III is doing ok in terms of sales in my view. Don't forget - they have only had one single release from it so far. Hopefully, get ready for it will help the albums fortunes although we know from the past few album campaigns that its more difficult for TT to have a successful second and third single from the album now, unlike in the old days. I hope we get a couple of interesting b sides too.

These days spends its 7th week in the Irish top 10 this week at number 10 and three falls just 2 places to number 12.

III is doing ok in terms of sales in my view. Don't forget - they have only had one single release from it so far. Hopefully, get ready for it will help the albums fortunes although we know from the past few album campaigns that its more difficult for TT to have a successful second and third single from the album now, unlike in the old days. I hope we get a couple of interesting b sides too.

 

What we are looking at is TOTAL sales for III being less than FIRST WEEK sales for Progress.

 

I think we are seeing the end of Take That, at least for now, unless the single for the Greatest Hits is another Rule The World or they have another trick up their sleeve, both of which are unlikely.

What we are looking at is TOTAL sales for III being less than FIRST WEEK sales for Progress.

 

I think we are seeing the end of Take That, at least for now, unless the single for the Greatest Hits is another Rule The World or they have another trick up their sleeve, both of which are unlikely.

 

Even if it were the end of TT album-wise - it wouldn't be the end of them as a (highly profitable) act. I bet in three years time they could still do a totally sell-out tour WITHOUT having released an album (even as a three).

What we are looking at is TOTAL sales for III being less than FIRST WEEK sales for Progress.

 

I think we are seeing the end of Take That, at least for now, unless the single for the Greatest Hits is another Rule The World or they have another trick up their sleeve, both of which are unlikely.

 

They have already said something is happening in 2017, they have a sell out tour, a #1 single and album. That doesn't sound like the end of a band to me...

Even if it were the end of TT album-wise - it wouldn't be the end of them as a (highly profitable) act. I bet in three years time they could still do a totally sell-out tour WITHOUT having released an album (even as a three).

 

I agree. I am sure they would sell out.

They have already said something is happening in 2017, they have a sell out tour, a #1 single and album. That doesn't sound like the end of a band to me...

 

No, it doesn't sound like the end. It is good money for Howard and Mark, but don't you think that Gary Barlow would rather do his own thing, than release another album that didn't make the top 5 about only sold a couple of hundred thousand? It is unusual to say something will happen years ahead, so don't you think another greatest hits and a break up is what they are thinking about? I mean, what else could it be? I do remember when they broke up in the 90s, Gary Barlow said they always wanted to go out on top, and it was either Gary or Mark who said, maybe we will come back in 10 years and do it all over again.

 

As I've said before I think their pride will have been dented with the low sales figures. That said, I genuinely think they love music, songwriting and performing and in some shape or form will continue to do so; regardless of sales figures. In years to come Gary , and perhaps the others with diversify. Gary has already made in roads into musical theatre and the group's been involved in a number of film scores.

 

Kath is right. Take That may be one of those artists who don't need huge albums sales to sell out arenas. The likes of Madonna and Kylie, for example, are not the heavy weights they previously were in the charts, yet they still have sell out tours. The Rolling Stones haven't sold albums in great numbers for god knows how many years but they still make millions from touring. Take That may be lucky enough able to sustain their career through touring; however I do think being relevant in the charts is still very important to them.

As Pippa said, we're fortunate to consider sales of 400k+ low, while Ella and other artists are considered a success with sales under 300k.

I still remember the ecstatic news last year when George Michael's album was hitting the no 1 spot with sales under 50k, if I'm not mistaken.

Of course Progress sold so much when all the media channels in all the countries were raving about the reunion. It was not even about Robbie, it was the story itself that got people intrigued and pushed them to buy the album. I doubt that a second album with Robbie on it would sell as much. It would probably sell more than III, because we'd have 2 fanbases combined, but not as much as Progress.

III is selling within the normal limits for this music age and calling it a flop is more of a projection of one's personal desires than a fact.

