Take That, The Circus Review

Overall Rating

Following their Beautiful World album couldn't have been an easy feat for Take That - it went eight times platinum in the UK, selling just over 2.5 million copies nationwide. A great achievement for a comeback album - but can their new album do just as well - or is it time for the bubble to burst?

Trust me, the bubble is a long way off bursting for this talented bunch. The Circus is probably the boys most controversial album to date - but not because they sing about something really naughty or go on about politics in their lyrics, but instead because this album is very, very different from their previous efforts.

Whether we like it or not, Take That are older now, more mature and have certainly a lot of experience to help influence them. And it shows. The Circus carries a mature tone throughout the album, but still manages to remind us that they are the fun, lad-like pop singers we fell in love with years ago. Hopefully people who have bracketed them into the "boy band" shelves will stop and listen and just see how appealing their music is nowadays. Yes, it's still pop; yes, it still appeals to their main fan base, but it's a widely enticing album.

Opener, The Garden, is a huge orchestral romp that allows Gary and Mark to do their first big duet together, And it sounds fantastic - Gary takes up the powerful choruses while Mark winds his deep vocals around the versus - they go together well - a new vocal formula is born. Thankfully, they take on the same balance in the fourth track, Said It All, and once again the boys sound brilliant in this very classic Barlow-magic tune.

Obviously we have all probably heard Greatest Day, the current number one, so I won't go on about it. But if you imagine all that excitement, passion and power spread across 12 songs - then you have an idea of how great the album is.

Julie is a "Beatles-esq", fabulously sweet track, sung by Mark. And you won't cringe when you feel the Beatles influence in it, honestly, it's not a copy or a rip off - it's beautifully sung song that shows the boys are mature and can make their songs work for each of them. Mark's voice has grown so much since he was given the challenge of Shine and Hold On and he's no longer the shy and retiring Babe singer any more. He's a strong lead - and he pulls it off well. I might go out there and say this deserves to be a single - one that might even challenge the likes of Back For Good as the band's most phenomenal single release.

How Did It Come To This is a brilliantly reflective number where Jason takes to the mike. He sings about modern life - how we all get caught up in the reality TV, shopping and what we think we should be rather than what we are. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it suits Jason perfectly. He's the worrier and the thoughtful one in the group and you get a sense that he probably does feel this way in real life. A well suited song, for a singer who is very underrated. And it really is not about Amy Winehouse, like some gossip websites and mags have suggested - it really isn't!

Howard takes the stage for the powerful What Is Love?, which frankly is such a moody, thinking song that will sit well when you have a night in on your own and want some time to contemplate your life. Howard's voice is graceful over the chimes and the lyrics, just as with Jason's, suit him well - as we all know he's the love-loving, big-hearted member of the group.

Then comes (potential next single) Up All Night, a jazzy, fun, poppy Mark number. The rest of the band take the lovely place of a jazzy trio in the background and the result is fantastic - all lifted up with a fanfare of trumpets, saxophone and drums. This is truly fantastic - the kind of song that will make you smile even on the most cold, grey, hung-over morning!

And these are just the best bits, if you add in the likes of Gary's sombre and thoughtful title track The Circus and cosy classic You, Howard's folky, pretty, Here and Mark's bubbly Hello and his fantasically dramatic Hold Up The Light - you have a really exciting and certainly, brilliant, album. There's a fabulously 50s bonus track called She Said too on the normal CD and if you get the hardback book edition, there are some lovely glossy pics of the lads in rehearsals, doing some trapeze acts and an absolutely adorable pic of Howard playing with Mark's little son, Elwood.

Honestly, just listening to the album makes me beam - Take That are better than ever before and deserve to do so well with The Circus.