Am I one of those download group . I could not wait for the CD which I guess is on it's way. Any idea what country are they shipped from :unsure:

 

Very exclusive group if you are Tess :P

 

Very exclusive group if you are Tess :P

 

 

 

I'm a big believer in progression Laura :lol:

Mine arrived today :cheer:

 

On the movie tonight -I really enjoyed the movie version of Rock DJ - it's great. I think they could have squeezed in a few more of Robbie's songs in the film though.

 

Fancy missing out No Regrets? It's pivotal isn't it? :blink:

 

and Strong - the lyrics to both those songs are telling exactly the same story as the movie. I would have thought they would be obvious choices.

Of course, we would like more songs... Too many in his back catalog... Just wow when you want to choose the best ones...

 

Anyway, in the credits after Forbidden Road there is Feel again.

Maybe at least there they could put another one? Which one would you like to add there? ;)

 

This is my choice, exactly this Guy's instrumental version:

 

 

Or this

 

 

----

 

New interview with Alex Tucker:

 

I think Misunderstood would fit in very well with the storytelling in the movie

 

Tryin' to be misunderstood

Just a product of my childhood

And still I find myself outside

You can't say I haven't tried

Perhaps I tried too hard

No excuses, won't apologise

Or justify your lies

Come find me, tell them to me

Look me in the eyes

 

 

 

 

I have been looking at a lot of Rob's old videos in recent days & can see lots of new comments by folk who have not been aware of him or his songs & more who have come to revisit his songs which is really nice to see.

 

 

Some really nice comments underneath also , eg:

 

@Jayslo1357

4 days ago

Its strange that as legendary a performing artist is he, the world seemed to unexplainably tired of him and all of a sudden his work was no longer appreciated for so long. Whilst the publics reaction to him has been inconsistent over the years, its a good to see we're all waking up to what he brought to the table and we are all ready to respect him like he should have always been respected 🎉

Edited January 22Jan 22 by Sydney11

I remember I loved the video to MIsunderstood back in the day :wub:

@1882333706242986048

 

<_<

Yes, Misunderstood time was very pleasant period.

Agree with you about good adding.

 

I love Misunderstood, I love Heaven from here. I still love his work with Stephan Duffy/Intensive Care, maybe because it was the time I became a fan and I remember that every old video I saw on youtube was like a revelation of something great.

I love Misunderstood, I love Heaven from here. I still love his work with Stephan Duffy/Intensive Care, maybe because it was the time I became a fan and I remember that every old video I saw on youtube was like a revelation of something great.

 

 

I love that album too Elisabeth, a beautiful body of work & I appreciate it more every time I listen to IC . I am sure there are more unreleased SD/RW songs that I would just love to hear :)

Edited January 24Jan 24 by Sydney11

Pretty good week for him -a number one album and his movie gets an Oscar nomination ^_^

Pretty good week for him -a number one album and his movie gets an Oscar nomination ^_^

 

 

It's been great & continues to be .. :)

 

SPOTLIGHT - SOUTH AFRICA

 

Copying the same news here because it's Better Man OST gave him this achievement!

 

Thanks to JosephBoone for a great stats again !

 

 

Albums

 

 

01 43,238 Robbie Williams - Better Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [21,266 CDs, 21,314 cassettes, 117 downloads, 541 streaming]

02 9,404 Sabrina Carpenter - Short n' Sweet

03 9,347 Gracie Abrams - The Secret of Us

04 7,807 SZA - SOS

05 7,277 The Weeknd - The Highlights

06 7,224 Ed Sheeran - +–=÷× (TOUR COLLECTION)

07 6,784 Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

08 6,023 Fleetwood Mac - 50 Years: Don't Stop

09 6,001 Elton John - Diamonds

10 5,613 Noah Kahan - Stick Season

 

11 5,418 Billie Eilish - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT

16 4,756 Mac Miller - Balloonerism

25 3,629 David Gray - Dear Life

27 3,556 Hozier - Hozier

30 3,274 Bob Dylan - The Very Best of Bob Dylan

 

53 2,563 Fred again.. - ten days [1,898 vinyl]

 

xxx 961 Franz Ferdinand - The Human Fear

xxx 729 Lola Young - This Wasn't Meant for You Anyway [total: 7,687]

 

It’s a ‘fab’ week for Robbie Williams, whose Better Man debuts at No.1 on the artist album chart, putting him equal with The Beatles at the top of the all-time list of acts with most No.1s.

