Album Review: Take That 'Progress'

A bit of history: I became a fan of Robbie Williams in 2000 after I received a copy of his album 'Sing When You're Winning' for my birthday. I've been wearing my RW fan badge with pride ever since. Considering I'm too young to remember Take That v1.0, in a span of 10 years I went from: not knowing who the hell they were, knowing they sang 'Back For Good', knowing that Robbie left the group in 1995, listening to their greatest hits and finally liking and accepting them as a four piece. So when news broke that Robbie Williams was rejoining them, I was aghast. I like my Robbie solo and my TT as a four piece.

I would like to officially state, for the record, that I'm now on board for TT v 3.0 (or v1.0 mark 2). And it's all because of 'The Flood'. It doesn't quite sound like TT, nor does it sound like Robbie's last record. In fact, much like the rest of 'Progress', it's the best of worlds, shaken up Bryan Brown Cocktail style, and presented in the most delightful fashion. 'The Flood' is epic in all sense of the word and although there isn't anything else like it on the rest of the album, it makes sense as the opener. 'SOS' and 'Kidz' are upBEAT. The drums are loud as are the choruses (catchy as hell). It's been said a million times in other reviews, but you can hear the Muse influence at play here. If they choose to cover the band on tour, I vote 'Undisclosed Desires' or 'Neutron Star Collision' (But they'll probably incorporate 'Uprising'). Similarly, Robbie's 'solo' track 'Underground Machine' is in this dystopic rock style. And yes, I just made that genre up. :D

There's even hints of hip-hop influences in 'Wait'. At first, I didn't like it, but that chorus is just... catchy. And that's the thing with every track on the album. If the verse or bridge is dull, the choruses come to the rescue. Not saying that's a bad thing at all though.

The middle tracks 'Pretty Things' and 'Happy Now' have this Bee Gees esque ness about them, especially the latter. 'Pretty Things' has this 'We-are-starring-in-a-period-drama-produced-by-BBC'. I lol'd at first, but it grew on me considerably.

'Affirmation' and 'Eight Letters' are really amazing tracks that round off the album. 'Flowerbed' as the finale is sweet as and that second chorus when the beat really kicks in is sort of heartbreaking.

The ultimate standout track for me here is Mark Owen's solo track 'What Do You Want From Me?'. Over the past three days since I've listened to the album, I find that it's the one track I keep coming back to. It's uplifting and sweet but also again, heartbreaking. You can hear the emotion in his voice- he means every word he's singing. I can just imagine the video for this: close ups of him, black and white, fists in the air and pulling it down to his chest. Sadly, this track also contains the cringeworthy lyric of 'I still want to have sex with you' which I like to block out every time. However, I think, in the spirit of this album's concept, that these are men who are in their late 30s and early 40s- they are not teenagers. If they can't sing about sex, then who can?

Without a doubt, this is one of the best album's of 2010 for me. With the help of Stuart Price, the group have moved on...yes, they've made progress from they boys they once were to men who are scared, happy, nervous, asking for forgiveness. Whether Robbie stays or not is the point here; it's how they can take this sound and evolve it.

Verdict: 4.5 Takes out of 5 Thats.
Standout Tracks: The Flood, SOS, Kidz, What Do You Want From Me?

Track of the Day: Coldplay 'Christmas Lights'

There was much hoopla and hype surrounding this new release from Coldplay. I ignored all that in order to listen sans bias so I'm hoping this review would be significantly less peppered with my fangirl judgement.

It's a Christmas track, and as we know from my previous post, there are really only a few Christmas songs I need (count em: 3). But I think this one may quickly be working itself into that exclusive group. NOT JUST BECAUSE IT'S COLDPLAY.

To be honest, I didn't love it straight away. The chorus isn't catchy and the melody (or tempo) changes midway. I think it's a case of '42' for the band again, where they wanted to have one song but make it sound like 2 different tracks. It worked for 42, but I'm not sure if it works for 'Christmas Lights'.

Another thing that struck me was the use of lyrics from another new-ish song that they had previewed on 'The South Bank Show' doco called 'Wedding Bells'. At first, I thought it was clever, but then I thought, well, what if this means that they've shelved the latter? I hope I'm wrong. The lyric in particular is 'I always loved you and I always will'. *melts*

Having said that, and giving the song repeated listens plus a day to sink in, I actually really love the track. It's not close to my favourite Coldplay songs, but the lyrics are really interesting and sweet. The opening piano bars sort of remind me of 'The Black Parade' by My Chemical Romance, there's a kind of sweet melancholy and nostalgia there, the kind normally associated with Christmas time. I know some reviews have said it's more 'Nightswimming' by REM but I've never really heard it, so I can only compare to what I know. At some points, in kind of soars, so it's perfect for a drunken Christmas singalong.
It veers towards the sweet and wintery rather than the cheesy and lame that a lot of Christmas songs can fall prey to. Well worth a listen. And the video is very well done too. Reminds me of 'Don't Panic' in a way.
Verdict: 7.5 Santas out of 10 Clauses

It's December 1st....

So you know what that means. Only 3 tracks on heavy rotation:

1. Last Christmas- Wham!
2. All I Want For Christmas is You- Mariah Carey
3. Do They Know it's Christmas?- Band Aid II (original is also acceptable)

Album Review: Duffy 'Endlessly'

There's a reason why a sophmore album is labelled 'the very difficult second album'. Some artists get it right whilst others do not. That's because when you're coming off an exceptional debut, there's either a decision to stick with the same sound (it worked the first time, so why not) or change it up so audiences don't get bored. There's an equal chance of both options failing or being successful.

