Track Listing

1. Ghosts
2. Tripping
3. Make Me Pure
4. Spread Your Wings
5. Advertising Space
6. Please Don't Die
7. Your Gay Friend
8. Sin Sin Sin
9. Random Acts of Kindness
10. Trouble with Me
11. Place to Crash
12. King of Bloke and Bird

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92897 in Music
• Brand: WILLIAMS,ROBBIE
• Published on: 2005
• Released on: 2005-10-31
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Explicit Lyrics, Import
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds

Album Description
After two years of continuous writing with Stephen Duffy, the album, which was recorded exclusively in Los Angeles, will be released, preceded by the first single ‘Tripping’. "I'm a huge fan of The Lilac Time, so I thought I'd spend a couple of days writing some folk songs with Stephen Duffy, just for a change,'' says Robbie. EMI. 2005.

From Amazon.co.uk
Stoke's favorite son's sixth studio album marks a new stage in the career of Mr. Robert Peter Williams, Britain's favourite popular entertainer. Severed from his former right-hand man, songwriter Guy Chambers, Intensive Care sees him forging a new partnership with former Lilac Time stalwart Stephen Duffy. The result is his most complete album to date, free from the gimmicky fillers--like "Me and My Monkey" and "Jesus In A Camper Van"--that tended to drag previous efforts down. Never short of cocksure bravado, Robbie starts proceedings off with a modest declaration--"Here I stand victorious, the only man who made you come," but for once he's got the tunes to back up the posturing. There are plenty of classic Robbie tracks, from the ballad-tastic "Advertising Space"--which should see "Angels" relegated to the backbenches--to the public confessional of "The Trouble With Me"; plus some daring departures in between, from the '80s pop fun of "Sin Sin Sin" to the Rolling Stones-like "A Place to Crash", via the Oasis-lite of "Make Me Pure" and the Smiths-esque guitars on "Your Gay Friend." You can't help but feel that Mr. Williams has a point to make with this album, to all the people who said he'd be nothing without Guy Chambers; if that is the case, he couldn't have gone about it a better way than by serving up the best album of his career to date. --Melanie Wilkin

Customer Reviews

Flying undetected below the radar
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

One of the great mysteries of life.
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.

Robbie's Hooked a New Fan in the US
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"