 

The 15th such excursion to the chart summit by the 50-year-old from Stoke-On-Trent since he left Take That in 1995, Better Man is the soundtrack to the biographical musical depiction of Williams’ life, in which he is portrayed by a CGI chimp. The soundtrack includes fresh versions of material originally recorded by Take That and by Williams solo, as well as new material. Despite it being credited to Williams, much of the album is sung by others, principally Adam Tucker as ‘young Robbie Williams’, with additional vocals from Tom Bales, Carter J. Murphy, Kayleigh McKnight and League Of Gentlemen/Inside No.9 legend Steve Pemberton. It qualifies as a Williams album as Robbie does provide some vocals for all but one track – Feel, on which he plays a mellotron throughout.

 

Available digitally since last month without charting, Better Man’s No.1 debut was fuelled by consumption of 43,238 units – the highest tally for a No.1 for eleven weeks. The newly released CD contributed 21,266 sales, with digital downloads accounting for a further 117 units and sales equivalent streams for 541 – but the surprise here was how spectacularly the two £8.99 cassette variants (same songs, different artwork) contributed, with a combined sale of 21,314.

 

Better Man thus secures the highest weekly sale for an artist cassette for slightly more than 25 years - in the week leading up to Christmas 1999, Shania Twain’s Come On Over was No.1 with sales of 277,894, of which cassettes accounted for 25,684. The last time any cassette album had a higher sale was in week 31 2001, when compilation Now That’s What I Call Music! 49’s overall sales of 274,528 units included 21,492 cassettes. Williams’ previous personnel record for most sales on cassette in a week is 18,007, set by I’ve Been Expecting You in Christmas week 1998.

 

On top of his considerable solo success, Williams has also topped the chart with Take That, being a full member of the band when Everything Changes (1993) and Nobody Else (1995) were No.1, and rejoining them for 2010 chart-topper Progress. He also contributed to most tracks on their 1996 No.1 compilation, Greatest Hits and some on subsequent (2018) hits package, Odyssey. He could therefore be said - depending on how strictly you interpret his presence on the hits sets - to have had 18, 19 or even 20 number one albums. The higher total is beaten only by Paul McCartney (23, including those 15 Beatles titles).

 

Williams’ career album sales as a soloist total 20,924,037, with his top titles being Greatest Hits (2,683,271 sales), I’ve Been Expecting You (2,624,317 sales) and Swing When You’re Winning (2,459,517 sales). 17,096,439 of those sales have occurred in the 21st century, making him the No.1 artist of the era, with Coldplay (15,591,555 sales) as runners-up. Among solo artists, Williams’ nearest 21st century rivals are Ed Sheeran (14,024,702 sales) and Adele (13,234,037 sales).

 

Its consumption falling 6.77% week-on-week to 9,404 units – the first time it has dropped below 10,000 units - Short N’ Sweet, is nevertheless No.2 for the fifth week in a row, and the 16th time in 22 weeks since its release for Sabrina Carpenter. No album has spent so many weeks at No.2 so quickly, though Ed Sheeran’s X and Divide ultimately spent 20 and 17 weeks at No.2 respectively, while Adele’s 21 also has a higher career tally of 18 weeks at No.2.

 

Back in the Top 10 after an absence of eight weeks, and achieving its highest chart placing since it debuted 30 weeks ago at No.1, The Secret Of Us jumps 14-3 for Gracie Abrams, following its release on expanded deluxe CD and vinyl editions. Its consumption jumps 89.55% week-on-week to 9,347 units.

 

The rest of the Top 10: SOS (4-4, 7,807 sales) by SZA, The Highlights (6-5, 7,277 sales) by The Weeknd, +-=÷× Tour Collection (5-6, 7,224 sales) by Ed Sheeran, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess (1-7, 6,784 sales) by Chappell Roan, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (8-8, 6,023 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, Diamonds (7-9, 6,001 sales) by Elton John and Stick Season (10-10, 5,613 sales) by Noah Kahan.

 

Exiting the Top 10: Hit Me Hard And Soft (9-11, 5,418 sales) by Billie Eilish and, plunging out of the Top 200 (961 sales), last week’s No.3, The Human Fear by Franz Ferdinand.

