AMG Review of Back Home

Sharon Mawer
All Music Guide

Westlife were the band that everyone loved to hate, except those who bought enough of their albums to give them seven number ones from nine releases. One album per year from 1999 to 2007, all released in November and every one of them giving their public exactly what they wanted, and Back Home is no exception: 12 new songs, nine of which are heartfelt ballads, with only the uptempo numbers "Something Right," "The Easy Way," and "Pictures in My Head" to break up the melancholy.