19 This Life

 

 

The first time I heard This Life, the title track of the most recent Take That album, was at Capital's Jingle Bell Ball last year. I knew they'd put on a great show and I enjoyed enough of their classics at that point to feel confident I'd have a great time, but this song was a hidden gem in the set. This Life is a bouncy number, less in-your-face than many of their singles but that plays to its advantage and sells the vibe of its parent album well. It held its own amongst the classics in the setlist, too! I think it should've been the lead single from the album in fact, perhaps the reception to the era could've been better with this leading the way instead of Windows?

 

Said It All, Great song, not the best from the Circus album but with so many great songs on one album its hard to come out on top.

Babe I do like Babe and while it was great it went number 1 its annoying that Mr Blobby prevented them getting the Christmas Number 1 as its something they never achieved.

This Life- Along with you and me they are the highlights from the era,

I agree, This Life was my favourite as well and crossed so many generations in its sound. I agree about the tone that it is a good counter to their other songs and a good addition to their canon.

 

It is odd they didn't lead with this considering it was the theme to their podcast in the build up to the first single and an instrumental of it was teased for a good while during the promotion of Windows. Maybe they thought it held more power as a second single to sustain interest?

 

It could have had a fantastic music video, it gives me 1970s New York City vibes.

Edited September 16, 2024Sep 16 by nirvanamusic

This Life from the main album should have been the lead, for me windows was a terrible lead and totally the wrong choice.

18 Relight My Fire (feat. Lulu)

 

 

The great thing about Take That's covers is that most of them weren't of songs that were very popular in their original form. Dan Hartman recorded and released Relight My Fire in 1979, scoring a particularly big hit in the Netherlands, but it didn't make a particularly big splash elsewhere. Take That's version therefore feels like the most notable, obviously hitting #1 in the UK but also charting in a much more vast array of countries. Recruiting Lulu for a guest verse in what is the only example of a featured artist across their singles discography, Relight My Fire has become one of Take That's classic tracks, and it's easy to hear why. The song took what was good about their dance-inspired debut album to become one of their most fun songs, and it's difficult to resist singing along. At the Jingle Bell Ball, I was delighted to see Rita Ora join the group on stage to sing Lulu's verse!

 

Could It Be Magic was my introduction to Take That through my older sisters who must have bought the single as it was on repeat in the car.

 

It is also my favourite from their debut --well the Rapino single mix is not the awful album version-- as it is fun, frantic, energetic, infectious and has a great dance beat as opposed to a softer pop beat. Their momentum was clearly building and this was the right song, production, music video and possibly lead singer?

 

How much of the song's popularity was down to Robbie's charisma and appeal.

 

It was also their first song to break top 10 in some European nations and to go Top 40 in general, including Australia. They were truly on their way now.

 

Overall it would be in my Top 10.

 

I always find it funny nowadays that Take That sing it in full live while Robbie deliberately does a bait-and-switch to cut it short.

 

Robbie’s youthful charisma has a huge amount to do with its success. It’s never quite the same with one of the others singing it.

Relight My Fire is fantastic and such a key song in their setlists. The inclusion of Lulu was unexpected genius --the manager definitely thought outside the box for them-- and she really makes an entrance on the track, taking it to a higher level. It is just a fun track from start to finish, the joy in the lyrics and memorable vocal cues ''all stand up'' etc are just so memorable and infectious.

 

The music video was great and notable at the time for its LGBT representation and culture being displayed prominently as well as Mark's ripped crop top ''junkies baddy powder'' causing a minor stir. Interesting to see Amazon are selling the shirt online, though you would have to cut/rip the bottom part off to match Mark. There are single promo shots of Mark wearing the shirt so clearly they knew what they were doing.

 

The song's production still holds up and it comes on with intent and doesn't let up. It also gave them something different to work with visually. An inspired choice.

Edited September 17, 2024Sep 17 by nirvanamusic

I always find it funny nowadays that Take That sing it in full live while Robbie deliberately does a bait-and-switch to cut it short.

 

Robbie’s youthful charisma has a huge amount to do with its success. It’s never quite the same with one of the others singing it.

 

I'm sure I once saw Robbie say on camera not too long ago that he prefers Everything Changes out of his two Take That leads.

Edited September 17, 2024Sep 17 by nirvanamusic

I love relight my fire and adored it when it was first released, just one of those feel good songs.

