Reality Killed the Video Star
Studio album by Robbie Williams
Released	November 6, 2009 (2009-11-06)[1] (See release history)
Recorded	September 2008-August 2009 in London, England Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA[2]
Genre	Pop rock, dance rock, alternative rock, adult contemporary
Length	50:05 (Standard edition) 55:03 (Digital download)
Label	EMI
Producer	Trevor Horn[3]
Professional reviews
Allmusic (unfavorable)[4] The A.V. Club (C)[5] Billboard (favorable)[6] Entertainment Weekly (B+)[7] The Guardian [8] The Independent [9] Los Angeles Times [10] NME (4/10)[11] The Observer [12] PopMatters (6/10)[13] Slant [14] Spin [15] The Times [16]
Robbie Williams chronology
Songbook (2009) Reality Killed the Video Star (2009)
Singles from Reality Killed the Video Star
"Bodies" Released: 12 October 2009[1] "You Know Me" Released: 7 December 2009[17]

Reality Killed the Video Star^[18] is the eighth solo studio album by the British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released in November 2009.^[1]

The album became Williams' first studio album not to reach number 1 on the UK albums chart,^[19] beaten to the top spot by a margin of less than 1% by the UK boy band JLS' self-titled debut album.^[20]

Contents 1 Background information 2 Musical style 3 Release and promotion 4 Singles 5 Track listing 6 Personnel 7 Commercial performance 7.1 Certifications & Sales 8 Release history 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Background information

Reality Killed The Video Star is Williams' first studio album in three years. He has worked with many producers in this period, including Guy Chambers, Mark Ronson,^[21] and Trevor Horn.^[22] However, at the end, the British singer confirmed on his official website that the entire album was produced by Trevor Horn and added that it was recorded in London.^[3]

Rumours of a new studio album co-written with Guy Chambers had surfaced in early 2007, along with known commitments required by Williams to his EMI contract. British singer-songwriter Laura Critchley commented that she had sung vocals for three songs, and said that it would not be released until 2009.^[23]

In February, it was confirmed that Williams has written material with Guy Chambers and Mark Ronson. The singer's spokesman, Tim Clark, said that the artist was planning to begin the recording sessions in March and that the new album will be released in late 2009.^[24]

On his official website, Williams wrote he was working with producer Trevor Horn on his new album too; he described himself as "buzzing, it sounds big. Very, very big". Soon after, it was confirmed that the new album will be titled Reality Killed the Video Star, a play of the song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Horn's former band The Buggles.^[22] In July 2009 Williams wrote on his official blog about the album: "My album's a killer: old Robbie, new Robbie and a Robbie that neither of us have met...".^[25][26]

Williams spoke about what he expects from the album: "I want people to feel elated, I want them to dance, I want them to forget about who they are and where they are for 50 minutes – and, within those 50 minutes of forgetting who they are, I also hope people relate to the songs. This is a record that I’m very proud of – I think it’s fucking brilliant. I want it to be the record that, if people think of Robbie Williams, they go, Yeah, Reality Killed The Video Star." He also talked about his collaboration with producer Trevor Horn: "He’s added something to the record that I haven’t had on previous records – his genius".^[27]

The album was mostly written in Williams' home studio and was recorded in London. Amongst those who collaborated in the songwriting are Danny Spencer & Kelvin Andrews, Brandon Christy, Craig Russo, Richard Spencer and Scott Rudin, Chaz Jankel, Guy Chambers and Fil Eisler.^[28]

In the wake of Michael Jackson's death on 25 June 2009, Williams is reported to have written and recorded a last minute tribute song to Jackson that will be released on the album.^[26] The song was co-written by James Bond lyricist Don Black.^[26] During his BBC Electric Proms concert at The Roundhouse in London on October 20, 2009 Williams said about the song ("Morning Sun") : "I thought it was about Michael Jackson [...] but it’s actually about me again."^[29] The album was originally planned to be named Il Protagonista (Italian for The Protagonist) until Williams' management told him to change the title for being "too pretentious".^[30]

[edit] Musical style

The British singer-songwriter unveiled the album at an industry playback in London, where EMI UK and Ireland president Andria Vidler hosted the event. Mark Sutherland from Billboard spoke about the album: "The album marks a return to Williams' trademark pop sound after 2006's more experimental -- and commercially under-performing -- Rudebox. All of Williams' seven studio solo albums so far have hit No. 1 in the United Kingdom. [...] While lead single "Bodies" features a refinement of the more electronic sound debuted on "Rudebox," much of the album returns to the fertile, adult pop ground of Williams' previous smash hit albums Escapology and Intensive Care. Album highlights include lush ballads "Morning Sun" and "You Know Me," the intricate wordplay of "Blasphemy" and the 1980s sound of "Last Days of Disco" [...] A confident-sounding Williams also experiments with some light psychedelia on "Deceptacon" and electronic dance music on the anthemic "Starstruck" and "Difficult for Weirdos." ^[31]

