D'luv likes the idea of Take That. The world, at least European side of it, needs a band like them, it might be safe to assume. Something iconic and familiar to latch onto in uncertain times.But The Circus was a bit wobbly, I feel. Or was it?
Admittedly, the holiday season was a bit hectic, no doubt for everyone. And my deluxe edition copy of The Circus arrived smack at the onset of it.
Granted, there was that first Saturday after the CD showed up in the mail, where I drove around running errands and listened to it three times. "The Garden," "Said It All" and "You" stood out immediately, warranting repeated plays. "Hold Up A Light" and "How Did It Come To This" were a bit more subtle, but proved to be growers.
I guess what I'm saying is that it wasn't an instantly catchy album. In fact, I haven't listened to it again as a whole much since that first Saturday three weeks back. Maybe it was just too much Mark Owen, and not enough Gary Barlow for my taste?
Anyway, Take That ended up with the second best-selling album of the year in the U.K., at 1.4 million copies sold, behind Duffy's Rockferry (nearly 1.7 million).
And, as mentioned before, The Circus just might get a 2009 U.S. release, according to Universal's U.K. chief.
I've got a long flight ahead of me this afternoon, with a layover in Memphis. It might be time to revisit The Circus. Who knows, maybe what I needed all along was to hear it at a high altitude?