 

It's so rare these days to see an artist really passionate about music and Take That really are. Gary's whole live revolves around music and I get the impression Mark and Howard love making music as well. Of course they'd love to be relevant in the charts forever, but they're already at that point in that career where their name precedes them before anything else. As long as they have a small core of fans willing to listen to whatever they put out and as long as they can tour, they'll go on. Out of all the original members, Jason and Robbie were the ones in for success and they have admitted it in one form or another over the years. Jason even went so far as to claim he was doing it more for his family than for himself. The three remaining members enjoy doing what they do and I don't think that their 90s philosophy of going out while they're at the top still applies. In the 90s, Gary was holding all the responsibility for the band's success and that was taking its toll, especially since he was starting his relationship with Dawn and wanted to spend as much time as possible with her. Now that's not the case anymore. They all have happy families and music is more of a hobby than a proper job. I don't think either of them is willing to give that hobby up yet, even if it's not as lucrative as before.

I agree, I think if this album had featured Robbie it would have only sold maybe 200-250k in the first week. Hype wears off. Plus Jason was gone either way and the band feels oddly off kilter without him which is what probably put quite a few people off this era.

 

Visually it looks rather strange without Jason but musically the sound really isn't much different. I think Jay's voice was under used but it wasn't a strong voice so their current sound hasn't altered much at all.

 

I got the impression from documentaries I've seen that Jay wasn't very involved in the song writing and musical side of it and didn't put nearly as much effort in as the others - but that's simply my view.They will miss Jay on tour without a shadow of a doubt ( as I think he came into his own with dance routines ) and so will the fans, but as a three they are still excellent performers and I don't doubt the tour will be exceptionally good.

Here are some options for Take That to come back stronger in their next studio album.

 

1/ Break up and then reform in ten years time

2/ Write another hit as good as Rule the World

3/ An album with guest singers including artists such as Adele, Lulu, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran

4/ A new member of the band, for example Will Young (Gary Barlow would have to let new member take some lead vocals)

5/ Reformation of all five (seems unlikely)

6/ Co-write and star in a new Andrew Loyd Webber hit musical

7/ Reinvent their material/move into a new genre to create a new sound (would be risky)

Edited January 11, 201510 yr by Bond Bug

Double Post

Edited January 11, 201510 yr by Bond Bug

Here are some options for Take That to come back stronger in their next studio album.

 

1/ Break up and then reform in ten years time

2/ Write another hit as good as Rule the World

3/ An album with guest singers including artists such as Adele, Lulu, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran

4/ A new member of the band, for example Will Young (Gary Barlow would have to let new member take some lead vocals)

5/ Reformation of all five (seems unlikely)

6/ Co-write and star in a new Andrew Loyd Webber hit musical

7/ Reinvent their material/move into a new genre to create a new sound (would be risky)

 

Number 5 will happen. The other options (bar 2) are a bit far fetched. 7, they have already done, in every album since BW.

Edited January 11, 201510 yr by jay727

 

Not sure Jason will come back. If he does return in the next few years why the hell did he leave in the first place? If he's fed up of the media and out of love with music I don't see how that will change. Jason was always the most reluctant to return in 2006, so sadly I don't see this option happening.

 

Possible Rob will come back for some kind of anniversary tour. Their sound constantly changes- no two albums have been the same so I can't see reinventing themselves again wouldl lead to greater sales. Hopefully they will write another massive hit, but need to go back to the MOR Take That sound - Patience, RTW etc and that may bring back some of the music public.

 

Can't see them breaking up to reform again - Howard would be late 50's at that point!!!! They will either continue, albeit on a smaller scale and take on individual projects, or they will call it a day.

Their problem and the problem of this thread is the fact that you all see it only from the UK base. The sales in the UK for Britains Top Band are disastrous despite the no 1. But in the rest of Europe like Germany, Holland, Denmark, Italy they sell almost nothing. They will have half empty venues there.

I agree though that their live capacity in Britain can still carry on depending how they can stay strong as three for the old songs. Doing pray as a 3 piece, oh well, Howard singing the Flood, I heard it, horrible...Gary will do allthe leads for the future and that means GB with his 2 backing singers. That isn't TT

 

Just goes to show we all see or hear things differently. I really liked their rendition of the Flood. Howard was clearly nervous but I would have liked him to have sung all of Robbie's part. I've heard Rob sing live and trust me he's not that great ! Regarding Take That's success, most of us are commenting from the perspective of the UK in full knowledge that European sales are negligible. Because a music act only sells in their own country doesn't mean they're somehow less credible or talented than acts that sells across the world.

