The problem with III is the lack of singles, in its entirety its a good album but it does lack hit singles and it lacks a big Take That ballad, they need a big ballad as the next single to capture the music buying public again. If they are writing new songs im sure it will be for a deluxe re-release for III but they need to launch that with a good ballad. I like let in the sun but there was something missing in the Brit performance but what it was im not quite sure.

 

There is no denying the interest has dropped in Take That, why is probably a mixture of things but its interesting to see that the album is holding up the best from all the big quarter 4 releases, take that are having a steadier chart run than One Direction and are also currently well above Olly Murs who all released around the same time. Another point is Take That are still outselling Pink Flyod's endless river album which had huge hype last year so in context of those releases three is doing very well.

I'm not sure its as simple as promotion or lack of. Artists like Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran et al don't promote that heavily on TV. However, they do get extensive radio play on all stations including Radio 1. TT get good radio airplay through Radio 2, Heart etc but obviously miss out on Radio 1.

 

One review of their War Child gig pointed out that it wasn't a sell out and someone else made a remark along the lines of ... who would have thought Jason would be the deciding factor in them not selling out arenas. There are undoubtedly some who do not like TT as a three - as a massive fan I also find it strange watching just the three of them as visually it looks so different. Losing one member when there's five doesn't change the dynamic too much, dropping down to three from four most certainly does.

 

I think the issue of TT's falling popularity is a really interesting one. I've mentioned my thoughts on the matter before and I believe a range of factors play a part. However, above all else it comes down to the musical output, and whilst I and many others like lll it really isn't strong enough in terms of capturing the floating buyer. I think they've deviated away from their earlier comeback sound and consequently they've struggled to retain the public's support.

 

Their next album, if there is one, needs to focus on recapturing their previous sound and they do need to promote along the lines of Audience with to re capture some fans who have drifted away.

 

I think that was the journalist from The Guardian. She had that line prepared even before she saw that the venue was full, because that line was suggested by an idiot on twitter (I saw the whole conversation between the 2, so I know for sure it's true). She saw that there were tickets available (because TT put out some last minute tickets, although the initial ones had been all sold out) and she stated it on twitter, at which point some witted idiot suggested that Jason might have had more fans than anyone believed. And the journalist was so delighted that she said that line would make it into the article - which it did. But she admitted herself in the same article that there was not one empty seat in the whole venue.

Caroline Sullivan‏@TheCSullivan

I'm at Take That's gig at Shepherd's Bush Empire, which, strangely, isn't sold out. Why is this?

 

Hasief Ardiasyah ‏@hasief Feb 23

@TheCSullivan Jason Orange had more fans than anyone ever imagined?

 

Caroline Sullivan ‏@TheCSullivan Feb 23

@hasief That's brilliant. It's going into my review.

 

TT might not have the same amount of fans they used to, but they can still fill venues, that's for sure.

I agree that the tax scandal had a big impact. I just hope that the fans that have stuck with them so far will be there for future records as well, so that they can make music for as long as they want to, even if they won't set the charts alight anymore. I want them to have hit after hit, but most of all, I want to enjoy their music.

Personally, for me, many of the songs on III are better than what I've heard from Ed Sheeran or Sam Smith (I'm aware these are just my personal tastes, so it's not a dig on these 2 artists). Ed and Sam have been supported by radio stations and hyped big time, so it's natural for them to sell loads, I'd say with minimum promotion, but that's not exactly true, since I saw them everywhere. We'll just have to wait and see if, in 20 years time, they can still sell this much without much help.

Edited March 2, 201510 yr by milly

On sales alone, Let In the Sun charted at 93. Streaming works against TT once again :(

And III isn't even in top 100 of the albums streaming chart :(

The album could have charted so much higher if people had streamed it. But it goes to show they can still be relevant on sales alone.

Edited March 2, 201510 yr by milly

I hope they do bring out a deluxe/tour edition. I wonder if waiting 2 years again for the next record is a wise move? 4 years was always too long to wait in my opinion

 

Do we know where LITS ended up this week? Can't have missed the top 100 by much?

Edited March 2, 201510 yr by jay727

Do we know when LITS is officially released? The Universal store site says that the CD will be released on March, 9, but the official chart company says the single is released today.

