Escapology (album)

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Escapology
Studio album by Robbie Williams
Released	November 18, 2002
Recorded	2002
Genre	Rock
Length	73:55
Label	EMI
Producer(s)	Guy Chambers
Professional reviews
All Music Guide (2/5) link BBC (positive) link musicOMH.com (balanced) link PopMatters (negative) link Rolling Stone (3/5) link
Robbie Williams chronology
Swing When You're Winning (2001)	Escapology (2002)	Live at Knebworth (2003)

Escapology is a 2002 album by Robbie Williams, his fifth solo effort, and his last with producer and co-songwriter Guy Chambers. Critics were negative about the album, calling it "stale songs, formulaic arrangements, and mediocre songwriting" All Music Guide, [1]. Rolling Stone was less harsh, describing it as a "self-conscious effort to craft a pop-rock blockbuster"[2]. PopMatters said it was "probably the weakest Robbie Williams album to date" [3]. However, fans and some critics had the opinion that Escapology was a enormous masterpiece. The most succesful singles on the album are Feel and Something Beautiful. You can arguably say Escapology is a conceptalbum because of the fact that the album is totally going about Robbie's life as a popstar in Los Angeles with his hopes and fears. All the lyrics are going about that theme.

Williams has said of the album that "half of it is written from the standpoint of 'Look, this is really me with my tears of a clown. Do they love me or hate me?' The rest of it is about somebody that I have to think I am to get up onstage. Because little me wouldn't get up there. It's too scary!"

The album was refactored for the U.S. market upon its release there in 2003.

This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 United Kingdom 1.2 United States 2 U.S. reaction to Escapology

[edit] Track listing

[edit] United Kingdom

1. "How Peculiar" – 3:13
2. "Feel" – 4:22
3. "Something Beautiful" – 4:48
4. "Monsoon" – 3:46
5. "Sexed Up" – 4:19
6. "Love Somebody" – 4:10
7. "Revolution" (featuring Rose Stone) – 5:44
8. "Handsome Man" – 3:54
9. "Come Undone" – 4:38
10. "Me And My Monkey" – 7:12
11. "Song 3" – 3:48
12. "Hot Fudge" – 4:05
13. "Cursed" – 4:01
14. "Nan's Song" – 3:52
15. Two hidden tracks after "Nan's Song"

In addition, two hidden tracks follow "Nan's Song", the first concerning the state of society, often referred to as "Save the Children", the only line of its chorus; however it is identical to the last track on the U.S. version, named "How Peculiar (Reprise)". The second concerns Williams' abstract thoughts during a date with a boring girlfriend,"I Tried Love".

I Tried Love

The verses have a few questions that can now be answered.

"Is the Richard Gere gerbil story true?" No.

"Who came third in World War II?" Nobody, but the casualties, perhaps.

"Did Sooty sleep with Soo?" No. It's a family show. Even if they did, it would be censored.

"What are the holes in biros for?" To hold the ball bearing to pick up ink so you can write, the hole on top is for re-filling ink.

"Which one's which in The Corrs?" By order in the family: Jim (guitar/keyboard/backup vocal), Sharon (violinist/backup vocal), Caroline (percussionist/drummer/backup vocal) and Andrea (lead vocal/Irish whistle).

"Did Geoff Hurst really score?" Regarding the 2nd goal for England in 1966, thanks to modern technology introduced after the goal by Liverpool that should never had been vs. Chelsea in the 2006 Champion's league semi-final, the replay showed that Geoff Hurst NEVER scored.

"Where has Gary Barlow gone?" Well, he stopped working as a singer, but he co-wrote with Delta Goodrem in a lot of her songs in the first two albums of hers (and adding Robbie's former songwriter Guy Chambers in the mix for Mistaken Identity album), whether there are new songs written by Guy or Gary in Delta's 3rd album is still unknown for now.

[edit] United States

1. "Feel" (Williams/Chambers)
2. "Monsoon" (Williams/Chambers)
3. "Sexed Up" (Williams/Chambers)
4. "Get a Little High" (Williams/Ottestad)
5. "Come Undone" (Williams/Ottestad/Hamilton/Pierre)
6. "Something Beautiful" (Williams/Chambers)
7. "Love Somebody" (Williams/Chambers)
8. "Revolution" (Williams/Chambers)
9. "How Peculiar" (Williams/Chambers)
10. "One Fine Day" (Williams)
11. "Me and My Monkey" (Williams/Chambers)
12. "Handsome Man" (Williams/Chambers/Deevoy)
13. "Nan's Song" (Williams)
14. "How Peculiar (Reprise)" (Williams/Chambers)

The U.S. release, on Virgin Records, shuffles the song order, removes "Song 3", "Hot Fudge", "Cursed", and one hidden track, adding "Get a Little High", "One Fine Day", and the firs hidden track as the last song of the album, titled "How Peculiar (Reprise)".

[edit] U.S. reaction to Escapology

As part of his new deal, an attempt was made to raise Robbie's star power in the United States. Though Escapology sold well in Europe, it fared considerably less in the U.S. The album peaked at no.43. While many fans have pointed out that Robbie's reluctance to do major US promotion could have been a cause, the ever fickle US music scene also might have not taken much favor to a Brit-pop singer like Robbie Williams (it's also worth noting that Kylie Minogue, Robbie's contemporary in the euro music scene, has a limited following in the US amongst clubgoers. To date, her only major success in the US was her 1988 single "The Loco-Motion", and the 2001 album "Fever", and singles "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" and "Love At First Sight").

Robbie's only form of success in the states is 1999's "The Ego Has Landed", which sold moderately and scored two small hits with "Millennium" and "Angels". Ironically, Robbie currently resides in Los Angeles, where he feels more comfort going about due to his minimal celebrity stateside.