 

The chances of four men in their mid 30's returning to the music scene after a 10 year hiatus and selling around the world would have been very unlikely to say the very least. The success of Take That second time around should not be undervalued simply because they don't sell worldwide. They've produced quality music since their return and their live shows are amongst the best in the world - and in my opinion their best tours have been without Rob with Progress being their weakest since their 2006 comeback.

 

 

The reaction by some is baffling at times, Take That really only concentrated on UK success since they came back, European success was not their big aim, at the time they did say they were married or had families this time round so the priorities were different. The focus was on the UK but that a side, Three is hardly selling in disastrous numbers, im also a big Kylie fan, her last album hasnt sold 80,000 copies yet, while i can take or leave Madonna her last album was lucky to make 100,000. How many acts that done well in the 90's are selling albums in such good numbers as Take That. Some people are judging it purely on the success of their previous huge selling albums, Take That were very lucky to have 3 huge selling studio albums as many acts only manage that once. If their previous albums were not the monster success they were Three would be seen as hugely successful.

 

Your right - they made a conscious decision to focus on the UK. There were some half hearted attempts to booster their profile in Europe and Japan but I don't think they had the fight for it. It would have involved constant travelling and time away from their families, and they simply didn't want to do it.

 

That said, regardless of persistent promotion I think sales abroad would still have been relatively small. The pop business is mostly for the young and although mid 30's isn't old it makes it that much harder to break down barriers.

No serious work has gone into promoting outside the UK, i know even here in Ireland the only promotion i have seen for all their studio releases has been 1 appearance on the late late show per album release and i do remember them been interviewed on the late late show for either the beautiful world album or the circus album where they said the focus would be the Uk due to family commitments, they said first time around it was all about career plus this time round they had more say in their careers.

 

Progress done better in Europe due to the involvement of Robbie with some of those European sales almost automatic where Robbie fans bought the album as he was involved. They do seem to have put in some effort for German sales and Gary did likewise with since i saw you last but again his solo focus was very UK driven.

 

I also like to look at Boyzone, Blue and to a lesser extent (UK wise) Backstreet Boys, and how their comebacks were recieved. Boyzone was seen as a huge success when the comeback album went platinum, a lot of their hype was due to the fact Stephen Gately had suddenly passed away, (RIP Stephen) but nonetheless it generated sales for them, album sales climate were in general much higher then but their platinum sales was seen as a huge success. Blue made the top 20 and diseappeared quickly and Backsteet Boys hardly mustered up much interest when both of these bands were huge in their in day with a massive fan base.

 

Here we are with the fourth studio release of Take Thats comeback, 5th album if you count progressed separately to progress, 7th release if you include the live albums and 8th if you include the ultimate collection and Take That are still managing number 1 selling albums and singles, with sales in 6 weeks that are better than many acts dream off in the life span of an album but it appears that some people seem to view it like they struggled to make the top 10 and have sold less than 50,000 copies.

 

The success of the previous albums was never going to last, just like Adele for example will never ever match the sales that 21 reached ever again, even if her next album sells 1 million in the UK it will be deemed a failure by many. In reality 21 was and will be the peak of her career, we as Take That fans were lucky to experience them at the peak of their career with 3 studio albums this time round and a successful album that is three.

 

Sales may have decreased since their previous releases but they are still managing to sell in the same numbers as current acts that are viewed as big such as Coldplay and Paolo Nutini. Current boybands The Vamps and 5 Seconds of Summer have sold far less than Take That with far more hype and granted One Direction have sold more than Take That with their current album the sales gap is not huge considering One Direction are seen as the biggest pop band on the planet at the moment. Take That have managed a number 1 single where One Direction have not off their current album and final sales for both their lead singles will be fairly similar by the time both leave the charts. In my view thats not bad going at all for a band who are on the seen for almost 25 years. How many other UK acts can say that?