ALBUM REVIEW: Take That 'III'

Rating:

Pop favouring number bods may be keen to know that III, Take That’s first album as a trio, is also the fourth since their nine year hiatus came to an end back in 2005 (before which they’d only recorded three studio albums). Now, four years after Robbie Williams completed the original five-piece line up for the Progress album and tour, and just ten weeks after Jason Orange announced he was leaving the band, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald are back with a new album, lead by single ‘These Days’ (their 12th UK number one, and the firstin six years – which also makes them the only band to have topped the charts as a five, four and three piece). But pop favouring none-number bods probably knew that anyway.

As highlighted with ‘These Days’, III sees Take That return to the real pop roots they’ve only ever dipped into since their return, instead opting for a more mature take on the genre (‘Patience’), via Coldplay-style euphoria (‘Greatest Day’) and stadium-filling electronica (‘The Flood’). Having said that, the new take on Take That, and the songs that came with it, have become more iconic than the original Greatest Hits. In short, while III is fun, upbeat, unapologetic pop – and easily one of the best pop releases of the year – it may be their weakest collection since reuniting. Perhaps Orange played a stronger role than anyone realised, or perhaps his departure – and the idea of continuing as a trio – knocked the band’s confidence.

Opener ‘These Days’ (Peace feat. Scissor Sisters covering Daft Punk, or something similar) is followed by tracks that seem to be made up of equal parts Mumford-sing-a-long Barlow, electronic-indie Owen and Ibiza dance scene Donald, which is no bad thing. ‘Let In The Sun’ is a stomper, while ‘Lovelife’ and ‘Into The Wild’ (with a truly impressive vocal from Owen) are equally optimistic,while giving the impression that the band now write songs with their tours in mind. But as fun as these – and the ‘90s sounding ‘If You Want It’ – are, it’s hard to imagine Williams giving them the thumbs up if he was still playing.

Barlow ballads aren’t ignored, with ‘Portrait’ the lovechild of ‘A Million Love Songs’ and ‘Greatest Day’, and ‘Freeze’ (a Frozen cash in?) one of the more mature moments, sounding like Chris Rea in the verses and just touching on the Disney-ish ‘Rule The World’ for the chorus, while the ‘Flaws’ line “The dirt and soil it’s still beneath my nails” isn’t quite the “lipstick mark on your coffee cup” that the sometime frontman may have been trying to recreate. By no means is the album weak (‘I Like It’ could have been part of Progress and huge closer ‘Get Ready For It’, like many of the tracks, offers more than enough gusto to fill the numerous stadiums they’re sure to sell out) and with producers including Stuart Price and Jeff Lynne it was never going to be, but neither does it match up with the progress they had previously made.

III is out now via Polydor.

Dan Bull

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Dan Bull

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London. Likes: Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, Prince Charles Cinema, Duran Duran Dislikes: Soreen, All-hits setlists, "I liked them before everyone else..."