Progressed

Following their reform in 2006, Take That returned with "Beautiful world" and "The circus", both of which featured soft adult pop-rock/folk songs, developing from the pop-orientated material that established and made them a true sensation in the '90s. "Progress" sounds nothing like these 2 albums, being a straight-up electronic record with a more upbeat synth-driven sound. Continuing their way forward, the increasing maturity in lyrics, the beautifully written melodies, the gorgeous vocal harmonies, the experimental and soul-baring qualities, were quite a deparure altogether from the typical Take That style of former records, introducing them to a more adult audience. Singles "The flood" and "When we were young" rank among the group's finest moments, unanimously. Many were initially unpleasantly surprised upon the album's release. However, most soon came round to admitting that this change in sound was rather necessary for them as a band in order to take another leap forward. Inevitably, Robbie Williams' influence was also seen with reserve, causing both positive and negative criticism.Living up to its title, with "Progress" Take That broke new territory, and some records, too (the second fastest-selling album ever in the UK, and best-selling album of 2010 in Europe). The album is considered to be among Take That's boldest efforts, though it is not their strongest. This, "Progressed", the subsequent re-package enhanced interest, and boosted sales evenmore, resulting in total UK sales of 3 milion! Boasting 8 new tracks, most of them sitting more than comfortably alongside the original 10, "Progressed" ia a serious extension of, rathen than a simple addition to, the original set. A mention about the exquisite, minimalistic artwork, too. Both the yellow cover of "Progress"and the red of "Progressed", depicting the human/Take That evolution, are equally striking and bold, making a clear statement, and emphasising the context of the songs. "Progress" and "Progressed" not just reinforced the belief that Take That is not just a boy band anymore, but established them as an exciting band with creativity and longevity. Rather impressive, not just for their standards.

You've probably heard half of the songs on this album on the radio and you either like or don't like Take That. I bought this because it was relatively cheap and came with an extra disc on top of the 'Progress' album, so there were going to be more songs that I hadn't heard before. This is well-produced electronic pop music that appeals to me and Messrs Barlow, Owen and Williams acquit themselves well in their respective lead vocals. The songs you haven't heard on the radio are still a good listen and then there are the chart hits which impelled me to buy the album at all. In this age of widespread pirate music downloading, it's still worth buying an album like this because you'll get so much more than the chart hits.

My wife is a Fan of Take That, although having listened to 'The Circus' album, which I thought was excellent, I purchased 'Progress' for her, however I did not think it was quite up to 'The Circus' standard, but it has grown on us both! When offered the new 'Progressed' MP3 Album for only £3.99, with eight new tracks, some of which are very good and should have been on the original. I decided it was good value for money and even the tracks, I didn't like to start with, are again growing on us! - If you ended up paying £8.99 for the album, when you already had the first one, then I guess you would be bit miffed, but £3.99 for 8 tracks, it is a new Album's worth of songs, with the original album thrown in free, or if you didn't get the original first time round, even greater value!

Even though I'm a long time fan of Take That, I don't appreciate being squeezed out of my money for re-releases of albums I already own. This was what I thought when Progressed was announced. I bought Progress and loved it, but was doubtful of buying it again, just to get an extra handful of songs. I put off buying it.Then "Love Love" came out, and the song is so good, it would be worth buying Progressed just to get it. However, fear not, the extra CD actually makes sense and falls effortlessly in line with Progress. The songs are all very good (if you liked Progress), particularly "Man", "Aliens" and, of course, "Love Love".If you don't have Progress, get this album, you'll be getting the full experience. If you already have Progress (and liked it), it's definitely worth getting Progressed as well.

Despite the fact that at first I thought it was a bit of a cheek realeasing another 8 tracks, I still bought it (loyal fan that I am) and because I wanted to hear their new stuff.First impression, its better than Progress, now that may be as I am more of a Take That fan than a Robbie fan, and this album definitely has less Robbie!Each tune stands out where as I think on Progress, some of them sounded a bit samey. When We Were Young is my favourite track on there but they are all very good.It perhaps would have been cheaper if they had not included the Progress cd as well, as most fans that would buy the new one would already have this anyway.All in all, a good purchase & a good listen.

This extra disc from Take That to add to their Progress album is well worth a listen. There are some excellent songs, my favourite is Aliens. It is really a shame though that this wasn't released along with Progress originally instead of fans like myself having to buy this extra disc because you also get the Progress disc with it (it's a double disc) record companies cash in on this (I don't blame Take That for marketing), having said that I now have one I can play in the car and one in the house! They are all new songs on this album, Love Love you will have heard as its a film soundtrack. At the moment, Progressed is never out of the player. Love Love it!