Take ThatOnce upon a time, a new Take That album would herald a British public holiday and flag waving national pride. Fair play to them, a respectable 27-year career is unprecedented for a boyband.
On their second longplayer since dwindling to a three-piece, Gary Barlow now co-writes equally with Mark Owen and Howard Donald, but it's overcooked and under-delivers. Don't Give Up On Me and the Maroon 5 plagiarising River are evidence of too many pens on the pad and producers' fingers on the mixing desk, resulting in an zestless pop blandness rarely found in Take That's canon.
