The artist's commercial songwriterly muse has temporarily flown.
The hastily conceived "Rudebox" is bookmarked mostly by a ragbag of weary cover versions that even an advanced pop historian would have trouble connecting.
Manu Chao, My Robot Friend, Human League, Lewis Taylor and Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy get varying degrees of half-baked makeovers, while Robbie's own stream-of-consciousness raps are hindered by a delivery that makes Goldie Lookin' Chain look like Jay-Z.
All those millions of pounds, the adulation, sex on tap... and he is still not happy. And yes, we have heard it all before. For this is yet another album which sees Robbie seemingly grinning on the psychiatrist's couch, telling us what a great life he has had, and how he is still unfulfilled.
In style and content, this album reeks of nostalgia, the Robster romanticising gang graffiti from his home town in Bursley Normals, and packing the impressions of two decades of life into songs simply called The 80s and The 90s.
Perhaps the clue is in the one line which states: "Things are better when they start. That's how the '80s broke my heart.
The problem with "Rudebox" is that alongside Williams' trademark self-absorbed cheeky chappie pop, we get a crop of pretty inessential covers (Human League's "Louise" is among the better of them) and a lot of old hip-hop and electro themes. Madonna was only one of the artists to have beaten him to that trick .
And, plainly playing it for laughs as the clown prince of rappers, Robbie summons some truly gruesome "urban" accents. In the great scheme of things, "Rudebox" is not a bad album, but it is the first time Williams has seemed to be behind the game.

These three words immediately came to mind during my first listening of this album. My review pretty much circles them.

In his own words, Rob says "I saw the whole Robbie thing coming to a close as it was...I couldn't make another album like the ones I'd made," and, indeed, he did not. This album is a rather large departure from his previous efforts stylistically. Content, however, has not changed - and the content makes this a Robbie Williams album like all others. There are a lot of fun songs, some introspective songs, and some very funny songs thrown in to round out the mix. While the style is a bit of a departure, the songs and lyrics themselves very much are Robbie.

The first two singles from this album, "Rudebox" and "Lovelight," are prime examples of the departure that Robbie has taken with this album. The songs have a heavy techno influence, but they still have a strong pop sound. Were we in the 80's, the songs probably would have been classified as "new wave." "Never Touch That Switch," "She's Madonna," and "We're the Pet Shop Boys" push the pop boundary even further. The Pet Shop Boys signature on the latter two songs is unmistakable - the last song for obvious reasons. In discussing the song, Rob says, "I love the irony of covering a cover."

"Good Doctor" and the hidden track are downright hilarious. The two autobiographical "decade" songs, "The 80's" and "The 90's," are quite haunting and pretty dark. I think my favorite song, though, is "Viva Life on Mars." The song is very bluesy...almost country. While it is just as eclectic as anything else on the album, the song draws from very different genres and finds a very unique sound.

The one thing that seems to be missing on this album is that Robbie does not get a chance to shine vocally. Robbie is a crooner. He loves to sing and all of his other albums showcased his vocal talent. This album is missing that signature. None of the songs on this album seem to push him vocally and, as such, the songs sound a bit on the weak side. Aside from "Rudebox," none of the songs really scream "this is going to be a great song in concert" to me.

Robbie has seen very little air play here in the States, and that trend will continue with this album. While the album has been and will continue to be well-received in Europe, the songs are very much outside of the scope of pop radio here. Fleeting fans will be alienated by the change in style. It certainly took me some time to warm up to this album. After giving my mind some time to wrap itself around the album, though, I am finding that I like the album more and more. While it will not shoot to the top of my all-time favorite albums, it still is good music.

I guess most of you remember Robbie Williams was part of Uk's most popular boyband Take That in the 90's, when Take That eventually split up Robbie Williams launched a solo career and was the only one of the band that was succesful. Now, considering that Mark Owen was just as popular as Robbie and Gary Barlow was the brain and wrote most of the songs and sang most also, how come Robbie Williams made it and not him?. The answer is simple, Robbie got charisma and he always finds a way to stay in the spotlight. He's a natural born entertainer and will do whatever it takes to stay in focus for whatever reason. He's been doing love ballads, Pop songs, Classic Rock, R&B, Electro-Dance, Vocal-Jazz and even Rapping. He's been aping George Michael, Kiss, Frank Sinatra and even Elvis Presley. And when his music didn't chart he came up with something else to remain in the press. For 10 years as a solo act, Robbie has defenitely been one of those artists who spent most time on MTV and in newspapers. Why that? you may ask... he's a good singer but he can't write songs by himself, he always chances music styles, he records too many covers and he's been immitating more top artists then it's possible. Infact, after 10 years as a solo artist, I still can't say how Robbie Williams typical sound is. But he's an attention seeker and he'll do whatever it takes to stay on your lips. Less then a year after his last album, when last single "Sin, Sin Sin" flopped on the UK chart a new album is released, just in time to remain in the spotlight. That's Robbie Williams For You.

