Rudebox

Untitled

Rudebox is the name of Robbie Williams' tenth solo album, and seventh studio album, released on October 23, 2006 in the UK. It was originally going to be called 1974, the year Williams was born. Though the album was released on October 20, 2006 in the Netherlands, the same day the album was certified platinum because of over 70,000 pre-orders. In the United Kingdom, the album sold 54,667 copies on its first day in stores taking the number-one slot on the albums chart's midweeks, by Wednesday the album had sold over 75,000 copies. The album debuted at #1 on the Official UK Albums Chart selling over 147,000 copies on its first week

In Belgium the album sold 50,000 copies and went Platinum. It was released on October 23, 2006 in Australia and debuted at #1 achieving Platinum status in its first week. Since Oct 20th 2006 the album has sold nearly one million copies and has reached number one in 14 countries around the globe. The album features collaborations with William Orbit, and two collaborations with the 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".

A Special Edition of the album was released including a bonus DVD.

Track listing

#	Title	Songwriters	Producers	Duration
1.	"Rudebox"	(R. Williams, B. Laswell, B. Collins, C. Aiken, R. Shakespeare, S. Dunbar)	Soul Mekanik	4:44
2.	"Viva Life on Mars"	(R. Williams, D. Spencer, K. Andrews)	Soul Mekanik	4:51
3.	"Lovelight"	(L. Taylor)	Mark Ronson	4:02
4.	"Bongo Bong and Je Ne T'Aime Plus"	(M. Chao)	Mark Ronson	4:48
5.	"She's Madonna" (with The Pet Shop Boys)	(R. Williams, N. Tennant, C. Lowe)	Pet Shop Boys	4:16
6.	"Keep On"	(R. Williams, C. Heath, S. Duffy)	Juan Gabriel	4:19
7.	"Good Doctor"	(R. Williams, J. Meehan)	Mark Ronson	3:16
8.	"The Actor"	(R. Williams, B. Christy, C. Russo)	Brandon Christy & Craig Russo	4:06
9.	"Never Touch That Switch"	(K. Andrews, D. Spencer)	Soul Mekanik	2:47
10.	"Louise"	(J. Callis, P. Wright, P. Oakey)	William Orbit	4:46
11.	"We're the Pet Shop Boys" (with The Pet Shop Boys)	(My Robot Friend)	Pet Shop Boys	4:57
12.	"Burslem Normals"	(R. Williams, D. Spencer, K. Andrews)	Soul Mekanik	3:50
13.	"Kiss Me"	(S. Duffy)	Joey Negro	3:18
14.	"The 80s"	(R. Williams, J. Meehan)	Jerry Meehan	4:18
15.	"The 90s"	(R. Williams, J. Meehan)	Jerry Meehan	5:34
16.	"Summertime"	(R. Williams, A. Genn)	William Orbit	5:41
17.	"Dickhead" (UK bonus track)	(R. Williams, J. Meehan)	Jerry Meehan	4:09

Singles

The lead single and title track "Rudebox" was released on September 4, 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 most famous song "Angels". It was also a worldwide smash, reaching #1 in various countries around the world including Chile, Germany and 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 November 13, 2006 and the video was shot in Vienna.

The third single is rumoured to be "She's Madonna" 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]

The hidden track "Dickhead", dedicated to Noël Gallagher, is a kind of declaration of war ("I’ve found the dickhead of the year And you are fucking it dickhead ") . Noël Gallagher answer him "F*ck you".

Chart trajectories

United World Chart
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	2
Sales	378.000
Total	378.000
UK Album Chart
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	1
Sales	147.000
Total	147.000

Germany Top Albums
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	1
Dutch Album Top 100|Megacharts
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position
Poland Top 50 Albums
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	40
Italy Top Albums
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	1
Australia Top Album (ARIA Chart)
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	1
Ireland Top Albums
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	2
Finland Top Albums
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	1
Argentina Top Albums
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	1

External links

• Williams' opinions on each track
• Pet Shop Boys at dead of night fan site