milly

Did I hear it right and he is working on a couple of US projects? I hate the fact that 100 fans got to hear a new song and we still have to wait for who knows how long :D We might get an album for The Girls :) It's quite easy being a Gary fan, seeing how he constantly has a number of simultaneous projects. I don't know how Adele's fans make it for so many years without anything new. PS: whenever Gary mentions those darker times, I'm thrown back to Open Road. I'd like to hear him talk some day about that song - after Dying Inside, that's probably his darkest song and, in some ways, it's even more haunting. One is about suffering for the loss of someone dear, but the other one is about him suffering so much he'd considered suicide.

My stupid laptop won't let me watch the podcasts :cry: But here's the video of Gary last night : As I was saying, when he's relaxed, he's his old funny self. Edit: I've been able to watch 4 podcasts - for some reason, I can't watch Composition. I think I fell in love all over again. I wish Gary and Elliott would have sung Stronger in its entirety. Sooooo gorgeous :wub:

I'm with Jay on this one :D I'm not talking about mass hysteria after this tour, but there's no reason to conclude that, if the tour is handled properly, they can't win some new fans. I still srongly believe that there was no possible way for them to win a new fanbase after Progress - even I, as afan, was put off by that tour, never mind a neutral person who went to that tour out of curiosity and all they got was a Robbie-centred show. The BW tour went very well in Europe - with the right music and the right approach, they can have another tour like that one.

Of course it didn't do much for them after Progress - that tour put a lot of people off. I was talking about a tour that would showcase TT, not Robbie and his backing singers.

If that will be the case and many European fans will go see TT because of Robbie, I'm sure they'll leave the concert as TT fans :P Especially if Robbie's involvement is kept to a minimum. If Robbie doesn't have a solo set and the fans still enjoy the concert, that can only benefit TT. That being said, I hope NOBODY has a solo set, cause it's the band's anniversary tour. I wouldn't mind if they found a way of performing 1 solo song from Gary, Mark and Robbie's back catalogue, as long as it's done as a band - like they did with No Regrets on the Progress tour. From Robbie they could choose Feel, from Mark - 4 Minute Warning, most likely, and from Gary -well, that one's tricky - he would never perform Let Me Go with someone else, which leaves Forever Love (it was supposed to be a TT song anyway) or Lie to Me.

Lie to Me is a stunning song, but I can't see it performed by TT. But, if they found a way, I wouldn't mind it at all :)

I'm not really a fan of Up All Night, I find it a bit dated and it's not really going anywhere. Hold Up A Light has high chances on making it on the GH album. I like the verses on Hold Up A Light, but I have a problem with the chorus - in general, I dislike it when a chorus is made up of one line that gets repeated endlessly. That's why I prefer Said It All to both songs ... and to a lot of other songs. If I made a top 5 of their single releases, SIA would be right after BFG and before RTW and Patience - for me, of course.

Oh yeah, I remember now the performance on JR. Thank you, dylan. It's really strange that a song like that wasn't no 1.

Who says anyway that a disk has to have only 12-15 songs? If they want a GH album with 60 tracks on it, they should do it. I'd be more than happy. I always forget about Said It All, for some reason. I think it will make the cut. I don't even remember anymore: was it even a single? It might be an unpopular opinion, but, for me, Said It All would have deserved to be more successful than RTW.

That's exactly what I was thinking yesterday. But with a real orchestra this time. I wish they'd leave out Sure and the covers and included gems like this one. HBTT, Nobody Else, NF and BFG were the songs that really showcased Gary's songwriting talent back in the 90s. For this reason only, they deserve a place on the GH album. Looking forward to your choices, Jay. Agree with Aphrodite about Reach Out. Shame we don't hear it on tours anymore.

