Brother (Boyzone album)
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Brother is the fourth studio album by Irish boy band Boyzone, released on 5 March 2010 in Ireland.[1] It is the band's first studio album in 12 years. The album is named in memory of member Stephen Gately, who died five months before its release.[2] However, Gately's vocals did appear on the band's songs "Gave It All Away" and "Stronger", making it the final album to feature Gately's vocals and is released posthumously.
Upon its release, Brother received favorable reviews from most music critics. The album debuted at number one in Ireland and the United Kingdom. As of October 2013, the album had sold 450,000 copies worldwide.[3]
Album background
It became their first studio album released in 12 years. This album is named in memory of member Stephen Gately, who died five months before its release.[2] However, Gately's vocals did appear on the band's songs "Gave It All Away" and "Stronger", making it the final album to feature Gately's vocals and is released posthumously.
The album was recorded in 2009, and was released on 5 March 2010 in Republic of Ireland and was released on 8 March 2010 in the United Kingdom. The album contains the single "Gave It All Away", released as a tribute to Gately and also features his vocals on the song "Stronger". The record entered the UK Album Chart at number 1 on 14 March 2010, meaning that all four of Boyzone's studio albums have reached number 1 in the UK. The album also reached the number 1 slot in Ireland, resulting in the same achievement for all four albums, cementing the band's reputation as being one of the most successful boyband/male groups of all time in the UK and Ireland. On 28 March 2010, the album reclaimed the top spot in the UK album charts after a week at number 3. On the same day, the single "Gave It All Away" climbed 19 places to number 10 on the UK singles chart. 'Love Is a Hurricane' was the second and final single from 'Brother', and was released on 17 May.[4][5]
Promotion
"Gave It All Away" was performed on the Australian version of the X Factor on 11 October 2010. The band will be touring the album in the UK and Ireland during February and March 2011 and a world tour could follow. The album was supported by the Brother Tour.
Commercial performance
The album topped the UK Albums Chart, while at No. 1 for three weeks, it was their fifth UK and Irish No. 1 album[6] and Ireland albums chart where it charted in the top 75 for 17 weeks[7] and the first single was a number 1 single on the Irish Singles Chart and a top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart. As of December 2014, Brother has sold 394,872 copies in the UK.[8]
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [9] |
| BBC | (favourable)[10] |
| Daily Express | [11] |
| Entertainment.ie |  [12] |
| Funky.co.uk | [13] |
| Virgin Media | [14] |
The album received favorable and positive reviews from most music critics. Jason Birchmeier from Allmusic said that: "Brother is a safe and carefully crafted album". And has noticed that the album is "a ballad-heavy effort with lots of piano melodies, string arrangements, and grandiose choruses". Further, he gave positive reaction for the songs 'Gave It All Away', calling it "a good song with glimmers of greatness" and 'Love Is a Hurricane' saying that "is the most impressive track on the album, showcase for Keating that marks the high point of Brother".
Other tracks include 'Ruby' and 'Right Here Waiting'. Simon Gage from Daily Express said that "The first album since the death of Stephen Gately last year, is a poignant outing for Boyzone and features the last recorded vocals of their 'brother'". He also said that: "The debut single Gave It All Away sets the tone for what is a much more grown-up album of songs that veer closer to adult rock than the sometimes cheesy pop we associate with Boyzone."
Mike Diver from BBC said that: “It’s soft about its edges, its lyrical content exclusively syrupy – but that’s fine, as at this stage in their career, pronounced progression was never a likely option". He also said that: "It’s sad, though, that Gately eulogy-of-sorts Gave It All Away is so very poor". But with ballads dominating, "Brother is a Boyzone album for Boyzone fans". Lauren Murphy from Entertainment.ie said that: "Employing some known songwriters of the pop world makes Boyzone's fourth album 'Brother' a less amateur sounding affair than the now quartet's usual material". But she liked some parts of the album, saying that it "is actually solid, occasionally even likeable adult-orientated pop".
