Where We Are is the ninth studio album by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released on 27 November 2009 in Ireland and on 30 November 2009 in the UK through S Records, RCA Records and Sony Music. Where We Are is the group's first album following a hiatus in 2008. This album was preceded by the lead single "What About Now" (a cover of the Daughtry song) and it was released on 23 October 2009 as a digital download a day later as a CD single.
The group collaborated with numerous notable producers for the album, notably Ryan Tedder of the pop rock band OneRepublic, Jim Jonsin, Greg Wells and Sam Watters, among others. Where We Are is also notably the first Westlife album not to have Steve Mac and Wayne Hector produce or write any of the songs.
The album was met with mixed reviews, although it was still commercially successful, debuting at number two at the UK Albums Chart and got 2× Platinum Certification in the United Kingdom which sold more than 600 000 records. Despite the high peak, it was the first Westlife album not to peak at number one since their 2004 album Allow Us to Be Frank peaked at number three. This is the 7th top-selling album of 2009 in Ireland.
Background The recording process of the album started in LA on 1 July 2009. The first song they recorded was the ballad, "I’ll See You Again"". "I'll See You Again" was recorded by Ross at Metropolis Studios. For their first single "What About Now" Feehily told The Daily Mirror, "We wanted the first single from our new album to be somewhere between the Westlife sound our fans know and love, and the new direction we're heading in." The song "Shadows" was written by Ryan Tedder and AJ McLean for the Backstreet Boys' seventh album This Is Us but was not selected for inclusion. It was subsequently purchased by record label boss Simon Cowell for Leona Lewis's second album Echo but it was later decided that the song was more suited to a boyband and thus given Westlife to record.
The album also contains an "in memory of" section to Nikky Byrne and Kevin Egan, the fathers of Westlife members Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan.
Promotion On 25 October 2009, during the X Factor results show, Westlife performed "What About Now". It was released online the same day. On 26 October they performed on GMTV and were interviewed in addition to hosting a webchat, with a further interview on The One Show on 30 October 2009. They will also perform at BBC Children in Need on 20 November and be interviewed on 26 November and 4 December on Alan Carr's Chatty Man and The Friday Show respectively. They are also doing radio promos in major cities of UK and Ireland from 24 October–November including an interview on BBC Radio One. TV dates were announced later. Following a Swedish promotional tour with performance on Swedish Idol. On 27 November 2009, Westlife performed on infamous UK television shows like Paul O' Grady Show and The Late Late Toy Show.
On 1 February 2010, their official website was revised. They called it as a first phase of 2010 assault. On 10 February 2010, they are invited to Jonathan Ross show for an interview to be televised on 12 February 2010. First week of February, they embarked on a promotional tour of Germany and guested on the Oliver Pocher Show on the third week of February.
"How to Break a Heart" was released as a promotional single on 10 March 2010 in some countries. They got the chance to perform with Boyzone for a track on the Stephen Gately Show in Ireland. They were invited to perform on Sun City Super Bowl Show on South Africa to be held on 19 March and Fashion Kicks 2010 on 13 April.
Supporting tour
Critical reception
Where We Are received largely mixed-to-negative reviews, with many critics criticizing its repetitive sound and perceived lack of artistic progression from Westlife’s earlier releases. In one of the more positive assessments, Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic awarded the album three and a half stars out of five, acknowledging the group’s familiar musical formula while praising its collection of "many first-rate songs" and production that was "polished to perfection." In another favorable review, Mike Diver of BBC Music highlighted several "surprises" on the album, though he also remarked that the band's style had "barely changed." OK! magazine offered a notably enthusiastic response, describing the record as Westlife's "best yet" and praising its "slightly rockier" and "anthemic" sound, influenced by Take That, while noting that its "string-drenched ballads" retained the group’s signature style.
Several reviewers were far less impressed. Robert Spellman of The Daily Express gave the album two stars out of five, arguing that the songs were too similar and focused excessively on heartbreak. Writing for Entertainment.ie, Lauren Murphy offered a similarly critical view, describing the record as "maudlin and one-dimensional," though she praised Mark Feehily's vocals. Rick Pearson from The London Evening Standard labeled the songs "bland" and "uninspiring," concluding that Where We Are left Westlife sounding much the same as they had at the start of the decade. Other critics were even harsher. Ben Chalk of MSN stated that the album is "aimed squarely at the sort of person who buys one album a year, usually at Christmas, to listen to in the car." In his review for The Observer, Hugh Montgomery criticized the album's "usual [...] over-production, ersatz yearning and (anti-)climactic key changes." Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy panned Where We Are, saying that "there isn't a drop of passion, genuine emotion or soul to be found anywhere," while Ian Gittins of Virgin Media gave the album one star out of five, saying that the album's "only emotion [...] is a sinking sense of déjà vu."
Commercial performance In Ireland, Where We Are peaked at number two on the Irish Albums Chart and was later certified triple platinum by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), denoting shipments of over 45,000 copies. The album also ranked among the country's best-selling releases of 2009, finishing at number eight on the year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart and was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments exceeding 600,000 copies. It was the 28th best-selling album of 2009 in the UK and continued to chart into 2010, appearing on the year-end chart again that year. Internationally, Where We Are achieved moderate chart success, reaching the top 10 in Greece, Sweden, and Taiwan, while also charting in countries including Austria, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, and Switzerland. The album earned a gold certification in both New Zealand and Sweden.
