milly

No, not More Than Life to go next :( I even made a video for it :) And I adore Jump and SISYL. Can't believe Requiem and God have already been voted out :(( WE have such different tastes :)

Wow, elisabeth, you have a very weird obsession with putting down TT and hyping Robbie in a TAKE THAT THREAD. By your logic, 1D are even more talented than Robbie given they'd probably have an even bigger audience than Robbie at any concert. When you're ready to discuss quality over quantity, I'll be ready. It's ridiculous to dismiss the quality of the TT or Gary songs and afterwards to mention Go Gentle as one of Robbie's hits. Sorry, but, for me, that's being dillusional. When Robbie will have written an entire hit ALL by himself - backing track, melody, lyrics, everything, then we'll have this discussion. Until then, all we have is your comparison between Robbie's personality - that no one ever denied (whether we like it or not is another matter) - and TT/Gary's songs. Not to put down my own people, but there would have been the same crowd had we had a MANELE concert - for those that are not aware, manele are the worst form of Romanian music that usually targets certain levels of subculture. To make a long story short, even if it's my own people, they have the worst taste in music (most of them). We've had way bigger and better artists than Robbie come here and none of them was hyped the way Robbie was; I'm sure that, had they been hyped for half a year, like Robbie was, they'd have had - and would have deserved to have - the same number of people attending their concerts. But you'll probably try to convince me that Robbie is better and more famous than Tom Jones or Michael Bolton. I get it that, for you, the numbers seem to be very important and they're a reflection of quality, but, for many of us, they're not. I couldn't care less that TT or Gary are "local" acts. I'd listen any day to Finding Neverland or SISYL than to 15 minutes of Robbie, no matter if billions of people listened to him. If it makes you feel better, keep thinking he's this galaxy's wonder and keep listening to his music, but stop trying to diminish TT's achievements. Maybe you should start wondering if Robbie kept selling as much as he has until now if his tax avoidance involvement had the same coverage Gary's had. Personally, I doubt it. I, for one, will always prefer a decent "local" act than a "popstar" who has achieved fame through insulting, swearing, getting naked, getting involved in all sorts of scandals, using his kids and family to get more attention and so on and so forth. Sorry, but it has to be said.

I completely agree with you, dylan. TT's management works only for UK. When it comes to decisions about other countries, it's like they don't care or don't know what to do. They haven't even tried going to other countries and I really don't understand the reasons. How else are they gonna find out if there's a fanbase for them there or not? The sales are simply not a point of reference for most European countries. The piece of video I shared with you clearly shows TT are not unknown here and the public would be willing to support them. I'm still holding a bit of hope that, when they tour for their 25th anniversary, they might do a more extensive tour. As for Robbie, I'm biased. I'm really not a fan of his voice or singing or of his behaviour, so, for me, all his performances are overrated. But I have to admit that it's impressive he's still managing to tour at such scale despite not putting out any worthy material in over a decade. He's been touring of the back of covers and his hits for a couple of years now. I guess that takes some talent. He's obviously floating some people's boats + his PR is exceptional. At one point, I was considering myself buying a ticket, in the hope that, somehow, that would shut up that annoying tv advert. I swear that the advert of his concert was spinned over 30 times/day on the biggest tv channel here. I don't think there is a soul in Romania who doesn't know about "the artist who sold most records of all times" (clearly the hyping wasn't preoccupied with accuracy as well :P )

I told you, Dylan, that Robbie and TT are quite popular here, despite them never setting the charts alight :) Candy was a big hit here and it's still getting constant airplay. So are Angels, Feel and Love Supreme. (By the way, when I say hit, I don't mean sales, cause nobody buys music here. Hits are made by radio airplay. If a song is played a lot, it's automatically a hit). The concert was last night. To be honest, I'm glad it's over, because, for the past few months, all I heard on the tv was the advert hyping Robbie's concert. I think some of the people went to the concert out of curiosity to see what the hype was all about. There was some sort of deal with one of the biggest television broadcast chains and 50.000 more people were able to watch the concert on their screens. That's why the whole concert has been uploaded on the internet already. The news presenter have described the concert as "the concert of the year" and they haven't stopped talking about it since yesterday - that's so you can form an idea about how Robbie is perceived here. At 42:16, there's a small moment about TT and Back for Good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar7ibVHqS1I...eature=youtu.be I was actually glad to hear all those people singing Gary's song. The banner saying "Bring TT to Romania" was my friend's :) We do TT promotion on any occasion :P

The poll has been up all week. I think people voting for TT are what gathered them some attention. I wish there'd still be hope for them to be known in America. TT will be performing on September, the 9th: http://www.o2priority.co.uk/Events/Wear-th...5-Send-Off/1402

I never stopped to think that the lyrics of Reach Out could be about Gary's experience with the bombings, but now that you pointed that out, they do fit like a glove. I always thought they were about world's politics in general, but, considering Gary's inspiration is mostly autobiographical, it makes more sense that he was referencing a particular event. As a side note, I've noticed a diversification of Gary's lyrics since the come back - politics, religion, death, social media. I really enjoy this new approach to music. I'm glad III is still one of the best selling albums, even if the sales haven't been as good as we all would have wanted. Fingers crossed that the next album will do better commercially.

