# Irish Son

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***Irish Son*** is the debut solo album by [Irish](/source/Irish_people) singer [Brian McFadden](/source/Brian_McFadden_(singer)). It was released on 29 November 2004. McFadden signed with [Sony Music](/source/Sony_Music_Entertainment) following his departure from boy band [Westlife](/source/Westlife) in 2004.[1] The singer mainly co-wrote the album with English songwriter [Guy Chambers](/source/Guy_Chambers), who produced the album along [Paul Stacey](/source/Paul_Stacey), [Richard Flack](/source/The_Mescaleros), [Mark Taylor](/source/Mark_Taylor_(producer)), and [Phil Thornalley](/source/Phil_Thornalley).

The album was preceded by the lead single "[Real to Me](/source/Real_to_Me_(Brian_McFadden_song))" on 6 September 2004, which peaked at number one in Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. *Irish Son* was highly successful on the charts in Denmark and Ireland. Elsewhere the album charted within the lower regions of the charts in Austria, Finland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

## Critical reception

David Peschek, writing for *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)* remarked that *Irish Son* was "markedly less cynical and clinical than [Ronan Keating](/source/Ronan_Keating)'s solo debut and less messy and pretentious than [Robbie](/source/Robbie_Williams)'s. Still, while it's heartening to see anyone survive the cultural apocalypse that is Westlife svengali [Simon Cowell](/source/Simon_Cowell), what we are talking about here isn't an artist, but a former boy-band hoofer struggling towards self-expression."[2] Tony Clayton-Lea from *[The Irish Times](/source/The_Irish_Times)* wrote: "Teaming up with erstwhile Robbie Williams co-songwriter Guy Chambers, McFadden is clearly trying for the kind of commercial credibility Williams has enjoyed for some years. The results are patchy, and only some songs work."[3] *[Yahoo! Music UK](/source/Yahoo!_Music)'*s Adam Webb concluded: "We'll have to wait for album number two to know quite where he falls, but there's certainly no "[Angels](/source/Angels_(Robbie_Williams_song))" on *Irish Son*. Until then, the world belongs to *Heat*magazine. We'll just have to live in it."[4]

## Personnel

Adapted from the *Irish Son* booklet.[5]

- Mark Taylor – mixing (tracks 5, 10 11)
- Ren Swan – mixing (tracks 5, 10, 11)
- Nicole Nodland – front cover portrait
- Halfnight Productions, Art + Commerce – inside portraits

## Charts

Chart performance for Irish Son Chart (2004–2005) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[6] 54 Irish Albums (IRMA)[7] 6

## References

1. Cameron Adams (27 March 2008) [Brian McFadden discovered real life after Westlife](http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/brian-mcfadden-discovered-real-life-after-westlife/story-e6frf96f-1111115899320) *[Herald Sun](/source/Herald_Sun)*. (Herald and Weekly Times). Retrieved 25 September 2010.

1. Peschek, David (26 November 2004). ["review: Brian McFadden, Irish Son"](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/nov/26/popandrock.shopping7). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved 2 February 2026.

1. Clayton-Lea, Tony (26 November 2004). ["Pop/Rock: Latest releases reviewed"](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/pop-rock-1.1310583). *[The Irish Times](/source/The_Irish_Times)*. Retrieved 2 February 2026.

1. Webb, Adam (30 November 2004). ["Brian McFadden - 'Irish Son'"](https://web.archive.org/web/20041209065819/http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/041130/33/1xcum.html). *[Yahoo! Music UK](/source/Yahoo!_Music)*. Archived from [the original](http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/041130/33/1xcum.html) on 9 December 2004. Retrieved 2 February 2026.

1. *Irish Son* (booklet). Modest! Sony Music UK. 2004. 519002 2.

1. p. 182.

1. ultratop

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Irish Son](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Son) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Son?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.