Greatest Hits is the second greatest hits album release by Irish boy bandWestlife. It was released on 18 November 2011 by RCA Records and Sony Music. Greatest Hits follows their previous compilation Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits Volume 1 (2002) and was their last before their split in the months following its release. The album is the group's first album not under Syco Music and not under the tutelage of Simon Cowell, having left Syco and Cowell in March 2011. The album contains 14 singles spanning throughout the band's career and 4 new songs produced by John Shanks. The standard edition of the album contains eighteen tracks; an expanded deluxe edition features a bonus disc and a DVD containing nearly all of the band's music videos up to that point. The album's lead single "Lighthouse" was released on 14 November 2011.
Greatest Hits received mixed reviews from music critics, with some reviewers praising the compilation's structure, while others disliked the group's musical style. The compilation reached No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart, and has sold more than 900,000 units being certified 3× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry as of June 2024.[1] The album debuted at the No. 1 position on the Irish Albums Chart and performed moderately elsewhere.
On 5 September 2011, it was confirmed the album would be simply titled Greatest Hits.[2] On 12 October 2011, the group announced the track listing on their official website.[3]Amazon.co.uk and Play.com released editions that included free postcards and member signatures.[4] A limited-release signed edition sold out in less than 24 hours.[5]
There are four new tracks on the standard edition: "Beautiful World" (written by Feehily, Shanks and Ruth-Anne Cunningham), "Wide Open" and "Last Mile of the Way" (co-written by Byrne, Filan, Dimitri Ehrlich, Coyle Girelli) and the lead single "Lighthouse". The new tracks on the album were recorded from May - September 2011 with the band's Gravity producer Shanks and new producers Dan Radclyffe and Boxsta Martin. Bryne said that the new tracks took "four or five weeks" to record.[6] In 2014, Dimitri Ehrlich, co-writer of the song "Last Mile of the Way", posted a demo of the song on his SoundCloud account.[7]
The album photoshoot took place in South Africa starting on 17 September 2011, alongside the lead single music video shoot.[8][9] On 12 October 2011, the official site posted the album artwork.[3] Julia Simpson of Yahoo OMG! UK reported: "the artwork for their brand new album sees them striking one of their best model poses yet."[10]
Greatest Hits received mixed reviews from music critics. Critics that positively received the album praised the album's track listing and new songs, particularly "Beautiful World". Reviewers that criticized the album also noted the group's repetitive formula in their songs.
Shaun Kitchener of Trash Lounge gave the compilation a perfect five stars, calling it "the perfect way for the band to bid farewell."[18] Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave the album four stars out of five, praising the inclusion of numerous hits in the track listing, as well as the new songs of the compilation. However, he was disappointed that the new songs "point to what could have been an interesting new direction for the band".[12] Alistair McGeorge of Female First called the album a "fine retrospective of one of the best boy-bands in history", as well as assuring the listeners that they will be "taken on a journey from the band’s beginnings through to their last recordings, constantly reminded of the talent they showed."[15]
Fraser McAlpine of BBC Music gave a mixed review of the album, noting the repetitive structure of the group's previous hits, and that listening to the album felt "strange". Despite this, he praised the album's last three tracks.[11] Simon Gage of Daily Express said that the compilation "needs no introduction with big key-change numbers like "Flying Without Wings" and "You Raise Me Up" telling their own story."[14]Star Magazine UK called the group's formula "annoyingly, irresistibly effective" and that "it's the ballads they’ll be remembered for."[17] Jon O'Brien of Rovi Music gave the album a borderline two and a half out of five stars, saying, "while this collection contains a few pop gems, it's a samey and uninspiring listen that suggests their split has been well overdue." He also noted that numerous uptempo songs and four No. 1 hits ("Seasons in the Sun", "Fool Again", "Unbreakable" and "The Rose") were excluded from the album's standard edition.[16] Pip Ellwood of Entertainment Focus gave the album a negative review, saying that listening to the album was like "listening to one song for just over an hour."[13] While Allmusic only gave 2.5 of 5 stars.[19]
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