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Reality Killed the Video Star

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Untitled

Reality Killed the Video Star[13] is the eighth solo studio album by British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released on November 9, 2009, in the United Kingdom.[1] It was released on November 17, 2009, in the United States.[14]

The album became Williams' first studio album not to reach number 1 on the UK albums chart,[15] beaten to the top spot by a margin of less than 1% by the UK boy band JLS' self-titled debut album.[16]

Background information

Reality Killed The Video Star is Williams' first studio album in three years. He has worked with many producers in this period, including Guy Chambers, Mark Ronson,[17] and Trevor Horn.[18] However, at the end, the British singer confirmed on his official website that the entire album was produced by Trevor Horn and added that it was recorded in London.[3]

Rumours of a new studio album co-written with Guy Chambers had surfaced in early 2007, along with known commitments required by Williams to his EMI contract. British singer-songwriter Laura Critchley commented that she had sung vocals for three songs, and said that it would not be released until 2009.[19]

In February, it was confirmed that Williams has written material with Guy Chambers and Mark Ronson. The singer's spokesman, Tim Clark, said that the artist was planning to begin the recording sessions in March and that the new album will be released in late 2009.[20]

On his official website, Williams wrote he was working with producer Trevor Horn on his new album too; he described himself as "buzzing, it sounds big. Very, very big". Soon after, it was confirmed that the new album will be titled Reality Killed the Video Star, a play of the song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Horn's former band The Buggles.[18] In July 2009 Williams wrote on his official blog about the album: "My album's a killer: old Robbie, new Robbie and a Robbie that neither of us have met...".[21][22]

Williams spoke about what he expects from the album: "I want people to feel elated, I want them to dance, I want them to forget about who they are and where they are for 50 minutes – and, within those 50 minutes of forgetting who they are, I also hope people relate to the songs. This is a record that I’m very proud of – I think it’s f****** brilliant. I want it to be the record that, if people think of Robbie Williams, they go, Yeah, Reality Killed The Video Star." He also talked about his collaboration with producer Trevor Horn: "He’s added something to the record that I haven’t had on previous records – his genius".[23]

The album was mostly written in Williams' home studio and was recorded in London. Amongst those who collaborated in the songwriting are Danny Spencer & Kelvin Andrews, Brandon Christy, Craig Russo, Richard Spencer and Scott Rudin, Chaz Jankel, Guy Chambers and Fil Eisler.[24]

In the wake of Michael Jackson's death on 25 June 2009, Williams is reported to have written and recorded a last minute tribute song to Jackson that will be released on the album.[22] The song was co-written by James Bond lyricist Don Black.[22] During his BBC Electric Proms concert at The Roundhouse in London on October 20, 2009 Williams said about the song ("Morning Sun") : "I thought it was about Michael Jackson [...] but it’s actually about me again."[25] The album was originally planned to be named Il Protagonista, Italian word for The Protagonist, until Williams' management told him to change the title for being "too pretentious".[26]

Musical style

The British singer-songwriter unveiled the album at an industry playback in London, where EMI UK and Ireland president Andria Vidler hosted the event. Mark Sutherland from Billboard spoke about the album: "The album marks a return to Williams' trademark pop sound after 2006's more experimental -- and commercially under-performing -- Rudebox. All of Williams' seven studio solo albums so far have hit No. 1 in the United Kingdom. [...] While lead single "Bodies" features a refinement of the more electronic sound debuted on "Rudebox," much of the album returns to the fertile, adult pop ground of Williams' previous smash hit albums Escapology and Intensive Care. Album highlights include lush ballads "Morning Sun" and "You Know Me," the intricate wordplay of "Blasphemy" and the 1980s sound of "Last Days of Disco" [...] A confident-sounding Williams also experiments with some light psychedelia on "Deceptacon" and electronic dance music on the anthemic "Starstruck" and "Difficult for Weirdos." [27]

