Bestsellers > Music > Avant Garde and Free Jazz

With the help of producer/songwriters William Orbit, Mark Ronson, Jerry Meehan, Joey Negro and Soul Mekanik (plus guests as diverse as The Pet Shop Boys and Lily Allen), Robbie Williams has achieved a most radical transformation. Gone is the slick, pop-rogue of yesteryear: in his place is a new Robbie that raps, embraces club beats and (mostly) favours personal indulgence over cheesy, universal pop. Recent single "Rudebox", all electronic riddims and slack-rap vocal delivery, was just the start of this transition. The rest of Rudebox completes the remarkable overhaul with several eclectic covers - from Manu Chau's "Bongo Bong" and Lewis Taylor's underground classic "Lovelight," to subversive takes on The Human League ("Louise"), My Robot Friend ("We're The Pet Shop Boys") and Stephen Duffy ("Kiss Me") – and tracks such as "Keep On", "Good Doctor" and "Dickhead", which confirm his quite bewildering quest to becoming a comedic, Staffs-accented version of The Streets.

Slightly more serious are his attempts at what he describes as 'wonky pop'. Songs like "Viva Life On Mars", his odd ode to Madonna ("She's Madonna"), the dark "The Actor" and catchy club-hit-in-waiting "Never Touch That Switch" all feature innovative production and interesting arrangements. Toward the end, we get "The 80s" and "The 90s", two more amusing "rap"-tracks that cover the singer's adolescence and his Take That years respectively; these underline the nostalgic, end-of-an-era feel of the LP. Audaciously eclectic and admirably upfront, Rudebox is overtly a form of personal catharsis. Not all the experiments work, but they're better than you might think, and now they're off his chest it'll be interesting to see where the new Robbie Williams heads to next.--Paul Sullivan

Greatest Hits chronicles the remarkable journey of Mr Robert Williams, from being the "fat dancer from Take That" (c. Noel Gallagher) to the multi-million pound jewel in EMI’s crown. Assembled in chronological order, all the hits are here, except for his initial solo outing "Freedom", and it’s interesting to see how his sound evolves from wannabe Britpop buffoon on the sub-Oasis pubrock of "Old Before I Die" to the subtle captivating melodies of "Feel" and "Come Undone". There are so many great tracks that it’s impossible to list them all, but highlights have to be the barnstorming "Let Me Entertain You", the bouncy, floor-filling "Rock DJ" and the song that madeth the man, "Angels". The two latest additions to his canon--"Radio" and "Misunderstood" clearly have one eye on the past, the other on the future – with the latter an instant classic Robbie ballad from the Bridget Jones 2 soundtrack and the former a foray into the world of electro pop that sounds like a warped Human League track from the 1980s. This has to be Robbie’s forte, his ability to make great pop records that always sound fresh and full of energy. Every home should have a copy of this album, and chances are, by the end of 2004, most of them will. -- Melanie Wilkin