Review Summary: Take That take a dynamic new 'Progressive' approach in this excellent album which shows how they have grown as individuals.
The year was 2010, the ushering in of a new decade, and a resurgent Take That released an album as a five-piece for the first time in fifteen years. Robbie Williams returned to the band earlier in the year, and it soon became clear that his influence on Progress' song writing was to be a big one, with the sound taking on a dynamic and evolved feeling in comparison to their previous four piece albums Beautiful World and The Circus.
Another huge surprise with this album is the fact that Gary Barlow's presence on the album is nowhere near as significant as it has been on the previous two albums. 'Eight Letters' is the only song in which he has a solo performance, and the fact that Barlow's shared the songwriting more with Owen and the returning Williams at his most experimental is what makes the album such a refreshing one to listen to in comparison to some of their more, what I would consider to be 'safe' work.
The album opens with the album's first single 'The Flood' and immediately from the first word Williams' presence is known. Alongside Barlow, Williams takes on a lead role in the song, with powerful vocals tearing through the verses which leads into a beautifully harmonized chorus which shakes the earth beneath you. The string arrangements are vibrant and really bring the song to life. 'The Flood' despite probably still being the closest to any of their material from the previous two albums, is still drastically different in terms of song structure and song writing. The boy band who wrote ballads and wooed women everywhere in the early nineties was a thing of the past, this was a departure from what had made them successful and the album only gets more experimental from there.
'The Flood' leads right into 'SOS' in which Owen and Williams take the lead, and boy do they deliver. Owen's dynamic vocals bring the song to life and Williams vocals in the bridge hit like a train at full speed, and again it sends a message that signifies that they are not here to pander, they are here to explore their sound and develop ideas. The experimenting continues through the rest of the album as well, 'Wait' is a melancholic, slow track with an unnerving sense of sadness, while 'Kidz' is a thundering mid-paced track with a hook that could reel in a blue whale. Songs like 'Pretty Things' and 'Underground Machine' really bring out the bizarre and zany side of Take That's songwriting which can almost certainly be credited to Williams' return. The album as a whole brings vibes of experimental electronic bands like Tears for Fears and to a small extent Genesis post Duke.
The album comes to a close with the track 'Eight Letters' which is then followed by a hidden track entitled 'Flowerbed'. Eight Letters is the only track in which Gary Barlow has solo lead vocal duties, and he gives what is arguably one of the greatest Take That studio performance in his career which is fueled by emotion to a song which was written with their heart on their sleeves. a beautiful song to bring the album around full circle and complete their progression, or so it would seem as it leads into Flowerbed, which if I had to compare it to something, would be like a beautiful sunrise just poking over the horizon. With Jason Orange's lyrics reminiscent of the Beatles, and the overall song of the song reminiscent of Electric Light Orchestra.
The album however fails to be a perfect five though, as while the songwriting is very different to their previous album, and refreshing to listen to, unless you read into the lyrics very deeply they make almost no sense at all. Williams spends a lot of the album talking about elements and minerals in songs about happiness and calls for help. However that doesn't take away from this album's incredible sound, and the performances given from the Take That boys. It would be wrong to call them boys now though, as this album truly shows how far they've come from the days when they were teenage icons, they have grown from boys into men, and it truly was an incredible ride.
