The closer we are to Mr Santa, the more the record stores and online providers of tunes are loaded with annual best of-albums, Greatest Hits – and Christmas albums. Typically, you just ignore most of them. There may be a few highlights each year. This year, a hot candidate for the musical Season’s Greeting of the Year is likely the double CD by Robert Peter Williams, which may be more familiar to you as Robbie. I was really, really curious about how the superstar will interpret the festive atmosphere for us.
About Robbie Williams
I always include some bio to my music reviews, as I feel that not every reader knows about them, especially for young and emerging artists. Summing up some biographic information about Robbie Williams in some rows is really challenging. After he left Take That, he produced eleven studio albums (The Christmas Present is the twelfth one) and only one of them did not make it to the very top of the UK Charts. In his home country, Robbie Williams, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1974, added six number 1 singles to that list – not including all the Take That production, which would add two more No. 1 albums and eight No. 1 singles to that list. His biggest success? You can select whatever you like from a long list of over fifty solo singles. My favorite song by Robbie WIlliams is Let Me Entertain You, though this one did not make it to the top of the charts in any major market.
I stop here – otherwise, you will never start reading about The Christmas Present, which is the first Robbie Williams album dealing with the festive season.
Robbie Williams – The Christmas Present – The Album
I typically do track by track reviews on Flyctory. As, including Bonus tracks, The Christmas Present contains 28 tracks with a 91 minute total playing time, I will do a review in a more traditional press way:
The Christmas Present – The Christmas Past (CD 1)
The Christmas Past first CD starts with two classics, Winter Wonderland and Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody, which Williams performs with Jamie Cullum – the first highlight of the albums.
Let It Snow and The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) are arranged rather traditional with strings. The mood of the songs is really quite reflective. Christmas at Robbie Williams seems to be rather calm. The sixth track, Rudolph, which partially has a very accentuated arrangeement, adds some speedier moments to the album. Songs like Yeah! It’s Christmas remind of Robbie Williams’s swing album. The second duet is It’s a Wonderful Life with Poppa Pete. After he advises us to Let’s Not Go Shopping, the tenth track is really one of the highlights of the album. The interpretation of Santa Baby, which Willaims performs with German-Russian superstar Helene Fischer, is definitely a nice treat.
The next track, Best Christmas Ever, where the artist is partially backed up by a children’s choir, is a really nice song as well. One Last Christmas is another very traditional big band alike arrangement, before a reprise concludes the album.
The Christmas Present – The Christmas Future (CD 2)
While you really ask yourself, why the first song of the second CD; Time for Change, is part of Christmas Future, the second track Idlewild sounds already much more modern and is close to a pop song. Also the following songs are not too futuristic, but at most have average 1980s sound. The fourth song, Fairytales, is an average duet with Rod Steward. The next track, Christmas (Baby Please Come Back), is a duet with Bryan Adams and likely the best song on that part of the album. A very interesting song is Bad Sharon, as it is a collaoration of Robbie Willaims and boxer Tyson Fury. But this one really feels to work.
The second CD of the album also contains some more ironic remarks. Here and there, there are just some lyrics which make you smile. Happy Birthday Jesus Christus is one of them. The old-style Snowflakes, which also talks about dating people from other parts of the world. At least, there is some more spice in the musical mulled wine now.
I still feel that christmas with Robbie must be a bit of boring, when I listen to his stories – but starting with Snowflakes, there are some more interesting stories. Home is maybe still a track, which fits quite well in that “Don’t hurt me”-sound of the album so far, but the electric sounds in Soul Transmission feel much more what you would like to hear from the superstar on that album – at least here and there. Unfortunately, this is already the last track of the (ordinary) album – if you paid a little bit more, you now have the bonus tracks. I Believe in Father Christmas is an intimate, majorly acoustic song, which I still like. Not Christmas and Merry Kissmas are much more pop and party. I just waited for this kind of christmas magic for too long.
Robbie Williams – The Christmas Present – Spotify
Spotify allows you to pre-listen to the songs using the widget below:
Robbie Williams – The Christmas Present – My View
Finally, reviews will not care anyway – Robbie Williams will have a great and wealthy holiday this year as The Christmas Present will be under a lot of UK Christmas trees this year. I am rather disappointed of the album, I just expected more. There may be some very traditional sounds, but there are too few surprising elements in this compilation of songs. Funnily, the bonus track give a very nice finish, some of the duets are nice – but Robbie Williams should definitely not have to rely on Helene Fischer or a box champion to create some great tunes. Just below average to me.
Robbie Williams – The Christmas Present – Track List
In lack of a track-by-track review, here is the tracklist of both CDs.
Disc 1: Christmas Past
1. Christmas Past:Winter Wonderland
2. Merry Xmas Everybody (feat. Jamie Cullum)
3. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
4. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire)
5. Coco’s Christmas Lullaby
6. Rudolph
7. Yeah! It’s Christmas
8. It’s A Wonderful Life (feat. Poppa Pete)
9. Let’s Not Go Shopping
10. Santa Baby (feat. Helene Fischer)
11. Best Christmas Ever
12. One Last Christmas
13. Coco’s Christmas Lullaby Reprise
Disc 2: Christmas Future
1. Christmas Future:Time For A Change
2. Idlewild
3. Darkest Night
4. Fairytales (feat. Rod Stewart)
5. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (feat. Bryan Adams)
6. Bad Sharon featuring Tyson Fury
7. Happy Birthday Jesus Christ
8. New Year’s Day
9. Snowflakes
10. Home
11. Soul Transmission
12. I Believe In Father Christmas [Bonus Track]
13. Not Christmas [Bonus Track]
14. Merry Kissmas [Bonus Track]
15. It Takes Two (feat. Rod Steward) [Bonus Track]
Flyctory.com Media Reviews
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Soccer Mommy – Karaoke Night EP



