Take That – The Tickets

Beautiful World

It’s been a long ten years since Take That disbanded. Their recent reformation and world tour offered overwhelming evidence that, far from being forgotten, the post-Robbie quartet can still command hysterical amounts of goodwill and adoration. Beautiful World illustrates why this is so. Written in conjunction with songwriter/producer John Shanks (Ashlee Simpson, Anastacia, Alanis Morissette), the album is crammed full with the songwriting magic that made their rise to fame so meteoric in the first place. Far from being an exercise in nostalgia, the project moves the band in a slightly new direction. The four come across as more mature, more democratic (all members share songwriting credits on the album, rather than just Barlow), and even more adept at making epic pop that somehow avoids the cheese factor. Lead single “Patience” is a perfect example of how powerful and accessible their songs can be. It’d be a good contender for the album’s peak moment if the rest of the tracks weren’t so damn good too. With traditional Take That style songs (the immediately likeable “Reach Out”, the brimming “Like I Never Loved You At All”), nicely punctuated up by incongruous outings like Jason Orange’s folkish “Wooden Boat” and Mark’s upbeat, Beatles-esque “Shine”, Beautiful World sets a whole new standard for a band previously known more for their singles than their long-players.–Danny McKenna

Rating: (out of 99 reviews)

List Price: £8.99
Price: £1.74

Greatest Hits

The definitive 1990s boyband, Take That may have set the blueprint for a million copycat groups since–Five, Boyzone, Backstreet Boys–but they had an all-important advantage right from the start: bucketloads of fantastic pop songs. In terms of sheer quantity alone, their chart successes racked up more sales than any other British artist since the Beatles, and this Greatest Hits package has them all, including “Relight My Fire”, “Back For Good” and “Pray”, spanning an impressive eight number ones in five years. From the hi-energy rush of “It Only Takes A Minute Girl” to the smoochy “A Million Love Songs” to Mark Owen’s heartfelt rendition of “Babe”, it is a well-trodden wander down memory lane, but the impeccably polished production and Barlow’s relentless ear for a catchy tune ensure it’s a highly entertaining one. –Amber Cowan

Rating: (out of 9 reviews)

List Price: £9.99
Price: £3.70

Greatest Hits Reviews

Review by :

I fancied returning to my youth (and im only 19!) and brought Take That greatest Hits. Take That were HUGE when i was younger and i wasn’t disapointed when i recived this album as it had all the big hits i could remember. “Everything Changes”, “Relight My Fire” and “Sure” all features on this record plus many many more. I’d recomend it to any true take that fan for a night of a good old boogie!

Review by :

The entire modern template of how to build, market and develop a boyband was originated from this fivepiece, who first burst onto the scene in 1992 with their top 10 cover of It Only Takes A Minute, and quickly established their place in pop music history. This collection basically does what you’d expect, with the hits in reverse chronological order.This does unfortauntely mean that the best tracks come near the start. Back For Good is one of the great piano-driven pop songs of the 90s, and Never Forget is nearly as good (both written by Gary Barlow himself, as with most of their big hits), two songs which cross borders to be huge in student unions, karaoke bars and retro radio alike. In their early days they did a lot of uptempo pop, especially the covers such as Could It Be Magic? and Relight My Fire, on which 60s legend Lula guests (surprisingly, her only number 1). However, tracks like 1993 Christmas number 2 Babe showed that Gary Barlow’s real strength was George Micahel style balladry, much as George himself evolved away from Club Tropicana onto Careless Whisper.As well as the two aforementioned classics, the jazzy A Million Love Songs and the morose Love Ain’t Here Anymore are worthy of a place in every collection, from casual to serious. If only Westlife were half this good.

Buy Greatest Hits now for only £3.70!