After selling more than 10 million records and racking up five #1 hit singles, chart topping boy band JLS called it quits after five years back in April. The band first appeared in 2008 when they auditioned for the ITV talent show X Factor, and went on to take the runner up position behind winner Alexandra Burke. They were also poised to take America by storm… However that didn’t quite happen. The quartet came across as distinctively more mature, a little bit older and slicker in comparison to their rivals: One Direction, who made the largest musical impact since The Beatles, leaving JLS to fizzle out on the other side of the pond.
Since then, Marvin, Aston, Oritsé and JB have marked their territory on UK soil as the R&B/pop boy band, scooping up five awards from the MOBOS, and winning two BRITs, as well as releasing various UK chart hits such as Beat Again, Everybody In Love and The Club is Alive. Of course, no boy band would be complete without a goodbye tour and album. Yes, JLS are doing both of those.
Goodbye – The Greatest Hits is a compilation of twelve songs from their previous four albums, plus their new single ‘Billion Lights’, an up-tempo dance anthem. Hottest Girl in the World is a rather refreshing song and brings back the R&B feel that Timbaland created in the mid-to-late 2000’s when he was basically the David Guetta of the charts. Classic Everybody In Love was ultimately the boys’ big break into the industry and it was their second Number 1 single, following the hype of Beat Again – the first single that JLS released. Tracks like One Shot and Love You More are other favourites from the peak of the boys’ career. The Club is Alive, on the other hands, did have an uncanny catchiness to it – but seriously, calling this cheese-filled drivel would be kind.
Lyrically, the songs are very simple and are not considered to be cutting-edge, but they’ve done something different with each of their albums over the years. They’ve shown maturity and they’ve produced songs that are short and sweet. The beats are head-bob-worthy, they’ve got some songs in there which are good for clubs – and they’re catchy without being annoying… Most of the time.
I wouldn’t say that this album is anything close to great, but it is serviceable and they did include all of their greatest songs – some of which we didn’t even know we knew the words to, but do. And although their music didn’t make history, this album is a good final memento for their legions of loyal fans.
[rating=3]