Best Overall Year:
2008 wasn’t a year for gifted young prodigies. Rather, the bulk of the year was tailored more towards the old-guard; musicians who had dropped out of the industry a long whole ago and chose to make their fabulous return in 2008. And, as Robbie Williams decided to take a year-long sabbatical from music to rest in the USA and get some quality drinking-time in (presumably), Gary Barlow seized his chance to revive his band Take That and get back into the public eye.
The band, of whom Williams used to be a member until he quit and became the biggest solo musician in the UK, at first returned tentatively. But over the course of the year they grew in confidence and Barlow guided them carefully into success. His song-writing was always the heart of the band, and in fairness none of the other members are worth much on their own. It’s the name that Barlow needed, and by the end of 2008 there wasn’t one person in Britain who wasn’t made completely aware of said name. They had a sell-out tour and saw a series of tracks hit the top ten. On top of this, they hit television with a vengeance and got a number of one-off specials to strut their stuff. Also, their song "Shine" was made the official theme of Morrisons - the best of all supermarkets - and they appeared in an advert for M&S with a bunch of models. The band started the year in a favourable position; but went on to completely seize it got their own. And as they soared, Barlow was stood dead centre, accepting all the praise he rightfully deserved for resurrecting the dead. It was a good year to be Gary Barlow.
Awarded to: Gary Barlow
Maybe he'll do another swing album after his rest in the US. "Swing While You're Winning" was a pretty good album, and I wouldn't mind another one like it.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as we're being honest, here's an opinion I'm going to throw out there, see if anyone agrees:
ReplyDeleteRobbie Williams, in terms of charisma and showmanship, is the Freddie Mercury of this generation.
Ooooooo.....
You also forgot to mention that they made the dullest songs of the year. There should be an award for "Most boring artist," and they'd win hands down.
ReplyDeleteI agree largely with the Robbie Williams/Freddie Mercury comparison, except I think Robbie died professionally a couple of years ago.
This is Tom Williams, incidentally.
I disagree Tom. Take That are quite good and are very deserving of this award. And their music isn't boring, it's easy to listen to and enjoyable as well.
ReplyDeleteRobbie was okay before he got too cocky and thought he didn't need to try... at that point he lost all his charisma.