There's Progress now...

It's confession time.

Take That are my guilty pleasure. I had been waiting for this album delivered at home via Amazon for weeks (yes, I'm a real saddo!) and when I finally found it on my doorstep on Monday morning I was overjoyed (it doesn’t take much to make me happy!). Unfortunately the case was cracked (oh dear!) but the CD played without any problems, and the nice people at Amazon are sending me a replacement. I had my reservations about Progress, but was quite impressed after the first listen. It is probably Take That’s must relevant and mature record and definitely a change from the ballads and Gary’s vocals of old, but the stomping anthems of SOS (no, it’s not an Abba cover!) and Kidz make up for that. The quality of lyrics on the album is increasingly mature and even profound - who'd have thought it! The Flood, Pretty Things, Flowerbed and Eight Letters are beautifully written with some rousing piano and strings and the former. What do you want from me, is probably the most surprising track, reminiscent of Marks solo material. All in all a real surprise, I wasn't sure about Robbie Williams coming back into the fold but he adds an extra dimension tonally which somehow completes the sound!

Saying that, I can understand why some fans might be disappointed. Take That fans are used to a particular style, a particular sound - upbeat pop, lush sweeping ballads - and those are few and far between on this album. But the title is apt - Take That as a band HAVE progressed, and are still progressing. Their latest mature sound is a lot way from the cheesy pop of their very early days. This album seems very much an attempt to position themselves in a more indie/rock scene, and I for one like it.

The BBC described it as "the strangest, most ambitious and most exciting record its creators have ever been involved in" and I'd say that pretty much sums it up for me.