Robbie Williams
Take The Crown

“They said the magic was leaving me but I don't think so at all” sings Robbie Williams in “Be a boy”, and listening to this CD I can say that fortunately he is right. Honestly, more than one fan thought the magic had left him (wrongly, given the success he's having) when they listened to the first single that was supposed to bring good old Robbie back to reclaim the crown of the king of pop.

But guys, this really is a great CD. A CD that makes us feel Robbie again, even a bit nastier than the sedated version of the last CD. Still in “Be a boy” he tells all those critics, like those from the main London radio that decided not to play the record on air “I'm half your age and lived twice as much as you”. It’s so true, damn… how many lives has this former child prodigy turned superstar lived, only to lose and find himself completely again?

“Gospel” is another one of the tracks I prefer to listen to these days and it's about a story between a sixteen-year-old (it's actually autobiographical, Robbie was 14 but, as he said in a recent interview, 14 sounded worse than 16 in the song's lyrics) and his peer.

We all know “Candy” by now, just as we will soon know “Different”, the next single, one of the most personal songs of the album. “You’d rather be right than be loved”, damn, how many people like that have I met. Robbie has changed, as has his voice, much warmer, more mature. But he hasn't lost the knack for joking and playing, even poking fun at himself. Emblematic is “Shit on the radio” where he talks about the crap they play on the radio, humming a little piece of it Candy style.

In a really well-made CD, there’s no shortage of splashes of U2 (Hunting for you), but the track that really grabs me is “Into the silence”… Anyone who knows and loves “Karma Killer” will be unable to miss clear references to this great piece unknown to most of Robbie Williams… “When fate knocks at your door I want to be there to stop that fall, crouch beside you and watch you crawl. How does it feel to be alone down there?”... the only difference is that this is a much sweeter, less angry piece that brings out sadness for the situation but at the same time a desire to enjoy revenge slowly, savoring it to the fullest. Knowing that the next one to pay will be you.

 “Hey wow yeah yeah” is A TRACK absolutely for stadiums, absolutely for the start of a concert, giving an incredible energy despite practically having no lyrics. The CD flows quickly until “Losers”, a track that I honestly don't rank among my favorites also because it's sung at the brink of being out of tune, but the lyrics are wonderful, especially when you think that it's sung by someone who has been at the top for 20 years…“there will always be someone better than you, even if you are the best, so let's end this competition now or we will both be losers”. Great awareness. Where is the brash guy starring in so many irreverent songs? He has grown up and finally you can enjoy him in a really pleasant album from start to finish. The deluxe version of the album contains 2 bonus tracks, “Reverse” which is absolutely splendid and deserved to be in the standard CD, and “Eight letters”, a great piece recycled from the last Take That album (still written by him) but sung by Robbie it's frankly a whole different thing and perhaps fills a gap left by the only thing missing in this CD, namely a grand Williams-style ballad.

Even the tracks from this CD that I don’t mention have something that captures me. Great use of electric guitars, the new guitarist manages never to overdo it and their interventions are always really enjoyable.

Negative notes: The cover is really horrible… my god, okay he's aged and isn't what he used to be, but this cover is really awful. The sax in “Be a boy”… what is it doing there?!!? It sounded like a Karaoke track at first. Bah!!!

I can't think of any other negative things about this CD. It really conveys so much energy and positive feelings.

Robbie is back to reclaim the crown. But in the meantime, to all the lovable critics who only listen to pure rock or absolutely non-commercial music but who then regularly read and criticize reviews of artists they “say” they don't listen to, I ask: who had taken Robbie's crown? The place has been vacant. Soon it won't be anymore. Don’t you like it? Who cares. He would respond by shrugging and quoting “Gospel”: “I drink to your health, you always wished me the best and those who didn't up yours"
This is the end.