ALBUM REVIEW : Take That – III

A Take That album is kind of like a new season of the ‘X Factor’… You never know who’s going to show up, but it’s generally pretty popular!
There may only be three members left (the Liam, Zayn and Niall equivalents of the band for our younger readers) but ‘III’ reinforces Take That’s position as the ultimate man-band.
First single ‘These Days’ manages to sound both age-appropriate and like something One Direction could proudly pull off.
‘Let In The Sun’ is a bit more Calvin Harris-ey whilst ‘Lovelife’ is an inadvertent sequel to Avicii’s ‘Wake Me Up’.
Elsewhere, ‘Higher Than Higher’ features an annoying, but undeniably memorable, ‘Lifting me up’ refrain and ‘If You Want It’ sounds like a reality show theme song waiting to happen (Justice Crew, eat your heart out!).
Most man-band albums feature a boring ballad or five, but the remarkable thing about ‘III’ is how energetic it sounds.
‘Portrait’ and ‘Flaws’ are both more Coldplay than Westlife, with production that refuses to get monotonous. Its rare that an album is so frenetic, something we are quite grateful for.
It’s not all radical though, with a number of songs sounding similar to the hits from the group’s last album ‘Progress’.
Next single ‘Get Ready For It’ builds in a similar fashion to ‘The Flood’ and ‘I Like It’ is an identical twin to ‘Love, Love’.
One song we can’t decide if we like or not is ‘Give You My Love’. On one hand we like how it flirts with a soul sound, but we can’t decide if we’re digging the Bee Gees-esque falsetto harmonies.
Besides that question mark, we are otherwise very impressed with ‘III’. They may be two members down but with Gary Barlow and Mark Owen’s premier songwriting ability and Howard Donald’s… torso? Ability to avoid tax (!), Take That manages to remain relevant in an industry where youth is everything.

Download : These Days, Lovelife, Portrait.

 Australia's first stop for pop!