Westlife had announced that their third album, A World Of Our Own, would mark something of a departure for them as they eschewed their staple fodder of endless ballads, mixing things up a bit with up-tempo numbers. It could have gone all Spice Girls on them, but fortunately they've stayed true to their pop roots, and yes, amongst the ballads are some great pop stompers, but they all seem to fit nicely into the "steady" Westlife mold. Comic Relief single "Uptown Girl" makes a welcome appearance, as does the pop perfection of European smash "When You're Looking Like That", which radically reworks a ballad from their previous album Coast To Coast into something that Roxette would have been proud of 10 years ago. The vocals throughout are far more prominent and confident than on their previous outings, no doubt as a result of the extensive tour that they undertook between recording this album and its predecessor. And, as they continue to rewrite the record books with every record they release, Westlife really do seem to be in a class and world of their own. --Helen Marquis