Originally, there wasn't going to be a Take That album review on here. This is due to the fact I couldn't bring myself to listen to it after never liking one of their songs. Then 'Patience' came along, and although its mildly catchy hooks made me sit up and listen for a moment, I didn't really like that either. Eventually, I heard 'Shine', and this was enough to spark just a little interest in the album.

Millions appear to be fascinated by this CD. However, just as I suspected, it is an album consisting mostly of cheesy ballads such as opening track 'Reach Out', closing track 'Butterfly', and... well, all the songs in between ('Hold On', 'I Never Loved You At All', 'I'd Wait For Life', 'Ain't No Sense In Love', 'What You Believe In'... you get the point). While love connotations still appear in 'Mancunian Way', it's slightly (slightly) more upbeat than the rest of the album, and 'Wooden Boat' shows that you should take advantage of opportunities in life - 'sometimes we don't know what we're waiting for / that's the time to be the first one on the dancefloor'. I'm not quite sure how 'Shine' qualified to be on this sort of album.

If Take That were trying to go for something a little different, then something went severely wrong during the songwriting process. If they are simply trying to rekindle their old, well-known soft sound, then they've certainly succeeded - and it appears to have made them almost as popular as before. But to me, perhaps yet another boyband with a Westlife-esque sound isn't really what the UK needs right now.

However, if you want an album chockablock with cheesy pop love songs, you'll certainly get your money's worth. If not... well, don't even bother.