 

Released two days before what would have been his 33rd birthday, rapper Mac Miller’s second posthumous release since his 2018 death, and seventh album in all, Balloonerism debuts at No.16 (4,756 sales). It is his fifth chart album and third Top 20 entry.

 

56-year-old singer/songwriter David Gray’s 12th studio album, Dear Life, debuts at No.25 (3,629 sales). It is his ninth consecutive charted studio set, easily surpassing the No.53 peak of his last, 2021’s Skellig. Gray’s breakthrough fourth album, White Ladder, was released in 1999, first charted in 2000, houses five Top 40 singles including his biggest hit Babylon (No.5), and is the 15th biggest -seller of the 21st century with sales of 3,144,309 units alongside its paltry 45-week 20th century total of 8,299.

 

When it debuted 19 weeks ago at No.7, 1,705 of the 8,166 sales of Fred Again..’s Ten Days album were on vinyl. Said format contributed only 21 sales subsequently but has finally been replenished, accounting for 1,898 of the album’s total consumption of 2,563 units in the latest frame, enabling it to resume its chart career after a hiatus of 17 weeks at No.53.

 

While Hozier’s 2014 BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge cover of Arctic Monkeys’ Do I Wanna Know belatedly becomes his fourth Top 20 hit, his eponymous 2013 No.3 debut album – on whose expanded edition it is a track – enjoys a new nine-year high, jumping 35-27 (3,556 sales).

 

The box office success of dramatized Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown – in which Timothée Chalamet plays the role of Dylan – sparks interest in Dylan’s 2013 No.16 compilation, The Very Best Of, which jumps 98-30 (3,274 sales), securing its highest chart placing for more than 11 years. The film’s soundtrack album – on which Chalamet appears on 17 of the 23 songs – jumps 146-42 (362 sales) on the compilation chart.

 

The soundtrack to the film Wicked is No.1 on the compilation chart for the ninth week in a row on consumption of 7,037 units (724 CDs, 398 vinyl albums, 191 digital downloads and 5,724 sales-equivalent streams).

 

With Robbie Williams’ Better Man making a hefty 98.71% contribution, cassette album sales soared 3,599.33% week-on-week to 21,773 units, their highest level since week 51, 2002. Cassette sales last year, at 137,373, were 29.33% down year-on-year at their lowest level since 2020. They were at their lowest ebb since their late 1960s introduction in 2013, when OCC recorded just 3,763 units.

 

Their worst ever week, however, was in week-ending 21 June 2014 when just 18 of that year’s grand total of 4,340 cassettes were sold, with a 1996 spoken word release, Memories Of 1966 at No.1 for Geoff Hurst & Martin Peters, with just four sales. Hurst & Peters were footballers who scored the goals in England’s 4-2 win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final, and the cassette – a double – saw them share memories with Iain McNay, now, as then, chairman of Cherry Red Records, on which label the album was released.

 

Overall album sales are up 2.32% week-on-week at 2,473,944 units, 6.92% above same week 2024 sales of 2,313,821. Physical product accounts for 298,248 sales, 12.06% of the total.

 

Bonus Information

 

Single Totals

2,259,100 The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun

1,213,281 The Beatles - Let It Be

1,105,006 The Beatles - Hey Jude

1,081,985 The Beatles - Come Together

1,000,008 The Beatles - Twist and Shout [3,374 units this week]

132,686 The Beatles - Baby It's You

 

Album Totals

2,683,271 Robbie Williams - Greatest Hits

2,624,317 Robbie Williams - I've Been Expecting You

2,459,517 Robbie Williams - Swing When You're Winning

 

The soundtrack album contains a mixture of rerecorded versions of some of Robbie Williams’ solo hits with featured vocalists, a Take That song (Relight My Fire) and some songs written specifically for the film. It becomes Williams’ fifteenth number one album. His combined total of 22 number one singles and albums (excluding those with Take That) match the numbers achieved by Ed Sheeran, Eminem, the Rolling Stones and, erm, Westlife. Only Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Madonna have had more. Those number ones have occupied the top spot for 49 weeks, putting him twelfth on the all-time list. For the third time this month, thanks to Colin for that information.

After months of auditions, 400 takes of single lines, and a lot of studying Robbie William's voice, Adam Tucker talks us through his big gig in Better Man!

 

Glad to have confirmed that there is a lot more Rob on the soundtrack than in the film.

 

I may actually play it sometime!!

 

 

After months of auditions, 400 takes of single lines, and a lot of studying Robbie William's voice, Adam Tucker talks us through his big gig in Better Man!

