Rudebox

This article is about the album. For the title track, see Rudebox (song).
Rudebox
Studio album by Robbie Williams
Released 23 October 2006 (2006-10-23)
Recorded November 2005 – August 2006, Los Angeles
Genre
Length 73:31
Label Chrysalis
Producer
Robbie Williams chronology
Intensive Care
(2005)		 Rudebox
(2006)		 Reality Killed the Video Star
(2009)
Singles from Rudebox
  1. "Rudebox"
    Released: 4 September 2006
  2. "Kiss Me"
    Released: 10 October 2006
  3. "Lovelight"
    Released: 13 November 2006
  4. "Bongo Bong and Je ne t'aime plus"
    Released: January 2007
  5. "She's Madonna"
    Released: 5 March 2007

Rudebox is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released on 23 October 2006 in the United Kingdom.

Background

The album features collaborations with William Orbit, Mark Ronson, Soul Mekanik and two collaborations with Pet Shop Boys: "She's Madonna" and "We're the Pet Shop Boys". Lily Allen provides backing vocals on the songs "Bongo Bong and Je ne t'aime plus" and "Keep On". Williams covers five songs on the album: "Louise", a 1984 hit for The Human League, "Kiss Me", the biggest hit for Stephen Duffy, "Lovelight" by Lewis Taylor, "We're the Pet Shop Boys" by My Robot Friend, and "Bongo Bong and Je ne t'aime plus", by Manu Chao.

Williams himself spoke fondly of the album upon its release; "It has become something on which I've found myself. This is the right direction for me personally, this is what it is. I saw the whole Robbie thing coming to a close as it was, I couldn't make another album like the ones I'd made, and this has just opened up a thousand other doors. What I am excited about now is making more music. I love all the stuff on the album, I love Rudebox, it's a favourite song of mine. I don't know what's gonna happen now, I'm excited about getting it out there, but I'm more excited about making more."[1]

The album is a mixture of covers and new tracks, in addition to 'Summertime', a song originally written when Williams left Take That and which appeared in the credits of Mike Bassett: England Manager'. Receiving a mixed reception from critics, the album reached the top position in fourteen countries including United Kingdom, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Italy and Finland.

Controversies

"She's Madonna" was the centre of a tabloid storm after Ashley Hamilton claimed that he came up with part of the song with Williams. Hamilton has claimed he wishes to take the matter to court as he is not credited as a co-writer on the album.[2]

Further controversy arose over the track "The 90s", part of which implies that Williams was ripped off by Take That's manager Nigel Martin-Smith after the band failed to make a profit from a European tour. The song raised the ire of Martin-Smith, who demanded that the song be removed from the album.[3] The omitted lyrics were rapped during the break before the second verse.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
BBC Music(favourable)[5]
The Guardian[6]
Mojo[7]
musicOMH[8]
NME8/10[9]
NOW[10]
The Observer[11]
PopMatters7/10[12]
Yahoo! Music UK[13]

According to review aggregator Metacritic, Rudebox received an average of 53 out of 100 indicating mixed to average reviews from music critics, based on twelve critiques.[14]

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, the album sold 54,667[15] copies on the day of release, taking the number-one slot on the albums chart midweek. By Wednesday, the album had sold over 75,000 copies.[16] The album debuted at No. 1 on the Official UK Albums Chart, selling over 147,000 copies in its week of release.[17] Despite reaching the number one spot, sales were far below what was expected by his label EMI, and overall sales were overtaken by his former band Take That's Beautiful World. However, the album performed better than Beautiful World outside the UK. The fallout of the album's relative failure led to the firing of two music executives responsible for the album's development.[18] As of December 2013, the album had sold 514,457 copies in the UK.[19]

The album was released in the Netherlands on 20 October 2006, on the same day the album was certified platinum as a result of pre-order sales of over 70,000 copies.[20] In Belgium, the album sold 50,000 copies and went platinum. It was released on 23 October 2006 in Australia and debuted at number-one, achieving platinum status in its first week.[21] It has since been certified 2× Platinum. 220,000 copies of the album were sold in France on the week of release, as well as 600,000 in Germany. On 8 November 2006, IFPI certified the album 2× Platinum in Europe with sales of over 2 million copies, making it the fastest platinum selling album of 2006.[22] On 20 November 2006, the album reached number-one in Mexico, becoming Williams' first number-one album there. The album was certified platinum there, with sales of over 100,000 copies. Rudebox became the eighteenth best selling album of 2006 worldwide according to the IFPI.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Rudebox"  
Soul Mekanik 4:45
2. "Viva Life on Mars"  
  • Williams
  • Andrews
  • Spencer
Soul Mekanik 4:51
3. "Lovelight"  Lewis TaylorMark Ronson 4:03
4. "Bongo Bong and Je ne t'aime plus"  
Ronson 4:48
5. "She's Madonna" (with Pet Shop Boys)
Pet Shop Boys 4:16
6. "Keep On"  
Ronson 4:19
7. "Good Doctor"  
  • Williams
  • Jerry Meehan
Ronson 3:16
8. "The Actor"  
  • Williams
  • Brandon Christy
  • Craig Russo
  • Christy
  • Russo
 4:05
9. "Never Touch That Switch"  
  • Andrews
  • Spencer
Soul Mekanik 2:47
10. "Louise"  
William Orbit 4:47
11. "We're the Pet Shop Boys" (with Pet Shop Boys)My Robot Friend
  • Chris Zippel
  • Pet Shop Boys
 4:55
12. "Burslem Normals"  
  • Williams
  • Andrews
  • Spencer
Soul Mekanik 3:50
13. "Kiss Me"  DuffyDave Lee 3:15
14. "The 80's"  
  • Williams
  • Meehan
Meehan 4:17
15. "The 90's"  
  • Williams
  • Jerry Meehan
Meehan 5:33
16. "Summertime"  
  • Williams
  • Antony Genn
Orbit 5:41
17. "Dickhead" (hidden track)
  • Williams
  • Meehan
Meehan 4:09
Notes

