During their short life span, Five had to live with the running joke: 'what'd happen if someone left the band? Would they change their name to Four?' In reality the answer was simple - they probably won't go on. And so it came to be sooner than their fans, record company, competition or, you imagine, they would have anticipated. With their third, and crucial, album still warming the shelves the plug was pulled and Five are no more.
One can only speculate about the reasons for their premature demise but you suspect the recent domestic bliss of daddy Scott and Sean's apathetic take on the popstar lifestyle meant Five were no more the sum of their parts (quite literally). With the less-than-mouth-watering prospect of solo careers looming large, the powers that be have wasted no time in capturing Five's legacy in one place but what does the 'Greatest Hits' tell us about the short but sweet career of Five?
Well, Abs (Shorty Five), Scott (Essex Five), J (Old Five), Sean (Quiet Five) and Ritchie (Smiley Five) were a convincing gang-style boyband who acted like mates out for a 'laff' with their eye on the ladies as much as the charts. Stylish without being over-styled, Five certainly worked hard, had a bunch of commendable tunes to work with and went about their business with a cocksure but amicable attitude. Fair play.
Their career path was unusual in that success wasn't instantaneous despite troubling the Top 10 with their debut 'Slam Dunk (Da Funk)'. Unlike most manufactured pop bands that have enjoyed an immediate return, Five had to work at it, bonding along the way while improving, maturing and earning their success. And, it can be argued, they were on the verge of something even bigger had they managed to plaster over the cracks.
As you might expect from such a compilation, Five's chart life is covered in its entirety (plus a few fillers) although not chronologically probably because of the aforementioned indifferent start. The weaker early hits 'Until The Time Is Through' and 'Got The Feelin' are boyband-by-numbers and standout for their transparency but pop doesn't get much more contagious than the No.1s 'Keep On Movin' and 'Let's Dance' and Five's trademark rock-pop-rap combo sums up everything that made the band worthwhile.
Sampling much-loved towering guitar-riffs (Queen, Joan Jett) and adding their (often comical) touches, the quintet knew how to kickstart the pop party and fans loved it. There's only so many sickly ballads you can take and when Five unleashed 'We Will Rock You', 'Everybody Get Up' and 'If Ya Gettin' Down' they certainly seemed in their element.
This won't be a huge seller as most fans will probably own all the tracks, add to that the tacky presentation and the inclusion of a god awful greatest hits megamix and it's doing the band no favours. Five's place in pop history is secure but the most frustrating thing for the defunct outfit must be the nagging 'what if' feeling. The termination of their career has left them languishing in the 'where are they now' file when they should have been challenging the might of the US boybands and crooning Westlife-types. Shame.