III is out of top 100 this week :( Hopefully, it can make a comeback in August, after the boys perform at that festival.

I understand our position as fans, but I also understand this person's position. It's obvious that for the millions of fans who didn't buy the album or the tour tickets anymore this time, TT3 are no longer an ongoing concern. Of course that for the fans that have stayed loyal, that view doesn't apply, but aren't we in the situation where the number of fans who've retracted their support exceeds the number of fans who keep being there for the boys?

I don't necessarily want them (Gary especially) to top the charts worldwide - I know that won't happen at this point -, I'd just like for their name to be known by everyone. Unfortunately, most of the time, the 2 are linked. But maybe you are right and Gary still has a chance of getting his name out there through musicals or other projects. I stumbled on this tour review - it may be the worst one - and I'd like to know what everyone thinks - is there a seed of truth in it? I'm only asking because it kinda confirms a suspicion I've expressed before: that the public may still be there for Gary as a solo artist, but not for a band that is down to 3 members. "Review 160 for Take That 1 / 5 The Gary Barlow Show O2 - London - 04/06/2015Posted 19/06/2015by BombayBoy Without Gary Barlow, the shortcomings of a band that is down to 3 from 5 would have been more evident. Howard's voice was not up to it anymore but the spectacular staging fortunately detracted from the music. It's time that Gary and the fans realised that Take That are no longer a going concern and for Gary, who still has a spectacular voice, to go it alone. Favourite moment: None"

Agree with all the points above. Am I too naive in hoping they can still become famous worldwide with the right single? As much as I love These Days, it didn't have the potential to propel them in US. They need a Back for Good 2.0

One of the things I find worrying is that most of TT's fans are a bit out of touch with how the music industry works and how important sales and promo are nowadays - not to mention streaming. One of the major consequences of this lack of understanding is an unnatural and over the board confidence that the boys will always be no 1, no matter what. My fear is that this unfounded - sometimes fanatical - overconfidence will be the boys' downfall. A "fan" almost took my head off on twitter just for suggesting that TT could have done with a bit of promo for HTH. Kath would have the time of her life with such "fans" if she thinks I'm bad :lol: :P I had my fears even with III making it to no 1; I'm even less confident for the next album. Of course, my support is not conditioned by their success, but, as a fan, I'd love for them to be at the top of their game for a longtime. For some reason, I'd be more inclined to think that, at this point, a Gary solo album would do better than a TT album, but that remains to be seen. Going by the snippet of new music posted a few months ago, I'm excited to hear new music from TT. I hope that it's just a rumour that the new album will appear next year; it would be wrong for them not to try to capitalize on the success of this tour.

Glad to see III hanging in there. I wish it could stay in top 100 next week as well, but it doesn't look likely at this point. Anyway, considering 100k would be a dream for most artists nowadays, 500k after 25 years in the business is no small achievement. I hope they do more promo after the tour ends. Maybe we'll finally get a video for HTH, not that it can do anything at this point, but still... Someone said that HTH was supposed to be on the setlist instead of Portrait, but something didn't work out, so they left it out :( It wouldn't hurt if TT had some more tv appearances, but I doubt it, since Gary is supposed to be in NY till August.

