Rudebox

Untitled

Rudebox is the name of Robbie Williams seventh solo album, released on the 23 October 2006 in the UK. It was originally going to be called 1974, the year Williams was born. Though the album was released on 20 October 2006 in the Netherlands, the same day the album was certified platinum because of over 70,000 pre-orders.

The forthcoming album, which will be Williams' seventh studio LP, is set to feature collaborations with William Orbit, and two collaborations with Pet Shop Boys: "She's Madonna" and "We're the Pet Shop Boys". Lily Allen provides backing vocals on the songs "King of the Bongo" and "Keep On".

Track listing

According to RobbieWilliams.com the track list is:

1. "Rudebox" - produced by Soul Mekanik
2. "Viva Life On Mars" - produced by Soul Mekanik
3. "Lovelight" (Lewis Taylor cover) - produced by Mark Ronson
4. "Bongo Bong and Je Ne T'Aime Plus" - (Manu Chao cover) produced by Mark Ronson
5. "She's Madonna" - produced by Pet Shop Boys
6. "Keep On" - produced by Mark Ronson
7. "Good Doctor" - produced by Mark Ronson
8. "The Actor" - produced by Brandon Christy and Craig Russo
9. "Never Touch That Switch" - produced by Soul Mekanik
10. "Louise" (Human League cover)- produced by William Orbit
11. "We're the Pet Shop Boys" (My Robot Friend cover) - Produced by Pet Shop Boys
12. "Burslem Normals" – produced by Soul Mekanik
13. "Kiss Me" (Stephen Duffy cover) - produced by Dave 'Joey Negro' Lee
14. "The 80's" – produced by Jerry Meehan
15. "The 90's" - produced by Jerry Meehan
16. "Summertime" - produced by William Orbit
17. "Dickhead" [UK Bonus Track] – produced by Jerry Meehan

Singles

The lead single and title track "Rudebox" was released on 4 September, 2006 and is based on a sample from the Sly & Robbie track "Boops (Here To Go)". Reviews so far have been mixed, and The Sun even went as far as to describe it as 'the worst song ever'. [1] On downloads alone it entered The Official UK Singles Chart at number 30 on September 3. After the release of the CD single the next week, it rose 26 places to number 4. It was hailed a flop by the "Mirror" yet managed to have the same chart peak as Robbie's two most famous songs "Angels" and "Feel". It was also a worldwide smash, reaching #1 in various countries around the world including Chile, Germany, Italy among others. It was the second best selling single in Europe for a number of weeks and was also the fifth best selling single in the World according to the United World Chart

"Rudebox is loads of different things, sometimes it could be a vibe delivered in a spaceship direct to the studio, sometimes it’s a really nasty girl dancing scantily clad, or sometimes it’s a giant Soundsystem… Sometimes it’s actually just a box that tells you to piss off too." said Williams about the song. [2]

The second single "Lovelight" will be released on 13 November 2006 and the video was shot in Vienna.

The third single will be "Kiss Me" and will be released in early 2007.

Controversy

"She's Madonna" was the centre of a tabloid storm after Ashley Hamilton claimed that he came up with part of the song with Williams. Hamilton has claimed he wishes to take the matter to court as he is not credited as a co-writer on the album.[3]

Further controversy arose over the track "The 90s", part of which implies that Williams was ripped off by Take That's manager Nigel Martin-Smith after the band failed to make a profit from a European tour. The song rose the ire of Martin-Smith, who demanded that the song be removed from the album. [4]

External links

• Williams' opinions on each track