Take That, The Circus

I wasn't really a Take That fan first time round, but have loved every minute of them since they re banded. The concert, I saw on the Sunday at Manchester was completely fantastic, electric and the boys looked like they were having the time of their lives! I was disappointed that |Mark didn't sing Julie, as I truly love that song , but it was spectacular,amazing wonderful and I didn't want it to end! How on earth are they going to top that!

If you're like me and grew up with Take That in their heyday, you will have known someone that was traumatised by their demise a decade ago. If also like me, you thought Take That were an ok boy band who knocked out a couple of ok tunes but weren't blown away by their albums, then this second coming and fifth studio album is a complete and maybe unforeseen pleasant surprise.

After listening to the 'The Circus' by Take That for the up-teenth time in the car on a long journey last weekend, I was struck by how many sing-a-longable tracks there are. There is only one song ('Julie') on The Circus which doesn't get me heartily singing along wishing I was part of this now 'manband' who really do seem to have struck gold this time round. I am always dubious about once idolised groups making comebacks (i.e. Spice Girls - that comeback single was terrible and seeing as I can't even remember the name of it demonstrates the lack of impact it had), but I was dead chuffed for Gary Barlow's gang when 'Patience' was released and proved to be a popular and triumphant return to the top of the charts. I also think Gary especially deserves this new found adoration because he had always been hailed as a very good songwriter, but following the flop of his solo career and the public slaying by Robbie Williams in the press, he sort of just faded away and didn't get the recognition I felt he rightly deserved.

The general publics love of Take That appears to know no bounds and the release of 'Greatest Day' heralded Take That's eleventh number one single in the UK. To be honest on first hearing I thought it was a bit dull but it proved to be one of those tracks that just builds and grows on you until almost sub-consciously you're singing along and then you realise you're hooked. 'The Circus' is a truly classic pop record. It's an innocent blend of pure pop songs - soaring and melancholic ballads interspersed with sparkly up-tempo tracks. What is great about 'The Circus' is that everyone gets a go on vocals and the tracks are a collaborative effort which works very well indeed. Mark takes lead on 'Hello' which has an infectious chorus, 'Up All Night' and on one of my favourite tracks, 'Hold Up A Light' which you just know will go down a storm in a live environment. What is maybe even more surprising is the Jason Orange contribution 'How Did It Come To This' which manages to crowbar words like "compartmentalising", "schizophrenic" and "OCD" into the lyrics yet still remains a credible and enjoyable song. The earnestness and longing can still be heard in Gary's song writing and comes to the fore in another of my favourite tracks, 'The Circus' where he sings 'everybody loves a circus show, but I'm the only clown you'll ever know' and you remember that Take That do actually have a serious side to them too. After listening to other big ballads 'Said It All' and 'You', you should be left in no doubt that Take That are probably 'back for good' (oops sorry!!).

Gone are the days of throw away (sometimes lame) sugary boy band pop that Take That were churning out and what we now have is a mature and dignified pop group who aren't trying to be clever and cool but are just enjoying what they do and are all the better for it. So Take That in my opinion have once again trounced their competition with 'The Circus'. What has happened to the comebacks from other likeminded acts such as Boyzone and New Kids On The Block? If I wasn't a stellar supporter at the height of their success first time around, I certainly am now and I for one am certainly looking forward to the next record and wish them every future success.

Take That's new album The Circus is as good as any album they've done so far. It's got great songs that will make your day every day. This is something that can be the album of your life!

The Circus is written by Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange - the four of them together in a studio writing and recording demos. When the producer John Shanks entered the studio, they already had 25 new songs. The fifth studio album and seventh in total - Take That have indeed come a long way! But how the band always seems to better their last effort is quite amazing. Listen to The Circus.

To start the album off, we have The Garden. You might get surprised to hear Mark's voice in the very beginning of the album. The next surprise would be Gary sharing the lead vocals with him, and Jason and Howard joining them. It's the first song Take That's ever done with all four of them taking the lead. The song is all positive in its lyrics as they say, 'This is the life we've been given. So open your mind and start living. We can play our part if we only start believing. This is the life we've been given. So open your heart and start loving' ' A great song to start off the record!