[edit] Release and promotion

• A special CD called Songbook was released on October 11, 2009 with The Mail on Sunday. It features twelve classic Robbie Williams tracks, the CD includes live recordings from Slane Castle, Cologne, London's The Forum and Knebworth as well as six 30-second clips of tracks from Reality Killed the Video Star.^[32]
• The singer appeared on The X Factor on October 11, 2009 to perform the single Bodies live.^[33]
• Williams performed some material from Reality Killed the Video Star on the BBC Electric Proms at The Roundhouse in London on October 20, 2009.^[34] It was Williams' first live performance in over three years and was broadcast live in nearly 200 cinemas across Europe on October 20 and a few weeks later in Australia, South Africa and Mexico. The show featured a full band orchestrated by Trevor Horn.^[35] The concert received many positive reviews^[36][37] and Williams also set a new Guinness World Record for: "the most simultaneous cinematic screenings of a live concert".^[38]
• Initially, Williams was set to perform on November 5, 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 in Berlin at the O2 World.^[39] However, due to a scheduling conflict, he did not perform.^[40]
• On Friday November 6, 2009 he gave an interview and also performed on the UK TV show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.^[41]
• On the release day of the album in the UK, 9 November 2009, Williams appeared on Loose Women for a special edition of the show as the only guest.^[42]
• A special intimate live show at The Metro Theatre took place in Sydney on November 25, 2009 where Williams performed material from the new album and some of his classic hits.^[43]
• He performed his single "Bodies" in Australia at the ARIA Music Awards on November 26, 2009. The event was held at the Acer Arena.^[44]
• On Tuesday, 8 December 2009, Williams performed a very intimate show in London to less than 200 people at the Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House.^[45]
• An exclusive show was performed by Williams for a limited number of fans at the Melkweg in Amsterdam on December 9, 2009.^[46]
• Williams performed his hit "Angels" on December 12, 2009 as a duet with Olly Murs on the live final of The X Factor, also performing the second single from the album, "You Know Me".^[47]

[edit] Singles

• The song "Bodies" has been released as the album's first official single. It premiered on BBC Radio 1 on September 4, 2009.^[48] It has since reached the Top 5 and Top 10 position in many charts across Europe as well as in Australia.^[49]
• "You Know Me" was the second single to be taken from the album. It was released on December 7, 2009 in the UK^[50] and has so far peaked at nr. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.

[edit] Track listing

• Robbie Williams co-wrote all of the songs on the album; additional writers are listed below.

[edit] Personnel

Performers on the album include^[51]

• Luis Jardim
• Isobel Griffiths
• Chris Braide
• Trevor Horn
• Jamie Muhoberac
• Tim Weidner
• Steve Lipson
• Stephen Hague
• Skaila Kanga
• Pete Murray
• Tracy Ackerman
• Tessa Niles
• Frank Ricotti
• Earl Harvin
• Phil Palmer
• Ash Soan
• Chris Bruce
• Fil Eisler
• Bruce Woolley

[edit] Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, the album sold over 85,000 copies in its first day on sale and 238,125 copies in its first week, around 1,500 less than self-titled debut album from JLS. The album has the third best-selling first week sales of 2009 in the UK, behind JLS and Susan Boyle's debut album I Dreamed a Dream which debuted with 411,820 copies sold.

Chart (2009) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[52] 1 Austrian Albums Chart[53] 1 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[54] 3 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[55] 2 Canadian Albums Chart[56] 57 Croatian Albums Chart[57] 1 Czech Albums Chart[58] 2 Danish Albums Chart[59] 3 Dutch Albums Chart[60] 1 European Top 100 Albums[61] 1 French Albums Chart[62] 2 Finnish Albums Chart[63] 3 German Albums Chart[64] 1 Hungarian Albums Chart[65] 7 Italian Albums Chart[66] 2 Irish Albums Chart[67] 6 Mexican Albums Chart[68] 6 New Zealand Albums Chart[69] 7 Norwegian Albums Chart[70] 6 Portugal Albums Chart[71] 7 Spanish Albums Chart[72] 7 Swedish Albums Chart[73] 2 Swiss Albums Chart[74] 1 UK Albums Chart[75] 2 U.S. Billboard Top 200[76] 160

[edit] Certifications & Sales Country Provider Certification (thresholds) Sales/ shipments[77] Australia ARIA Platinum[78] 70,000+ Germany IFPI 2 x Platinum[79] 400,000+ Mexico AMPROFON Gold[80] 40,000+ New Zealand RIANZ Gold[81] 7,500+ United Kingdom BPI 323,000[82]

[edit] Release history

• Reality Killed the Video Star will be available in three different formats: a standard 13-track CD, deluxe edition and digital download. In addition to the standard version, the deluxe edition features premium packaging and a behind-the-scenes DVD.

