One of the universally accepted truths among 'serious' music fans is that all boy bands make one great single amongst a wealth of dross, and Take That's was 'Back For Good'.
The Take That comeback blows that idea out of the water. Ok, they're not boys any more but grownups, but even so, I wasn't expecting much from this record; while admitting 'Patience' was a good song and 'Shine' was infernally catchy, I had to undergo persuasion by my wife to let a Take That album sit on my shelves amidst the Radiohead, Manics and XTC.
Shock 1 - 'Reach Out', the opener, is exceptionally melodic and memorable. Then, after 'Patience', another strong and memorable song. Then another, and another... by the time Wooden Boat comes along I was thinking the record has to have a duff track and this will be it but no, it's the highlight of a perfect album of mature pop music, a simple folkish song sung by either Howard or Jason, the ones in the group I don't remember actually doing anything vocally.
Although the songs are almost all collaborative, with TT sharing writing credits with a variety of composers (such as Eg White on the seemingly autobiographical 'Mancunian Way') they are definably Take That, from the immaculate Gary Barlow piano-driven pop ballads to the quirkier, Oasis / Beatles influenced tracks sung by Mark Owen.
We've been listening to virtually nothing but this album for the past month - our 11 month old son loves it and he gets his way - and I can honestly say I haven't tired of one second of it.
Brilliant record.
|