TAKE THAT
"BEAUTIFUL WORLD"
(Polydor/UK, 2006)
You might remember Take That as the first big success of the "boyband boom" that started in the mid '90s, and launched the meteoric career of Robbie Williams. Well, the group split up after a few prosperous years and the members each went their separate ways, nearly all releasing solo albums to varying degrees of success. Now, four of the five members (Robbie politely turned down the invitation) have reunited and recorded their first album of new material in ten years.
Their extended dormancy as a group has paid off in spades ... so much so that I'd be hard-pressed to call this a "boyband" album at all. It kicks off with "Reach Out", an uplifting call for world peace that manages to completely avoid sounding like a cheesy "We Are The World" rehash, and the album seems to bound from one Top-Ten-worthy track to another ... the sunny "Beautiful World", the Beatles-esque bouncer "Shine", the breezy ballad "Ain't No Sense In Love", and so on.
Each of the four gents takes at least one turn at lead vocals, which adds to the variety, and they've all taken part in the songwriting as well. Having had a decade to hone their pop sensibilities, the group has dovetailed to create an excellent collection of contemporary pop hits. The group's sound is nothing extraordinarily different, and neither are the lyrics, but for some reason it feels like much more than the sum of its parts. It makes me wonder what kind of gem the Backstreet Boys or NSYNC could come up with if they were to dissolve and then reunite after ten years!
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