Artist in the Ambulance
Robbie Williams
Intensive Care
2/5
Just about every single person, well, outside of the US, knows most of Robbie Williams’s singles. They’re so god-damn radio friendly that you can’t even turn on Russian-Ska FM without hearing a Russian-Ska-Remix of Millennium. With the £80m EMI contract in the bag, what Robbie’s really striving for with Intensive Care is critical acclaim, but unfortunately his new indie-boy attitude and style looks like it is going to lack critical support anywhere beyond the confines of Heat magazine.
The album kicks off with its best track, the catchy Ghosts, which, with its “ooh, ahh” backing vocals and dominant piano chords, makes Robbie sound quite spookily like David Bowie in Under Pressure. Only a man of supreme arrogance can pull off these lyrics; “Here I stand victorious, the only man who made you come”, and Robbie performs them with aplomb. It’s a pity then that the album does skitter around after quite a strong opening.
First single Tripping follows, combining Chris Martin-esque falsetto with a quasi-reggae beat, and it is clearly a very weak song with rather crappy lyrics. The remainder of the album is comprised of mostly middle-of-the-road numbers, with more “oooh, aaah” backing vocals indistinct behind watery guitar chords that even The Corrs would be ashamed to play.
It seems that Robbie has reached a stage where he wishes to atone for past misdemeanours by lavishing us with string-heavy ballads to show his maturity, and prove his new-found writing “skills” with new producer Stephen Duffy, having parted company with previous sidekick Guy Chambers. What this album really lacks is a real underlying sentiment to pull all the songs together to make a statement.
Even the exotically-named Your Gay Friend is just a pale rock song, more Dafydd than Freddie Mercury; a huge disappointment given the quality of Let Me Entertain You and Old Before I Die. Although dipping its foot into a variety of styles it just ends up sounding bland. It’s a perfect Christmas gift for your nan, and if you already own Robbie’s previous 5 albums there’s a good chance you’ll buy this too.
However, if this would be your first Robbie album, it’s even more of a waste of £12.99 than James Blunt’s album. Ouch.
27th Oct 2005