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The Circus (Take That album)

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Untitled

The Circus is the fifth studio album by British pop band Take That. It was released in the United Kingdom on 1 December 2008.[2] The album was their second, and also their last, as a four-piece, as founding member Robbie Williams returned for their sixth studio album Progress (2010), before both Williams and Jason Orange departed prior to the release of 2014's III.

The Circus debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart and was the second best-selling album of 2008 in the UK, selling over 1.5 million copies.[3] The album's lead single "Greatest Day" became Take That's eleventh number one. Four further singles were released which failed to match the success of "Greatest Day": "Up All Night", "The Garden", "Said It All" and "Hold Up a Light".

Album information

In the United Kingdom, the album was released in direct (albeit unintentional) competition to Britney Spears' sixth album, also titled Circus, released on the same day.[4] Take That's manager said the album's title choice was a coincidence, and that the band had worked 'months in advance' and would not be changing the title.[5]

Take That released their first single from the album, "Greatest Day", on 24 November 2008, which peaked at number one in the UK. The second single "Up All Night" was released on 2 March 2009 and peaked at number 14.[6] The third single "The Garden", was released in Germany, the Netherlands and Australia on 20 March 2009, though it also peaked at number 97 in the UK on download sales. The video for the song was shot at the Greenwich Maritime Museum, South London.[7] The fourth single to be taken from the album, "Said It All", was released in June 2009 and peaked at number 9 in the UK.[8] "Hold Up a Light" was the fifth and final single taken from the album, released to promote Take That's first live album The Greatest Day – Take That Presents: The Circus Live.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic64/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
BBC Music(positive)[11]
Daily Mirror[12]
Digital Spy[13]
The Evening Standard[14]
The Guardian[15]
The Sunday Times[16]
The Times[17]
Yahoo! Music UK(7/10)[18]

BBC Music said: "A stunning album, Take That are the vintage champagne of pop fizzing with playful bubbles and happily maturing with age".[11] The Daily Mirror stated that "they bring a fallible human quality to an album which is all about gilding their strong bond with their original fans."[12] The Sunday Mercury said: "Like its predecessor, The Circus boasts one killer track. Hit single Greatest Day is as pop-perfect now as Patience was back in 2006."[19] Yahoo! Music UK stated that "as with its predecessor Beautiful World, The Circus possesses well crafted pop songs, with faultless production".[18]

The Sunday Times stated that "The Circus will, no doubt, achieve similar sales, with songs as propulsive and swollen with giant choruses as The Garden, Greatest Day, Said It All and the apparently Amy Winehouse-referencing "How Did It Come to This".[16] The Times said "Take That's return is the gold standard: a hugely successful second coming from a band determined not to fritter away their reserves of goodwill."[17]

Promotion

Following the release of the album, Take That announced plans for their first-full stadium tour titled "Take That Present: The Circus Live" in 2009.[20] The tour became the fastest selling tour in UK history selling £35m of tickets in one day (600,000 in less than 5 hours),[21][22][23] beating the previous record set by Michael Jackson for his Bad World Tour in 1987 (though Jackson reclaimed the record soon after when he announced his residency at The O2 in London shortly before his death).[24] The Script acted as special guests at their performance at Croke Park.[25] Take That also presented their own TV show Take That Come To Town, a variety show where they performed some of their biggest hits and new material from The Circus, which aired on 7 December 2008 on ITV.[26]

To launch the album's release in Paris, the band performed at a lavish nightclub exclusively for the first time in 12 years in the city on 2 December 2008.[27] The performance included acrobats, trapeze artists, stilt-walkers and jugglers, all in keeping with the circus theme.[28]

Commercial reception

Prior to the official release of The Circus it was revealed that the album had broken all preorder records and had become the most pre-ordered album of all time.[29]

The album reached number one in Ireland and the UK with The Circus selling 133,000 copies on its first day of release in the UK.[30][31] In the United Kingdom, the album sold 306,000 copies (going platinum) in the first four days of release, making The Circus the fastest-selling album of the year.[32] The album reached the top of the UK album charts on 7 December 2008 with total first-week sales of 432,490, the third highest opening sales week in UK history.[33] The album debuted at #3 on the Irish Albums Chart and a week later rose to number one. On Friday 19 December 2008, the album had sold 1 million copies sold by its 19th day in UK shops, making it the second fastest album in the UK to reach 1 million copies, behind Oasis's Be Here Now in 1997.[34]

The album stayed on top of the UK Albums Chart for five weeks and became one of the biggest selling albums of 2008 in the UK.[35] The album has been certified double platinum in Europe (including the UK and Ireland) for sales in excess of two million copies,[36] and was the 27th best-selling album worldwide in 2008 according to the IFPI.[37][38] Since its release in December 2008, the album has spent 73 weeks (one year, five months and one week) in the top 100 of the UK Albums Chart.[39]

Track listing

All the tracks written by Take That (Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Mark Owen) except where noted. All the tracks produced by John Shanks.