Track listing
Notes signifies an additional producer "What About Now" was not included on the Czech and Slovak track listing.
Credits
Vanessa Addo-Yeboah – Vocals Ian Agate – Engineer Joel Anderson – Cover Photo Steve Anderson – Arranger, Engineer, Mixing, Producer, String Arrangements David Angell – Violin Jesse Astin – Egg Shaker Paul Beard – Piano Louis Biancaniello – Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Programming Chris Blade – Arranger, Producer Steve Booker – Bass, Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming Jeff Bova – String Arrangements, Strings Chris Braide – Composer, Producer Karl Brazil – Drums John Catchings - Cello Nikolaj Juel Christiansen – Guitar Bryan Christopher – Composer Bryn Christopher – Producer Scott Cutler – Composer, Egg Shaker, Guitar, Producer, Programming David Davidson – Orchestration, String Transcription, Violin Sophie Delila – Composer, Piano, Producer Alessandro Destefanis – Assistant Althea Edwards – Vocals Carl Falk – Composer, Producer Mark Feehily – Composer, Producer, Vocals Richard Flack – Engineer John Garrison – Bass Dyre Gormsen – Engineer Simon Hale – Arranger, Strings Joshua Hartzler – Composer Heard But Not Seen Choir – Choir, Chorus Andy Hill – Additional Production, Producer Iain Hill – Engineer David Hodges – Composer Christian Howes – Strings Henrik Janson – String Arrangements Candace Johnson – Vocals Lawrence Johnson – Vocal Arrangement Bryon Jones – Vocals Priscilla Jones – Vocals Jim Jonsin – Keyboards, Producer, Programming Jon Kelly – Engineer Brian Kennedy – Guitar, Producer, Programming Emanuel Kiriakou – Composer, Engineer, Instrumentation, Producer, Programming Savan Kotecha – Composer, Producer Larossi – Additional Production, Engineer Josef Larossi – Instrumentation, Programming Damien Lewis – Engineer Shaznay Lewis – Composer, Producer Peter Ljung – Piano The London Session Orchestra – Strings The Love Sponge Strings – Strings Will Malone – Keyboards, Programming, String Arrangements, Synthesizer Rob Marks – Engineer Subrina McCalla – Vocals Kevin McDaid – Photography Alexander McLean – Composer, Producer Vlado Meller – Mastering Millennia Strings – Strings Candice Mimi-Appiah – Vocals Ben Moody – Composer Esbjörn Öhrwall – Guitar Steven Lee Olsen – Composer, Producer Andreas Olsson – Keyboards, Programming Ross 'Dights' Parkin – Engineer John Parricelli – Guitar Doug Petty – Bass, Drum Programming, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, *Percussion, Piano Simon Petty – Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Producer Ian Pitter – Vocals Shelly Poole – Producer Luke Potashnick – Guitar Anne Preven – Composer, Producer Quiz – Engineer, Mixing Quiz – Additional Production Zac Rae – Guitar, Programming Conner Reeves – Composer, Producer John Reid – Composer Jon Reid – Producer Carol Riley – Vocals Lindy Robbins – Composer, Producer Steve Robson – Producer Andreas "Quiz" Romdhane – Instrumentation, Programming Jeff Rothschild – Mixing Mark Santangelo – Assistant James Scheffer – Composer, Producer Brian Kennedy Seals – Composer Edward Shearmur – Strings Bobby Shin – Strings Jonathan Shorten – Composer, Producer Kristoffer Sonne – Drums Steve Stacey – Design Xavier Stephenson – Assistant Stockholm Session Strings – Strings Phil Tan – Mixing Ryan Tedder – Arranger, Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Piano, Producer, Programming, Strings Martin Terefe – Bass, Producer Pat Thrall – Editing Nikolaj Torplarsen – Arranger, Keyboards, Piano Luke Tozour – Engineer Neil Tucker – Engineer Sam Watters – Composer, Engineer, Producer Greg Wells – Instrumentation, Producer Jeremy Wheatley – Mixing, String Arrangements Wayne Wilkins - Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming Kris Wilkinson - Viola, Violin Neal Wilkinson - Drums Noel Zancanella – Engineer
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for Where We AreChart (2009)PeakpositionGreek Albums (IFPI)9Irish Albums (IRMA)2Japanese Albums (Oricon)77Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)71Taiwanese Albums (Five Music) Click Western Music and scroll to 2009, Week 50.3
Year-end charts + 2009 year-end chart performance for Where We AreChart (2009)PositionIrish Albums (IRMA)8UK Albums (OCC)28 + 2010 year-end chart performance for Where We AreChart (2010)PositionUK Albums (OCC)198
Certifications
Release history + Where We Are release history Region Date Format Label Catalogue Ireland 27 November 2009 CD, Digital download RCA Records88697611272 Philippines 28 November 2009Sony Music Entertainment New Zealand30 November 2009 Norway South Africa United KingdomS/Syco Music Hong Kong Sony Music Entertainment South Korea 1 December 2009 Europe 2 December 2009 Finland Malaysia Sweden Netherlands 3 December 2009Sony Music Taiwan 4 December 2009 France 8 December 2009 B002RHP88S Japan 23 December 2009 Sony Music Japan SICP2509 Thailand 21 January 2010Sony Music88697611272 Australia 22 January 2010 China 25 January 2010 Austria5 February 2010 Germany Switzerland Mexico 15 March 2010886976112721 Czech Republic5 April 2010289173 Slovakia
References