Progressed

A great bonus to an excellent album

Having made a wise and one right marketing decision, Take That took a pause after the release of a very nice record Progress to follow it with another CD, Progressed, in about a year. It would be really easy to consider this record as nothing but an effortless way to harvest funds from delighted fans losing their minds. As a matter of fact, the British band’s new CD is an expanded version of its predecessor bringing to the table eight brand new studio tracks. Take That are far from being pioneers in doing things like that for there have been a great lot of musicians who pulled off releasing two albums on the basis of one. Nevertheless, it would be not quite right to state that without Progress the success of Progressed would be improbability. The new songs, albeit continuing what was begun on the previous release, are sufficient quality works worthy of the listener’s attention.

No point changing anything

The similarity of the covers and titles found between Progress, and Progressed leaves no doubt about the fact that the latter is not just an addition to the former, but the repetition of its music content. So, if you came to like the innovative electric pop offered by the British a year ago, their new record is going to please you none less. The track When We Were Young, the opener to Progressed and the catalogue of the new songs from Take That, witness the band’s reluctance to adjust anything. Their music formula is close to perfection. The timely and flawless introduction of electric guitars (Man) and cool techno beats (Love Love) cast over you associations with Depeche Mode. The falsetto in this music surrounding sounds effective, unexpected and mesmerizing. If you perceive it with sophisticated, obscure lyrics about apocalypse, loneliness and personal collapse, each second track here turns into a true psychedelic piece following the footprints by Pink Floyd. Amongst this material, there are completely different, and this makes them even more attractive, catchy ballads Don’t Say Good Bye, and Wonderful World, whose whole beauty lies in their sincerity and openness, and not in the deep and elusive sense.

Take That is once more a power to be reckoned with

Robbie Williams’ return under the Take That colors, certainly, brought the ensemble back to life. The musicians had no time to warm up and got down to business the same instant. Progress displayed that the British megaband’s members watch closely the current music tendencies and are ready to offer interesting and unique material. Most likely, high sales granted to the following Progressed were not the primary goal at all. The new release by Take That will help the band come back to the heavy rhythm of creative labor and maintain the right conditions. Now we know that one food album is not going to be a flash with quick fading afterwards. Take That are determined to attack charts and best artists ratings once again. Progressed is the best proof to the fact that the British always have a trump card under their sleeve and can drop another lot of top-level music to their fans at any moment. This is one of rare cases when the most exciting part is not the very comeback of an artist, but what this artist is going to bring along with this comeback.