Gravity

Irish four-piece Westlife are still going strong 11 years after scoring a U.K. and U.S. hit with debut single "Swear It Again," having avoided the usual "three albums, greatest hits, breakup" career trajectory of most boy bands. But while their chart statistics remain impressive on paper (the previous year's Where We Are and lead single both reached number two), they have been pretty much irrelevant since 2005's Face to Face. Content to release a new album every November, just in time for an X-Factor performance to boost Christmas present-led sales, and then disappear for the following ten months, they've become a seasonal act in the vein of Cliff Richard and Daniel O'Donnell, rather than a contemporary pop presence. But having had the festive period sewn up for the past decade, they now face their toughest test yet, with boy bands both older (the revitalized Take That) and younger (the chart-topping JLS and the Wanted) all releasing albums off the back of huge number ones and airplay