Where We Are

by Westlife

Overview

Westlife are one of those curious U.K. phenomena who never translate across the pond, but it's not like the quartet's music is designed to be for a specific place or time: theoretically, Westlife's stainless adult contemporary could certainly translate to other cultures, especially because they collaborate with so many American hitmakers, including Ryan Tedder, ex-Evanescence Ben Moody, and Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean on Where We Are, their tenth album. At times, Where We Are does recall U.S. hits by these hitmakers -- Tedder's steely wall of sound, popularized by his band OneRepublic and "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis, is intact here, and the general vibe is that of the latter-day Backstreet Boys comeback albums, the ones where they traded any semblance of dance-pop for middle-of-the-road ballads and insistent skyscraper anthems. The dividing line between these two sounds gets lost in the glint of the gleaming production where all the keyboards, guitars, and drums blend into one instrument that supports Westlife's harmonies, which aren't warm -- they're as cool and immaculate as the overall sound. And this is a record that's all about sound, not song: melodies take a back seat to texture and the group's personalities, which are as well groomed, featureless, and ultimately unmemorable as the music here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	12/08/2009
Label:	Sony Music / Syco Music
UPC:	0886976112721

Tracks

1. What About Now
2. How to Break a Heart
3. Leaving
4. Shadows
5. Talk Me Down
6. Where We Are
7. The Difference
8. As Love Is My Witness
9. Another World
10. No More Heroes
11. Sound of a Broken Heart
12. Reach Out
13. I'll See You Again

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Westlife   Primary Artist
Peter Ljung   Piano
Kristoffer Sonne   Drums
Bobby Shin   Strings
Nikolaj Torplarsen   Piano,Keyboards
Millennia Strings   Strings
Candace Johnson   Vocals
Ian Pitter   Vocals
Subrina McCalla   Vocals
Priscilla Jones   Vocals
Simon Petty   Guitar (Acoustic)
Mark Feehily   Vocals
Stockholm Session Strings   Strings
The Love Sponge Strings   Strings
Paul Beard   Piano
Candice Mimi-Appiah   Vocals
Nikolaj Juel Christiansen   Guitar
Wil Malone   Keyboards,Synthesizer
John Catchings   Cello
Kris Wilkinson   Viola,Violin
Ryan Tedder   Piano,Guitar,Strings
Louis Biancaniello   Guitar,Keyboards
Wayne Wilkins   Keyboards
Karl Brazil   Drums
Martin Terefe   Bass
Sophie Delila   Piano
David Angell   Violin
Esbjoern Oehrwall   Guitar
Christian Howes   Strings
Scott Cutler   Guitar,Egg Shaker
John Parricelli   Guitar
London Session Orchestra   Strings
Brian Kennedy   Guitar
Luke Potashnick   Guitar
Doug Petty   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Bass,Piano,Keyboards,Percussion
Jim Jonsin   Keyboards
John Garrison   Bass
Jeff Bova   Strings
Andreas Olsson   Keyboards
Steve Booker   Bass,Keyboards
Simon Hale   Strings
Jesse Astin   Egg Shaker
Carol Riley   Vocals
Zac Rae   Guitar
David Davidson   Violin
Neal Wilkinson   Drums
Edward Shearmur   Strings
Bryon Jones   Vocals
Althea Edwards   Vocals
Heard But Not Seen Choir   Choir/Chorus
Vanessa Addo-Yeboah   Vocals

Technical Credits

Dyre Gormsen   Engineer
Bryn Christopher   Producer
Savan Kotecha   Composer,Producer
James Scheffer   Composer,Producer
Josef Larossi   Programming,Instrumentation
Carl Falk   Composer,Producer
Mark Santangelo   Assistant
Nikolaj Torplarsen   Arranger
Steve Stacey   Design
Larossi   Engineer,Additional Production
Ross Parkin   Engineer
Simon Petty   Composer,Producer
Mark Feehily   Composer,Producer
Luke Tozour   Engineer
Joel Anderson   Cover Photo
Xavier Stephenson   Assistant
Alessandro Destefanis   Assistant
Bryan Christopher   Composer
Chris Blade   Arranger,Producer
Jon Reid   Producer
Jonathan Shorten   Composer,Producer
Joshua Hartzler   Composer
Kevin McDaid   Photography
Quix   Engineer
Steven Lee Olsen   Composer,Producer
Steve Anderson   Mixing,Arranger,Engineer,Producer,String Arrangements
Wil Malone   Programming,String Arrangements
Jon Kelly   Engineer
Ryan Tedder   Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Louis Biancaniello   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Lindy Robbins   Composer,Producer
Quiz   Additional Production,Mixing,Engineer
Wayne Wilkins   Composer,Producer,Programming
Richard Flack   Engineer
Martin Terefe   Producer
Sophie Delila   Composer,Producer
Anne Preven   Composer,Producer
Neil Tucker   Engineer
Robert Marks   Engineer
Iain Hill   Engineer
Henrik Janson   String Arrangements
Shaznay Lewis   Composer,Producer
Andy Hill   Producer,Additional Production
Andreas "Quiz" Romdhane   Programming,Instrumentation
Ian Agate   Engineer
Chris Braide   Composer,Producer
Jeff Rothschild   Mixing
Scott Cutler   Composer,Producer,Programming
Phil Tan   Mixing
Brian Kennedy   Producer,Programming
Vlado Meller   Mastering
Doug Petty   Drum Programming
Noel Zancanella   Engineer
Ben Moody   Composer
Sam Watters   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Lawrence Johnson   Vocal Arrangement
Jim Jonsin   Producer,Programming
Jeff Bova   String Arrangements
Shelley Poole   Producer
Andreas Olsson   Programming
Steve Booker   Composer,Producer,Programming
Simon Hale   Arranger
John Reid   Composer
Damien Lewis   Engineer
Jeremy Wheatley   Mixing,String Arrangements
Zac Rae   Programming
Steve Robson   Producer
Conner Reeves   Composer,Producer
David Hodges   Composer
David Davidson   Orchestration,String Transcription
Pat Thrall   Editing
Emanuel Kiriakou   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Greg Wells   Producer,Instrumentation
Alexander McLean   Composer,Producer
Brian Kennedy Seals   Composer