Rising Wings – Reach



Brent Cobb – Southern Star



Arny Margret – dinner alone EP



Manntra – War of the Heathens



Thirty Seconds To Mars – It’s The End Of The World But It’s A Beautiful Day



Dan + Shay – Bigger Houses



Arstidir – Blik



Danko Jones – Electric Sounds



The Blackwhitecolorful – Brace for Impact



Bellucci Boi – Lost in Berlin EP



Low Cut Connie – Art Dealers



Allison Russell – The Returner



Durry – Suburban Legend



The Glorious Sons – Glory



Coffey Anderson – Tailgates and Heartbreaks



The Paper Kites – At The Roadhouse



Marduk – Memento Mori



Melanie Wiegmann & Carl Carlton – Glory of Love



Gregor McEwan – Going Solo



Adam Wendler – Living the Dream



Philipp Artmann – Guten Morgen schönes Leben



Alice Cooper – Road



Morgan Wade – Psychopath



Turnpike Troubadours – A Cat In The Rain



Dadi Freyr – I Made An Album



Tim McGraw – Standing Room Only



Paerish – You’re In Both Dreams (And You’re Scared)



Sleazy – Back on Track



TracieLynn – More Than a Bad Habit EP



Bobby Rush – All My Love For You



Madsen – Hollywood



Atreyu – The Moment You Find Your Flame EP



William Fitzsimmons – Covers Vol. II



Daniel Seavey – Dancing In The Dark EP



The Hives – The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons



Mo-Torres – Heute war alles Besser



Ryan Bingham – Watch Out For The Wolf EP



Uncaved – Dogmatorraistes




Ludwig Wright – Turn of Tides or Where the Waves Come From



X-Perience – We Travel The World



Hanna Sikasa – Sequel



Bianca James – Bianca James




Skindred – Smile



Mammoth WVH – Mammoth II



Kool & the Gang – People Just Wanna Have Fun



Sasha – Toto und der Mann im Mond (music album)



Santans – Koi Boi EP



Fury in the Slaughterhouse – Hope



Justine Blazer – Joy!



Joe Lasher – Vol. 1 EP



Somnuri – Desiderium



Cygnotic – Mortal Dreamers



Later Sons – Rise Up



Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway – City of Gold



Lori McKenna – 1988




Kezia Gill – Misfit



Avec – I Feel Alone These Days EP



Michael Bolton – Spark of Light



Tom Astor – Wieder da!



