The careers of most music celebrities are like passenger ships, able to steam along nearly indefinitely without the least chance of modifying course. With his work of the 21st century, Robbie Williams appeared to have set himself on a course that was guaranteed to keep him working for decades, remaining important to thousands of fans, but never varying from the type of adult alternative singer/songwriter material expected of him. Then came Rudebox, which proves he's not that simple -- or at least, not that satisfied with himself. It may be a good album because it says little about his inner life and emotional troubles, which are unceremoniously dropped in favor of hyper-sexualized or sarcastic dance music and ironic laugh-getters ("Make your body shake like you stood on a land mine," "Dance like you just won at the Special Olympics"). It may be a good album because it has some of the best productions of his career, usually amped-up electro-disco from the duo Soul Mekanik or goofy hip-hop soul from Mark Ronson (which makes him come across as Justin Timberlake at some points and Gnarls Barkley at others). It's certainly a good record in comparison to its two predecessors, which suffered from a lack of vitality. (For example, while 2005's Intensive Care desultorily attempted to rewrite the Human League's "Louise," Rudebox simply covers the song, with much more feeling.) Compared to Escapology and Intensive Care, Rudebox is not only loose and fun but, for the first time in Williams' career, receptive to outside help; aside from the producers, Lily Allen and the Pet Shop Boys make appearances, and Robbie covers songs from Manu Chao, Lewis Taylor, Stephen Duffy, and the indie band My Robot Friend. Not that the record is perfect; in fact, it has a few of the most embarrassing moments in Williams' career. The lyrics occasionally devolve into hip-hop nonsense ("Got no strings, but I think with my ding-a-ling/Wu-Tang with the bling-bling, sing a song of Sing Sing"). "The 80s" is even worse, a nostalgic but monotone ap that oddly balances adolescent trauma and pop culture ("Auntie Jo died of cancer/God didn't have an answer/Rhythm was a dancer"). Still, the next track after "The 80s" is "The 90s," a surprisingly bewitching chronicle of his boy-band years from 1990 to 1995. The fact remains that every track here is better and more interesting than anything from the previous two LPs, despite the occasional embarrassing couplet or misguided musical idea.
There are just so many odd and amusing things to this album. Besides the perverse attempts at rapping and the two highly indulgent autobiographical tracks toward the end the album, there's "Bongo Bong," which sounds like Robbie Williams's tribute to Gorillaz, but featuring complete gibberish vocals before switching to French halfway through. And then there are two songs that are effectively P...
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There are just so many odd and amusing things to this album. Besides the perverse attempts at rapping and the two highly indulgent autobiographical tracks toward the end the album, there's "Bongo Bong," which sounds like Robbie Williams's tribute to Gorillaz, but featuring complete gibberish vocals before switching to French halfway through. And then there are two songs that are effectively P...
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I never knew this existed, not even sure what I think about Mr. Williams. He likes to co-opt every thing he can get his hands on to make his own.A cover of Stephen TinTin Duffy's "Kiss Me"(Sorry Misstee I can't find "Unkiss That Kiss", at least not yet!)
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Can any one find one more tragic than this....All together now "R.U.D.E.B.O.X up your jacksee, split ya keks"
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To add to the conversation that davesonic started in his post today about EMI, Guy Hands and the label's musicians, here is another perspective of the music industry - one that many people don't like to discuss. Guy Hands, the "plantation owner" at the head of Terra Firma (the corp that recently purchased EMI), revealed some disturbing stats about the label's album releases to The Guardian. H...
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I usually dont listen to this kind of music, but this song is good enough
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There are just so many odd and amusing things to this album. Besides the perverse attempts at rapping and the two highly indulgent autobiographical tracks toward the end the album, there's "Bongo Bong," which sounds like Robbie Williams's tribute to Gorillaz, but featuring complete gibberish vocals before switching to French halfway through. And then there are two songs that are effectively P...
More >
There are just so many odd and amusing things to this album. Besides the perverse attempts at rapping and the two highly indulgent autobiographical tracks toward the end the album, there's "Bongo Bong," which sounds like Robbie Williams's tribute to Gorillaz, but featuring complete gibberish vocals before switching to French halfway through. And then there are two songs that are effectively P...
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Robbie WilliamsRudebox Bongo Bong And Je Ne T'aime Plus LyricsMama was queen of the mambo Papa was king of the Congo Deep down in the jungle I started bangin' my first bongo Every monkey'd like to be In my place instead of me Cause I'm the king of bongo, baby I'm the king of bongo bong I went to the big town Where there is a lot of sound From the jungle to the city Looking for a bigger crow...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Rudebox |
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| 2 Viva Life on Mars |
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| 3 Lovelight |
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| 4 Bongo Bong/Je Ne T'Aime Plus |
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| 5 She's Madonna |
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| 6 Keep On |
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| 7 Good Doctor |
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| 8 The Actor |
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| 9 Never Touch That Switch |
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| 10 Louise |
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| 11 We're the Pet Shop Boys |
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| 12 Burslem Normals |
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| 13 Kiss Me |
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| 14 The 80's |
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| 15 The 90's |
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| 16 Summertime |
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| 17 Dickhead [CD-ROM Track] |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Rudebox")
