In Demand Special - Westlife on Westlife
October 27, 2010; 10:00	Forth Road, Edinburgh	Radio Forth	Pre-recorded interview for Radio Forth Breakfast Show
October 27, 2010; 12:00	Glasgow Business Park, Glasgow	Real Radio	Live interview for Real Radio
October 27, 2010; 14:45	Clydebank Business Park, Glasgow	Radio Clyde	Pre-recorded interview for In Demand (networked evening show)
October 27, 2010; 16:00	Pacific Quay, Glasgow	STV	Live interview with The Hour Show
November 5, 2010	England	In:Demand FM
November 6, 2010	England	The Crush on 4Music
November 7, 2010	England	Weekend Wogan
November 8, 2010	England	Pride of Britain Awards
November 9, 2010	England	Daybreak
November 11, 2010	England	The Crush on Channel 4
November 14, 2010	London, England	The X Factor	Exclusive performance of "Safe"
November 14, 2010	London, England	The Xtra Factor
November 15, 2010	London, England	Lorraine
November 17, 2010	London, England	The Alan Titchmarsh Show
November 19, 2010	London, England	Children In Need

Singles

"Safe" is the first single off the album. The single has been out in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2010. The next single, according to the album producer John Shanks, will be "Beautiful Tonight". The music video of the single will be available soon.

Track listing

One of the confirmed tracks for the album is the first single "Safe" to be released the week before the LP album release. In 20 October 2010, four of the titles of the songs included in the album were revealed by the album's producer. Namely they are, "Closer", "No One's Gonna Sleep Tonight", "Tell Me I'm Dreaming", and "Weak". In 25 October 2010, Feehily unveiled the tracklisting on his official twitter page as follows: On 2 November 2010, the 30 second snippet of each songs from the album were posted on Amazon.co.uk. On 5 November 2010, In Demand FM played exclusively the full track of "Beautiful Tonight" with an interview of the band. On 7 November 2010, they performed "I Will Reach You" on BBC Radio 2. On 14 November 2010, RTÉ 2fm exclusively played "I Will Reach You", "The Reason", and "I Get Weak" from the album for the first time worldwide.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Beautiful Tonight"	Paul Barry, John Shanks	Shanks	4:00
2.	"Safe (Album Version)"	James Grundler, Shanks	Shanks	3:53
3.	"Chances"	Joel Pott, Steven Roberts, Timothy Wanstall, Carey Willetts,	Shanks	4:46
4.	"I Will Reach You"	Steve Anderson, Mark Feehily, Jamie Hartman	Shanks	3:21
5.	"Closer"	Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Feehily, Shane Filan, John Reid, Shanks	Shanks	4:06
6.	"The Reason"	Dan Estrin, Chris Hesse, Markku Lappalainen, Douglas Robb	Shanks	3:54
7.	"Tell Me It's Love"	Wayne Hector, Shanks	Shanks	4:18
8.	"I Get Weak"	Savan Kotecha, Shanks	Shanks	3:42
9.	"Before It's Too Late"	Anderson, Feehily, Simon Petty	Shanks	4:09
10.	"No One's Gonna Sleep Tonight"	Hector, Shanks	Shanks	3:53
11.	"Difference In Me"	Hector, Shanks	Shanks	3:29
12.	"Too Hard To Say Goodbye"	Byrne, Egan, Feehily, Filan, Shanks	Shanks	4:44
13.	"Please Stay (Japan bonus track)"	Burt Bacharach, Bob Hilliard	Anderson	3:43
Total length:				48:05

Chart performance

In a November 2010 interview with Daily Star, Westlife have already admitted defeat in their chart battle with JLS. Kian admitted: “I don’t think we’re going to win against JLS to be honest – they’re probably going to get the No.1. “But we’re not really bothered about chart positions. “We rate the success of an album on the overall sales.”

The album has topped the charts at number 1 spot in Ireland for three consecutive weeks.

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Irish Albums Chart	1
Hong Kong Albums Chart	2
UK Albums Chart	3
Scottish Albums Chart	4
South Korean Albums Chart	7
European Top 100 Albums	12
New Zealand Albums Chart	22
World Albums Chart	22
Swedish Albums Chart	46
Swiss Albums Chart	50
Dutch Albums Chart	76
Mexican Albums Chart	90

Release history

Main release

Country / Region	Date	Format	Label	Catalogue
Europe	19 November 2010	CD, Digital download	RCA Records, Sony Music	88697724482
Ireland			Sony Music Entertainment
Netherlands
Philippines
Sweden
Thailand
Denmark	22 November 2010
Hong Kong
Malaysia
Poland
South Africa
United Kingdom			S/Syco Music
South Korea	23 November 2010		Sony Music Entertainment
Finland	24 November 2010
Mexico	26 November 2010
Taiwan	30 November 2010
Germany	3 December 2010
Japan	15 December 2010

Import release

Country / Region	Date	Format	Label	Catalogue
Japan	22 November 2010	CD, Digital download	RCA Records, Sony Music, Syco Music	88697724482
Canada	23 November 2010
France
United States

References