Jim “Kimo” West – Of Wood and Spirit (American Guitar Stories)



Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real – Sticks and Stones



Eyelar – Mistakes & Contradictions EP



Sean Patrick McGraw – Hillbilly Hippie



1476 – In Exile



Annie Taylor – Inner Smile




Sekou – Out of Mind EP



Crown of Things – Louder Love



Sylvia Aimee – Identity EP



Lucinda Williams – Stories From A Rock N Roll Heart



Mental Cruelty – Zwielicht



Pascal Blenke – Gedankenspiele



Emma Steinbakken – Home



Green Labyrinth – Sequences




Lloyd Cole – On Pain



Ayron Jones – Chronicles Of The Kid



Hannah Aldridge – Dream of America



Son Volt – Day of the Doug



Saturnus – The Storm Within



Steve Lukather – Bridges



Deer Tick – Emotional Contracts



waterbaby – Foam EP



freekind. – Since Always and Forever



Kimberly Perry – Bloom EP



Tenhi – Valkama



Extreme – Six



Ray Alder – II



Milky Chance – Living In A Haze



Brittany Warthan – No Vacancy



Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – What If I EP



Omnium Gatherum – Slasher EP



Ron Pope – Inside Voices



Silbermond – Auf Auf



Tanya Tucker – Sweet Western Sound



Flora Falls – Hidden From You EP



Grenzenlos – AntiXtrem



Oryad – Sacred & Profane



Sören Vogelsang – Optimismus Prime



Palila – Mind My Mind



Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton – Death Wish Blues



Brandy Clark – Brandy Clark



Marathonmann – Maniac




Yes – Mirror To The Sky



Moor – Heavy Heart



Rahel – Blessed EP



Daisy Briggs – Nice Knowing You EP




Anna Demetriou – More To This



Parker Millsap – Wilderness Within You



Belinda Carlisle – Kismet EP



Indecent Behavior – Therapy In Melody



Andreas Diehlmann Band – Long Way To Go



Sebel – Der Boxer



Tino Z – Bluesman



Rodney Crowell – The Chicago Sessions



Enforced – War Remains



Philip Bradatsch – Philip Bradatsch



Storm Seeker – Nautic Force



Dave Hause – Drive It Like It’s Stolen




As Everything Unfolds – Ultraviolet



Kati von Schwerin – Welcome Back Home



Esther Rose – Safe To Run



Texas Hippie Coalition – The Name Lives On



Grand Design – Rawk



Dirty Heads – Midnight Control Sessions: Night 2 EP



Emm Gryner – Business & Pleasure



The Wood Brothers – Heart is the Hero



Musa Dagh – No Future



North West – Hamburg



Jennifer K. Austin – Cards EP



Vass / Katsionis – Cynical Silence



Zartbitter – Hier und Jetzt



Tribulation – Hamartia EP



Welshly Arms – Wasted Words & Bad Decisions



Overcoats – Winner



Beyond Frequencies – Me Megalomaniac



The Hold Steady – The Price of Progress



Wolkenfrei – Hotel Tropicana



Lordi – Screem Writers Guild



VIVA – Das ist die Wahrheit



Milow – Great To Know You EP



Black Hawk – Soulkeeper



Pat Burgener – PAT The Album




Katie Melua – Love & Money



Sophie B. Hawkins – Free Myself



Sophia – Niemals Allein



Leony – Somewhere in Between



Night Demon – Outsider



Stephen Jay – understatement



Timesbold – Not Still Here



Ailbhe Reddy – Endless Affair



Bad Bones – Hasta El Final!



