Mark Owen thinks old Take That bandmate Robbie Williams’ new album ‘Escapology’ is dull.
He revealed “I quite like a lot of it but I sat there and sat there waiting for it to end. It’s just too long and boring. Plus add to that, way dull actually. Sad.”
“I reckon it’s a bit all over the place as well.”
Popstars judge Louis Walsh has commenced a scorching attack on Robbie Williams, stamping him to be a “jumped-up karaoke singer” who definitely would not make it on any reality popstar show.
Louis laid into Robbie after the star claimed shows such as Fame Academy and Popstars The Rivals were “cruel television ****ing with people’s lives for entertainment”.
In an exclusive interview Louis blasted out “Robbie Williams is Mr Karaoke. He is the guy that did all the really sad, sad recordings of Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow’s Could It Be Magic? with what’s that group, oh yeah, that Take That bunch.
“How can he say the programmes are bad? Now, if it had been George Michael saying that then maybe I would listen, but certainly not Robbie Williams.”
“He is a jumped-up karaoke singer. He did that album ‘Swing When You’re Winning’ and Frank Sinatra fans wanted to murder him. When he was in Take That he wasn’t very good. He was simply the one with no clothes on, the silly one, not the talent.”
“If Robbie hadn’t got lucky he would have been the first in the queue to audition in Manchester for Popstars and he wouldn’t have got through with his voice.”
Robbie Williams shocked guests at his BBC 1 concert taping on Sunday night when he shouted “screw you” before singing ‘Sexed Up’, a bitter song about ex-love Nicole Appleton.
“Robbie has dusted it off again because it’s his way of getting back at Nicole. He was devastated when she told the world she had aborted his baby” an insider revealed.
“It was something they had gone through together and it was very personal. She betrayed him and he can’t forgive her. That is why he is releasing the song on ‘Escapology’. It’s his turn to get even.”
If you’ve got the chance to hear all the cuts on Robbie Williams’ new album, ‘Escapology’, chances are you’ll find yourself tuning in to a track called ‘Cursed’, which takes a shot at former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell.
On the track ‘Cursed’, Robbie sings,
The lyrics go
Cursed, since your birth dear/ And your worst fears have all come true/ I was naked when it penetrated/ Told everyone I’d slept with you/ Thought you’d like it/ knew you wouldn’t deny it/
People close to the singer believe his song reveals what happened between the pair, who have gone back and forth on whether their relationship was sexual or not.
A source said “No one really knows whether Robbie and Geri actually slept together. It’s been admitted, it’s been denied but ‘Cursed’ tells the real story.”
“Everyone knows that there’s no love lost now between them. They were once the best of friends. Now they are the bitterest of enemies. Robbie reckons Geri’s solo success turned her into someone who scared him. He wants to tell his side.”
Meanwhile, critics have praised Robbie’s single ‘Feel’ and are claiming that it might just be Robbie’s ticket into making it huge in the US of A.
Robbie’s new LP is scheduled to be released into shops come the 18th of November.
Robbie Williams has split from his song-writer Guy Chambers.
Guy has refused to sign an agreement he would only work with the former Take That star. So that means an end to the partnership which produced the likes of ‘Angels’, ‘Let Me Entertain You’ and ‘Millennium’.
A spokesman for Guy said “Guy has decided to work with other people and on other projects. He feels he cannot commit to working exclusively with Robbie. After six years and five albums he feels it is time to move on.”
“‘Escapology’ is finished and Guy has co-written 12 of the 14 songs. He feels he is bowing out on a creative high.”
Robbie Williams has agreed the biggest deal in British music history – by signing a four-record contract with EMI worth about GBP80m.
The deal with the ex-Take That singer includes GBP10m up front, GBP15m on completion of the first record and GBP55m for the remaining three records.
The agreement is structured to meet strict sales targets and aims to help Williams become a star in the US – where he has failed to make his name.