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."The Garden" 
  • Owen
  • Barlow
  • Orange
  • Donald
5:07
2."Greatest Day" Barlow3:59
3."Hello"
Owen3:30
4."Said It All"
  • Take That
  • Robson
  • Barlow
  • Owen
4:15
5."Julie"
  • Take That
  • Robson
Owen3:53
6."The Circus" Barlow3:33
7."How Did It Come to This"
  • Take That
  • Jamie Norton
  • Ben Mark
Orange3:10
8."Up All Night"
  • Take That
  • Norton
  • Mark
Owen3:24
9."What Is Love" Donald3:27
10."You"Take ThatBarlow4:13
11."Hold Up a Light"
  • Take That
  • Norton
  • Mark
Owen4:27
12."Here"
Donald4:28
13."She Said" (hidden track) Barlow2:33
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
13."Sleepwalking" ("Greatest Day" B-side)Take ThatBarlow3:46
14."She Said" (hidden track) Barlow2:33

Personnel

Musicians

  • Gary Barlow — piano, keyboards
  • Jason Orange — acoustic guitar
  • John Shanks — bass, guitar, keyboards
  • Jeff Rothschild — drums, programming
  • Ben Mark — electric guitar (track 9)
  • Jamie Norton — piano (track 11)
  • Ryan Carline — additional keyboards and programming
  • London Studio Orchestra — strings and brass
  • John Barclay, Mark Nightingale, Owen Slade, Derek Watkins, Andy Wood — brass (tracks 1, 8)
  • Philip Sheppard, Matthew Ward — strings (track 5)
  • Perry Montague-Mason — leader

Production

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[58] Gold 15,000^
Germany (BVMI)[59] Gold 100,000^
Ireland (IRMA)[60] 8× Platinum 120,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[62] 7× Platinum 2,200,000[61]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[63] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog number
Germany 28 November 2008 Polydor Compact Disc B001JCDWAS[64]
Deluxe Edition B001IA46DI[65]
United Kingdom 1 December 2008 Polydor Compact Disc 1787444[66]
Deluxe Edition 1790124[67]
United States 2 December 2008 Universal International Compact Disc B001IA46D8[68]
Deluxe Edition B001IA46DI[69]
Japan 3 December 2008 Compact Disc UICP1101[70]
Brazil 17 December 2008 602517919914[71]