Thank you, Jay :) I've just got home after more than 15h of travelling :) But it was so worth it. I was expecting us to be around 20 fans in the audience, considering the location of the cine and the complete lack of advertising of the event. I can't say the room was full, but about half of it was - there were around a few hundred people, which, to me, it was quite a lot. It proved that, would TT have the same publicity on telly as Robbie does, they could easily fill a big venue. I can't say I had major surprises, show wise, since I had seen all the yt videos already and knew how every song was staged. What did catch me by surprise was how powerful and full Gary's voice sounded - I may have fallen all over again in love with him :P - and how connected he was with the audience. I don't know how it was the other nights, but, yesterday, Gary was the glue that held it all together - stage presence, humour, voice, the whole package. I'm sorry to say my impression of Mark did not change after last night, on the contrary. The surround sound highlighted the flaws in his voice. I actually cringed on a couple of occasions when he sung, especially on the higher notes on Up All Night. Previous to this, I had warmed up to Affirmation, but, after last night, I have to admit it was the dullest part of the concert. I almost fell asleep during it. The highlight of the night, for me, was, surprisingly, Relight My Fire. After having watched all the yt videos, I was expecting Flaws or I Like It to be my standout moments, but it was RMF the winner :) Gary's vocals were completely on point and blew me away. As a conclusion, I really enjoyed the concert last night. I'm still trying to figure out where I would place it in my preferences. It was not the same as a truly live concert, that much was obvious, so I'd rather compare it to the concerts I saw on dvd. It doesn't beat yet SYSHL tour for me, but it makes me hungry to see Gary live one day. I went a mega GB fan and I returned an even bigger fan, if that was even possible :)

I can barely contain my excitement for tonight. I know it's only cine, but the mere fact that 40 countries will be seeing the same thing at once is just mind-blowing. I hope I don't get thrown out of the cine for being too exuberant :D Not looking forward to the 6 hours of waiting in the train station afterwards, but what don't I do for a certain handsome man? :P

Yeah, I noticed it too. But, to be fair, he's always been sweating quite a lot when he performs - look at Shine on An Audience With TT. You'd have thought he had been lifting weights :) I think it's easier for Mark to perform than for Gary, because he doesn't have all that much singing to do. For me, Gary is carrying the weight of the concert on his shoulders, because he has to do almost everything the others do, movement wise, plus he has to sing. Instead, on Shine, Up All Night, Hold Up A Light, Affirmation, Mark and Howard have no choreography to follow, because, probably, they don't find it easy to do several things at once. I don't find Mark to be a natural performer at all. I've noticed that when he's with TT, his movements are a little more natural, but, on his solo tour, it was really cringey to watch him - always bent, always doing those weird hand movements. I admit Gary may be a little stiff when he dances, but he's more easy to watch and he does have more rhythm than the others. Out of all the TT members, Robbie is the natural performer, in my opinion.

The critics put A Million Love Songs down when it first came out and now it's considered the best love song worldwide. I couldn't care less what the critics say at this point. The only praise they'll give them is if and when Robbie comes back. Had Robbie been missing from Progress, the album would have gotten the usual reviews. Although there are more songs I enjoy from this 2nd time around, I must confess I find the songwriting of the 90s Gary much more diverse - he seemed to be tapping into more musical genres than he is now and it was what made fans fall in love with TT. I wish he could go back (partially) to that approach. For me, the songs that clearly have a Mark sound on them are not really to my taste, to be honest. I've always struggled with Mark's lyrics (second to his voice), because most of them make no sense to me and remind me of the surrealist poets, that were all form and no substance. I like more Gary's direct approach. But that's just me. Maybe other fans connect more with Mark's style. I find even his performance skills hard to watch sometimes, because, to me, he's trying too hard to get the public to like him. I even prefer Gary's dancing to Mark's - and even my sister, who is very neutral about TT, noticed that Mark lacks elegance in his movements (her words, not mine). I have to mention, though, that I'm very biased when it comes to Mark, so my "reality" view may be distorted. I do, prefer, though, the classic TT of BW and Nobody Else eras.

I agree with you. It was Mark who said that III was rushed, but I couldn't understand that, since it seemed they took their time with it.

That was my reaction as well :D I know my opinion might be unpopular, but I think they should stir away from some of Mark's musical influences and more towards Gary's. His solo album is still selling decently after all these years, which means the public connects with this type of music.

In an article, it was mentioned that they're working on a new album, because they rushed things with III. I think they're moving on from III. I'm really disappointed with how HTH did. Now I wish they had released a worse song, so that I wouldn't have to witness my favorite track be let to flop :(

As long as it stays in top 40, it's fine with me. There's only a few sales difference between the places after all.

He's on The One Show today and Chris Eavans on Friday. I'm wondering if they let HTH flop because they're more interested in putting new music out there.

There's a deal on iTunes for the TT albums, which helps keep III in top 40. I'm glad to see it climb.

Someone has uploaded the full album, in case anyone wants to listen to it online. You just have to set the speed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDEQ7cVX8cg

Thank you for your review, Jay :) It's nice to see I'm not the only one who doesn't get the meaning behind the intro. I was starting to feel really dumb :) Glad to see others are as confused as I am :)

That pretty much sums up my feelings, Jay. I think Gary really pushed his vocals on SATN and they sound wonderful. To me, the song sounds like a cross between Elton and ABBA. Can't wait to have my album delivered this week.