[Scarlett.]

He is very big in Germany

[Scarlett.]

GARY BARLOW rates it. JAMES CORDEN loved it. Even PHIL "The Power" TAYLOR said it was a cracker.

And I reckon ROBBIE WILLIAMS's eighth album, Reality Killed The Video Star, is his best since 2002's Escapology.

I've had a listen to the ex-TAKE THAT star's latest effort and it's a No1 hit. Simple as that.

It's just what his army of loyal fans have been waiting three long years for.

Some interesting themes crop up on the 51-minute, 13-track release, out on November 9.

There's the obligatory girlfriend track about AYDA FIELD, the woman responsible for sorting his life out.

There's another which definitely isn't about her, with some cheeky wrist-related lyrics - and he's not talking about tossing pancakes.

I got my hands on a Press copy of Rob's new CD which he released under the pseudonym Luke Moody to defy internet pirates.

It probably won't attract a legion of new followers - the album, with Rob posing on a motorbike on the sleeve, is hardly modern.

But legendary knobs and dials man TREVOR HORN has steered Rob back on course.

Hats off to him for returning to a winning formula.
Muckers

It's genuinely something for fans to get excited about. And like his old Take That muckers, the songs will sound even better live with a stadium audience singing it back to him.

Rob is currently hanging out with his old bandmates in New York.

He flew in from LA to surprise MARK OWEN for his stag do.

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He was also seen hanging out in the studio with the lads because he was invited to hear the first mix of their upcoming live album.

Here's my track-by-track review of Rob's CD.

1. MORNING SUN: Has the feel of a Carpenters/Burt Bacharach ballad. Lyrics about astronauts and space crop up. One of the top three songs on the album.

2. BODIES: I rate this first single. This could be an Ian Brown track. The best song here.

3. YOU KNOW ME: The second single. Has to be the song on the album about Ayda Field. Only criticism - backing vocals sound like Sir Paul McCartney's Frog Chorus.

4. BLASPHEMY: Big string arrangement. Rob's vocal is impressive, even though it's one of the weaker songs.

5. DO YOU MIN My least favourite song. A bit of a filler.

6. LAST DAYS OF DISCO: Has a Pet Shop Boys, electro sound to it. Trevor Horn stamped all over it.

7. SOMEWHERE: A 60-second string arrangement with good vocal.

8. DECEPTACON: Hints about missing UK, with lyric "goodbye to Deceptacons" - his word for LA parasites. Great tune.

9. STARSTRUCK: Could be another ode to LA life. Great lyrics. "Everybody's famous", "Knock one off the wrist". Ahem.

10. DIFFICULT FOR WEIRDOS: Electro-tinkering and effects on Rob's voice. Pet Shop Boys-esque again.

11. SUPERBLIN Classic cocky Robbie, contemplating his future. "I'm the genius behind me. What will they think, when they think about me?" Top.

12. WON'T DO THAT& 13. MORNING SUN REPRISE: Rob introduces brass for the final fanfare. A rousing, upbeat finish.

The Sun

[Iceman]

Sounds like a right classic...

[Scarlett.]

Indeed, from the CD cover you can tell he just wants to please he fans with this one (and not try and attract new ones like with Rudebox xD)

[Iceman]

Whens it out by the way?

[Scarlett.]

9th November

I just love the title, seeing as the Producer is the one who sung Video killed the radio star xD

[Iceman]

I know I like the double meaning thing..

was reading about what he was going to call it....

[Scarlett.]

lol Il Protaganisto? xD I would have had trouble remembering that

he also quite liked Politebox

[Iceman]

I know yeah I wouldnt have been able to remember it, but then again, I thought I'd have trouble remembering Arctics first album : Whatever people Say I Am That's What I'm Not...

[Scarlett.]

Lol, that probably another reason it was changed xD

[Iceman]

anyway im off to the land of nod, my bed has stopped calling me and is now throwing things at me.....

[Scarlett.]

haha okay

Night Iceman

[Iceman]

Night!!:xyxwa ve::sleep :

[Scarlett.]

