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![]() Monday, May 31, 1999 Published at 09:09 GMT 10:09 UK ![]() ![]() Entertainment: New Music Releases ![]() CD Review: Boyzone ![]() Boyzone: By Request (Polydor) ![]() By the BBC's Joanna Wilson 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
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! Only one of the new tracks on the album is a bit more adventurous - the slick, R&B flavoured So They Told Me. Others such as All The Time In The World are good sing-along tunes, but ultimately tread the same formulaic territory as many previous songs. ![]() |
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