Beautiful World

by

Take That

Edit

I was fairly indifferent to Take That's previous material -- with the exception of "Back For Good" -- and wasn't sure whether or not to buy the new album purely on the strength of "Shine". I'm glad I did. It's a great album to de-stress to. The lyrics are beautiful and I think the music more mature than their previous stuff. There's quite a good mix from the traditional ballads, through to the Beatlesque Shine to the folky Wooden Boat, which personally I love, and I like that all 4 members of the band get to sing. Although I never missed them, I say Welcome Back Take That!

Here's a surprise confession, I'm a 27 year old straight male, and remember quite vividly the rise of perhaps the biggest boy band in pop history since the beatles. And yet despite the pressures they put on my failing adolescent love life, I have been surprisingly impressed by the return of Take That.

Anyone remember the embarrasing work out session with Lizzy from TVAM, Gary Barlow's scary blonde tribute to Billy Idol, or the video where the band had jelly brushed into all sorts of unhygenic places? Well, rest assured, time has certainly passed since then. The opening track "Reach out", certainly marks out the resurgence of a new mature sound. This is followed by the first single, and very recogniseable Gary Barlow track "Patience". The album then flows with a degree of similarity, until perhaps the highlight "Shine". Mark Owen's enthusastic lead vocals give this song and the album a highly original lift, and is complimented wonderfully by the beautiful ballad "I'd wait for life".

From there the album continues through with relative comfort with guitar sounds not too dissimilar to that of the great George Harrison. "Wooden Boat" provides a great folk style finish to the album leaving many people slightly disappointed in themselves having listened through an entire Take That album.

If you're a Take That fan, you've probably already bought this, but for those men who are unsure as to whether they'll be able to cope with purchasing this reminder of a teenage crush for their loved ones, the answer would be go for it. Although, a lot of this album relies on the fact that the authors and performers were part of the biggest pop sensation of the 90's, there are some relatively decent highlights and at least can rest on it's own merits for the time being.