Poor Robert Peter Williams - more than twenty UK hits under his belt, but still a mere blip on the US radar. Always the underdog, he was voted "Take That" member least likely to succeed, and dismissed by Noel Gallagher of Oasis as "That fat dancer from Take That".

Having resurrected his career with the 1997 mega-ballad "Angels", the tattooed bad boy took off from there with hit after hit, despite being largely ignored on the music charts between Canada and Mexico. Although a US resident, Robbie didn't intend to release this album stateside even though it was recorded in LA, but eager fans started grabbing the album from iTunes as soon as it was released in that format.

Firing his opening shot with "Tripping", a reggae-backed song reminiscent of "Dreadlock Holiday" by 10CC and "Overkill" by Men at Work, he follows up with the sweet ballad "Advertising Space".

A sample of the lyrics from "Tripping" seems to tell his tale:

"First they ignore you
Then laugh at you and hate you
Then they fight you - then you win"

Most of the album is typical Robbie Williams, but having been two years in the making, it is lyrically improved over his other albums. You can pick up influences of Shawn Mullins "Lullaby", and John Mellencamp's "Small Town" on "Spread Your Wings", and do a little `80s reminiscing on "Your Gay Friend" and "Sin Sin Sin",

Never one to pass up a little humor, the almost religious "Make Me Pure" includes the tongue in cheek lyrics:

"Oh Lord
Make me pure
But not yet"

Another fun album from Robbie Williams with twelve good songs - will this be THE ONE to finally make him a part of the mainstream USA pop scene? You'll be the judge of that. Rated 4.5 stars

Amanda Richards

I should share some background before giving my review.

Before this past summer, I knew Robbie only through his one and only US hit, "Millennium," from 1999. I always had hoped to hear more music from him, but that never happened here.

Flash forward to this past summer. I, like many millions of other people around the world, watched the Live 8 concerts this summer on-demand via the web. In the home stretch of the London concert, who appears on stage but Robbie Williams. Knowing next to nothing about him at that time (he, unfortunately, is very much an obscurity here, as many have noted and rightfully pined) I was absolutely FLOORED not only by his talent as an artist but also by his absolutely amazing skills as a performer. There very much is a distinction between the two skills...I have seen many talented artists who are mediocre or downright awful entertainers. Robbie, in the short 20 minutes that he was on stage, demonstrated an incredible talent to take a crowd of several hundred thousand people and wrap every single one of them around his finger. Talent like this on stage is a one-in-a-million kind of thing, and I can compare him to but a few acts who, in their own right and in their own times, were legends on stage. It absolutely blew me away, and I replayed that portion of the concert probably 100 times over the summer.

I got wind that Robbie released a new album and I was hell-bent on getting a copy of it, never before hearing any of his material off of an album. I ordered this album, it arrived last week, and I have had a steady diet of Robbie since it arrived to give me a chance to appreciate this work fully. After many hours of absorbing this album, I came to a conclusion:

This album is excellent.

"Ghosts" is a great song. While others have said that this song may supercede "Angels" as the audience-favorite anthem, I do not agree...but it is a great song nonetheless. "Tripping" is his first single from the album, and it is a pretty strong song. My favorites may be the songs which are extremely funny to me: "Your Gay Friend" and "A Place to Crash." I mean, really...how can you not love songs whose choruses begin

"And I'll be your gay friend / 'cuz your marriage never ends"

and

"Find a place to crash / Move your boney ass"

The remainder of the songs, too, are quite good. There are a couple of slower songs to match the up-tempo songs, but there are no "true ballads" on this album. I have to spend some more time with this album to gain a better appreciation of a couple of the songs (I'm not placing all of the references), but on the whole it is an excellent album from a truly gifted artist.

"Greatest Hits" are on their way...can't wait.

Robbie, brother...you hooked another one here in the US.

"First they ignore you
Then laugh at you and hate you
Then they fight you - then you win"

First off let me admit that I have been a fan of Robbie ever since Angels, which hardly makes me unique. Secondly, I genuinely believe that Robbie Williams is perhaps the greatest performer the UK has ever produced. However after his split from Guy Chambers who Robbie had once described as "as much a part of Robbie Williams as I am", I must confess i initially had my doubts about his future, particularly after hearing his subsequent singles, Radio and Misunderstood.

How wrong was I? With the release of Intensive Care, Robbie has vanquished all doubts about his credibility as a songwriter and emerged triumphant with what is almost certainly his most mature effort to date. And i don't see any road back for Mr Chambers now...

My favourite track is "Advertising Space" a ballad about Elvis Presley, you can almost see the video already,; clips of Elvis interspersed with Robbie singing earnestly. I love this track and maybe this will be the one to launch him in America, although for Mr Williams that might turn out to be a mixed blessing. Other stand out tracks include "Make Me Pure", "Tripping" "Please Don't Die", "Your Gay Friend" and "Sin, Sin, Sin". I think there are a couple of weaker tracks but there is also plenty of Rob's usual irony and self-deprecating wit and charm (and a little ham) on display here.

In summary, there is plenty here to keep his existing fan base happy and more than enough ammunition to silence the doubters and attract new fans. Oh and two potentially massive singles in "Make Me Pure" and "Advertising Space", although I'm sure other people will have different favourites. Four stars ****.

That title refers to the mystery of why Robbie Williams is the biggest singing star in the world EXCEPT the US. I guess we are too busy lauding vapid "talent" like Mariah Carey and Eminem. Too bad for the US but if you want something fresh and not run of the mill - you could not do much better than Robbie Williams. His new cd marks a bit of a departure from his previous releases. He has a new collaborator in Stephen Duffy and has matured a bit as a songwriter. That's not to say that Robbie's signature branch of cheeky bravado isn't watered down - it is just infused with a new flavor. All in all a solid release.

This CD musically shines from the first note to the final track. By way of this release, Williams artistically "comes out" and should be officially declared the first musical legend of the new millennium.

Amazingly, his previous products were ignored by North American radio. However his masterful pop compositions such as ANGEL became major hits on North America radio once a "GRADE D" overexposed peroxide female vocalist butchered the song and placed it as an add on track to boost the weak sales of her poorly reviewed CD.

This time, Robbie's product could become Robbie's first major global breakthrough CD.
North America radio will have no option but to pay attention to the quality of the musical content found on this product.

The CD bridges the "newglam" production value of Scissor Sister to a melodic sensitivity of Elton John compositions created during his glory days in the early 1970s.

All songs on this release are produced as possible radio tracks making it very hard for the listener to select one favorite track, nevertheless, I remain partial to: Ghost, Spread Your Wings, Your Gay Friend and Random Acts of Kindness.

If you really want to discover a CD that has listening power from beginning to end then I truly urge you to give this product a chance.

You won't be disappointed.