You can already see the sequel. And sadly, if it’s anything like Chapter 1, you can bet that Chapter 2 isn’t going to have fans mobbing record stores for a copy.
This album contains everything that’s made these blokes famous. I’ve got to confess, they’ve made some fine tunes through their stay at the top, from their bass grooves of “We’ve Got It Going On”, “Get Down” and “Everybody” to mid-tempo ballads like “As Long As You Love Me”, “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” and “Anywhere For You”. A couple of their end-list sweeps, including “The One”, “The Call”, “Shape Of My Heart” and the new single “Drowning” also show up on this.
Bottom line: sixteen songs, all slow, all schmaltzy, very few of the get-up-and-move variety. Fans of this group will already have all of them; the rest of you will probably not be interested.
This article was first published on 25 Jan 2002.