Robbie Williams: Take the Crown - Album Review

Post

Subscribe

I have been a fan of Robbie for the last 21 years (eek), so whenever he brings out a new album I feel quite nervous, but also really excited.



Luckily I didn't need to be nervous because this is a brilliant album from a now very grown up Robbie - gone are the songs of demons and living to excess and in their place are songs of joy, happiness and moving on. This is a great pop album which gets better with every listen.

This is a much more mature sound but it is still classic Robbie, with a great mix of ballads and uptempo anthems. It very much marks the comeback of a great entertainer who after all this time still has bags of talent, and is just a wonderful showman.

This is the ninth studio album from Robbie and what I like about him is that he takes risks, and he experiments with different styles and approaches. As a fan this makes it an interesting journey as you know that no two albums will be the same - some work, and some don't - but I don't think I would have remained a fan for 21 years with the same music being churned out like some artists.

One of the lyrics in Be A Boy is "they said it was leaving me, the magic was leaving me, I don't think so" - certainly in the UK with Radio 1 refusing to add him to their playlist deeming him "irrelevant" this brilliant number 1 album and number 1 single "Candy" and sell out concerts, shows that he most certainly is still relevant.

There are 11 songs on the album with Candy, Shit On The Radio and Hey Wow Yeah Yeah being the upbeat fun songs, then you have Be A Boy, Gospel, Losers and Different as the stand out slower songs. Of course it is personal taste but for me, there is no weak link on this album, some of the lyrics are truly haunting and are dripping with meaning about how fickle fame and material things can be. A lesson to enjoy what we have, rather than want the things we don't.

I was lucky enough to see him at the O2 in the UK on 23 November and he was absolutely back to his performing best - funny, chatty and note perfect. He performed an eclectic mix of songs, some that I haven't heard or thought about for a long time. A reminder of just how far he has come and how many styles and sounds he has produced over his long career.



He is not everyone's cup of tea, but he is and always will be mine. This is a great comeback album, totally re-establishing him as prince of pop and getting him back to the top of the charts where he belongs.

#music
%wneverywhere