Robbie Williams had has a brilliant career in Britain, and most of the world, with his brand of bold boy-band tunes wheezing in cheeky humor. Often balanced with bundles of soppy Brit-pop ballads that make grown men cry, Williams crossed lines and pushed boundaries with each release.
His latest album Reality Killed the Video Star has sprinkles of shining moments, but nothing on this album comes close to the caliber of hits he bore with former full time partner Guy Chambers.
Teaming up with Trevor Horn for the eighth solo studio album of Robbie’s career, and the first since 2006’s ill-fated Rudebox, the title Reality Killed the Video Star pays tribute to “Video Killed the Radio Star”, the lone 1979 hit by Horn’s former group The Buggles.
Famously noted as the first video MTV ever played, before the music station became a showcase for bad teenage soaps and dumpster reality TV, Williams and Horn come full circle with this collection of melodramatic offerings; much of the album sounds perfect as background music for The Hills.
Reality Killed the Video Star
A double edge sword, Video Killed the Reality Star cuts deep with a handful of genre bending dance grooves but not deep enough to trim the excess fat.
Some of these songs, such as “Morning Sun” and “Blasphemy” sound so much like Robbie’s mid 2000’s disc filler it’s painful. “Bodies”, the lead single, created promise and a brand new musicscape for the singer, filled with interesting bleeps and an electronic groove to die for, that follow up single “You Know Me”couldn’t deliver.
That said both tracks cracked the top ten in the UK, proving once again that the British support their own even when the ship is sinking.
Robbie Williams and Dance Music
In a press release, Robbie said “I want people to feel elated, I want them to dance, I want them to forget about who they are and where they are for 50 minutes.” But fans of Robbie’s dance tracks should take heed that this is by no means a dance album, rather a full fledged pop/rock album with some dazzling dance tunes thrown in.
Drilled down to an dance EP including “Bodies”, “Last Days of Disco”, “Difficult for Weirdos” and bonus track “Arizona”, Reality Killed the Video Star would be a perfect ten and an album worth cheering for. Instead it’s an album perfect for iTunes cherry pickers prepared to pluck the diamonds and leave the unformed lumps of coal.
It’s unclear who this album was intended for. It’s not the album that’ll break him in the US, nor is it the promised danceathon. Instead it’s a used car: not quite a lemon, but rather a marked down convertible from last year – still good enough to drive, but it won’t get many miles.
Robbie William’s divisive album Reality Killed The Video Star is available now.
James W. Coates - A nomad at heart, James W. Coates has been combining his passion for music, writing and traveling ever since his father packed the family ...
