Robbie Williams had the charisma and vocal talent to break out of a boy band sphere and become a consistent part of pop culture. He might be better known in the UK than in the United States, but he's still had enough chart impact on both sides of the pond to have a nice presence.
In other words, Williams knows what he is doing. He also has enough money and fame to do things the way he wants. If he wanted to make a country album, he could, and his record company would probably go along with it. (Let's hope that doesn't happen, though.)
Williams's new album is due out in the autumn. The record will be titled Brit, which is fitting because the singer made his bones with his band Take That during the heyday of Britpop. But don't expect the entire work to sound like something from 1995. There will be texture to it.
Robbie Williams and Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi make for a surprisingly good pair
That includes Williams asking Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi to play on at least one track. The newly released single, "Rocket," has the Sabbath icon driving the song forward. As opposed to some guest appearances where a guitarist has one solo and then falls to the back of the mix, "Rocket" feels as much an Iommi tune as a Williams one.
Not exactly metal but not overly poppy, the track works because of the players' abilities. It might not exactly get stuck in your head, and there will probably be a bunch of remixes to make it more danceable, but the combination of Williams and Iommi makes for surprising excellence.
The song is also rightfully not overly long. Its speed and tenacity veers closer to something like punk than metal, something akin to a late-1980s Billy Idol might produce if he sang like a contestant on American Idol.
That is meant as no offense to Robbie Williams, as he has high-end vocal talent, but he isn't Ozzy Osbourne. Thankfully, on "Rocket," he doesn't need to be. He simply needs to be himself and let Iommi do his thing, and that is precisely what happens.