Send "Shayne Ward " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Digitalspy |
 The Leona Lewis story has eclipsed just about every pop release of the autumn, but it casts a particularly dark shadow on Breathless, the second album from Shayne Ward. While the Manchester lad has toiled tirelessly to shake off his X Factor shackles, undertaking lengthy promo campaigns to place recent singles 'No U Hang Up'/'If That's OK With You' and 'Breathless' in the top ten, Lewis appeared to shed hers without breaking sweat. The number one spot? Hogged. Sales records? Smashed. Next year's Brit Awards? Bagged. To put it in context, Lewis' debut album Spirit has sold more in a fortnight than Ward's eponymous first platter managed in 18 months.Nevertheless, the success of those singles suggests pop fans are warming to Ward, a process his 'people' have sought to speed up by grooming him as a fun-loving, bed-hopping ladies' man. To that end, he's got himself a buzz-cut (phwoar – manly!), gone shirtless in a promo video (ooh – steamy!) and, as his sophomore album attests, taken his musical cues from Mr. J.R. Timberlake (ah - sneaky!). 'Some Tears Never Dry' and 'Tell Him' are reasonable facsimiles of Timbo's Justified sound, while 'U Got Me So' approximates the tremulous electro of his recent Timbaland hook-ups. Sadly, like large portions of Breathless, they're crippled by the dry, stale whiff of anonymity. As a young, handsome pop boyo with one eye on the Bliss market, the other on Saturday night at G-A-Y, it makes sense for Ward to ape Timberlake, currently the nearest thing the pop world has to a regnant King. However, his decision to channel George Michael, a contender to that throne back in the late eighties, is woefully misguided. Michael hasn't convinced as a ladies' man since he sauntered into an LA latrine on April 7, 1998, and Ward lacks the vocal charisma to attempt a 'Father Figure'-style soul workout, as he attempts on the vapid 'Stand By Your Side'. Worse still is 'Tangled Up', which photocopies every element of Wham!'s 'Everything She Wants' except the one that really matters: the gutsy, impassioned vocal performance. Tantalisingly, when Ward concentrates on holding a tune rather than trying to copy the bigger boys in the pop playground, he emerges as a likeable, talented performer. 'Breathless' shows he's capable of selling a slick pop ballad, while the sleek reggae-pop of 'Damaged' makes good use of his impressive falsetto. The Timberlake-on-amyl club rush of 'U Make Me Wish', meanwhile, points to a possible new direction for the talent show survivor. Less cred-obsessed than Timbo, he can release the fun, frivolous pop songs that the increasingly po-faced Mouseketeer is too cool to croon....full text |
| Bbc |
| These days success is often judged less on sales and more on a TV audience's pantomime reactions to unreal situations. Top of this list is the X Factor franchise with its brutal pit fight format of winner takes all – until the next year's winner comes along, of course. After that, you’re on your own. Shayne Ward is at that exact point. Having sold two million copies of his eponymous debut and scored 13 worldwide number ones, he now has the unenviable task of trying to turn that success into a career, starting with this, the 'difficult second album'. Breathless is an album that sums up the predicament of the reality pop star. Having taken the fast track to the big time, Shayne has no style of his own and is open to the whims of his production team. That team are the Swedish duo Maratone, who have previously worked with Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson and Backstreet Boys, so there’s no doubt that they know pop very well. Sadly, what they don’t seem to know is soul. Breathless, for all its ultra-slick production, electro beats and pop hooks, is a superficial and often vapid experience. The problem is an over-reliance on hip-pop, the watered down and sanitised mainstream runt of the soul music litter, that makes the majority of what is on offer sound like a desperate attempt to jump on the coattails of the latest trend. It’s an understandable plan, given the inexplicable success of fellow X Factor alumni Leona Lewis, but it is one that falls far short of success. For instance whoever thought that an aping of Akon on the dire "If That's Ok With You" or the cynical attempt to bring Shayne down to his teenage audience’s level with the dreary "No U Hang Up" was a good idea needs their head plunged into a bucket of very cold water....full text |
| Reviewcentre |
| Love this album. It shows how versatile this young man is. Unlike the first album which demonstrated that Shayne Ward knows how to deliver a ballad, Breathless shows that he can sing either a slow song or something uptempo, more in keeping with the fact that he is only 23 yrs old after all. I truly enjoyed this album. Every song on it is a little gem. A true artist - long may he delight us all....full text |
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