This, their fourth album in five years, is a greatest hits package with a clutch of new tracks - including frontman Ronan Keating's solo song from the Notting Hill soundtrack - tagged on the end.

Whether or not this is their swansong remains to be seen - but nonetheless this package of 19 songs neatly consolidates what they have achieved as a band since they first burst onto the pop scene with Love Me For A Reason at the end of 1994.

They have actually achieved quite a lot. No one else can claim to have reached the top three with their first 15 singles - and six of those have made it to the number one spot.

No small feat, especially, when you're a boy band with a short life expectancy.

So, in the commercial sense they've done amazingly well, but at what price musically?

Complacent state

Has success made the Irish fivesome dull and predictable?

In the last 18 months they seem to have slipped into a rather complacent state, playing it safe with a string of increasingly dull ballads, culminating in their most recent release You Needed Me - which didn't deserve to get into the Top 10, let alone to number one - and relying heavily on the loyalty of their fans.

In their quest to appeal to a more 'grown up' audience, it's all become a bit boring.

It's a shame, especially when you listen to some of the earlier stuff, such as the excellent up-tempo epic A Different Beat, which was written by the group and in my opinion is their best song to date.

And what about the emotionally-charged Words, which gave them their first number one in December 1996, and the feel-good simplicity of Picture Of You from the movie Bean? Back then, it was a different story. More varied, more exciting - and less predictable.

So perhaps that's the answer - time to stop resting on your laurels guys, and spice things up a bit. Time to take a few risks!