This is a post I’ve meant to write for the last week or so but you know how hectic life can get!

Two weeks ago, Gary Barlow released his first solo studio album in 14 long years. A lot has happened in that time for him, for each individual member of Take That and Take That itself. Promising solo careers faded far into the horizon, the underdog proved victorious and bitter rivalry resulted in long-term rifts and years of anonymity.

We all know the story, Gary’s debut solo effort ‘Open Road’, whilst not perhaps the album he initially intended it to be due to record label input, flew straight into Number One in the UK album charts. Three top 10 singles later (including two Number Ones) and it was decided Gary was well and truly on the right track. Fast forward two years and the dance track ‘Stronger’ was released which reached Number 16. Whilst a respectable chart position, it was the beginning of rocky time. ‘For All that You Want’ charted at a disappointing #24 and Gary’s follow up album ‘Twelve Months Eleven Days’ limped in at an unfair #35. A range of factors have been attributed to the lack of commercial success of Gary’s sophomore solo album; the press, promotional decisions, Robbie Williams. Whatever it was, there’s no denying that such a great album should have fared far better in the charts.

‘Twelve Months…’ was far from a bad album. It showed a high level of musicality and diversity. ‘Stronger’ was more dance-pop orientated, ‘Wondering’ disco-pop along side all of Gary’s classic Barlow ballads. ‘Lie To Me’, which would have been the third single from the album, was considered by critics as one of Barlow’s best compositions at the time and I can’t help but agree. A dramatic, beautiful song, it showed that Gary’s creativity was far from gone.

But the press turned against him. Robbie had turned against him. The public followed. Gary was dropped from his record label and faded into anonymity, facing his humiliation in private. He turned his back on music and gained a significant amount of weight, turning to food for comfort. After a period of depression, Gary turned his life around. He formed a successful career as a songwriter with his friend Elliot Kennedy and the pair spent a successful few years writing for many pop artists.

Then in 2005, Take That returned. I don’t think any of Take That could have anticipated the high demand and high public appreciation for them when they returned. It was supposed to be ‘one last tour’ and a documentary. This transformed into a brand new studio album, the perfect ‘Beautiful World’ which performed fantastically in the charts and much praise was aimed in Barlow’s direction for his songwriting. That isn’t to undermine the other members of Take That’s songwriting ability, however. They all have a key and fundamental role. It’s simply that Barlow is the ringleader, perhaps the member that gets the ball rolling musically. Take That’s success was rebuilt and two more studio albums followed including the reconciliation with Robbie Williams.

During Take That’s hiatus, solo careers began again. Robbie released his best studio album in years with the defiant ‘Take The Crown’. Mark released the criminally underrated ‘The Art of Doing Nothing’. After a successful string of UK tour dates, Gary decided to follow suit and ‘Since I Saw You Last’ was born.

I have to be honest, on my first listens to previews, I wasn’t convinced. My first listen to ‘Let Me Go’ disappointed me hugely. Why? Because it sounds extremely like Mumford and Sons who are one of very few bands that really aren’t my cup of tea! But some songs really caught me even in the previews and I pre-ordered the box-set which arrived around a month later. Not liking the previews didn’t concern me. The ‘Beautiful World’ previews left me underwhelmed. Now it’s my favourite album ever released by any artist.

I loved the album on my first complete listen and I have only grown to love it more with every listen. It’s a beautifully created album. It doesn’t attempt anything drastically different. There’s no experimentation with different genres but that doesn’t matter at all. Instead, we hear lots of guitar driven songs with a hint of folk music. ‘Requiem’ is an awesome opener reminiscent of The Beatles and following the formula of ‘Shine’ a little.

Songs such as ‘Let Me Go’, ‘Small Town Girls’ and ‘This House’ are very ‘Mumford and Sons’ orientated and are perhaps my least favourite songs on the album. I still think they’re great tracks, don’t get me wrong, they’re just not my cup of tea.