[Princess]

I saw an article the other day,saying they were going into an album war together,besides TT's and Rob's albums being released 3 weeks apart,silly media

[Scarlett.]

Lol I saw that too, they manage to connect anything about Robbie to Take That

[Scarlett.]

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[Scarlett.]

Robbie Williams says his new album Reality Killed The Video Star marks a "turning point" in his career.

Out on 9 November, it is his first record since 2006's poorly received electro experiment Rudebox - which nonetheless reached number one around the world.

The new record is an eclectic collection of songs which wears its influences on its sleeve.

Here is a track-by-track guide to the Trevor Horn-produced album.

1. MORNING SUN

The simple piano chords and lush strings that herald the return of Robbie immediately begin the job of wooing back the audience alienated by Rudebox.

Morning Sun starts out as an update of an Elton John ballad before late-period Beatles cellos propel the song forward, and it quickly becomes a full-on Sgt Pepper-style rock out - musically and lyrically - complete with full orchestra and choir. The lyrics were rewritten to pay tribute to Michael Jackson following his death.

A strong opening statement of intent.

Key lyric: "The morning brings the mystery, the evening makes it history, tell me how do you rate the morning sun?"

2. BODIES

The album's first single, Bodies, has been described by the singer's PR machine as an "apocalyptic conspiracy-laden" song. The epic Trevor Horn production certainly backs that statement up, and brings the familiar Williams sound firmly into 2009.

A false chorus of "bodies in the Bodhi Tree, bodies making chemistry" is replaced by the real thing - "all we've ever wanted, is to look good naked" - which slams in from nowhere.

The Gregorian chant-style elements narrowly manage to avoid sounding like muzak purveyors Enigma, while Horn brings back 1980s orchestral stabs to glorious effect.

Key lyric: "And if Jesus really died for me, then Jesus really tried for me."

3. YOU KNOW ME

If the older members of his across-the-board fanbase were tempted back by Morning Sun, this nod to 1950s doo-wop will have them boogie-ing alongside their grandchildren at one of the inevitable Williams tour dates.

The out-and-out retro kitsch of this nostalgic tale of lost love - complete with Stand By Me-style strings - is unlike anything he has recorded before. This song couldn't be further removed from the rapping and electro experimentation of Rudebox.

Key lyric: "Since you went away, my heart breaks every day, you don't know 'cos you're not there."

4. BLASPHEMY

Warm strings and piano again set the tone for this song, the melody and instrumentation of which could have come straight from a West End musical.

Lyrically, Williams tries very hard and, by and large, pulls it off: "What's so great about the Great Depression. Was it a blast for you because it's blasphemy."

Blasphemy sounds like a natural sibling to I Will Talk And Hollywood Will Listen - an underrated gem written by Williams and former writing partner Guy Chambers for 2001's Swing When You're Winning.

No coincidence, then, that Blasphemy was also co-written by Chambers.

Key lyric: "Our deaf and dumb dinners, there's gravy in the mud."

5. DO YOU MIND?

Robbie does Mick Jagger.

Throwaway filler.

Key lyric: "Do, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh you mind? If I, I-I, I, I, I-I, I touch you."

6. LAST DAYS OF DISCO

Last Days of Disco, with its Eurythmics synths and 808 snare drum, would have sat more comfortably on Rudebox than Reality Killed The Video Star and thus fails to move "Brand Williams" forward.

Self-confessed Pet Shop Boys fanatic Williams is clearly pleased as punch at working with their one-time collaborator Horn. As the track progresses, the veteran producer sprinkles his magic dust on it. He just about succeeds in making it sound like a passable Pet Shop Boys B-side.

Key lyric: "Don't call it a comeback, look what I invented here, I thought it was easy, they took it away from us, the last days of disco."

7. SOMEWHERE

A one minute orchestral aside which, again, would work well as a musical theatre recitative.

Key lyric: "You take your chance in life, go out and find a wife, don't get stuck in the state I'm in."

8. DECEPTACON

The opening filtered piano chords of Deceptacon break out into shimmering space-age harmonies and get the album right back on track.

Lyrically, there are again shades of the Beatles' imagery, while a Bowie Space Oddity influence can also be heard: "From all of us there to all of you, to all over here, we wish you all of the best, all of the year, she said 'well he's never been quite right'."