 

 

 

Yes, interesting interview. I had read an interview that Adam had done previous to this which I think may have been heavily edited. This interview is way better where he goes into a lot of detail explaining how the recording process worked ...

'I got a number one album with Robbie Williams' - Meet the former Leeds music student who voiced a pop star

 

When pop star Robbie Williams discovered his latest record had become his 15th to top the official albums chart, he described the achievement as a “huge honour”.

 

It meant, the Official Charts Company said, that Williams had equalled The Beatles’ record for the most number one albums in the UK.

 

Quite the milestone for him, of course, but a huge success also for the musician, and former Leeds student, Adam Tucker, whose voice can be heard throughout.

 

Better Man is a soundtrack to Williams’ biopic of the same name. Released last year, the film follows Williams’ childhood, time in Take That and his solo career, while exploring the issues fame can bring.

 

The star is represented on screen as a CGI chimpanzee, a comment on how he feels like a “performing monkey”.

 

Tucker landed the job of singing as Williams in the movie. The 30-year-old, who completed the Popular Music course at Leeds Conservatoire (formerly Leeds College of Music) in 2018, stood out to film producers who were seeking a soundalike of the pop icon.

 

Tucker says he showcased his voice on recordings and highlighted how he met other requirements for the role, emphasising experience gained in both television and recording studios as a student in Leeds.

 

That included winning BBC One’s Pitch Battle with Leeds Contemporary Singers, a vocal group comprised of students and led by a staff member.

 

Tucker sang much of the music heard in the film, with some performed by Williams himself.

 

He spent around 200 hours in the studio re-recording some of Williams’ best-known hits and adopted accent tweaks to reflect the Stoke-on-Trent star.

 

Cameras trained on his mouth so that special effects artists could then match the chimpanzee’s mouth movements to Tucker’s own.

 

He says: “I pretty much lived in the studios in Leeds and I think that had a massive influence on me, having studio time prior to working on this film.

 

“I just knew how vocal coaches worked and what I’ve realised is how my tutors were so industry standard.

 

"When I went to someone in the industry, it was like ‘I’ve worked for people at this calibre before’ so I never felt like I was out of my depth.”

 

With a number one to his name, Tucker now plans to release some of his own original music.

 

The Leeds connection continues with collaborators including fellow alumni, plus the original Brudenell Social Club piano being played on some tracks.

 

Tucker says: “Not actually singing my own stuff and singing someone else’s has opened the door.”

 

Williams is set to perform in cities across the UK and Europe this summer, with his 2025 tour beginning in Edinburgh on May 31.

 

 

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people...op-star-4980660

I thought we had a Forbidden Road thread but could not find it so posting here instead. Thought this video is rather clever

Thanks to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQLbNmraTYOx5QKdDHxKLmg

Experience a cinematic reimagining of Robbie Williams' "Forbidden Road" in this fan-made alternative version—a surreal and emotional journey through time, love, and self-reflection. Featuring breathtaking visuals, a dreamlike atmosphere, and an unexpected twist with a fancy-dressed chimpanzee, this music video brings a fresh perspective to the song's meaning. 🚗 Story Concept: A lone traveler walks an endless road, shifting between memories, dreams, and alternate realities. From a candlelit ballroom to a rain-soaked street, each step leads him closer to a revelation. But what lies at the end of the forbidden road? Watch now to find out! 🔔 Don't forget to LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more creative music video interpretations! 🎥 Directed by: Heinz Siegfried Pestner 🎨 Visuals Inspired By: "Better Man" aesthetics, dreamlike storytelling 🎶 Song by: Robbie Williams (Fan tribute – No copyright intended) Listen / Download - https://robbiewilliams.lnk.to/Forbidd...

The 'Better Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)' album is released digitally via Columbia Records / Arista Records http://betterman.robbiewilliams.com

Written by: Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler, and Sacha Skarbek. Produced by Dan Romer & Freddy Wexler. http://BetterManMovie.com

/ https://www.bettermanfilm.co.uk/

#BetterManMovie #ForbiddenRoad #RobbieWilliams #FanMade #AlternativeVersion #MusicVideo #SurrealCinematics #DreamlikeVisuals #IndieFilmmaking #StorytellingThroughMusic #VisualArt

Yes! We had a thread of Forbidden Road!

Where it is now...☹️