★★★★★
Robbie Williams really knows how to swing. He demonstrated so in 2007 with the Rat Pack-scented Swing When You're Winning, and he proves himself even hipper across this collection of 13 covers and originals. That he can expertly shape a jaunty "Puttin' on the Ritz," bump and grind with glee on "Minnie the Moocher," shimmy with Olly Murs through the Sherman Brothers' "I Wan'na Be Like You" and, giving the brassy orchestra a brief rest, embrace the pensive warmth of "If I Only Had a Brain" comes...
- jazztimes.com
2014-03-20
★★★★★
On half of his 10th solo album, British pop tart Robbie Williams welcomes back Guy Chambers - co-writer of his best albums I've Been Expecting You and Sing When You're Winning. The other half is a handful of covers, making Swings Both Ways a strange hybrid of his turn-of-the-millennium pop-rock and his 2001 release of big band covers. Having a foot in both worlds, however, waters it all down. Most of the originals fail to hit their mark, and the remakes are questionable...
- nowtoronto.com
2013-11-21
★★★★★
The known quantities, then, are a slew of razzmatazzy standards such as Puttin' On the Ritz, in which Williams shows off an American accent, and horns and strings leak orange squeezy-cheese. Then there are the newer songs. Some are just tiresome (the pettily arrogant Shine My Shoes, which takes on Williams's notional persecutors). Others provide an intriguing window into the Williams psyche, upon which there should be some kind of a blue plaque for services to British pop...
- www.theguardian.com
2013-11-17
★★★★★
An ennui-laden rock star -hankering after the jazz age ... Robbie Williams. Photograph: John Wright Buy it from Buy the CDDownload as MP3Robbie WilliamsSwings Both WaysIsland2013 Tell us what you think: Rate and review this album ...
- www.theguardian.com
2013-11-15
★★★★★
Robbie Williams swings both ways. No longer just a hopeful Google search term for those hungry for celebrity gossip, but also the title of the self-styled cheeky chappie's latest album. As you've probably already guessed, the title refers to swing music rather than any bisexual leanings. On a completely unrelated note, this time Jonathan Wilkes is nowhere to be seen.
We have, of course, been here before...
- www.musicomh.com
2013-11-15
★★★★★
Still a bit of a knob but still, to his credit, a bit of a conundrum, the thinking office girl's Norman Wisdom marks his return to UK stadiums with this, a ten year anniversary re-package of his first foray into megastar billing. Taking over the vast fields of Knebworth House for three nights, 375,000 tickets shifted with ease was the final nail in the coffin of those (snooty observers, ex-band mates) who'd had Gary Barlow, 'the talented one', down as the only conceivable option for post-Take...
- music.thedigitalfix.com
2013-08-02
★★★★★
Still a bit of a knob but still, to his credit, a bit of a conundrum, the thinking office girl's Norman Wisdom marks his return to UK stadiums with this, a ten year anniversary re-package of his first foray into megastar billing. Taking over the vast fields of Knebworth House for three nights, 375,000 tickets shifted with ease was the final nail in the coffin of those (snooty observers, ex-band mates) who'd had Gary Barlow, 'the talented one', down as the only conceivable option for post-Take...
- music.thedigitalfix.com
2013-08-05
★★★★★
Air raid sirens announce terror from above, the chug chug of a helicopter propeller roars overhead. This apocalyptic noise could've been directed by Coppola, but instead of the imposing sound of Wagner we are deafened by the shrill eardrum piercing collective scream of thousands. Bright lights blind us temporarily and then we see Robbie Williams suspended upside down on what looks like a bungee cord. 'Let Me Entertain You' begins... This happened ten years ago...
- drownedinsound.com
2013-07-29
★★★★★
These are curious times for Robbie Williams. The most populist of pop stars, his previous solo album Reality Killed The Video Star sold in numbers which would make most of his peers jealous, yet its music notably failed to gain wider cultural traction. In fact, it's arguable that it's been some years since he produced a bona fide pop smash which listeners beyond his sizeable fan base could recall (it's not without irony that the most likely candidate for this is The Flood, his reunion with Take...
- www.musicomh.com
2013-04-02
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