Here though, Duffy has cleverly decided to both change it up and keep her blue-eyed soul sound that rocketed her to stardom on her debut 'Rockferry'.
Whilst her debut was mainly ballad heavy, 'Endlessly' is a more upbeat affair. Yes, there are ballads ('Too Hurt to Dance, 'Don't Forsake Me' and 'Hard for the Heart'), but there are also tracks like the first single 'Well, Well, Well' which show this other side to her that 'Mercy' really only hinted at. Heck, she even goes a bit disco on 'Lovestruck'. I know, guys. I know. But it works. It's almost like the upbeat blue eyed soul of the 60s in a contemporary format. There's beats! And drums! And strings!

As for singles, nothing really standouts as opposed to her debut, but as an album it works well. The change in her production and writing team really shows (I believe the dance sound is ultimately due to Stuart Price's co-production on some tracks- gosh, he is getting around this year!) and while some audiences may find her uber-vibrato voice grating, I quite enjoy it. Certainly, out of her peers (Amy Winehouse and Adele) her album was by far my favourite and this second album solidifies it. My only gripe is the lack of dual epicness. On 'Rockferry' we had the title track and closed with 'Distant Dreamer' but the siblings here 'My Boy' and 'Hard For the Heart', although amazing, fall short of the grandiose aspects of the former tracks.

Verdict:A solid effort. 4 out of 5.
Key tracks: My Boy, Breath Away, Hard For The Heart, Keeping My Baby, Well, Well, Well.

Interrupting our normal programming....

Today I was hoping to do a review of Duffy's new album 'Endlessly'.

(This is a picture of it)

Sadly, my local CD store did not have it.

I was also hoping to write up my thoughts on Take That's new album 'Progress'

(This is a picture of it too. Nifty, isn't it?)

Sadly, I'm still waiting on my order courtesy of the same CD store.

In conclusion, I have no new music to report on as yet. Stay tuned.

The case for B-side

'These are dark times...'
(Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- J.K Rowling)


Around 10 years ago, when I was 10 or 11 years old, I used to look forward to Monday afternoons. Why? Because I knew there would be two things waiting for me in the car when my mother picked my sisters and I up from school. These were 1)the weekly magazines (Woman's Day, New Idea and NW. Sometimes Who) and 2) the new chart releases i.e the humble CD single. Fast forward to now and I rarely pick up the weeklies (mainly because 80% of their stories are junk journalism) and the CD single is a dying species.

In the digital age, the argument for the (slow) eradication of the physical single has been because of the increase of mp3s (illegal and legal downloads), whereby consumers can have the song that they want instantaneously without having any of the ad-ons.

This is all well and good for casual fans of artists, but what about the uber-fans? By taking away the CD single, there is nothing tangible for them to invest in emotionally. Sure we have the mp3, but that's just a track existing in the murky depths of cyber space and brings up all sorts of meta-physical and existential questions (in the vein of 'if a tree falls in the middle of the forest and no-one hears it, did it really fall?')

The uber-fan needs the physical single as proof of their ingroup status and their identification of their fandom. It's something the can hold up and say 'SEE!!! I DO LOVE THIS ARTIST!'

Sadly, it doesn't look as though the single will ever come back in a big way. Many stores have stopped stocking them and in an ironic sort of fashion, the only place to find them is to order them online.

Which brings me to the idea of the digital single and the uber-fan. For some reason, many artists are now only putting out 1 tracks or digital bundles with a bajillion remixes on them. The 1-tracks are perfect for the casual fan (who actually *GASP* pays for their music) but the lack of b-sides are becoming problematic for uber-fans. Without a b-side on a single, the incentive to buy is withdrawn, thus forcing the fan to question the status of their ingroup membership- it makes them stop and go 'Well, I've already got the album. Why do I need this single?' I know some fans love the remixes, but there are even more who love new material. There are some who don't question their fandom and continue to support the artist and I tip my proverbial hat off to them.

Personally, I believe that a b-side shows us another side to an album's era and is part and parcel of a singles success. It's like ying and yang: the b-side balances out the a-side so it's not all club beats and dubs.

And with that, I think I'll go weep into my jewel cases now.

Track of the Day

Katy Perry- Firework

Well, Katy Purry, who I've had a so-so relationship with in the past, has really piqued my interest with her last two singles off her latest album 'Teenage Dream'. The title track is a fantastic, punchy pop track, encapsulating the freedom of youth and the feelings of summer within each punctured beat of the chorus. I was hooked from the opening guitar chords and a few months later, I'm still loving it. Not so with with the first single 'California Gurls' which I felt was a shambolic 'Tik-Tok' ripoff (I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on that.) And I really couldn't stand 'Tik-Tok'.

So when I heard her third single 'Firework', I held my breath and reserved judgment until the end. And I was not disappointed. It's not as great as its predecessor, but it's full on, ballsy chorus does a pretty good job of sitting in your head for hours after listening. And that, in my opinion, makes for an excellent pop song. It comes complete with cheesy lyrics ('Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?'- why yes, Katy. All the time) and 'meaningful' video- kid with cancer, gay men kissing, thugs, fireworks exploding from Katy's chest. You know. Symbolic stuff.
Not a classic but close enough.

Apols.

I realise it's been a whole year since I've updated. So, I'd like to take this time to say I'm sorry.
It's not, you it's me. I had a lot on my plate this year with uni and such... I'm sorry. Come back!
I miss you :(
I promise to try harder.
I'll be around more often, what with the holidays and such.
You've got to try harder to communicate with me- that's the only way this relationship will ever work.
I'll bring more presents- photos, and goodies and updates etc...
Just don't leave me again. Please.
I'm sorry.
:(