Kendall Lujan – Forget Me Knots EP



John Diva & The Rockets of Love – The Big Easy



Ripe – Bright Blues



Ane Brun – Portrayals



The Nude Party – Rides On



Manchester Orchestra – The Valley of Vision EP



Brian Falduto – Gay Country



Mael & Jonas – Rocket Science



Suicide Silence – Remember… You Must Die



Wolfgang Petry – Stark wie wir



Lina – 24/1



Drayton Farley- Twenty on High



AnnenMayKantereit – Es ist Abend und wir sitzen bei mir



Helge Schneider – Torero



Endlevel – Weekend War



Antonia Kubas – Liebe und Musik EP



Steel Panther – On The Prowl



OH FYO! – Level 3: Discovery



Dierks Bentley – Gravel & Gold



Tanzwut – Silberne Hochzeit



Lucero – Should’ve Learned by Now




Drew Sycamore – Superfaith




Those Damn Crows – Inhale/Exhale



Jaimee Harris – Boomerang Town



P!nk – Trustfall



Ron Sexsmith – The Vivian Line



Malte Vief und Malte Viefs Kammer – Kammer III



Tennis – Pollen




You Me At Six – Truth Decay



The Legendary – Warlord



Simone Kopmajer – With Love



Cort Carpenter – All In



Chase Rice – I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go To Hell



Ian Fisher – Burnt Tongue



Donots – Heut ist ein guter Tag



Ricochets – Closer to the Light



The Rehats – Heart & Mind



Shania Twain – Queen of Me



Eamonn McCormack – Eamonn McCormack



Robert Forster – The Candle and the Flame



Dark Sarah – Attack of Orym



IUMA – Genug EP



Umme Block – State Of Limbo



Pristine – The Lines We Cross




Vic Allen – Some Place I’d Rather Be



Joe Henry – All The Eye Can See



Siv Jakobsen – Gardening



Laura Cox – Head Above Water



Alexander Liebe – Spielautomat



Keimzeit Akustik Quintett – Schon gar nicht Proust



Sonic Wildhearts – Get It On



Lukas Graham – 4 (The Pink Album)



Richard Lynch – Radio Friend



Black Star Riders – Wrong Side of Paradise




Ski Holiday – Ski Holadiy



Masha The Rich Man – Sheyne Ziere




Circa Waves – Never Going Under



Groenalund – #lovestorm




Joesef – Permanent Damage



Margo Price – Strays



Iggy Pop – Every Loser



Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children



Gabbie Hanna – This Time Next Year



Adam Warner – What We’re Known For



Madeline Consoer – Little Miss EP



Nicole Scholz – Nur Du



King LX – Broken Crown




Poppy Fardell – Back On My Feet



Shaam Larein – Stick En Kniv I Världen



Nevena – Nevena



Upsahl – Sagittarius EP



Sündflut – Basta! EP



Nina Hagen – Unity



Neufundland – Grind



Isafjord – Hjartsatjaki




Olly Murs – Marry Me



Myle – Sad Boy Summer EP



Amberian Dawn – Take a Chance (A Metal Tribute To ABBA)



Boppin’ B – Saxbomb



David Gramberg – Where Have You Gone EP



Induction – Born from Fire



Tanzos – Win Fight Dream Lose EP



Karo Lynn – A Line in My Skin



Samuel Rösch – Für den Augenblick EP



Bad Temper Joe – Glitter & Blues



Melissa Carper – Ramblin’ Soul



Billy Strings – Me/And/Dad



Hanne Mjoen – Fall in Love/Apart EP



Nickelback – Get Rollin’



Sarah Connor – Not So Silent Night



Jonathan E. Blake – Old Souls



Tina Tandler – Songs for Saxophone



L.S. Dunes – Past Lives



Dave Helgi Johan – Drumheller



Live Forever: A Tribute To Billy Joe Shaver (Various Artists)



Rook Road – Rook Road



DJ BoBo – Evolut30n



Seth Avett – Seth Avett Sings Greg Brown



Superläuche – Superläuche



Stephanie Quayle – On The Edge



The Moon City Masters – The Famous Moon City Masters



Tiffany Johnson – Over Emotional EP



Emily Nenni – On The Ranch



Russell Dickerson – Russell Dickerson



Trampled by Turtles – Alpenglow



Fireside – Bin Juice



Lainey Wilson – Bell Bottom Country



Hostage – Memento Mori



The Backseat Lovers – Waiting To Spill




Massive Wagons – Triggered!



Wally – Alles halb so wild



PG Roxette – Pop-Up Dynamo!



