Boyzone - Back Again... No Matter What The Greatest Hits (2008)

The latest '90s pop act to join the revival bandwagon, Irish boy band Boyzone return to the limelight ten years after their last studio album, Where We Belong. Like their former rivals Take That, they've decided to test the water first by releasing a second hits compilation, the rather clumsily titled Back Again...No Matter What: The Greatest Hits. But that's where the comparisons stop, as Boyzone's back catalog is nowhere near as impressive due to their reliance on dull identikit cover versions and bland, lifeless ballads. Setting the template for fellow boy banders Westlife, nearly half of their material is comprised of '70s covers, presumably in an attempt to appeal to the housewives and grandmothers' market as well as the usual screaming teenyboppers. And while this cynical tactic has undoubtedly helped increase record sales, it certainly doesn't have any artistic merit. The likes of "Words" (the Bee Gees), "Love Me for a Reason" (the Osmonds), and "Father and Son" (Cat Stevens) are all given the same anodyne karaoke treatment that makes Daniel O'Donnell look cutting edge. Their original material isn't much better, either. "A Different Beat" is a rather patronizing attempt at Ladysmith Black Mambazo-style gospel; "All That I Need" is a clichéd attempt at the kind of R&B/pop that East 17 did so much better; while their defining song, the Andrew Lloyd Webber-penned "No Matter What," sounds misplaced outside the context of the Whistle Down the Wind musical it comes from. And new track "Love You Anyway" aims to capture the whole retro vibe that's dominating the charts but misses so hopelessly that it ends up sounding like a Herman's Hermits castoff. Only the Motown-esque "Picture of You" and surprisingly subtle interpretation of Tracy Chapman's "Baby Can I Hold You Tonight" have aged particularly well. Indeed, the best thing here by far is the live reworking of Ronan Keating's solo hit "Life Is a Rollercoaster," an infectiously catchy slice of guitar pop that only serves to remind you how drab the rest of the album is. Back Again will undoubtedly satisfy their old fans, but unlike Take That's Never Forget compilation, it's highly unlikely to convert new ones.~Review by Jon O'Brien