'Boyzone' must lose cover version artist image

JAKARTA (JP): Talking about boy bands, one simply cannot ignore Boyzone, the pretty Irish boys who sing, dance, and certainly make girls around the world scream for more.

Set up in 1993, the quintet of Mikey Graham, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch, Roman Keating and Stephen Gately, were not raised in the pop music mainstream on their own.

They were created and shot to fame by the Ireland branch of Polygram Records and their manager, promoter Louis Walsh, who not only 'recruited' them from auditions, but also rehearsed and groomed them.

Such practice is not new in the music industry. The Zone was formed to fill an empty space left by its boy band predecessors, Boston's quintet, The New Kids on The Block (NKOTB) and Take That.

The main target of the Xerox copies' practice was clear: to lure the two boy bands' former groupies, teenage girls around the world who could be seduced by, most of all, the Zone's pretty looks and soft love tunes.

It's sad all right. But the work turned out fruitful as the Zone's first single, a cover version of the Osmonds' Love Me For A Reason, became an instant success on the UK charts in 1994 and sold more than 750,000 copies.

The success did not receive a warm response by critics, who thought that the pretty boys would not last long and might soon vanish as was the same fate of the Zone's predecessors.

The critics were also reluctant to put the Zone in the same league with other male choir talents, such as Boyz II Men, a group highly regarded for their marvelous singing skills.

But the Zone tried hard to be recognized.

A year after their first single, the Zone released their debut album, All Said and Done, which sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.

They then followed it with a second album, A Different Beat and then a third one, Where We Belong.

Despite only having released three albums, it still is quite a surprise that the Zone is daring to release a greatest hits collection, By Request, which includes four new singles and comes out at the end of this month.

The reason behind this decision is not clear either. The Zone might be following the trend of senior musicians to re-release old hits to rake in more money without the sweat, or because they are dry of ideas for fresh and original songs.

But By Request, which comprises 18 songs, does not offer anything new. The Zone's new singles still take on simple themes and easy-on-the-ear songs, which meet the commercial prerequisite despite being refreshingly pleasant and entertaining in nature.

All in all, it's still a fine representation for the Zone, showing that they have grown and kept consistent with their music.

And anyone, who watches MTV or listens to the radio once in while, will know, or at least recognize, many of the songs on the new album.

Some of them were taken from the Zone's hits, such as So Good, Key to My Life and Love Me For A Reason. The quintet also did not leave out their popular film soundtrack Picture of You, better known as the lead song from the Mr. Bean movie.

The Zone, however, left out several songs that boast different kinds of love. Sadly, they missed Melting Pot and Good Conversation, a song about the need for deep friendships, not pop-fame-success superficiality.

Two of the four new singles on the new album are cover versions: When The Going Gets Tough (Billy Ocean) and You Needed Me (Rita Coolidge). The two are expected to be the Zone's next smashing singles.

More cover versions from the former albums also appear on By Request.

Among them were Father and Son (Cat Stevens), Words (Bee Gees) and Baby Can I Hold You Tonight (Tracy Chapman).

It's true that by releasing By Request, the Zone at least has proved that until this moment, they have survived the industry longer than many expected.

Still, they should work harder to remove an image of being mere cover version artists, who cannot make something original as their typical style of music. And this is not impossible. Since the first album, lead vocalist Ronan Keating has displayed songwriting skills most boy bands barely have a trace of.

And after that, maybe, the Zone will soon be admired not for their pretty faces only, but also for their musical maturity. (ste)