Börni – Two Truths




Chez Kane – Powerzone



Arny Margret – they only talk about the weather



Kenny Foster – Somewhere in Middle America



Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society



Debbie Gibson – Winterlicious




Simple Minds – Direction of the Heart



Taylor Swift – Midnights



Alex Williams – Waging Peace



Alter Bridge – Pawns And Kings



Logan Mize – Prairie Tapes, Vol. 1 EP



Orianthi – Rock Candy



Atlas Bird – Atlas Bird



Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen (Various Artists)



Callista Clark – Real To Me: The Way I Feel



Backstreet Boys – A Very Backstreet Christmas



SLIXS – Quer Bach 3



Sleeping Romance – We All Are Shadows



Allee der Diktatoren – Dieses kleine bisschen Wut



Alvvays – Blue Rev



Avery Anna – Mood Swings EP



Magical Heart – Heartsonic




Jim Kroft – The Isolation Diaries Vol. 3 EP



Monster Truck – Warriors



Melissa Naschenweng – Glück



Slipknot – The End, So Far



Ashley McBryde – Lindeville



Arina – A+ (EP)



Richard Marx – Songwriter



Dr. John – Things Happen That Way



Kill Strings – Limbo



Sunny Sweeney – Married Alone



5 Seconds of Summer – 5SOS5



Kelsea Ballerini – Subject To Change




Billy Idol – The Cage EP



Nikki Lane – Denim & Diamonds



Silent Knight – Full Force



Starcrawler – She Said



Eloy de Jong – Lass das Leben Musik sein



LeAnn Rimes – God’s Work



The Afghan Whigs – How Do You Burn?



U96 – 20,000 Meilen unter dem Meer



Kane Brown – Different Man



I Am – Eternal Steel



Charley Crockett – The Man From Waco



Hannah – Kuhrios



Blind Guardian – The God Machine



Roland Kaiser – Perspektiven



Jolina Carl – Hallo, ich bin Jolina Carl



Fire Horse – Out of the Ashes



Jon Pardi – Mr. Saturday Night



Megadeth – The Sick, The Dying… and The Dead!



Moncrieff – Warm EP



Lugnet – Tales From The Great Beyond



Louisa Specht – Karussell EP



Bad Baron – Ace of Hearts



Ingrid Andress – Good Person



Bandaid Brigade – Sex is Terrifying



Heather Nova – Other Shores



Drei Meter Feldweg – Durak



Adam Wendler – Motions



David Paich – Forgotten Toys



Mani Orrason – The World Is Big and You Will Never Find Me



Watkins Family Hour – Vol. 2



Luna Klee – Mein Kopf, mein Bauch, mein Herz



Thundermother – Black And Gold



Giovanni Zarrella – Per sempre



Wooden Empire – Ghosts



Jeremy Black – Part of Me EP



Sykamore – Pinto



Vanessa Mai – Metamorphose



Kelsey Waldon – No Regular Dog



Versus Goliath – Liebe & Chaos



HAVET – Mamas Lullaby EP



Wade Bowen – Somewhere Between The Secret and The Truth



Vin Deca – Chineke



Marie Reim – Bist Du dafür bereit?



Manntra – Kreatura



Lauv – All 4 Nothing



Amon Amarth – The Great Heathen Army



Pete Wolf Band – Crosswalk To Nowhere EP



H.E.A.T. – Force Majeure



Broken Forest – Wild At Heart EP



Zeitflug – Echte Freunde



Amanda Shires – Take It Like A Man



LustfingeR – LustfingeR



Brooke Eden – Choosing You EP



Whiskey Myers – Tornillo



She & Him – Melt Away: A Tribute To Brian Wilson



Dawes – Misadventures Of Doomscroller



She Bites – Super Hero



Heischneida – Heischneida II



Kaylee Rose – Hot Minute EP



Will Linley – Kill All My Feelings EP



Philipp Eisenblätter – Das Jahr, das sich um eins verschiebt



Confirmation – Survive EP



The Local Honeys – The Local Honeys




Bryde – Still



More Than Words – Today (Make Today Be the Best Day of Your Life)




Alan Parsons – From the New World



Markus – Das Leben liebt mich … und ich liebe das Leben



Sophie Fellner – Brown Eyes EP




Berries – How We Function



The Faim – Talk Talk



Blind Channel – Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous



Kimberly Kelly – I’ll Tell You What’s Gonna Happen



Journey – Freedom



Traitor – Exiled To The Surface



Jonny Houlihan – Coffee and Jesus



Grey Daze – The Phoenix