I beat you to it, dylan62 :) Don't Say Goodbye has always been at the top of my list. I loooove that song. I'll never understand why they don't perform it live. Another Crack and Don't Say Goodbye were the 2 main fan requests for the last tour; I know that Mike Stevens was aware of them and I think he let the boys know about them. Why they didn't work them into the setlist is beyond me. That's true, dylan - TT have so many good songs in their back catalogue it's hard to choose just a few.

Agree with all of them. Like I Never Loved You At All had completely gone off my radar. It's one of my favorites - I just don't like it when Gary sings it with a female artist. I'd add Freeze, Fall Down At Your Feet, Sleepwalking and You :) Basically, I think fans would be happier with b-sides than the actual hits :P Try as I may, I just can't help thinking how weird it would be for Robbie to share leads on Shine - the song is about him; he'd be singing to himself :blink:

If anyone's interested, you can vote Beautiful World as the best album of the 21st century. http://www.digitalspy.com/music/feature/a7...ntury-vote-now/

Agreed: even if I get frustrated sometimes by some comments, I do enjoy the dialogue on this forum :D IT's actually the only forum where there is a civilized dialogue. And, whilst at the beginning I sincerely disliked Kath's "nastiness" towards Gary, now I'm looking forward to her calling me out on my Gary "love" and exchanging some banter :P As for that list, I think there are some songs that will indisputably make the final cut: BFG AMLS RTW NF Patience Greatest Day Shine Pray The Flood These Days Afterwards, it's a matter of criteria - it depends on what they'll use as a point of reference for selecting the songs. I'm curious if Relight, CIBM, Babe, Everything Changes make the cut. I think they might go for Love Love, Hold Up A Light and Get Ready For It as well. Personally, I'd like Flaws and Higher than Higher to be included, just so they could reach a wider audience. If I were the boys, I'd make 2 disks: one of the actual hits- those 10 songs I listed - and one disk of fans' favorites. They should have an official poll and let fans choose 10 album tracks they like the most. The top of my list would be Don't Say Goodbye and WYBTFM. I think fans might go for 8 Letters 3 W 1M as well.

Well, it's no secret that I'm a huge Gary fan and a big supporter of TT, but even I conceded to Kath's claims that Gary isn't showcasing his sense of humour very often anymore, that his lines during the tour are scripted and some of his gestures rehearsed, I and dylan were the first ones to heavily criticize Hey Boy when it was released as a single, we criticized some of the boys' performances, we agreed with Kath that the TT4 part of Progress was underwhelming (even if our views on the reasons may have differed) and so on...if that's being blind to their flaws, then so be it. I'm actually interested, Elisabeth, what are Robbie's flaws in your eyes, aside from not being able to sell that many albums anymore? There's one thing that's always intrigued me since I've been on this forum: from time to time, you come back to the tax issue and then I point out that Robbie is no saint either and he's done the same thing you're accusing TT of, but you never answer back: where do you stand when it comes to Robbie's legal problems, instead of TT's? Are they acceptable to you because they come from Robbie? For instance, I have declared that I'm not bothered by tax avoidance, no matter who does it; Kath, on the contrary, has stated that she blames Robbie and TT and anyone who does it...but you might be the first one who has double standards- it's ok for some people, aka Robbie, but not for others (i.e TT). And when did we blame everyone but TT? I distinctly remember discussing on this forum how the boys are to blame for not having a good promotion strategy past the first single and that we can't lay all the blame on the PR or the label. Selective much? Going back to this thread's subject: I agree with you, Dylan62. I'd like a more laid back tour - I really loved Gary's solo tour, in terms of visuals and staging; it was very elegant and tasteful and did not distract from the music. The boys can't keep going over the board with every tour, cause it will get to a point where the spectacle overshadows the music. I, for one, really enjoyed the Ultimate Tour and the BW tour. I know many prefer the Circus tour - and I love it too, obviously -, but I'm always more inclined to re-watch the first 2 tours dvds. Once you know what's going to happen outside the musical number, the interest disappears...the only thing that draws you back is the musical number itself. As impressive as the elephant was, I still prefer the CIBM number on the BW tour, cause the show only enhanced the vocal performance and not obscured it; as much as I try, I don't understand much of The Garden on The Circus tour. And my all time favorite TT tour performance still remains Love Ain't Here Anymore on the Ultimate Tour.

