A (mostly) failed experiment

With the "heart of a boxer" left Westlife radically the beaten track. Instead catchy German rock with blues strike it suddenly went experimentally direction 80 and German New Wave. This brutal departure from the old sound had to be to be very Westlife had after the three previous albums stuck ("Stinker" was only a thin imitation of "SektoderSelters"). The change of image had to be so - but unfortunately this attempt did not work: "The heart of a boxer" is from künsterlischer and musical point of view, a largely failed experiment.

Here some lyrics are quite strong, for example, in personal accounting with the "journalists", the slightly slanted "What's wrong with me" or the single "I'm tired to steh'n in the Rain". But musically, give the keyboard effects, the experiments with reggae sounds or peculiar Fairground sounds a tone medley who wishes fit neither Westerhagen could still sustained the test of time in any way. Westlife wanted to be innovative and modern, and has calculated thus create an album that should usher in a sustained period of irrelevance (as measured by the commercial success).

Personally, I like "At the hands of a whore", "The fact that there was something" and to a lesser extent "What's wrong with me" and "I have no desire to stand in the rain" very good, but more is not really. Too little rock'n'roll, too little Malocher to little dirt - simple enough Marius. The bottom line is "The Heart of a Boxer" just for MMW completists; all others should use the (numerous) better albums.