G4 - Act Three

ACT THREE
2006

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Tracklisting:
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Classical < < < > > > Pop

Highlights: Somebody To Love

What this album does, more than anything, is highlight what a huge and distinctive talent Jonathan Ansell is. Whilst the other three members can certainly sing, they do not have a chance to shine, as Ansell is simply extraordinary which makes the others seem mundane in comparison. It is nothing short of thrilling to hear Ansell come sweeping in after the other three vocalists.

This had always been the problem with this group. It was built around Ansell. This album more than any of the others showed how obsolete G4 are as a band, and how relevant Ansell is as a soloist. True, as a band, G4 created wonderful vocal arrangements; this is mostly evident in their debut album, but the group are drowned out in Act Three with larger than life, and quite frankly, cheesy, orchestral and big band arrangements. The worst crime is that, as wonderful as Ansell sounds, the other three really are pushed into the background on this album. There are rare occurences of their earlier genius, such as the midway point of ’Somebody to Love’ (again the voices build up to have Ansell make a climatic entrance).

Unfortunately, there are head scratching moments on this album. The arrangement of ‘Volare’ is just ghastly, and makes an off-putting opener for the album. Boyzone’s Stephen Gately features in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘No Matter What’ – the rest of the band can barely be heard. I’d normally commend song choices like ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ but it is totally ruined by the fact that the other band members are not really used. It really is a case of Ansell taking centre stage whilst the other three are somewhere in the background behind a curtain.

The sugary arrangements throughout the album provide the biggest problem and disable this album from taking off to great heights. It also makes the least use of the boys as an actual group of differing voices, which takes away the original point from the band. The whole reason G4 worked in the first place was the emphasis on their vocal arrangements but they are almost completely ignored on this album. They were right to split after this (it was their least successful release), and it is even more right that Ansell embarked on a solo career who’s solo albums are not the least bit pretentious like this one.

Track List
1. Volare
2. Someone To Love
3. Danny Boy
4. O Sole Mio
5. Amazing Grace
6. No Matter What
7. I Don’t Like Mondays
8. Crazy
9. Cavatina
10. Toreador
11. Old and Wise
12. We’ll Meet Again
13. Silent Night