This is gonna be a mess.

I too am confused as to what is the release date for let in the sun. I know streaming is against them to an extent but i did think it would harm them more than it has done. Apart from a tour/deluxe/re-release of Three the next album is sure to be a greatest hits to celebrate their anniversary.

 

Does anyone know the position for Let In the Sun for this week?

 

Considering the Brits effect Three has performed well last week and it should achieve a further 5,000 sales minimum.

I think we'll have another album of original material before the Greatest Hits album. Mark said that they're back in the studio, writing, so it's either a whole new album or new songs to be included on the Greatest Hits album.

Jay your right, one of the main mistakes they made was to wait four years between album releases but I get the impression that it was down to the Jason situation. I believe the tax issue has had a significant impact on TT's popularity, I really do. They were thrown under the bus by the press. There have been recent tax stories in the press involving David Beckham and Robbie - but the back lash has been minimal,

 

Ed and Sam have undoubtedly had enormous radio play and in a way have filled the void left by Adele in terms of blanket exposure on the air waves. Ed's album is great and worthy of the accolades its received but i'm somewhat puzzled by Sam's success. The album is really patchy and this may be a unpopular opinion but I find his voice very whinny and rather difficult to listen to for too long.

 

I hope that TT don't try and go for another different sound. I like the fact that they try various sounds but as others have said the need a really big ballad and a return to their trade mark sound: good vocals, strong harmonies and no voice distortion!

 

Interesting to read the story regarding War Child- I was surprised when I read the venue wasn't full because weeks previously it was sold out so it makes sense now.

So, These Days seems to have sold ~6000 copies last week and III ~ 7000 -7500 copies. I guess that's not too bad.

Do we know approximately the overall figures both for These Days and III?

 

It would have been nice to know where LITS charted, based on sales+streaming.

The download version of the single is released today:

DawBell @DawBell

Morning #Thatters! This week sees the release of @takethat's #LetInTheSun!

 

This makes no sense. They should have waited till the CD-s were ready.

Besides, the only iTunes and Amazon versions are the album ones.

Edited March 2, 201510 yr by milly

Why do they always mess up their releases? So annoying. I thought they had finally got it right again with These Days after the diabolical scheduling of every progress single (still amazes me that they performed the week after the flood was released)

 

III is on 440k

These Days is 360k

 

 

Let in the Sun debuts at #69 in Scotland at least

Edited March 2, 201510 yr by jay727

There has been a serious issue with the handling of single releases for a long time and sadly its worse it seems to getting. I cant understand why they cant tie all format releases together.

There's also another problem. The fact that the only version available is the album one stops fans from downloading the song again from iTunes. They have already downloaded it when they downloaded the whole album, so they can't do it again. And many of them won't bother downloading from Amazon or HMV :(

A single version most certainly needs to be added. I often question the decisions made on promoting singles, it appears its multiple people organising it when no one filling the other in, that results in incoherent marketing all round.

If they had chosen to release it last week, it could have charted quite decently: the effect of the Brits + the CD-s + the fans' downloads. It could have charted in top 70 for sure.

Now we'll be lucky if it charts at all :(

And there's absolutely no promotion. Most fans aren't even aware that it's been released. :cry:

 

You know LITS isn't doing well when even Let Me Go is more downloaded from Amazon.

Edited March 3, 201510 yr by milly

The promotion and awareness of the single is poor, also all formats should have been released at the same time, the handling of the single has cost them a chart placing. I am tired of the bad handling of the singles for a while now, and now more than ever they need to get it right with every single release.

No sign of LITS in the midweeks. :cry:

Album's at 25, but I expect it to end up higher on Sunday.

Disappointing not to see LITS in the top 100, These Days remains top 100 at number 92 so we have something. Album remaining steady for another week, double platinum is starting to look like a struggle as sales will be low for a while. We need that big ballad to relaunch a deluxe release if that is the route they are intending to head in.

We need a brand new single in the same vein as love love or rule the world that people won't have on III.

 

They are being interviewed by little ant and dec on sat so no performance either

The no performance is a wasted opportunity, i hope they at least mention they have a new single out and even a small snippet is played of let in the sun in the introductory part of take that coming on.