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Gave It All Away" | Mika | Greg Wells, Ollie Jacobs[a] | 4:27 |
| 2. | "Love Is a Hurricane" | Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois | Wells | 3:30 |
| 3. | "Ruby" | Shelly Poole, Andy Hill, Terry Martin | Wells | 4:27 |
| 4. | "Too Late for Hallelujah" | Carl Falk, Sharon Vaughn, Don Mescall | Wells | 3:38 |
| 5. | "Separate Cars" | John Green, Jim Irvin, Julian Emery, Jack McManus | Wells | 3:11 |
| 6. | "One More Song" | Greg Wells, Nasri | Wells | 3:33 |
| 7. | "Right Here Waiting" | Chris Braide, Hill | Wells | 3:38 |
| 8. | "Nothing Without You" | Catt Gravitt, Tom Shapiro, Michael Busbee | Wells | 3:20 |
| 9. | "'Til the Sun Goes Down" | Jez Ashurst, Emma Rohan | Wells | 3:45 |
| 10. | "Time" | Wells, Matt Hales, Kim Oliver | Wells | 4:10 |
| 11. | "Let Your Wall Fall Down" | Peter-John Vettese, Sean Conlon | Wells | 5:11 |
| 12. | "Stronger" | Craig Wiseman, Karen Poole, Steve Lipson | Lipson | 3:50 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Love You Anyway" | Ronan Keating, Nick Atkinson | Jarrad Rogers | 3:21 |
| 14. | "Better" | Tom Baxter, Sam Semple | Stephen Lipson | 3:36 |
| 15. | "Can't Stop Thinking About You" | James Bourne, Steve Mac | Steve Mac | 3:32 |
| 16. | "Life is a Rollercoaster" (Live) | Keating, Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels | Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels | 5:52 |
- Notes
- ^[a] signifies a vocal producer
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Brother.[15]
Personnel
- Ray Burmiston – photography
- Andy Caine – vocals
- Simon Emmett – cover photo
- Mark "Tufty" Evans – engineer
- Serban Ghenea – mixing
- John Hanes – assistant
- Mark Herman – design
- Ollie Jacobs – vocal producer
- Steve Lipson – guitar, producer, mixing, instrumentation
- Ian MacGregor – engineer
- Chris Nicoladies – drum programming
- Mark Plunkett – management
- Ash Soan – drums
- Peter-John Vetesse – engineer, choir arrangement
- Greg Wells – bass, guitar, piano, drums, producer, mixing
- Rob Wells – programming
- Craig Wiseman – guitar
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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Chart procession and succession
References
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Brother by Boyzone". iTunes.
- ^ a b Sexton, Paul. "Boyzone Beats Gorillaz To U.K. No. 1". billboard.com. 15 March 2010.
- ^ Lydia Smith (11 October 2013). "Boyzone announce Love Will Save The Day as the new single from upcoming album BZ20". Daily Mirror.
- ^ "New boyzone single". Boyzone.net. 10 April 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "New Boyzone album shelved". Digitalspy. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
- ^ "Chart Stats - Boyzone - Brother". chartstats.com.
- ^ "GFK Chart-Track". chart-track.co.uk.
- ^ Jones, Alan (1 December 2014). "Official Charts analysis: Olly Murs becomes second X Factor graduate to score three No.1s". Music Week. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Allmusic review".
- ^ "BBC review".
- ^ "Daily Express review".
- ^ "Entertainment.ie review".
- ^ "Funky.co.uk review".
- ^ "Virgin Media review".
- ^ Brother (Media notes). Boyzone. Polydor. 2010. PID 00602527353005.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Australian Album Chart
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Boyzone – BZ20" (in French). Hung Medien.
- ^ Dutch Albums Chart
- ^ "European Top 100 Albums for the 4/3/2010 issue". Reuters. 2 April 2010.
- ^ "New Boyzone album shelved". Musicline.de. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
- ^ greekcharts.com - Boyzone - Brother
- ^ "Boyzone album tops Irish chart". Digital Spy.
- ^ New Zealand Albums Chart
- ^ "Archive Chart". Scottish Albums Chart. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ^ Swiss Albums Chart
- ^ "Chart Stats – Boyzone, Brother". chartstats.com.
- ^ http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/UKChartsPlusEOY2010.pdf
- ^ "The Irish Charts - 2010 Certification Awards - Platinum". Irish Recorded Music Association.
- ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Boyzone – Brother". Recorded Music NZ.[dead link]
- ^ "Official Charts analysis: Olly Murs becomes second... - mediaor". mediaor.com.
- ^ "British album certifications – Boyzone – Brother". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Brother in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.