Its been quite a journey for Robbie Williams. 20 years in the music business, from boy band member to appearances at Glastonbury, from rock 'n' roll everyman to 80s revivalist. This album is a complete retrospective of his 15 year solo career and as such incorporates all the highs and all the lows.

A wise man once said it not enough to be successful, you have to see others fail. This is certainly true of Robbie. Up to a certain point the bitterness emanating from his acrimonious split from Take That seemed to fuel Robbie to greater success. Everything he did seemed to be designed to attack and outdo his former colleagues. Gary Barlow in particular took a bashing. And as his star rose higher theirs fell. And it didn't stop there, a spat with Liam Gallagher resulted in records being broken. Robbie performed and sold out more nights at Knebworth than Oasis. No coincidence, don't you think?

Now things have come full circle. The success following the Take That reunion has seen them go from strength to strength while Robbie went into hiding after falling to recapture his glory years (when you really think about it selling 100s of thousands of albums can't really be deemed that bad can it?). Then out of the blue the announcement came that Robbie was recording with his former band members and was to return as a fully fledged member of Take That.

Although Gary had the song writing know how, he must have dreamt of having Robbie's appeal and charisma which is what essentially drove his career. However what this generally means is that any piece you read on Robbie will have less to do with his music and will be more about the trials and tribulations of the man himself. So now it's time to take a look at the music contained within these 2 cds.

Somewhat timely for the Take that reunion, the album begins with 'Shame' Robbie's duet with Gary Barlow - his former sparring partner in Take That. The song is a cheesy paean to their past. To their credit they don't pretend it's anything other than that. The album goes through his misguided Oasis/Beatles pastiche phase best represented with Come Undone.

There are one or 2 genuine classics here. Angels, the song which has become his defining moment and singlehandedly turned his career into an upward trajectory as it was about to nosedive. This song needs no introduction as it is now burned on to the public consciousness and Feel, a genuine heartfelt ode to self loathing, hope and redemption. It covers his fun stuff, Let Me Entertain You gets an airing here as does Kids his duet with Kylie. These songs indicate that Robbie is capable and there is more than meets the eye. Which brings us to the point; throughout his career you would think such an extreme character as Robbie would have made infinitely more interesting music but the music path followed here is of a MOR Magic FM style, designed to appeal to the masses. This is no bad thing as he never pretended he wanted anything else other than mass adoration

Overall the music gets a 5/10 as his catchy pop songs go head to head and wrestle with the banality of his MOR radio friendly songs. However the overall package gets a 8/10 as this double cd package serves as a comprehensive introduction to the man and fans old and new will love it. Especially those new to Take That who have yet to hear Robbie (yes such is the popularity of Take That these days).
http://www.contactmusic.com/new....ousness

Given this history, the timing of ‘In And Out Of Consciousness' could be interpreted in two ways - Williams cashing in on his relit fame or firmly reminding his band mates of his vast past successes - but either way it's a remarkable document of an extraordinary career. Not that it started out that way: Williams first emerged as little more than a karaoke singer, gamely able to ape Oasis (‘Old Before I Die'), Queen (‘Let Me Entertain You') and Elton John (the career-saving albatross of ‘Angels'). He was competent and charismatic but hardly original.

That's why second album ‘I've Been Expecting You' was such a leap: Williams had suddenly found his own voice (a rough edged, sardonic croon), lyrical preoccupations (a very English combination of self-mockery and self-pity) and songwriting style (deadpan verses followed by swaggering choruses). On the triumphant, string-soaked ‘Millennium' and the elegiac sadness of ‘No Regrets' it became obvious that he was no longer satisfied with becoming the biggest star from Take That: he wanted to become the biggest pop star of the new century.

And over the next few years that's what he became, in Europe and South America at least. Although increasingly blighted by facetiousness (‘Rock DJ' and that whole queasy swing album) and dull bombast (‘Come Undone', ‘Advertising Space'), there were also the imperial pop songs: the powerhouse of ‘Kids', the ravishing melody and naked vulnerability of ‘Feel', the ecstasy-chorused ska of ‘Tripping', to name just three.

But, as in all outlandish soap operas, there were more unlikely twists to come. When Williams' career abruptly floundered with the disastrous single ‘Rudebox' his old band reformed and eclipsed him. This in turn paved the way to this year's most tabloid-friendly and mind-boggling reunion. The first fruits of this reunion - the cosily cloying Gary Barlow duet ‘Shame' - suggest there may be more nausea than drama in the future. But this is to predict Williams again, and if there is one thing that ‘In And Out Of Consciousness' proves conclusively, it's that only the foolish would try to do that.
http://new.uk.music.yahoo.com/blogs....ousness

#2 Ирландия.

"Опять неудача...", - скажите вы. Но лишь хочу заметить, что Небворт и Рудбокс были 2, а Риалити - 6.

поздравляю )

первые результаты за неделю такие (про Ирландию уже сообщал, что 2):

Нидерланды - 3
Бельгия - 6

Роб вернул себе первую позицию в Британии! И не просто вернул.
Читаем:
http://robbiewilliams-ru.com/2010/10/charty-i-prodazhi-bolshoj-rekord/

Большой скачок в продажах будет в Рождество, издание так и просится в подарок.
Но до Рождества еще долгий срок. В промежутке будет Progress, который тоже будет держать на высоких позициях IAOOC.
А что же "до"?

На этой неделе его конечно обойдут Kings Of Leon - пред-заказы очень высокие да и альбом сам классный получился.
Но вряд ли кто-то еще. Поэтому 2 место я предрекаю.

Спустя неделю выпускают свои альбомы: победитель последнего Икс-фактор (который вчера занял всего лишь 6 место с синглом), а также новый бойз-бэнд The Wanted. Думаю, что оба они также обойдут Робби.
Но в Топ-5 альбом останется, как я думаю. Т.е. к 1 ноября.

А вот дальше начинается нашествие: Greatest Hits от Bon Jovi, Шерил Коул, сборник Jay-Z, новые альбомы Брайана Адамса, Джамироквая, Марайи Кери, Норы Джонс, Рода Стюарта, Пет Шоп Бойз, Питера Андре. *у кого-то продюсеры и менеджеры работают еще хуже, чем в EMI)))*
Не факт, что все из них обойдут Робби, но большинство.

Стало быть, место в Топ-10 или близкое к нему - успех.

На следующей неделе с 8 ноября должно быть затишье для сборника Робби - выпускают альбом Сьюзан Бойл, Блант, Рианна и пресса и взор будет направлен на них.
Топ-15 -мегауспех для текущей даты!

А 15 ноября - The Flood и, думаю, это вновь вернет в разговоры "новый альбом", а следовательно поднимет немного продажи.

Ну...а дальше будем следить за продажами Take That =)

плохо

Начиная со Свинга, всегда были №1.
Но, если вспомнить, что Робби не был в Швейцарии с 2006 и игнорил их с промо по полной программе, то поделом ему ))