And again the entire argument revolves around money and sales :banghead: As for The Flood....I'll say this: interesting that Robbie would have written some lyrics (cause that's his entire contribution to the song!!!!) about TT in 2008. He must have been bored...or....

:lol: That would be appropriate :D "Greatest Hits. Revolving Doors" ? or maybe "3+" ? :P

I do like Sure in its swing version :) I'm not a fan of the song, but I do believe it showed Gary's versatility as a songwriter at the time and, if I remember right, it got positive reviews. But I'd much rather have Higher than Higher on the GH album than Sure.

I certainly hope they include Said It All, AMLS and The Flood, even if they didn't go no 1. Greatest Hits does not necessarily mean no. ones. I know I'm in minority here, but I'd like I'd Wait for Life to feature on the GH album.

You mean this one? His one and only fan in the whole of Malaysia :lol: The AMLS moment on that tour gave way to many laughs - Gary was hilarious when he told Lesley that she didn't look at him once, cause she was too bothered checking her emails :D There have been lots of funny episodes on his solo tours. I know the interview, Kath, but, since you posted the link, I'm gonna re-watch it cause it's hilarious.

I have to agree with you, Kath - to a certain extent, of course :D Gary still is very funny during interviews, but only when he feels comfortable. I noticed that he seems at ease whenever he gives interviews to Heart Fm, for instance. He probably needs someone to bounce off and banter with - in the behind-the-scenes for III, he was again very funny. But it's true that this is a side of him that we don't get to see as often as we used to, anymore. I know you think it's arrogance on his part, but I believe that, the more exposure he got on tv, the more self-aware he became. He knows that he has too much to lose now and he probably thinks he can't afford to make any mistakes, cause, as we know, anything he says always takes a turn for the worse in the papers. Let's remember the duet with himself on the New Year's Eve Bash - what was supposed to be a funny, quite tender moment was suddenly perceived as arrogance, infatuation, self-indulgence. When you constantly get this kind of reactions from the press and some of the public, you start being careful with what you say and do. But the man has recently learnt how to stand on his head, so maybe his sense of humour will make a comeback for good, now that he got some blood flow to his brain :P Everyone knows by now that Gary rehearses, indeed, his lines for the in-between the songs. Mark is more natural, in this way. But there were plenty of moments on Gary's solo tour where he deviated from the set lines and made some hilarious introductions. Not everyone can be spontaneous on every gig, especially during a long tour. I've seen plenty of big artists do the same on their tours - they repeat the same jokes and the same lines over and over again, but I haven't seen any of them being put down for this by the reviewers- aside from Gary. Even Robbie, who's considered to be a lose canon, has rehearsed jokes on his tour. Even actors/comedians do the same, so it's not really fair to hold it against a guy whose job is to sing, not to entertain. I know you don't like Gary, Kath, and that's fine, cause nobody can force you to like him, especially as a person, but can you honestly tell me that this moment from his solo tour is boring?

Elisabeth, are you a TT fan?

May be right about what? Elisabeth, you are really clinging here; I guess the guy could be - and IS - the biggest jerk to grace earth, but he says 2 nice words about Robbie and he's suddenly someone worth listening to? Why not?! Let's ignore all evidence of the contrary! :huh:

