Beautiful World (Take That album)

Last updated

Beautiful World
Beautiful World cover.png
Studio album by
Released24 November 2006 (2006-11-24)
Recorded2006
Studio
Genre Pop rock
Length47:46
Label Polydor
Producer John Shanks
Take That chronology
Never Forget – The Ultimate Collection
(2005)
Beautiful World
(2006)
The Circus
(2008)
Singles from Beautiful World
  1. "Patience"
    Released: 13 November 2006
  2. "Shine"
    Released: 26 February 2007
  3. "I'd Wait for Life"
    Released: 18 June 2007
  4. "Reach Out"
    Released: 22 June 2007
  5. "Rule The World (Deluxe edition only)"
    Released: 22 October 2007

Beautiful World is the fourth studio album by the English pop group Take That. Released on 27 November 2006, it was the band's first studio album in 11 years; it was also the band's first album to be released as a four-piece instead of the classic five-piece, without Robbie Williams, who had quit the group in 1995 and was not to rejoin them until 2010. Five singles were released from the album: "Patience", "Shine", "I'd Wait for Life", the European-only single "Reach Out", and "Rule the World", which appeared on the deluxe tour edition. The album features what Take That describe as "a throwback to the 90s, but with a modern twist". Beautiful World is their first album in which every member of the band sings lead vocals on at least one song.

Contents

Singles

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
BBC Music positive [2]
Digital Spy Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [3]
Entertainment.ie Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Observer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]

Two weeks before the official UK release of Beautiful World, iTunes UK made the album available for pre-order. It immediately shot up the online music store's Top Albums list, peaking at number 1 on the day of the release. In December 2006, Take That became the only act to secure a #1 position in the download chart, UK albums chart, singles chart, airplay chart and the video chart. [7] The album received overwhelming positive reception from across the media, all praising the new musical direction that Take That had taken.

The album doesn't try for anything too dramatic and oozes with their obvious joy and gratitude at being back at the top of their game. Hearing Gary's voice on the majority of the tracks is a comforting reminder of times past, but having the other three as lead singers provides a refreshing change, with Jason Orange's Wooden Boat standing out particularly.

The songs are varied and more reflective than their previous work evoking the struggles to stick together and time passing. Their amazing comeback single 'Patience' jostles for prominence amongst a string of epic opening tracks including 'Reach Out' and 'Hold On' (Mark on lead vocal). Then there are the beautiful ballads 'Like I've Never Loved You At All', stand out track 'I'd Wait For Life' and the pensive 'What You Believe In'. The album gets its really interesting twist with the Beatles-esque 'Shine' and the folk-tinged 'Wooden Boat', with Jason taking his first lead vocal.

Accolades

The lead single from the album, "Patience", won 'Best British Single' at the 2007 BRIT Awards [8] and the second single "Shine" won 'Best British Single' at the 2008 BRIT Awards a year later. [9]

Commercial performance

The album was number one in Ireland and the UK and was very well received critically. To date the album has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide (including 2,850,000 in the UK alone, as of July 2016). [10] The album was the 2nd best selling of 2006 in the UK, after only being on sale for one month. The album was also the 4th best selling album of 2007, and 33rd best selling of 2008.

The album has spent a total of 132 weeks (2 years and seven months) in the UK top 100. [11] The album has been certified 9× Platinum in the UK, and as of 2014 is the 32nd best selling album in British music history. [12]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange, and produced by John Shanks, additional songwriters are noted below

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Reach Out"John ShanksBarlow4:16
2."Patience"ShanksBarlow3:20
3."Beautiful World" Steve Robson Donald4:25
4."Hold On"ShanksOwen3:56
5."Like I Never Loved You at All"ShanksBarlow3:44
6."Shine"RobsonOwen3:31
7."I'd Wait for Life" Barlow4:34
8."Ain't No Sense in Love" Billy Mann Barlow3:51
9."What You Believe In" Anders Bagge Owen4:32
10."Mancunian Way" Eg White Donald3:48
11."Wooden Boat"MannOrange3:07
International bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
12."Butterfly" (hidden track)ShanksBarlow3:42
Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
12."Butterfly"ShanksBarlow3:42
13."6 in The Morning Fool"MannBarlow3:36
Tour Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
12."Butterfly"ShanksBarlow3:42
13."Beautiful Morning" ("Patience" B-side)
  • Shanks
  • Ben Mark
Barlow3:37
14."We All Fall Down"RobsonOwen3:47
15."Rule the World" Barlow4:58
Tour Edition bonus DVD (videos)
No.TitleDirectorLength
16."Patience"David Mould3:22
17."Shine"Justin Dickel3:31
18."I'd Wait for Life"Sean de Sparengo4:33
19."Rule the World"Barney Clay4:58
20."The Making of Beautiful World"Sean de Sparengo30:00
B-sides
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
21."Trouble with Me" ("Shine”/“Patience" B-side)ShanksBarlow3:22
22."We Love to Entertain You" ("Shine" B-side)ShanksBarlow3:14
23."We All Fall Down" (acoustic) ("I'd Wait for Life"/"Reach Out" B-side)Robson 3:50
24."Stay Together" ("Rule the World" B-side)ShanksOwen4:00

Personnel

Take That

Musicians

Production

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [37] Platinum40,000^
Germany (BVMI) [38] Platinum200,000^
Ireland (IRMA) [39] 2× Platinum30,000^
Italy (FIMI) [40] Gold40,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [41] Gold15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [42] 9× Platinum2,850,000 [10]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI) [43] 3× Platinum3,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

CountryDateLabelFormatCatalogue #
United Kingdom27 November 2006 Polydor CD1715551 [44]
Taiwan27 November 2006 Universal International CDU171651-0 [45]
China27 November 2006Universal InternationalCDTY0191C [46]
Japan27 November 2006Universal InternationalCDUICP-1078
United States4 December 2006 [47] UniversalCD
United Kingdom12 November 2007PolydorCD + DVD1747133 [48]

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