'Built to be magnificant'

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeTake That: Progress (album)

It's no secret that I have a big emotional investment in Take That. They've been part of me, indirectly part of my life, since I was 11 years old. I still feel 11 everytime there is a new story, a new album, a tour.

But I'm a critical friend. I was more than prepared to accept this album but not love it. I've been entirely unsure about four becoming five again. My investment has fluctuated with conflicting emotions over the last year. And now it comes to the music, there is a certain amount of locking that investment in a vault and trying to listen without prejudice.

They have made it easy.

First single The Flood has been a little bit of a red herring, sounding as it does like Robbie Williams singing a Take That song. It's incredibly catchy and no disappointment but it in no-way sets the tone for Progress.

The LP is full of 80s-influenced electronica. Punchy, poppy and with elements of the solo influence of all members. Vocally the album is front-loaded with Robbie (Williams) and Mark (Owen) leads but the others do get a look in, albeit more of a peep than a stare. I hope that as thing goes on and live Howard (Donald) and Jason (Orange) aren't pushed back to just being pretty dancers (they're a little old and much more than that).

Lyrically, this is more developed too. Songs from the second coming of Take That (as the four piece 2005-2010) were still predominantly the domain of Gary Barlow with those written by the other three being less mature, less crafted (although still more than passable in pop). Here, the least comfortable line of the album has to be Mark bellowing, in an odd whine, "I still want to have sex with you" but I'm sure there is a sector of fan base who'll think it's the highlight of the whole recording.

We hear songs which no doubt cover the finding of the friendship, working together again as a five, the happenings in their personal lives. It's more rounded. Would this album have sounded like this if they were still a four piece? Would Robbie's next album have sounded like this if he'd remained a solo artist? Unlikely in either case.

There is a wealth of potential singles here - from the slightly Christmas feel of Eight Letters; to the hands aloft pogo in the sunshine of Happy Now; and the dirty almost industrial stomp of Underground Machine.

There was amount of bravery in becoming a five piece again because of emotional shareholders like me. There was even more in musically side stepping the comfort zone of any one player. Bravery leads to Progress...and in this case progress is both revolution and evolution.