Back Home (Westlife album)

Back Home
Studio album by Westlife
Released	October 28, 2007 November 2, 2007 November 5, 2007 November 9, 2007 November 10, 2007 November 12, 2007 November 21, 2007 November 27, 2007
Recorded	2007
Genre	Pop
Length	47:07
Label	Sony BMG
Producer	Steve Mac, Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Quiz Larossi
Professional reviews
Daily Express (favorable) [3] Digital Spy [4] Entertainment.ie [5] This Is Aberdeen (favorable) [6]
Westlife chronology
The Love Album (2006) Back Home (2007)
Singles from Back Home
"Home" Released: October 29, 2007 "Us Against The World" Released: TBA

Back Home is the ninth studio album by Irish boy band Westlife and it was released on November 5, 2007. The album contains a collection of brand new tracks along with a few covers of timeless classics. The tracklisting for the album was released on the band's official website on the October 3, 2007. The release date of the album was brought forward to the November 5, 2007 from the initial November 12, 2007. The first single from the album is a cover of the ballad "Home", originally by Michael Bublé which was released on October 29, 2007^[1] The song debuted at number 3 on the official UK singles chart.^[2]. The boys have confirmed during an interview at The X-Factor that "Us Against The World" will be their second single from this album. A third single was officially confirmed through the band's website^[3] and that the video will begin shoot on December 17^th. Other cover songs are "Have You Ever", a Diane Warren penned ballad previously recorded by Brandy. "All I Ask Of You", a opera by Sarah Brightman and Cliff Richard was scratched. "I'm Aready There" by Lonestar was included instead. First day sales figures have been revealed and 'Back Home' topped the chart, with 35,000 copies sold.^[4] The album maintained the top position throughout the week and debuted at number one on the official UK Album charts.^[5][6]

Track listing

Japanese Bonus Tracks^[7]

1. Home (Soul Seekerz Remix) (Radio Edit)
2. Home (Music Video)

The Chart Battle

When Westlife announced a November 5, 2007 release date for the album, The Spice Girls immediately withdrew from the chart battle and delayed their Greatest Hits album release by a week to the November 12, 2007. Westlife and the Spice Girls are then engaged in a war of worlds where each accused the other party of avoiding each other's release. The Spice Girls claimed that their album was to be released on November 12, 2007 and that this has always been the case. However, music retailers have concured that the Spice Girls' album was initially marked with a November 5, 2007 release date. Back in November 2000, both bands were caught in a chart battle between Westlife's second studio album "Coast to Coast" and Spice Girls' third studio album "Forever". In the battle, Westlife sold 163 000 more records than the Spice Girls in the first week of release. Speculations then began to surface that Westlife might consider changing the release date of their album back to the November 12, 2007 to go head on with the Spice Girls.^[8] A Westlife insider told The Mirror "It's war and they're not getting away that easily. They can run but they can't hide"^[9] which supports the speculation. However, the band made no further changes to the release date.

Back Home Tour 2008

See Back Home Tour for full article.

Chart Performance

Country	Weeks										Sales	Certification
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Worldwide sales (Plus 7.5% of UWC)	8[10]	25	30	14	14	19	16	24			971,000	-
European Union	6[11]	10	No Info	13	11	11	11	10				-
Australia	47	-	-	-	-	-	-	-				-
Austria	65 [12]	-	-	-	-	-	-	-				-
Estonia	4	12	3[13]	21	24	-	-	-				-
Germany	45	-	-	-	-	-	-	-				-
Hong Kong	3[14]	4	4	5								-
Ireland	1[15]	3	4	4	4	4	4	4				-
Mexico	134	-	-	-	-	-	-	-				-
Netherlands	48	-	-	-	-	-	-	-				-
New Zealand	13	12	20	30	31	35	38	37			7,500+	Gold
Norway	22	18[16]	21	20	33	38	39					-
South Africa	12[17]	17	-	-	-	-	-	-				-
South Korea	2	1[18]	6	2	2	2	2	3				-
Sweden	41	56	33	39	36	35	33	40			20,000+	Gold
Switzerland	19	37	61	81	-	-	-	-				-
Taiwan	2[19]	3	5	4	6	7						-
United Kingdom	1	3	2	3	2	2	2	2			854,344+	2xPlatinum

References