Music industry experts are predicting that Robbie Williams’ forthcoming album, ‘Escapology’, could give the UK’s ailing music market a much-needed boost.
According to recent figures, UK record sales suffered a 15 percent drop this year, in comparison to 2001.
It’s hoped that Robbie’s album plus releases from the likes of U2, Westlife and Craig David will get the cash registers jangling. However, the ex-Take That star is the one who everyone’s watching, following the massive success of his ‘Swing When You’re Winning’ album last winter.
“Robbie Williams especially is something people seem to respond to,” HMV spokesperson Gennaro Castaldo told nme.com, “His new album is a real bonus. It was already looking like being a bumper run-up to Christmas, but now with Robbie it looks like being the biggest ever.”
Although industry hopes are resting on Robbie to revive flagging sales, he’s yet to decide which label will release ‘Escapology’.
Robbie is to perform his next single, ‘Feel’, for the first time at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Barcelona on the 14th of November.
Still having a ball in America with his foxy lady, Rachel Hunter, and pictured prancing away at clubs with Christina Aguilera is Robbie Williams who took part in a star-studded karaoke in an Los Angeles restaurant alongside Moby, Slash from Guns N’ Roses, The Cult’s Billy Duffy and dotty ’60s folkie Donovan Leitch!
According to sources, Britain’s favorite pop sugar stole the show from the Americans that eventually left Moby relatively impressed.
Moby wrote on his website “I did ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Gimme Shelter.’ But the highlight was Robbie Williams singing ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ and Slash playing guitar.”
I’m thinking this is Robbie’s unique but positively fun way of making Americans stop and take some notice of him.
Robbie Williams, who’s presently away in Los Angeles, is mad that his songwriter and best lad, Guy Chambers, is penning tracks for ‘Pop Idol’ victor Will Young.
Taking a year off from music in Los Angeles, insecure Robbie is pretty much bothered that his fan base will switch and start idolising Will Young through the experienced guidance of Guy Chambers.
Guy who co-wrote many of Robbie’s smash hits and plays the keyboards in Robbie’s band, has often been described as a workaholic. He is not satisfied to just sit back while Robbie recuperates in Los Angeles. He has already penned songs for former All Saints member, Shaznay Lewis, and is now working on new material for the ‘Evergreen/Anything Is Possible’ sensation.Sources say Robbie is furious and panicking “Robbie is putting on a brave face but he is concerned he may find it difficult when he returns next year if Guy and Will have formed a strong tie. He’s very insecure like that and is not happy that Guy is a free agent and the fact that Guy wants to work while Robbie’s away.”
Robbie, as reported earlier on Pop-Music.com, is attending Alcohol Anonymous meetings every day in L.A to stay sober.
In other Robbie-related affairs, Robbie Williams will stay at EMI after news broke out last week that the record company has slashed 1,800 staff and artists as part of a wide-ranging strategy to cut costs.
Selling so far sold five million copies of his big band album ‘Swing When Your Winning’ worldwide, the ‘Rock DJ’ star has reportedly been offered GBP40 million to stay with EMI.
He’s still in discussions with bosses at the record label but it looks like he’ll sign up to do another 5 albums, according to what an EMI executive said.
Are Robbie Williams and Drew Barrymore an item? Apparently, the pair met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Los Angeles.
A source close to Robbie Williams claim that while at the meeting, Robbie was talking about his struggles and it really touched Drew. “She saw what a sensitive, warm person he really is actually.”
Both Drew and Robbie have had well-publicized battles with alcohol and drugs and have been unlucky in love.Since then, realising how much they both have in common and speaking to each other for hours, the couple have been spotted having coffee and in several L.A nightclubs.
In other news, Robbie’s been telling anyone who will listen that he wants to become a priest. Telling an observer, “I’m training to become a priest so I can minister to people. I’m giving up this pop lifestyle.” Reverend Robbie Williams? Somehow, I don’t see that happening.