References

  1. ^ "Take That announce new album details: Band reveal album title and release date". NME. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  2. ^ "Take That travel to The Circus for album five". Adfero.co.uk. 13 October 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  3. ^ Gregory, Jason (29 December 2008). "Duffy and Take That Released Biggest Selling Albums of 2008". Gigwise. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Take That set to spar with Spears". BBC News. 14 October 2008.
  5. ^ Lyons, Beverley; Sutherland, Laura (14 October 2008). "Exclusive: Take That hit back at Britney Spears in album row". Daily Record. Glasgow, Scotland: Trinity Mirror. ISSN 0956-8069. OCLC 500344244. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008.
  6. ^ "Up All Night Video Premiere". takethat.com. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 January 2009.
  7. ^ Balls, David (27 February 2009). "The Garden to be the third single". UK: Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  8. ^ "Watch The Premiere of The Brand New Video For 'Said It All'". takethat.com. 7 May 2009. Archived from the original on 8 May 2009.
  9. ^ "Reviews for The Circus by Take That". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  10. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Take That: The Circus [Non Eea Version] > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  11. ^ a b Kraines, Talia (21 November 2008). "Take That The Circus Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  12. ^ a b "Take That - The Circus: Review". Daily Mirror. London: Trinity Mirror. 28 November 2008. OCLC 223228477. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  13. ^ Fletcher, Alex (1 December 2008). "Take That: 'The Circus'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  14. ^ Smyth, David (28 November 2008). "Take That: The Circus". London Evening Standard. ISSN 2041-4404. OCLC 502336371. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  15. ^ Burgess, John (5 December 2008). "Take That: Circus". The Guardian. London: Guardian Media Group. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  16. ^ a b The Sunday Times review[dead link]
  17. ^ a b The Times review Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ a b Dosanjh, Ash (4 December 2008). "Take That - The Circus". Yahoo! Music UK. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  19. ^ Cole, Paul (27 November 2008). "Take That: The Circus - new album review!". Sunday Mercury. Birmingham, England: Birmingham Post & Mail. ISSN 1755-5728. OCLC 500175868. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  20. ^ ukpress.google.com article Archived 1 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Youngs, Ian (31 October 2008). "Take That lead music ticket boom". BBC News.
  22. ^ Haile, Deborah (31 October 2008). "Take That hits record books". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  23. ^ Thornton, Michael (31 October 2008). "Take That tour breaks UK record". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  24. ^ "Take That Beat Jackos Record". polydor.co.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  25. ^ "Take That tour". Lurgan Mail. Lurgan, Northern Ireland: Morton Newspapers. 13 June 2009. ISSN 1358-7684. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  26. ^ BayRadio.fm article Archived 18 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ Thomas, Rebecca (2 December 2008). "Take That album party rocks Paris". BBC News.
  28. ^ "Lavish party for Take That album launch". Partyoffers.co.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  29. ^ "TT smash another record". The Sun. London: News International. 27 November 2008.
  30. ^ NewsDaily article[dead link]
  31. ^ "Take That beating Britney Spears in 'Circus' album battle". NME. United Kingdom: IPC MEdia. 2 December 2008. ISSN 0028-6362. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  32. ^ "Circus is a record breaker". The Sun. London: News International. 6 December 2008.
  33. ^ "Leona record-breaker tops chart". BBC News. 7 December 2008.
  34. ^ "Take That sell one million albums in 19 days". NME. United Kingdom: IPC MEdia. 19 December 2008. ISSN 0028-6362. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  35. ^ Sexton, Paul (29 December 2008). "Take That, Alexandra Burke Rule U.K. Charts". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013.
  36. ^ "Take That pick up double IFPI Platinum Europe Award in a month". IFPI Platinum Europe Awards - Q4 2008. IFPI. January 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  37. ^ "Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2008" (PDF). IFPI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2009.
  38. ^ "British album certifications – Take That – The Circus". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 October 2010. Select albums in the Format field. Type The Circus in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  39. ^ "The Circus". chartstats.com. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  40. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Take That – The Circus" (in German). Hung Medien.
  41. ^ "Ultratop.be – Take That – The Circus" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  42. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Take That – The Circus". Hung Medien.
  43. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Take That – The Circus" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  44. ^ https://books.google.com/books?lr=&rview=1&id=aKAOa7WLRrYC&q=take+that#v=snippet&q=take%20that&f=false
  45. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  46. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 45, 2008". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  47. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Take That – The Circus". Hung Medien.
  48. ^ "Take That: The Circus" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  49. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Take That – The Circus". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  50. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  51. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Take That – The Circus". Hung Medien.
  52. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Take That – The Circus". Hung Medien.
  53. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Take That – The Circus". Hung Medien.
  54. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  55. ^ "2008 UK Year-end Charts" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  56. ^ "2009 UK Year-end Charts" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  57. ^ "2010 UK Year-end Charts" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  58. ^ "Certificeringer | ifpi.dk". ifpi.dk. 2011. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  59. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('The Circus')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  60. ^ "The Irish Charts - 2008 Certification Awards - Multi Platinum". Irish Recorded Music Association.
  61. ^ Eames, Tom (30 January 2016). "Take That: All 8 albums ranked from worst to best". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  62. ^ "British album certifications – Take That – the Circus". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2012. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type the Circus in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  63. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2008". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
  64. ^ "The Circus: Take That: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  65. ^ "The Circus (Ltd.Deluxe Edt.): Take That: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. 9 September 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  66. ^ "Take That: Circus (2008): CD". hmv.com. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
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  69. ^ "Circus (Dlx): Take That: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  70. ^ "Circus【CD】-Take That (テイクザット)｜ポピュラーロック｜ロック｜音楽｜HMV ONLINE オンラインショッピング・情報サイト". Hmv.co.jp. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  71. ^ "Cd: Circus, The – Take That – Pop". Livrariacultura.com.br. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
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