Then we reach my favourites. ‘Jump’ is an inspiring and beautiful composition written with Keane’s Tim Rice-Oxley. It’s interesting on this album how many songs borrow elements from Take That’s previous work. The middle eight uses a chord structure extremely similar to Take That’s ‘You’ from The Circus album. Similarly the incredible title track sounds a little like ‘How did it come to this’, also from The Circus. ‘Since I Saw You Last’ is a powerful, energetic song that’s bound to be an epic moment when performed live. You can tell it contains what Gary’s been longing to write for the last fourteen years – “For those who stood and watched, go f**k yourself”, he declares. It’s definitely a highlight of the album and arguably one of Gary Barlow’s best compositions.The repetition of “I know you heard” at the end of the song always hits me emotionally. ‘6th Avenue’ is a sweet song which is rhythmically simple to the sweeping, stunning ‘Like I Never Loved You at all’ from Take That’s Beautiful World album. That’s not to say that these songs rip off existing Take That songs – far from it. They just use a formula that Gary obviously knows works.

‘God’ is another highlight for me. With a haunting introduction and stunning piano runs, it’s an utterly enchanting song. Inquisitive, meaningful lyrics really make this track and it’s a beautiful moment on the album. ‘Face to Face’ is the catchiest song to hit the UK for months. With a little help from Elton John, this is an incredible song sure to stay in your mind for days to come. It’s great to see Gary writing with John Shanks again (responsible for co-writing and producing much of the Beautiful World and The Circus albums) and I really hope they team up again with the other members of Take That when they create Take That’s next album.

Then we reach more tender songs. ‘We Like to Love’ sounds like a hybrid of jazz/easy listening music and something Coldplay would release. It’s an absolutely beautiful song and it’s gorgeous to be able to hear Gary sing in his lower range again which I don’t feel we’ve heard properly since the title track from ‘The Circus’. Then we reach the heartbreaking ‘Dying Inside’. A raw, simplistic song which features just a piano, cello and Gary’s voice, it’s a haunting, gorgeous song. It’s obvious what this song is about, so much so it doesn’t need to be discussed. It’s hard to listen to but at the same time, it’s Gary at his best.

Two songs I also love are only featured on the deluxe version of the album. ‘Mr Everything’ features beautiful piano instrumentation and is just a great track. I particularly love the lyrical content on this one, especially “Ain’t life so cruel when you’re just not good enough?”. And finally, ‘Actress’. I believe Actress is one of Gary’s best songs ever. It’s remarkably catchy and the lyrical content is quirky but extremely clever. It’s just an incredible song.

I think it’s heartbreaking to read so many dismal press reviews of this album. Many called it ‘durgy’ and ‘boring’ but it’s far from that. It’s an honest, fantastically written album. Gary sticks to what he loves and does best – pop-rock songs and beautiful ballads. So what if it doesn’t push boundaries? So what if it doesn’t cause controversy? It’s been created lovingly and that’s perhaps the most important thing in music. Gary didn’t need to create this album. He created it because he felt he had something to give as a solo artist and because he WANTED to.

‘Since I Saw You Last’ reached an amazing Number Two position in the UK album charts on its release. Why am I so proud? For many reasons. It was a tough week in the album charts as Gary faced fierce competition from those such as One Direction (who were always undoubtedly going to reach the Number One spot). Also it takes a lot of guts to face the world as a solo artist again when things ended so sourly before. Jason Orange once said in an interview “Gary didn’t fail” (regarding his solo career). I couldn’t put it better myself. Gary didn’t fail the first time around, it was due to circumstances beyond his control. No matter how good his second album was, it was never going to be successful due to the press and public perceptions at that time.

I’m proud of Gary Barlow for having the guts to release another solo album. For getting back up from that dark place he was fourteen years ago. For creating such a beautiful piece of art. And for getting to Number Two in the album charts when it’s extremely difficult to do so in this day and age.

Proud member of the GB Army right here.