Nope, Gary never said anything to or about him. He's shown remarkable restraint :D I know this will sound nasty, but it's the only explanation I have for Mcwormick's "sympathy" towards Mark - I think he empathises with anyone who doesn't quite make it in the music industry. Or maybe he truly likes Mark. But allow me to be skeptic about that. The man praises the likes of 1D and Kanye West, so I wouldn't put too much price on his musical taste. He also thinks Chris Martin is a great live singer (I do like Chris, but he's more miss than hit when it comes to live performing) AND, the most important thing, he thinks Robbie is the 2nd coming!!! :D "The biggest absence is, once again, Robbie Williams, who (LET'S NOT DWELL ON MCWORMICK's GRAMMAR SKILLS!! :P ) solo career has exhibited more character, imagination and daring than that of any of his former band mates. His return for 2010s Progress put a belated spring in Take That’s dance steps, pushing them away from formulaic Coldplay-by-numbers and into a surprisingly invigorating realm of joyously bonkers sci-fi stadium electropop. Now Williams has once again threatened to overshadow his former comrades by releasing a previously unannounced album on the same day. It is a typically cheeky move from Williams, and, as if to rub it in, he’s baring both cheeks on the cover. Under The Radar Volume 1 is a collection of Williams’ B-sides, rarities, demos and out-takes available only through his own website. It is clearly not intended to rival Take That in the charts but nevertheless is crammed full of the kind of sparkle, mischief and pop eccentricity that makes Take That’s more sleekly designed offering appear dully conformist." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/c...orward-fun.html That's why I never give any credit to "critics" :D They have their own agenda, which, usually, has nothing to do with the item they review.

Yeah, the interview was recorded right at the time of TAODN. I tried to watch it, but I lost interest after a while, cause I found Mark incoherent in parts and having difficulties in finding his words. Neill Mcworm is a journalist (for The Telegraph, go figure!), who attempted to break into music, but fell flat on his nose and now, he's very frustrated with certain people who find success and are appreciated by the masses. He seems to take pleasure in putting Gary down, every chance he gets. He has a fascinating obsession with Gary: Neil McCormick ‏@neil_mccormick 12 Dec 2012 Was Gary Barlow busy? RT @bestfitmusic Nirvana to reform for Hurricane Sandy concert, with Paul McCartney as Kurt. Neil McCormick ‏@neil_mccormick 20 Aug 2011 Casting Gary Barlow as Mr Nasty is like casting Charlie Chaplin as Hitler, only not nearly as funny. #zzzzzfactor Neil McCormick ‏@neil_mccormick 5 Jun 2009 It doesn't matter how much Gary Barlow buffs up, he still looks like the Fat Controller. An accountant in charge of a boy band Neil McCormick ‏@neil_mccormick 6 Jun 2009 Dimly recall in hotel bar last night giving my Gary Barlow is the Fat Controller rap to woman who turned out to be Gary's business partner Neil McCormick ‏@neil_mccormick 25 Aug 2011 The Steaming Turds? RT @TheSun_Bizarre: Gary Barlow wants your help naming his new band He's deleted some of the posts he made on twitter about Gary. He reviews everything Gary does and suffice it to say that the bile he's showing towards Gary in his articles would put The Guardian's "journalists" to shame. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/l...ena-review.html Basically, he's a jerk - when he published an awful review of Gary's solo tour, comments started pouring in (from fans and general public) highlighting the unfairness of the article - McWorm, in his huge wisdom, lashed out on twitter at Gary's fans and at Gary and encouraged his own followers to gang on Gary's fans. Neil McCormick ‏@neil_mccormick 6 Apr 2014 Another day, another torrent of abuse. Even I feel like being mean to me after my Gary Barlow review. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/l...ena-review.html … I really really really find him a bad excuse for a human being. And yes, Dylan, you're right: Mcworm, in his big hypocrisy, is a Robbie fan and doesn't miss any opportunity to compare Gary to Robbie. That's why I said I didn't appreciate Mark accepting to do an interview with him. I thought it was almost like backstabbing Gary. As for Mark's voice, although I don't like it, I think it's actually better nowadays. Whenever I see videos of him in the 90s attempting to sing, I cringe. He's got better at singing, from my point of view, but there's so much he can do with his voice limitations.