# Westlife (album)

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllRovi | |
| AllMusic | |
| The Tribune (Chandigarh) | |
Westlife is the debut studio album by Irish boy band Westlife. The album was released on 1 November 1999 through RCA. The album spawned the five UK number-one hit singles "Swear It Again", "If I Let You Go", "Flying Without Wings", the double A-side "I Have a Dream"/"Seasons in the Sun", and "Fool Again".

## Background and release

Westlife signed to RCA in November 1998 and immediately flew to Stockholm to commence recording their debut album. Their lead single "Swear It Again" was released in April 1999. Two further singles followed and the album was released in November 1999. The album's standard edition features 17 tracks, while the band said they had recorded 22 songs for their debut album.
For North America, Westlife signed to Arista Records after auditioning for the label's founder, Clive Davis. Westlife released "Swear It Again" as their debut there on 7 March 2000. The album was released on 4 April 2000 with an altered track listing that included the new song, "My Private Movie".
A documentary video album related to the release, entitled "The Westlife Story", was released in October 2000, peaking at number 15 on the UK Visual Chart. The release, available in VHS and DVD, tells the story of how the five members became Westlife, the recording of their first album, and includes their then 4 music videos. On 26 June 2000, the DVD was re-released, containing all their then 6 music videos, and on 18 November 2002, it was included in the five disc box set entitled Westlife: The Complete Story.

## Commercial performance

All five singles from the album peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in less than a year. Despite this, however, the album itself entered and peaked at number two, beaten by Steptacular by Steps. The album was the biggest chart dropper on the top 40 in UK music history when, in its 58th week on the charts it leapt from No. 79 to No. 3 before falling to No. 37 the following week. In Scotland, the album peaked at No. 1 years after its release in 2001 after originally peaking at No. 6 on the Scottish Charts in 1999. The album also peaked at number 1 in Ireland and 15 in Australia.
The album became the eighth best-selling album of 1999 in the United Kingdom and was certified 5× Platinum. The album spent seventy-four weeks in the UK Top 100. Westlife is the best-selling international album ever in Indonesia and the Philippines, receiving 20× platinum certifications for over 1 million copies sold in Indonesia and 25× Platinum certifications for over 500,000 units sold in the Philippines.
In 2000, the album was released in the United States and debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers and peaked at 129 on the Billboard 200.

## Personnel

* Acoustic guitar, electric guitar: Mats Berntoft (tracks: 2, 4, 14)
* Arrangement (strings): Henrik Janson (tracks: 2, 4, 11, 13, 14) Richard Niles (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 16) Ulf Janson (tracks: 2, 4, 11, 13, 14)
* Arrangement (vocals): Steve Mac (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 16) Wayne Hector (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 16)
* Artwork (design): root
* Backing vocals (additional): Anders Von Hofsten (tracks: 2, 11, 13 to 15) Andreas Carlsson (tracks: 2, 5, 13)
* Bass guitar: Steve Pearce (tracks: 3, 6, 12, 16) Tomas Lindberg (tracks: 2, 13, 15)
* Engineering assistance: Daniel Pursey (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 16)
* Engineer for mix: Matt Howe (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 16)
* Engineer and programming: Chris Laws (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 16)
* Executive producer: Simon Cowell Steve Mac Wayne Hector
* Guitar: Esbjörn Öhrwall (tracks: 11, 13, 15) Paul Gendler (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 8, 12, 16)
* Keyboards: Per Magnusson (tracks: 2, 4, 14)
* Photography: Brian Aris

## Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Westlife :
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Australia (ARIA) | Gold | 35,000$^^$ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark) | 2× Platinum | 40,000$^‡$ |
| Indonesia | — | 1,000,000 |
| Mexico (AMPROFON) | Gold | 75,000$^^$ |
| Netherlands (NVPI) | Gold | 50,000$^^$ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | 3× Platinum | 45,000$^^$ |
| Norway | — | 95,000 |
| Philippines | — | 500,000 |
| Singapore | — | 93,000 |
| Sweden (GLF) | Platinum | 80,000$^^$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | 5× Platinum | 1,500,000$^*$ |
| Summaries |||
| Europe (IFPI) | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000$^*$ |
| Southeast Asia | — | 1,500,000 |
| Worldwide | — | 6,000,000 |
| $^*$ Sales figures based on certification alone. $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||

## Release history

| Country | Date | Formats |
| United Kingdom | 1 November 1999 | Standard (17 tracks) |
| Japan | 4 April 2000 | Standard (18 tracks) |
| Philippines | 18 April 2000 | Deluxe (2×CD) |
| United States | 7 May 2000 | Standard (13 tracks) |
| Australia | 15 May 2000 | Standard (18 tracks) |
| Philippines | 31 July 2000 | Platinum (2×CD, CD+DVD) |
| United Kingdom | 15 October 2000 | Video (The Westlife Story) |
| Japan | 19 December 2000 | Standard (No.1 Hits & Rare Tracks) |