Region	Date	Label	Format
Germany[83]	November 6, 2009	Chrysalis Records, EMI	CD, Digital download
Australia[84]
Austria[85]
Switzerland
Mexico[86]		EMI	CD, Digital download, CD+DVD
United Kingdom[87]	November 9, 2009	Virgin Records, EMI
France[88]
Spain[89]	November 10, 2009	EMI	CD, Digital download
United States,[90] Canada[91]	November 17, 2009	Capitol Records
Japan[92]	November 18, 2009	EMI
Brazil[93]	November 24, 2009		CD

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Reality Killed the Video Star at Metacritic
• Dedicated album website
• RobbieWilliams.com — Robbie Williams official website
• Robbie Williams on YouTube
• Robbie Williams on Twitter

Preceded by Greatest Hits by Foo Fighters	Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album November 16, 2009 – November 22, 2009	Succeeded by Golden Rule by Powderfinger
Preceded by Kiddy Contest Vol.15 by Kiddy Contest Kids	Austrian Albums Chart number-one album November 18, 2009 – December 1, 2009	Succeeded by Kiddy Contest Vol.15 by Kiddy Contest Kids
Preceded by '	Croatian Albums Chart number-one album	Succeeded by '
Preceded by This Is It by Michael Jackson	Dutch Albums Chart number-one album November 14, 2009 – November 21, 2009	Succeeded by Battle Studies by John Mayer
Preceded by This Is It by Michael Jackson	European Top 100 Albums number-one album November 19, 2009 —	Succeeded by I Dreamed a Dream by Susan Boyle
Preceded by The Circle by Bon Jovi	German Albums Chart number-one album November 20, 2009 —	Succeeded by '
Preceded by The Circle by Bon Jovi	Swiss Albums Chart number-one album November 22, 2009 – November 29, 2009	Succeeded by The Fall by Norah Jones

v • d • e Robbie Williams Studio albums Life thru a Lens (1997)  • I've Been Expecting You (1998)  • Sing When You're Winning (2000)  • Swing When You're Winning (2001)  • Escapology (2002)  • Intensive Care (2005)  • Rudebox (2006)  • Reality Killed the Video Star (2009) Compilation and live albums The Ego Has Landed (1999)  • Live at Knebworth (2003)  • Greatest Hits (2004) DVDs Live In Your Living Room (1998)  • Angels (1999)  • Where Egos Dare (2000)  • Live at the Albert (2001)  • Nobody Someday (2002)  • The Robbie Williams Show (2003) • What We Did Last Summer: Live at Knebworth (2003)  • And Through It All: Robbie Williams Live 1997-2006 (2006) Tours One More for the Rogue Tour / For a Few Dollars More... Tour (1998-1999)  • Robbie Williams North American Tours (1999)  • The Sermon on the Mount Tour (2000-2001)  • Weddings, Barmitzvahs & Stadiums Tour / Sing When You're Pacific Rimming Tour (2001)  • Weekends of Mass Distraction Tour / Cock of Justice/Aussie Typo Tour (2003)  • Close Encounters Tour (2006)  • TBA (2010) Other articles Discography  · Singles  · Awards  · Take That · Britpop  · Guy Chambers

v • d • e Robbie Williams singles Life thru a Lens "Old Before I Die"  • "Lazy Days"  • "South of the Border"  • "Angels"  • "Let Me Entertain You" I've Been Expecting You "Millennium"  • "Strong"  • "She's the One" / "It's Only Us"  • "No Regrets" Sing When You're Winning "Rock DJ"  • "Kids"  • "Supreme"  • "Let Love Be Your Energy"  • "Eternity" / "The Road to Mandalay" Swing When You're Winning "Somethin' Stupid"  • "Mr. Bojangles" / "I Will Talk and Hollywood Will Listen" Escapology "Feel"  • "Come Undone"  • "Something Beautiful"  • "Sexed Up" Greatest Hits "Radio"  • "Misunderstood" Intensive Care "Tripping"  • "Advertising Space"  • "Sin Sin Sin" Rudebox "Rudebox"  • "Lovelight"  • "She's Madonna" Reality Killed the Video Star "Bodies"  • "You Know Me"