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It is so easy to like the music of Britain?s top pop star Robbie Williams.
His albums are so well-thought out and production marvels. One can?t help but
appreciate all the hard work the former Take That member puts into them. He is
also daring. He can be a cute pop idol, the rocking bad boy or the suave
crooner. And through it all, there is that remarkable voice that always performs
with so much passion.
Robbie has a new album titled Reality Killed The Video Star. The title was
doubtless inspired by Video Killed The Radio Star, an old song by a one-hit
wonder group, The Buggles. While the first one referred to how music videos took
over radio as main source of new music releases, Robbie?s is about how reality
TV has now become the main source for new, often surprising stars.
Come to think of it, the lead cut in the album the dramatic Morning Sun is
said to be Robbie?s tribute to Michael Jackson. It is a sad ballad about loss
and Robbie does it beautifully. Maybe giving his CD the title Reality Killed The
Video Star was his way of commenting on MJ?s life. Jackson was the biggest video
star ever. Think of the phenomenal Thriller. But it looks like that huge success
made him unable to cope with reality.
I hope that Williams, who is also a big star, is doing better with his
reality so he will be able to entertain his public for many more years to come.
The depth and range of the music in his Reality CD is simply amazing. Songs can
be vastly different from one another but he threads them together with so much
ease. It feels as though he is merely toying around with songs, just casually
tossing them out one after the other.
Deceptacon is the best of all. It sounds strangely heavenly, like a return to
the style of Angel, one of Robbie?s biggest hits. Radio will love Starstruck,
with its catchy melody and old-fashioned pop-soul vibe. If you want something
laidback for quiet moments, there is Superblind. If you still long for Robbie to
again channel the Rat Pack of the early ?60s, there?s the single release You
Know Me. Finger snapping is all this one lacks to complete the mood. I will not
be surprised if this one gets into the Mad Men soundtrack one of these days.
Reality Killed The Video Star is another triumph for Robbie. It deserves a
spot alongside his other memorable albums, Escapology, Sing When You?re Winning
and I?ve Been Expecting You.
Robbie has sold over 55 million albums since leaving Take That; won more
awards than any other act in British pop music history; sold the most concert
tickets in one day for his Close Encounters tour in 2006; and performed for
375,000 people during his sold-out three-nighter at Knebworth.
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