17 Hey Boy

 

 

The 2015 re-issue of III saw a brand new single to launch its release, and Hey Boy was a strong choice to breathe a little more life into the first campaign that, unfortunately, painted Take That as a bit of a legacy act chart-wise. The music spoke for itself, though, as Hey Boy continued the electro-pop style the band had become comfortable exploring, borrowing the shared vocal approach from the album's lead single These Days for a really catchy track, that's also sonically unique among their discography. This is definitely one that deserved more of a chance in the chart, but I'm glad it got a single push regardless because it finishes as my second favourite track from the III era!

 

Hey Boy might need a re-evaluation from myself. I remember hearing it at the time and it just didn't click for me. I haven't heard or played it since the release. It is also a song which I might miss were I ever asked to name as many Take That songs in a minute.

 

Forgotten.

16 All Wrapped Up

 

 

Curiously, the two highest songs from This Life are the two that didn't really get a proper single push (which I'm defining as being playlisted by Radio 2). The second track to come from the deluxe was this Mark lead, which I immediately really liked. It's a touching song lyrically (and I don't often notice lyrics that much, so when a song makes me pay attention, that's either really good or really bad!), and I love the way it builds as the song progresses. It's the only Take That song to have entered my personal chart the very week it came out - so far, anyway! It would've been nice for one of the Mark solos to be pushed to radio for a little variety, which could've helped the album slightly, although there's one still to come that I prefer...

 

Hey Boy and All Wrapped Up are both decent songs but there are so many stronger songs from them much lower down your list.

I like the sound and tone of All Wrapped Up, it has a great classic sound to it. This would have been fantastic on Radio 2.

 

The structure of the song and style suits Mark's voice well.

 

I'm just baffled by Windows, no one is saying it's a bad track, however, these later songs deserved that initial attention and spotlight. I didn't even realise You and Me and All Wrapped Up were out until a little later down the line. Hopefully these songs will have a second life and more wider recognition some day.

 

The interesting thing is that when they performed in continental Europe for television promo appearances they chose to perform Where We Are instead of Windows. I think that would have been a good, but not outstanding, lead option.

 

Edited September 17, 2024Sep 17 by nirvanamusic

All wrapped up, you and me and this life are songs that grow on you after each listen, its a pitty none of them managed to chart even in the lower top 100.

15 Brand New Sun

 

 

And here we arrive at the other Mark lead from This Life which got the single treatment (sort of)! Brand New Sun followed Windows as a promotional release, though it wasn't sent to radio, skipped over in favour of the album's title track. It's a slower number than the releases surrounding it, starting out as an acoustic track, before building as the song progresses. I must admit, this song's benefited the most from repeat listens since I started counting down this list, because I initially had it 15-20 places lower!! :o I've been drawn back to it several times, though, and each play has seen me bump it up a little more. It's quickly solidified itself as my favourite song from This Life, given I hadn't heard it until my full album listen last month. Much like All Wrapped Up, it would've been nice for a Mark lead to get a moment on the radio this era, regardless of which song it was. All Wrapped Up would've probably been the bigger radio hit, but my soft spot for this continues to grow.

 

Windows and Brand New Sun were my least favourites from the singles. Good but not as memorable or enjoyable as the ones that followed. This made me a little apprehensive at the time about the album after this track debuted. I wondered if this would be the first studio album of theirs I wouldn't connect with.

 

Once the album was released there were songs I liked on the record and so my fears soon subsided. I think over time other songs from the campaign will have more legs than this one.

Edited September 18, 2024Sep 18 by nirvanamusic

Brand new sun is fine but in a album track way, while i enjoy some of the this life material i definitely haven't connected with it in the same way i have done with their previous releases.

This Life and You and Me are the only songs from This Life that I really love, both I agree could have been heyday hits for Take That.

 

Hey Boy is a really catchy song and I liked it at the time, but was I suppose just too much of a sonic swerve for the core fanbase.

 

Greatest Day I've always found overblown and overrated, the only post return big hit from them that hasn't become a huge favourite of mine. It meanders along trying to sound huge, which it kind of achieves live, but just sounds like one long intro to me in studio form.

I think non Take That Fans seem to enjoy greatest day more than actual take that fans but i could be wrong in saying that