Robbie Williams gets, er, sensitive

Quoted from: http://www.metronews.ca/

'The newly sensitive Robbie Williams.
Robbie WilliamsIntensive CareChrysalis/EMI*** (out of five)
For all the cocky bravado this British megastar has been known to exude on past solo efforts - and in concert, for that matter - Intensive Care will come across as something of a shock: Robbie gets sensitive.
Sure, this fifth studio album's opener Ghosts begins with the bold pronouncement: "Here I stand victorious/the only man who made you come;" but the rest of his co-writes with Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy forces Britain's bratty singer of Let Me Entertain You, Angels and Millennium fame to take a good look inward lyrically and musically. Sometimes, as on the Trouble With Me and King Of Bloke And Bird, this personal reflection isn't such a bad thing - at the very least, it shows the 31-year-old Williams is willing to put his past bad-boy reputation to rest. There's still a smidgen of pop-star Robbie on A Place To Crash, Your Gay Friend and Spread Your Wings, but despite the heavy anti-violent rhetoric on Tripping, Williams' Jamaican-pop fusion doesn't quite cut it.

ian nathanson/metro Toronto
mailto:ian.nathanson@metronews.ca