The Heavy Entertainment Show

Great listening

Great album for my fan

I have been a fan of Robbie Williams since his breakout from Take That. I hate the fact that so many people still refer to his output as ‘music for mums’ simply because my mum hates him. Joking aside, both Robbie and myself have seen a similar career trajectory. We are around the same age with the same greying temples. However whereas his career has seen him develop with many different styles of music, global tours and a multi-million pound bank account, mine has proved equally successful if you compare it in terms of office moves and the odd annual bonus. Therefore ‘he sings it, I buy it’. And it’s an arrangement we’ve had since 1997.When I first clapped ears on Party Like A Russian, it was the first time our career relationship has seen a wobble (I may have been the only guy applauding Rudebox simply because he was acknowledging ‘older stuff’ that I also liked around the age of 14). Was it the obvious lyrics? The sample a la Millenium? I have since grown to like it, however upon listening to the whole album it does dawn on me that for the first time this is a real mixture of styles. RW albums have always jumped from Britpop to rock to pop to swing to mournful ballad and back again but this is the first album where one song is completely juxtaposed by the next. On early listens I’m not totally convinced this works, but that’s no complaint regarding the actual songs themselves.One thing that has surprised me is that (and considering I have been a fan since day one), the tracks written and/or produced by his so called muse Guy Chambers are probably the weakest songs on the album. I actually think ‘Getting Back with Guy’ was a backwards step. ‘Motherf****r’ in particular sounds like a B-Side from 1998; the weakest song on this album.However, I am not complaining about this record. One track aside, the rest is very good and in particular Mixed Signals and Love My Life are two exceptionally good songs. The funky ‘Sensitive’ is also very cool.Ending the album, both ‘Hotel Crazy’ and ‘Sensational’ are great songs totally out of step with the rest of the album and probably would have fit better on Swings Both Ways but still enjoyable. Hotel Crazy is a real grower and is a great companion to Grace from 98's I've Been Expecting You. It has that late 60's, early 70's lounge approach.It's worth getting the deluxe edition as the extra tracks are also very good. The DVD is probably a once only affair, however it runs around 40 minutes and Rob gives insight into each track.The media focus is on Robbie back with Guy. But it’s Stuart Price who’s production shines on this album. He has worked wonders in the past with Madonna, The Killers and obviously Take That on the still great Progress album. His style fits Robbie’s ‘pop’ style perfectly and hopefully going forward it’s his tracks which are released as singles from this.So overall, the album is certainly on a par with Reality Killed The Video Star and Take The Crown, possibly even better. Repeat listens improve the album. On first listen it was a bit of a mish-mash of styles but the more I hear it, the better it's got.Anyway, he sung it, I bought it and glad I did. Until next time, Cheers!

As my favourite in Take That, I've brought every album Robbie has released, including both greatest hits & Under the Radar. At first listen I wasn't so sure on this one, but I've persevered & kept listening today & I must admit, it is a grower. Unfortunately there isn't any breaking ground here, it all feels rather samey. Before Take the crown Escapology was my favourite RW album, & this reminds me a lot of the Escapology days. It feels like a continuation of Under the Radar.I agree with other reviewers that track 5 is unnecessary & rather boring, but there are stand out moments such as Bruce Wayne, Like a Russian. My personal favourite is I love my life, but then 'Go Gentle' is my favourite RW song behind 'Feel', so it would be !!Overall, if you are a hard-core RW fan, add it to the collection. Otherwise, nothing new to see here.

A very good mixture of songs and some great writing collaborations with Brandon Flowers (Mixed Signals), Ed Sheeran (Pretty Woman) and long term writing partner Guy Chambers make this the best Robbie Williams album since Escapology in 2002.Robbie stated in an interview that he wrote around 80 songs for this album and then he and his wife picked which go on the album, They made some great choices and it would be interesting to hear the songs they left out (Maybe we'll hear them in a future album or Under the Radar vol 2) there isn't a bad song on this album but a couple will need a few listensEveryone has different tastes so you need to judge the album for yourself but I could see him maybe performing 7 or 8 of these songs live and the songs will sound great on this tour next year9/10

great for the job

Robbie's 11th studio album, definitely one of the best in his last decade. And you should definitely get the deluxe version as "I Don't Want to Hurt You" and "Best Intentions" are some of the best songs of the album.

Marginally better album than Robbie's previous garbage album, "Take The Crown". I actually quite liked the track "Party Like A Russian". But overall, pretty forgettable and mediocre stuff. The last decent album from Robbie was "Escapology", way back in 2002. I wish Robbie could produce something like that again.