Post by shayne on Dec 8, 2006 22:08:06 GMT 8
All You Need Is The Love Album - 8 December 2006
They sit atop the album charts, leaving the likes of U2, Oasis and even the Beatles in their wake. WILLIAM JELLEY reports on the rise of Westlife
In the race to the top of the album charts, it seemed like a foregone conclusion. Westlife were the three-legged donkey next to the thoroughbred stallions of The Beatles, Oasis and U2. The bookies watched and waited as midweek sales turned to Saturday sales, and then - lawksalordy - the shocking news broke that Westlife had actually won it.
"We are absolutely thrilled to be number one," cried Nicky Byrne down the phone line from Australia, where the boy band were midway through an arena tour.
"It means so much to us," he said. "We have the best fans in the world and we want to thank them for all their continued support."
And while Bono and the Gallagher brothers debated a joint lynching of a group more famous for covering other people's music than their own. Simon Cowell, the man who originally signed Westlife, added another cursory tick to his office calendar.
The Love Album, a dinner-jacketed croonersville take on hits such as Easy, Total Eclipse Of The Heart and You Are So Beautiful, was the LP that gave the Irish pop stars their sixth UK number one last week.
It's a career that's justifiably baffled the critics, but it doesn't change facts. Westlife, the barrow boys from Sligo, are the most successful boy band in history.
Striking 14 number one singles from eight albums, and taking, among others, Barry Manilow's Mandy to the top of the charts, the karaoke kings have proved there's no shame in a career founded on other people's music.
Tickets for the boy band's UK visits - which brings them to the Nottingham Arena in March - are already going fast, and look likely to sell out.
Louis Walsh, Westlife's manager and X-Factor goblin, is not a man backward in coming forward. "This is their eighth album," he says, "and proves there is still a long way to go for them. Westlife are up there with the best."
Credit/Source: www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk / Joanne
They sit atop the album charts, leaving the likes of U2, Oasis and even the Beatles in their wake. WILLIAM JELLEY reports on the rise of Westlife
In the race to the top of the album charts, it seemed like a foregone conclusion. Westlife were the three-legged donkey next to the thoroughbred stallions of The Beatles, Oasis and U2. The bookies watched and waited as midweek sales turned to Saturday sales, and then - lawksalordy - the shocking news broke that Westlife had actually won it.
"We are absolutely thrilled to be number one," cried Nicky Byrne down the phone line from Australia, where the boy band were midway through an arena tour.
"It means so much to us," he said. "We have the best fans in the world and we want to thank them for all their continued support."
And while Bono and the Gallagher brothers debated a joint lynching of a group more famous for covering other people's music than their own. Simon Cowell, the man who originally signed Westlife, added another cursory tick to his office calendar.
The Love Album, a dinner-jacketed croonersville take on hits such as Easy, Total Eclipse Of The Heart and You Are So Beautiful, was the LP that gave the Irish pop stars their sixth UK number one last week.
It's a career that's justifiably baffled the critics, but it doesn't change facts. Westlife, the barrow boys from Sligo, are the most successful boy band in history.
Striking 14 number one singles from eight albums, and taking, among others, Barry Manilow's Mandy to the top of the charts, the karaoke kings have proved there's no shame in a career founded on other people's music.
Tickets for the boy band's UK visits - which brings them to the Nottingham Arena in March - are already going fast, and look likely to sell out.
Louis Walsh, Westlife's manager and X-Factor goblin, is not a man backward in coming forward. "This is their eighth album," he says, "and proves there is still a long way to go for them. Westlife are up there with the best."
Credit/Source: www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk / Joanne