Greatest Day is the second track which will blow your mind away - something you'll have to grow into for this is Take That in its new level. The band is going to take you to a different world where you forget all your worries and simply have an amazingly nice time. As the words say, 'Today this could be the greatest day of our lives ' ..', truly, Take That at their best. Greatest Day is also the album's first single with a brilliant video shot in Los Angeles over a 30 storey building. The single was #1 within 24 hours of release in iTunes and went straight to #1 in the UK charts.

Glad you took the time to listen to the album because this is just the beginning of great songs headed your way. Take Hello for instance. How could you miss the Shine factor in The Circus? It's a feel good song with Mark's distinct voice and according to him, it's a record for record buyers. It's a lovely album!

Take That, the pop superstars at their best is Said It All. This song is more or less autobiographical to the boys and thus is a perfect Take That song. The two different images you get through the two verses of the song is quite amazing: Verse 1 - When the tears fall away, and there's no conversation'- all sad. Verse 2 - In the sudden light of day 'hurt begins to fade as you find a new direction - all hope. Mark joins Gary in the lead vocals later in the song; thus making it another unique Take That song.

Julie - wow! This is so sweet! 'Sha la la la la la I want you, sha la la la la la I do ' .' It's like a river that flows and takes all the tears away. This is a ;) song. Simple, beautiful and inspiring. You'll just can't get enough of it. It's enjoyable to be sung with a guitar. Can be difficult to know the singles on this record!

Here's the title track of the album. What's it called? The Circus?! 'Silence please cos I've got something to say. It's The Circus that will try to win your heart and will succeed. Gary Barlow on his piano sounds a genius that he is. O God! Is there anyone present or past who can match his talent???

Another song, wow! The guitar based track and Jason singing it! A perfect Jason Orange song! It relates himself and also his former band mate Robbie who says, "My fav fav song on the album is Jason's How Did It Come To This."

A country song?! It's a song that can be a bigger hit for the band. This is something like a classic, classic song that will be covered by over a hundred artists in the future making it the most compiled song on CD in the next ten years! It's sure to win a handful of awards and of course become no. 1 before all that. The song will be the album's second single. Mark with his hat on and Up All Night.

What Is Love is the next track led on by Howard, and he sounds as good as any great singer. His voice is really unique and he can sing really high. One will not be wrong to say that Take That are old fashioned as all of them have unique and beautiful voices unlike the modern day singers.

Gary leads on again. Truly a wonderful ballad is this song which I must say will enamour you to love Take That more and more'The song might bring you different feelings like being in a cold December and realizing the moment of glory - it's You.

The songs so far have shown meaning to the album title and here' just one song that will make you fully convinced. Hold Up A Light For Me is all about singing, performing, inspiring. 'And if life is a stage, I'll be watching ' .' And the world comes alive! Absolutely theatrical!

Here's Here. Howard sings his heart out in this and is a great song to finish the album.

A minute of pausing'Is that it?! I've had a great time listening to The Circus but wait, here's another song: 'My love was filled with trouble with indecision, therapy and pain. You know that my love, it was going nowhere. It would have driven any normal man insane' '------Gary's lovely voice in She Said------

Sleepwalking - Greatest Day B-Side is a brilliant song like 'being in a wonderful dream'?

Take That's 'The Circus' is absolutely a great album. So far it's been #1 for 5 weeks in a row. (www.officialcharts.com) With only 4 weeks since its release, it had become #2 biggest selling album of 2008.

Reviewed by Manish

I love all of it. I'm loathe to say. One of the top ten pop albums of the last twenty years. Not sure about title track yet. 2009 will be about Take That cheering us up during a recession.

Take That's The Circus has a great mix of songs, something for everyone. Lots of upbeat songs as well as classic love songs. I was surprised how many songs Mark got lead vocal on, but I am loving this new sound. Really like How Did It Come To This the Jasons lead vocal, really different from Woodern Boot. I can not wait to see the boys perform this album live, I think they have written this album with their live shows in mind. Roll on July!

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.