Progress [CD]

It's confession time. Take That are my guilty pleasure. I don't mind certain pop music, but primarily my musical tastes revolve around hard rock and alternative metal.
With that in mind, I set about impartially reviewing the sixth studio album from Take That. "Progress" is their third album since their much publicised reunion and the first to feature Robbie Williams in 15 years.

Let's get one thing clear from the start then. "Progress" sounds nothing like "Beautiful World or "The Circus." Both of those records were classic ballad oriented pop rock and both were multi platinum sellers.
"Progress" however is straight up electronic pop, with just a couple of songs the exception. Robbie's vocals are heavily present on many of the tracks; you could argue in fact that the sound of his last two solo albums rather dominates proceedings.

I certainly don't blame Take That for trying something new, but I really wasn't impressed on first listen. If there's one thing I've learned though it's that you never judge a new record on first listen, sure enough second and third time around I started to hear pleasurable music my ears missed the first time.

Lead single "The Flood" is classic Take That, a real epic pop song with a searing chorus, I'm surprised this failed to knock Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)" of the number one spot in the singles chart this week, but it could easily climb one especially after ITV's documentary and a performance on the X-Factor.
Beyond that, "SOS" is an uptempo number and likely second single, before the electronic influences really show face on "Kidz," "Pretty Things" and "Underground Machine."

Take That's customary piano ballad does finally show up at track 10 "Eight Letters," it provides a welcome break from the electronic rhythms and closes the album superbly.
As is standard these days however, hidden track "Flowerbed" shows up after a minute or so of silence on the disc, with Jason taking lead vocals.

One other noteworthy track is "What Do You Want From Me?" Mark takes lead vocals here and the lyrics seem personal to him, especially after his well documented relationship misdemeanours earlier this year.

In summary, "Progress" is an impressive album.
It doesn't quite deserve five stars for me though; I believe both their previous albums to be superior.
Somehow though it's very difficult to be overly negative about a Take That record, the boys have delivered an album that maybe wasn't what they initially had in mind but there's no doubting that "Progress" is another multi platinum seller in waiting.

Best Tracks: "The Flood" "SOS" "Eight Letters"

I have always admired Take That, and seen them as a level above the rest of their pretenders, but this is the first of their albums that I have actually purchased. I guess I did it partly becauise I loved 'The Flood' (single) and partly because I love the story of Robbie and the band, where a bona-fide superstar gets some humble and returns to the origins of his now fully blossomed talent, sharing his skills with a group, and the credit and adoration aforded by fans in the process. This is something that rarely happens in the music world at this level, and perhaps never will again. People can say he was a fading force and needed this, but lets not kid ourselves, Robbie needs nothing of the sort, and is only a minor re-invention of himself away from being at the pinacle again. He still can be whatever he wants, and this took some sacrifice on his part in my opinion.

It will be difficult to get a true idea of how good this album is from the opinions of fans themselves with so many split on Robbie coming back. Many people will hate on this record simply beacuse they didn't want to see their baby changed or hold a grudge. I agree with others that they were due a change after two similar albums. Robbie brings the rebel back to Take that, and that was missing for a long time. If you look at the profile of the four other band members, that personality type (and its input) was a gaping hole, even if they were able to make sweet music up until now.

In a time of so much mediocrity, where there is so little creativity, Take That have broken new territory, and continue to define the way forward, and in this instance I feel they owe a debt to Robbie for taking them there. His hallmark is clearly stamped across this album, and despite what has been said by others about him 'dominating procedures', I feel he should be a strong presence given his re-emergence, and that as per the title of the album, this is all about change, progress. Robbie should be portrayed as an integral part of Take That, and having him feature prominently goes some way to doing that. It is also worth keeping in mind that its probably important to the band and others carrying a financial interest in them that the Robbie fans are brought on board, and I say fair enough. It's interesting that people didn't seem to complain too much about Gary dominating previously, I have no issues with him taking a back seat for a change.

If you havent got it, go do so, and like others have said, give it more than one listen before paying judgement, as so much of the subleties come out that was. The lyrical content in this album goes to a higher level that has been seen previosuly from them, and you also only get that from investment in listening over time.

Firstly, I have been a fan since Take That were around the first time, from when I was 6 or 7 years old. Even back then, my love of them was for the music, I never saw them live because I was so young and rarely saw them on television, I only had the albums and loved to listen to them. Even back then, I wasn't very fond of Robbie as I disliked his vocals, whereas, Gary was my favourite because I loved his. When Robbie left, I was far from devastated...when the rest split a year later, I was still very young, and there were still many songs (b-sides) I hadn't heard, so wasn't upset...just started collecting as many of the singles as I could, on tape, CD or even vinyl(!) in an attempt to hear the songs I hadn't yet done so.

I was absolutely delighted when Gary, Mark, Jason and Howard came back as a four-piece a few years ago. My tastes in music had grown a lot by then, ranging from cheesy pop like Steps and more recently, Same Difference to classic bands like Bon Jovi, The Police or U2 via artists like David Gray, Damien Rice, Corinne Bailey Rae...I could go on - I like to give anything a listen at least once!
When it was confirmed that Robbie was going to be rejoining the band, I did have big doubts, I am one of the fans who was least willing to have him back. I still don't want it to be forever - one album, one tour - that'd be great. But, ultimately, it is only really up to the band whether it continues or not. Despite only having The Flood to go by, I happily pre-ordered the album and tried (for 6 hours non-stop) to get tickets for the tour.

Just days before the album was released, iTunes had 30 second previews of all the tracks...I loaded up the store to have a listen straightaway. As I played each clip, I did find myself feeling a little disappointed and very shocked. I liked Eight Letters and the hidden track Flowerbed (and of course, The Flood) but really wasn't keen on the rest. It did sound a little like there was too much Robbie, and that Take That's sound had changed a bit too much. I guess I was expecting the whole album to sound much more like The Flood.

But I kept an open mind and waited patiently for the release. Unfortunately Amazon didn't get my pre-ordered copy to me until Thursday 18th (hmmm) but a local radio station played the album in full on the Monday morning. I was right to reserve my judgement until I had been able to hear the full album, as even through a slightly dodgy radio signal, I began to get more used to the new sound.

Having now listened to all the songs countless times I have found Wait to be the biggest grower, starting off as a track I wasn't very impressed with, to one that I find myself happily singing along to in my head. Flowerbed and especially Eight Letters, that had started off as favourites have now been overtaken by Happy Now, SOS and Kidz.
(I think. I do reserve the right to change my mind depending on my mood at the time of listening to the album...)

Least favourite tracks are Affirmation (mainly just because I'm not as keen on Howard's vocals, the song itself is good) and What Do You Want From Me, sung by Mark. The latter starts off quite well but I just end up finding myself cringing a bit if I listen too much to the lyrics!

Those that think it is all Robbie singing, it's not, it may seem like it on first listen but you can hear the other guys perfectly well, with the others all singing full lead on a song each (What Do You... for Mark; Affirmation for Howard; Eight Letters for Gary; and Flowerbed for Jason). Most of the other tracks have shared lead vocals (such as Mark and Gary on Kidz).

Another thing worth commenting on is the fantastic artwork - great concept!

Overall, the album is a grower, and you will need to allow yourself time to adjust to the new sound - don't start listening to it expecting to hear songs similar to their previous releases...
Take this album as a separate work and listen with an open mind to it through speakers, headphones, in the car, in the background and as the only thing you're doing - you WILL hear something different each time.

I read a review on here where someone rated this with 1 star after listening once and then throwing it in the bin...you should NEVER only judge anyone or anything on first impressions, and this album is no exception!