Music/Contest: Robbie Williams is back

2009/11/27

The bad boy of British pop returns after three years in the wilderness.
AFTER three years of silence, Robbie Williams is back with his latest album, Reality Killed the Video Star. In the past decade, his solo career was a whirlwind.

Its triumphs are hinted at by the statistics: over 55 million albums sold of Life Thru a Lens (1997), I’ve Been Expecting You (1998), Sing When You’re Winning (2000), Swing When You’re Winning (2001), Escapology (2002) Live at Knebworth (2003), Greatest Hits (2004), Intensive Care (2005) and Rudebox (2006), more Brit awards than any other act in history, most tickets ever sold in one day for his 2006 Close Encounters tour (1.6 million tickets) and so on.

But the impact he has made through his songs, performances and personality goes beyond that.

After the Close Encounters tour ended in December 2006, he decided that it was time to disappear for a while.

“I had to have a rest,” Williams said.

Despite his decision to step out of public view, the pop star had never stopped making what he loved most — music.

In those three years, he kept himself busy by writing new songs.

“I never stopped even though there would be times when I grew a beard for a long, long time! I stayed at home, retired from sober evenings out at bars and nightclubs. Those places never appealed to me — I was just finding someone to stay in with,” he explained.

His eighth and latest album is produced by the legendary Trevor Horn. Reality Killed the Video Star was written in Los Angeles and recorded in London.

“I just think it sounds big — track after track after track,” said Williams.

“I have a wide range of tastes. I wasn’t aware that you couldn’t do that, or that you might not be able to. And with every case, there’s an exception to the rule, and I seem to have been that for a while. And I quite like being an exception to the rule — to any rule.”

With the release of his album earlier this month, Williams said: “I’m at a turning point in my career. This record decides my path. There have been a few great songs here and there, but you just forget.

“You can never be sure what it is to people until it comes out, but I believe that it’s magic. I do think that it is an amazing album. It’s a record that I’m very fond of, very proud of. I think it’s brilliant and I want a lot of people to agree with me. I want it to be the record that, if they think of Robbie Williams, they go, ‘Yeah, Reality Killed the Video Star’.” — Courtesy from Warner Music

NST/Robbie Williams Giveaways

ARE you a fan of Robbie Williams? Then here’s your chance to win some giveaways.The first 10 readers to answer the questions below correctly will win a Robbie Williams T-shirt and a pin set each on a first-come-first-serve basis. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entertained.

Questions:
1. Name the first and second singles in Reality Killed the Video Star.
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2. The Reality Killed the Video Star album is Robbie’s number ___________ album.

Submit your answers together with your full name, I.C no, contact number and mailing address to warnermusiccontests@gmail.com.