Day 44: Take That – Everything Changes
Album art courtesy of RCA Records
I’m so tired today. I slept well last night and I even scheduled in a little post-work nap, but I’m still so pooped that I’m struggling to get through my bare minimum tasks for this evening: cook dinner, have a shower, listen to some music and write a review. So I thought I’d combine the album with the shower and go for something light-hearted to jam out to while I’m washing my hair. And what’s more light hearted than ‘90s boy bands?
I’m not well acquainted with Take That at all. I listened a bit while I was writing something about Robbie a year or so ago, but that’s about it. I’m assuming that the UK citizenship test I’m bound to take some day will include a section where I have to recite facts about Gary Barlow and sing a verse from “Back for Good” to prove that I’m assimilated, so I might as well just start preparing my Take That knowledge now.
Take That were formed in 1990 by music manager Nigel Martin-Smith, who wanted to create a UK version of New Kids on the Block. Martin-Smith took these young guys, aged 16-22, clad them in bondage gear and put them on a tour of gay clubs, marketing them as cheeky chappies who are up for anything. Their first music video, “Do What U Like”, features the young (!) men clad in leather and in the buff rubbing jelly and whipped cream on each other, whilst singing “You can do what you like / No need to ask me”. Yikes!
I always thought Take That was a wholesome boy band for the older audiences, so imagine my surprise. Some of them were only 16! Robbie Williams was fresh out of school! Can you imagine if a 16-year-old was marketed today like the guys of Take That apparently were, or like Britney was with the school girl outfits and the infamous Rolling Stone shoot? The ‘90s were a very different time.
Anyway, Everything Changes is Take That’s second album after their 1992 debut Take That & Party, which by all accounts seems like a bit more my thing since it’s ‘70s-inspired camp disco, but I thought I’d go for an album that’s classic Take That. On Everything Changes, songs like “Relight My Fire” and “Meaning of Love” still have the upbeat disco influences, but there’s a fair few of the bland-ish ‘90s pop and power ballads and that I associate with Take That.
And yet the band’s overt sexuality remained. Singer Gary Barlow credited it partly to the band’s downfall, saying “It’s part of the reason why the band split up, that whole sex thing… Tour by tour, I felt less and less comfortable trussed up in all this kinky tackle.” Barlow, the band’s primary songwriter, wanted to write power ballads inspired by artists like Seal and R Kelly, which he did – but he sang them on stage in fetish gear, gyrating.
Very mixed feelings about this one. First of all, Take That is a lot more interesting than I thought. I’m also glad that it launched careers for its members. I’m especially glad for Gary Barlow, and he’s undeniably a talented songwriter. But when you put 16, 17 and 18-year olds in bondage gear on stage at a gay club saying you can do what you want to me and don’t need to get consent, that’s not exactly aimed to attract other 16-year-olds, that’s meant to attract adults. It’s very strange. Maybe we’ll hear a bit more about what the Take That experience was like once the general public is able to accept the shocking fact that something that makes you rich can also be bad for you.
Take That – come for the milquetoast pop, stay for the moral dilemma. Everything Changes is an alright album, but it’s definitely not for me. It’s still a solid 5/10. It’s not bad by any means, but barring the hits, it’s not very memorable either. It’s probably one of those albums that bang if you hear them when you’re 12, but are harder to get into as an adult. However, I’m sure even the most hardened critic would have to admit that “Relight My Fire” is a bit of a tune.