14 DAY TRIAL // Before taking Robbie Williams back and starting work on a new album as a 5-member band again, Take That were considering going by the name The English, the boys reveal in the December 2010 issue of Q Magazine.
In the same interview, they also talk about working together after 15 years without Robbie and of constant feuding between him and Gary Barlow, and how they hope their upcoming album will mark a new stage in the band’s evolution.
It’s no wonder it’s called “Progress” then. The former teen idols have come a long way, learning to put aside all their differences and to work together for a common goal, that of making music and ensuring their staying power in the industry.
Speaking of differences put aside, both Robbie and Gary are very open about the fight that broke up the band and how they acted towards each other in the years that followed it.
“[It was] One of the most amazing nights of my life, I went from having a real problem with this person to literally rolling on the floor laughing with him 10 minutes later. We were genuinely sorry that we’d upset each other,” Robbie recalls of the moment they made peace.
“[Expletive]-ing right I was [envious],” Gary says of Robbie’s incredible career after the split. “The thing I’ve learned from having Rob back in my life is that it wasn’t being envious of him, it was more that I love being in the industry,” Gary adds.
“He was getting all the stuff I wanted. I hated it when he had a pop at me, but it didn’t keep me awake at night. I was just longing to get back into the industry. It was snatched away from me overnight,” he explains.
Now that they’re back together, they’re also determined to prove it’s not for nothing they’re the biggest band in Britain at the moment.
In fact, another album for the reformed Take That without Robbie Williams wouldn’t even have been possible, Gary insists.
“After those last two records the thought of the four of us just going in and doing another... it solved all that Rob coming back. It’s made it interesting,” he says.
Starting with the artwork for the forthcoming album: shot by Nadav Kander (who also photographed US President Barack Obama), the cover shows the five members of Take That recreating the famous “ascent of man” image.
The album “Progress” is out on November 22 and includes only tracks on which all 5 bandmembers have contributed to in one capacity or another.