A real grower.

Key lyric: "And all over Britain, we wait for permission to form another queue."

9. STARSTRUCK

Since recording this track, Williams has admitted to being a huge fan of Big Brother, but that doesn't stop him taking a pop at "today's fame epidemic" through the medium of catchy mid-paced pop, underpinned by a gently throbbing bassline.

In the chorus, both the arrangement and Williams' vocal come over all George Michael - in a good way. The song, which is reminiscent of Rudebox's standout track Lovelight, could well be a single.

Key lyric: "Ready steady go, everybody famous, everyone you know, why'd it take you ages?"

10. DIFFICULT FOR WEIRDOS

Williams is a self-confessed Pet Shop Boys fanatic
A song about not fitting in, Difficult For Weirdos is another track on which Williams' influences can clearly be heard. Its initial synth strings are eerily reminiscent of Depeche Mode's Enjoy The Silence.

Not for the first time in his career, Williams does a Neil Tennant impression while a vocoder effect adds to the robotic feel of the track. The French horn-led orchestral breakdown is Trevor Horn's finest moment on the album and harks back to his work on Tennant and Chris Lowe's Left To My Own Devices.

This time, the producer's magic dust makes Difficult For Weirdos sound, in parts, like a Pet Shop Boys A-side.

Key lyric: "Psycho-evolution your pollution, makes it difficult for weirdos, just another humanoid reaction to the voices in this town."

11. SUPERBLIND

Superblind, co-written by Williams's tour bassist Fil Eisler, begins with a programmed drum beat, strummy acoustic guitar and some laidback electronic piano before a "proper" drum fill signals the arrival of the melodic chorus.

The crashing guitars and descending string lines are reminiscent of the likes of Millennium and the instrumental break on Angels. Unlike the other tracks on the album, however, Williams fails to reign in his much-maligned propensity for sounding self obsessed.

Key lyric: "I can't help thinking about me, put a thought in for me, I'm the genius behind me, maybe I shouldn't have said it. Here's to the next century, what will they think when they think about me?"

12. WON'T DO THAT TO YOU

Williams says this brass-led feelgood song with its Motown-style chorus is his "very first love song". Presumably written about his current girlfriend Ayda Field, it is bursting with vitality - and the energetic repetition of the title in the chorus has radio play written all over it.

It's the happiest-sounding Williams song since 2003's number one single Something Beautiful which, coincidentally, is sonically similar to Won't Do That To You. Lyrics such as "I don't mind when the boys look at you, if I were them I'd be doing it too" are even forgivable in the context of throwaway pop that really works.

Key lyric: "I won't do that to you, won't do that to yo-u, do that to you, I wouldn't do that to you."

13. MORNING SUN (REPRISE)

Proceedings are brought to a close by a brief restatement of the opening track. In summary, Reality Killed The Video Star begins with some of Williams's strongest songs for years, falters halfway through before reigniting with a handful of standout tracks, including Starstruck and Won't Do That To You.


BBC

[Scarlett.]

Aka the Greatest Hits

[Scarlett.]

Robbie Williams's comeback show will be screened in cinemas around the world, it has been announced.

The concert - which will take place at the BBC's Electric Proms in London on October 20 - will be shown in almost 200 movie theatres in 23 countries.

Williams said: "It's very exciting to think that a one-off performance I play in London can now be seen simultaneously by people all across the world."

This will be the popstar's first major show since 2006 and will see him perform songs from his new album Reality Killed The Video Star.

Fans will be able to buy tickets from October 9.

Digital Spy

[Scarlett.]

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[Scarlett.]

In case you missed it

Next Sunday

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[Harry!]

Cant wait for Robbie on X Factor.

My top 5 Robbie songs by the way (1= the best).

5. Rock DJ
4. Kids
3. Radio
2. Rudebox
1. Tripping

[Scarlett.]

Mine are:

5. Let me entertain you
4. Angels
3. Bodies
2. Advertising Space
1. The Road to Mandalay

[Twilight]

Cant wait for him to be on the X Factor