Release and promotion

  • A special CD called Songbook was released on October 11, 2009 with The Mail on Sunday. It features twelve classic Robbie Williams tracks, the CD includes live recordings from Slane Castle, Cologne, London's The Forum and Knebworth as well as six 30-second clips of tracks from Reality Killed the Video Star.[28]
  • The singer appeared on The X Factor on October 11, 2009 to perform the single Bodies live.[29]
  • Williams performed some material from Reality Killed the Video Star on the BBC Electric Proms at The Roundhouse in London on October 20, 2009.[30] It was Williams' first live performance in over three years and was broadcast live in nearly 200 cinemas across Europe on October 20 and a few weeks later in Australia, South Africa and Mexico. The show featured a full band orchestrated by Trevor Horn.[31] The concert received many positive reviews[32][33] and Williams also set a new Guinness World Record for: "the most simultaneous cinematic screenings of a live concert".[34]
  • Initially, Williams was set to perform on November 5, 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 in Berlin at the O2 World.[35] However, due to a scheduling conflict, he did not perform.[36]
  • On Friday November 6, 2009 he gave an interview and also performed on the UK TV show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.[37]
  • On the release day of the album in the UK, 9 November 2009, Williams appeared on Loose Women for a special edition of the show as the only guest.[38]
  • A special intimate live show at The Metro Theatre took place in Sydney on November 25, 2009 where Williams performed material from the new album and some of his classic hits.[39]
  • He performed his single "Bodies" in Australia at the ARIA Music Awards on November 26, 2009. The event was held at the Acer Arena.[40]
  • On Tuesday, 8 December 2009, Williams will be in London performing what will be a very intimate show to less than 200 people at the Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House.[41]

Singles

Track listing

  • Robbie Williams co-wrote all of the songs on the album; additional writers are listed below.
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Morning Sun"Don Black, Kelvin Andrews, Daniel Spencer, Richard Scott, Scott Ralph4:06
2."Bodies"Brandon Christy, Craig Russo4:04
3."You Know Me"Françoise Hardy, Andrews, Spencer4:21
4."Blasphemy"Guy Chambers4:18
5."Do You Mind?"Chas Jankel, Andrews, Spencer4:06
6."Last Days of Disco"Andrews, Spencer4:50
7."Somewhere"Spencer, Andrews, Andy Stubbs, Jonathan Hand, Stephen Cadman1:01
8."Deceptacon"Andrews, Spencer, Scott, Ralph5:01
9."Starstruck"Andrews, Paul Beard, Spencer5:21
10."Difficult for Weirdos"Andrews, Spencer4:29
11."Superblind"Fil Eisler4:46
12."Won't Do That"Andrews, Spencer, Scott, Ralph3:38
13."Morning Sun (Reprise)" 1:19
14."Arizona" (Digital download bonus only / Japanese bonus track)Spencer, Andrews5:38

Personnel

Performers on the album include[45]

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, the album sold over 85,000 copies in its first day on sale and 238,125 copies in its first week, around 1,500 less than JLS. The two albums have however had the two highest first week album sales in 2009 so far.[46]

Release history

  • Reality Killed the Video Star will be available in three different formats: a standard 13-track CD, deluxe edition and digital download. In addition to the standard version, the deluxe edition features premium packaging and a behind-the-scenes DVD.
Region Date Label Format
Germany[74] November 6, 2009 Chrysalis Records, EMI CD, Digital download
Australia[75]
Austria[76]
Switzerland
Mexico[77] EMI CD, Digital download, CD+DVD
United Kingdom[78] November 9, 2009 Virgin Records, EMI
France[79]
Spain[80] November 10, 2009 EMI CD, Digital download
United States[81] November 17, 2009 Capitol Records
Brazil[82] November 24, 2009 EMI CD

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  2. ^ 27 October 2009. "Robbie Williams Video Podcast: Episode 1". YouTube. Retrieved 2009-10-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b "Album produced by Trevor Horn and recorded in London". Reality Killed the Video Star website. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  4. ^ Mincher, Chris (2009-11-20). "Robbie Williams: Reality Killed The Video Star | Music | Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
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Preceded by Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
November 16 – November 22 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Kiddy Contest Vol.15
 Austrian Albums Chart number-one album
November 18 – November 25 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Croatian Albums Chart number-one album Succeeded by
Preceded by Dutch Albums Chart number-one album
November 14 – November 21 2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 German Albums Chart number-one album Succeeded by
Preceded by Swiss Albums Chart number-one album
November 22 – November 29 2009 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Reality_Killed_the_Video_Star&oldid=328371793"