Certifications, peaks and sales

Country Peak position Certification Sales/shipments
Argentina 1 Platinum[23] 40,000+
Australia 1 2× Platinum[24] 140,000+
Italy 1 Platinum 100,000+
Austria 1 2× Platinum[25] 60,000+
Belgium 3 Platinum[26] 40,000+
Denmark 1 Platinum[27] 30,000+
European Top 100 Albums[28] 1 2× Platinum[29] 2,000,000
Finland 1 Platinum[30] 33,465+
France 3 Platinum[31] 200,000+
Germany 1 3× Platinum[32] 600,000+
Hungary 3 2× Platinum[33] 20,000+
Ireland 2× Platinum[34] 30,000+
Mexico 1 Platinum[35] 100,000+
Polish Albums Chart[36] 23
Portugal 5 Gold[37] 10,000+
Russia Gold[38] 10,000+
Spain 1 Gold[39] 40,000+
Sweden 2 Gold[40] 30,000+
Switzerland 1 2× Platinum[41] 60,000+
United Kingdom 1 2× Platinum[42] 600,000+

End-of-year charts

Year Country Chart Rank
2007 Germany IFPI No. 70[43]

References

  1. ↑ "Robbie Williams". robbiewilliams.com. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Robbie Williams Is Accused of Stealing "She's Madonna" Track". Exposay.com. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "Online | The Best for News, Sport and Showbiz". The Sun. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  4. ↑ Bush, John. "Rudebox – Robbie Williams | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  5. ↑ Broadfoot, Julie (24 October 2006). "BBC – Music – Review of Robbie Williams – Rudebox". BBC Music. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  6. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (20 October 2006). "CD: Robbie Williams, Rudebox". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  7. ↑ Easlea, Daryl (November 2006). "Robbie Williams Rudebox". Mojo. p. 101.
  8. ↑ Hubbard, Michael. "Robbie Williams – Rudebox". musicOMH. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  9. ↑ Elan, Priya (23 October 2006). "Robbie Williams – Robbie Williams: Rudebox – Album Reviews". NME. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  10. ↑ Davies, Evan. "NOW Magazine // Music // Disc Guide : Pop / Rock". NOW. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  11. ↑ Flynn, Paul (15 October 2006). "Robbie Williams, Rudebox". The Observer. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  12. ↑ Lomas, Michael (16 March 2007). "Robbie Williams: Rudebox < PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  13. ↑ Webb, Adam (3 November 2006). "Robbie Williams Rudebox Album Review, New album reviews and latest album releases on Yahoo! Music". Yahoo! Music UK. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  14. ↑ "Rudebox Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  15. ↑ U.K. Midweeks 24/10 (Tuesday)
  16. ↑ Midweeks 24/10 (Wednesday)
  17. ↑ U.K. Top 75 – 29 October 2006
  18. ↑ Can Robbie Williams Escape Drugs Demons To Save His Career?
  19. ↑ Jones, Alan (23 December 2013). "Sam Bailey scores Xmas No.1 with 148k sales: Official Charts Analysis". Music Week. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  20. ↑ "Album already platinum in the Netherlands". Msnmusicexperience.com. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  21. ↑ "ARIA Charts". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  22. ↑ "IFPI Certifications, November 2006". Ifpi.org. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  23. ↑ "CAPIF". CAPIF. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  24. ↑ "ARIA". ARIA. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  25. ↑ "IFPI Austria" (in German). Ifpi.at. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  26. ↑ "IFPI Belgium". Skynet.be. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  27. ↑ "IFPI Denmark". Ifpi.dk. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  28. ↑ "Robbie Williams Debuts Atop Euro Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  29. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards 2006". Ifpi.org. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  30. ↑ http://www.ifpi.fi/tilastot/kplista.html?action=vapaa&tyyppi=ulko&haku=albumi&julkaisuntyyppi=albumi&teksti=rudebox
  31. ↑ Disque En France Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  32. ↑ IFPI Germany
  33. ↑ MAHASZ
  34. ↑ Jaclyn Ward (1 October 1962). "IRMA". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  35. ↑ "Certificaciones | Amprofon". amprofon.com.mx. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  36. ↑ "OLiS: sales for the period 23.10.2006 – 29.10.2006". OLiS.
  37. ↑ AFP – Week 49 Year 2006
  38. ↑ "Этот домен припаркован компанией Timeweb". 2m-online.ru. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  39. ↑ – 2006 Certifications
  40. ↑ IFPI Sweden – 2006 Certifications
  41. ↑ Steffen Hung. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  42. ↑ "BPI". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  43. ↑ "Album Jahrescharts 2007" (in German). Berlin: MTV Networks Germany. 2007. Archived from the original on 6 May 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
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