Robbie Williams - Intensive Care
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Free Music Notes for Intensive Care
Free Music Review: Another Great Robbie Record
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm in the minority in the states, in that I'm a huge fan of Robbie Williams. He doesn't disappoint with his new record. It's full of great pop music and is my favorite album of 2005.Free Music Review: One of Robbie's Best
Hit: 5 Stars
I liked this CD from the very start. Some (like Rudebox) have to grow on you - this one was an instant hit with me. Like most of the tunes; of course tripping is a favorite.Free Music Review: Robbie Williams
Hit: 5 Stars
Loved the CD. Robbie Williams is still making great music with interesting lyrics as well fun easy to listen to pop.Free Music Review: Transitional Robbie: Exit Chambers, Enter Duffy
Hit: 4 Stars
No longer collaborating with the esteemed & very able Guy Chambers, Robbie's new collaborator, Stephen Duffy either fails to engage, or he just isn't really trying. Right up front, it should be made clear, that I really want Robbie to make it at least half as well in America as he has in the UK. Not so sure that this is the album that will do it, but hope floats, doesn't it?
While Life Thru a Lens was as powerful as a racehorse sprinting to the virtual finish, leaving I've Been Expecting You a satisfying, if only slightly pedestrian sophomore effort. All bets were paid off with the stellar, perfect Sing When You're Winning, leaving Escapology a very close second. Swing When You're Winning & Live at Knebworth remain his pinnacle releases, but seeing as the former was [almost entirely] an excellent "covers with friends" effort & the latter, while a riveting live effort, not since Frampton has a live album really taken the prize, especially if never official released stateside. In order to crack the U.S. market, he needs to really show in the studio.
Intensive Care is at first so seemingly mellow, almost too "pop/bubblegum" radio-friendly, as to be off-putting. "Ghosts" is an excellent opener, partnered effectively with the faux-reggae "Tripping" for a respectable one-two punch. The next two, "Make Me Pure" & "Spread Your Wings" immediately squander all that the opening pair promised. "Advertising Space" brings things back into near-focus, but the name-dropping [Brando, Watergate, Vietnam] leave a lot to be desired. "Please Don't Die" nearly feels like another "Angels," but not quite. At this point, there is clearly need for another punch. "Your Gay Friend" delivers, blasting along with full-on rock intensity; back, too, is the marvelous Robbie sense of humor, wordplay and those oh-so-titillating possibilities that he might just swing. Sameness prevails on the boorish Sin Sin Sin & The Trouble With Me, which both sound phoned in. Random Acts of Kindness takes on an almost Sgt Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour feel; especially love the gut-bucket harmonica. With its prevailing peace on earth, good will lyric & feel, this could easily replace what "Angels" has been for some. "A Place to Crash" invites back the kick-butt rocker. Leaving "King of Bloke & Bird" to close on an elegant, if somewhat awkward tone, especially the final, haunting, ethereal chord at the closing, which seems almost to tease that maybe, just maybe, there might be something more. "Summer me on to another day..." indeed.
Still, Robbie far transcends any male pop star that the U.S. has tried to market to the masses. Even if we would have liked a little more earnestness & originality, in the long run, Robbie is worth having even if the transition with Duffy is, at least at this point, a tad wanting.
Free Music Review: An ambitious, winning return
Hit: 4 Stars
Even among those that don't consider themselves fans, you can usually still find a grudging acceptance of the fact that Robbie Williams is a remarkably gifted entertainer. Press these same folks further, however, and you'd probably find very few that would consider his songwriting output to be of any great worth. True, he does have the proven ability to pump out huge, lighter-waving hits like `Angels' or `Better Man', but generally, his music is perceived as being a bit half-hearted, a bit phoned-in, a bit meat and potatoes. For the last 10 years this has been my line of thinking too. OK, admittedly I'm quite partial to `Lazy Days' and `No Regrets' - but other than that - the music of Robbie Williams occupies very little of my headspace. So honestly, I'm as surprised as anyone to have discovered that the latest Robbie Williams album is actually really, really, tremendously good.
Traditionally, Williams isn't really seen as an `album artist' but he's gone a long way to disproving that theory here. On Intensive Care he sounds invigorated and purposeful - a man with something to say and plenty to prove. There's a sense of urgency to this new material that wasn't really present in earlier albums. Choruses soar, hooks surprise, and melodies beguile, and paired together with Williams' witty, knowing lyrics, we have the genuine recipe for a very good pop album indeed. First play through, Intensive Care sounded promising, second play through I was really beginning to feel it, third play through - I was totally sold.
To be sure, the best thrills reside in the first half of Intensive Care, with one good song after another, culminating in the absolutely glorious ballad `Advertising Space'. Tracks 1 through 6, it must be said, are the very definition of perfect-pop. But there is still plenty of quality left over for the second half. Most notably on `The Trouble With Me' and the lovely, understated album closer `King Of Bloke And Bird'. Occasionally in the latter half Williams does revert back to more piffling fare like `Your Gay Friend' or `A Place To Crash', but even these songs aren't entirely without their charms - with the former even displaying some nice Johnny Marr-style guitar licks.
Poor Robbie has suffered a fair amount of backlash over the years. Certainly, he hasn't always helped his own cause at times. But to his credit, Williams has soldiered on, and with the help of new songwriting partner Stephen Duffy, he's turned in an album full of beauty, conviction and hard-won experience.