Rudebox: Mixed reviews (2006–2007)
Williams' seventh studio album was announced in early 2006. It is a dance/electro album with collaborations with the Pet Shop Boys, William Orbit, Soul Mekanik, Joey Negro, Mark Ronson and more.
The first single, "Rudebox", was premièred on radio by Scott Mills on his show on BBC Radio 1. The event caused some controversy, as the record label's embargo date was broken, although the artist himself later backed the presenter for doing so. Right after the single was unleashed, it caused controversy due to Williams' radical change in the single in direction from his other releases. British Newspaper The Sun named the song "The Worst Song Ever".[81] However, Victoria Newton stated that there were sure-fire hits on the album.[82] The song was released in September that year reaching number four in the UK Singles Chart; however, it hit the number one spot in Germany, Switzerland and Italy.[83]
Williams released his much anticipated dance/electro album, Rudebox, on 23 October 2006. It received mixed reviews: Allmusic gave it a four star rating, the NME 8 out of 10, and Music Week and MOJO were equally positive,[84] but it received much weaker reviews from some of the British press. Despite reaching the number one spot, sales were far below what was expected by his label, and overall sales in the UK were overtaken by his former band, Take That,'s Beautiful World. The album has sold a little under 500,000 copies in the United Kingdom, becoming his lowest-selling album in the country, being certified 2x Platinum by the BPI.[85] The album was received with a warmer reception by the public in other parts of the world where it hit number one including Germany,[25] Switzerland, Austria, Australia, Finland, Italy and Denmark.[86]
On 8 November 2006, IFPI certified the album 2x Platinum in Europe with sales of over 2 million making it the fastest platinum selling album of 2006.[87] The album finished at number eighteen in the list of 2006's best selling albums worldwide, Neil Tennant from the the Pet Shop Boys commented the album had sold 4.5 million copies by early 2007.[88]
The second single, "Lovelight", came out right before the release of the album, and was commercially released on 13 November. The single reached the top ten in the United Kingdom,[13] The Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and Italy,[89] but failed to reach the success of Williams' previous releases when the track showed no longevity in the charts. Williams finished 2006 as the 16th most played artist in Latin America[90] and the third most played international artist. During this time, Williams entered the The Guinness Book of World Records when he announced his World Tour for 2006, selling 1.6 million tickets in one single day.[73]
[edit] "She's Madonna"
The third single, "She's Madonna" included remixes from Kris Menace and Chris Lake, was released to European radio in late January to precede the commercial release which was scheduled to 5 March 2007. The track failed to be a massive success in the United Kingdom, reaching number sixteen on the Singles Chart, but it did far better in Continental Europe hitting the top ten in most countries and rose to number one on the European Airplay Chart after spending four weeks at number two, a feat his former band, Take That, failed to achieve.[91][92] It was confirmed that this single was not going to be released in Latin America or Australia, but did receive heavy airplay in the later of the two.[93] Despite this, the single was released as Digital Download in Mexico in four different formats.[94][95] In August 2007, the single reached number 12 in the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart.[96]
"Bongo Bong and Je Ne T'Aime Plus", a collaboration with British singer Lily Allen, was released as the third single in Latin America and other European countries, hitting radio in January 2007, and as a Digital Download in February. To promote his album, Williams commissioned a series of short films.[97] Goodbye to the Normals was directed by Jim Field Smith and features "Burslem Normals" by Robbie Williams.
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