It might not be information that a lot of people know about me, or that a lot of people would be openly proud of, but I was actually a fan of Take That back in the 90’s, in my teenage years; although when you come to think of it, I was more a fan of Gary Barlow than the whole band, because it was the songs he wrote and sang that I liked the most.
Anyway, ten years after their split, Take That re-united last year and launched a number of reunion concerts in the UK that were very successful, and so they decided to work on some new material; the result of that effort is the album “Beautiful World“, which moves towards a more adult pop/rock style.
I bought the album when I was in Take That’s hometown Manchester last January, and I’ve been listening to it in my car over the past weeks.
This album is the kind of album you have to listen to a number of times before you fully appreciate it, it’s quite different from Take That’s previous albums, but still it’s the one album you can actually refer to as a true Take That album. I’ll explain; in the previous albums, most of the songs were written and performed by Gary Barlow, with only a song or two by one of the other band members per album. In this album, most of the songs were written by all of Take That, and all the band members got to sing, which makes it quite different in its style and feel. At first it even feels as thought it’s just a compilation of a number of solo projects by each band member, but then after listening to it a number of times, you see how they blend together in one album.
My favourite song off this album has to be “Patience“, performed by Gary Barlow, which was the first single off the album and shot straight to #1.
Some of my other faves off this album are: Shine (second single, also #1), Beautiful World, Reach Out, Mancunian Way, Wooden Boat.
I recommend this album to everyone who is into the pop/rock sound, and of course to anyone who was a Take That fan before; It could take some getting used to at first, but you’ll end up loving this album.