After 2 realy bad albums, you thought it wasn't possible to make a third that was on the same low level but "Rudebox" is right there. It is an orgy of diffrent styles. Many Dance Pop songs like the title track "Rudebox" which is a weaker version of "Rock Dj" with Robbie rapping again. "Lovelight" a Lewis Taylor cover and outrageous cover of french world music legend Manu Chao's "Bingo Bongo" called "King of Bongo". "They Say I'm A Clown, Making Too Much Dirty Sound" he said it right, exactly what he is. What was he thinking?. Another cover of Human Leagues "Louise" also sounds odd. "We're the Pet Shop Boys" is a cover of a band called "My Robot Friend" but the Pet Shop Boys appear on this version, but why is it on Robbie Williams album and not theirs?. They also appear on the song "She's Madonna", a song that follows the same trend. Songs like "Keep On" and "Doctor" feels out of place and are just hybrids of many genres while "Burslem Normals" is a slow lounge sounding song. Towards the end we'll get two autobiogrphical songs "In the 80's" that is about growing up in the 80's and "In the 90's" about the time with Take That. They are far more interesting then most songs here but it seems like Mr. Williams still can't be serious for a whole song anymore. The critics were right, "Rudebox" is a bust.

Overall, unfortuntately it seems like Robbie Williams is losing more and more credability the longer time goes. In the mid 90's he recorded 2-3 very fine albums with songs such as "Old Before I Die" "Strong" and especially the brilliant "Angels", but based on the recent music it's impossible to take him serious anymore. You can't make an album with 10 diffrent genres merged and write lyrics that are nonsense. I liked Robbie Williams back in the day but it seems like he's more interested to more controversial and stay in the spotlight then write credible songs on a solid album. 2 stars. Buy on own risk.

At least I like to think so. I've read some reviews from some critics and they bash this..why? I'm not sure. Probably because this album is actually more upbeat and much more better than his last two albums.

The British music industry is such a weird thing, I think if something doesn't sound like Oasis or Coldplay (you know, the melancholy crap they prefer to like) then they either immediately diss it or ride it off as a failure. Now mind you there have been exceptions to this rule, with the likes of acts like the incredible and beautiful Girls Aloud and Craig David, that prove that Brit Pop doesn't have to be full of Beatles-wannabes and boring and mediocre alt-rock acts. I think Robbie Williams wanted to go in a fresh direction with Rudebox but the British public don't seem to have grasped it for some reason.

But like I said before this album probably is his most quirkiest and coolest since his 2000 album Sing When You're Winning. He embraces everything here from club beats to his trademark melodies. There are some great great tracks on this!

My favorite tracks on the album would be:

"Rudebox"-Hey, I like to hear Robbie rap. He sounds too cool. I have nothing against this track unlike some of the music lovers back in his home country.

"She's Madonna"-This song grows on you. It's got a nice ambient type of beat and Robbie's vocals work great here!

"Viva Life On Mars"-This track is one of the catchiest songs on the album. When he gets to the chorus...."Viva Life On Mars I'm calling, sending my frequency to the galaxy so you can see, people down here."...is when he shines and shows why he's loved back home in the UK, Europe and Latin America.

"Never Touch That Switch"-It's got a great beat. What more can I say? Again, Robbie sounds so cool on this track. If it weren't for his English accent, you could assume this was a track straight from a rapper from 1980's hip-hop scene.

"Kiss Me"-My favorite track on the album. This one delves into a synthesized beat fest perfect for the likes of the best clubs in Europe. A great chorus in this one as well.

"Summertime"-William Orbit adds his magic production skills to this great ballad. What a good song to chill back to in the summer sun.

"The 90's"-Robbie raps and sings about his life in the early 90's and all his turmoil and misery he endured while in Take That as well as talking about what it's like to be famous.

Other great tracks include "Keep On" and "Lovelight".

I can't say enough great things about this album and it ranks among his best. Go snag it!

The crossover is over, and Robbie Williams has returned to his roots with this album. It may take repeated listening to get into it, as it's full of Eurodance and Britpop tracks, and sounds more like the Pet Shop Boys (who produce two of the tracks), than the Robbie Williams of the last few albums.

First single "Rudebox" is produced by Soul Mekanik, and is a fun dance track that sets the tone for the album. Soul Mekanik also produce two other tracks, including another good electro-dance track "Never Touch That Switch" where Robbie sings lyrics like "there's a schism in the time mechanism".

Second single "Lovelight" is a track where he covers the Lewis Taylor original and sings in falsetto, and is followed by the outrageously funny cover of Manu Chao's "Bongo Bong" (or King of the Bongo) in "Bongo Bong/Je Ne T'Aime Plus". The two Pet Shop Boys tracks are "She's Madonna" which is a tribute to the always controversial singer, and "We're the Pet Shop Boys" which you won't be able to differentiate from a PSB original.

Other tracks are produced by Mark Ronson, Jerry Meehan, William Orbit, and others, and include a cover of "Louise" by Human League. I thought he could have done a bit more with "The 80s" and "The 90s" and was looking forward to more samples. Rapping is not his strong point, and neither is falsetto, but when he turns on his cheeky, rude, bad boy charm you can't help but like him anyway.



Amanda Richards, October 31, 2006