Wonderland (Take That album)

Wonderland is the eighth studio album by English band Take That. It was released on 24 March 2017 through Polydor Records.[1]

Wonderland
Studio album by Take That
Released	24 March 2017
Studio	List Abbey Road Studios, London Dean Street Studios, London Electric Lady Studios, NY Future Studios, London The Hobby Shop, LA Metropolis Studios, London Mixsuite (LA and UK) Playground Studios, NC The Ranch, Woodland Hills CA Tracques, LA
Genre	Pop
Length	41:32
Label	Polydor
Producer	Mike Crossey Tony Hoffer Stuart Price Mark Ralph Charlie Russel Sigma
Take That chronology
III (2014) Wonderland (2017) Odyssey (2018)
Singles from Wonderland
"Giants" Released: 17 February 2017 "New Day" Released: 5 May 2017

Background

On 22 October 2016 Take That announced the album and its release date along with the tour dates in support of it, which are due to start in May. It was also confirmed that Robbie Williams and Jason Orange would not be rejoining the band for the album and tour. The band worked with various producers on the album including Tony Hoffer, Stuart Price and Mike Crossey.[2]

Critical reception

David Smyth from the London Evening Standard gave a positive three-star review, calling it "Enough to thrill the masses, and business as usual", and wrote: "Their eighth album overall feels like business as usual too, with a full sound, rich in arm waving choruses and blandly uplifting lyrics ("Music makes me feel good," "We can conquer any mountain," "Every morning is a brand new day," etc.)."[3] Michael Cragg from The Guardian gave a mixed two-star review, calling Take That "The boyband equivalent of a Reliant Robin", and went on to write: "the overwhelming feeling is of an album made purely to justify taking the show around the arenas. While that's not exactly a new concept, the cynicism of the idea bleeds into the music, with most of the tracks built around cavernous, chant heavy choruses."[4]

Promotion

Singles

"Giants" was released on 17 February 2017 as the first single and was produced by Mark Ralph.[5] it peaked at 13 on the UK Singles Chart.

"New Day" was released on 5 May 2017 as the second single.[6]

Tour

On 22 October 2016, Take That announced that they would embark on a UK arena and stadium tour in support of the album. The Wonderland Live tour began on 5 May 2017 in Birmingham, England at the Genting Arena and concluded on 22 November 2017, in Auckland, New Zealand, at The Trusts Arena.

Commercial performance

Wonderland debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with first week equivalent sales of 113,200 copies,[7] giving Take That their eighth top five studio album. Held off the top spot by Ed Sheeran's ÷, it became Take That's first album not to reach number one since Take That & Party peaked at number two in 1992. It reached number three in Ireland[8] and also peaked at two in Scotland.[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald, additional songwriters are noted below.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Wonderland" (lead vocals: Barlow, Donald)	Jamie Norton Ben Mark	Charlie Russel	4:53
2.	"Giants" (lead vocals: Barlow)	Norton Mark	Mark Ralph	3:53
3.	"New Day" (lead vocals: Barlow, Owen, Donald)	Simon Strömstedt	Ralph	3:29
4.	"Lucky Stars" (lead vocals: Barlow, Owen, Donald)	Strömstedt Noel Svahn	Stuart Price	3:29
5.	"And the Band Plays" (lead vocals: Barlow)		Russel	3:53
6.	"Superstar" (lead vocals: Owen)		Price	3:14
7.	"Hope" (lead vocals: Barlow)	Tom Baxter	Tony Hoffer	3:44
8.	"River" (lead vocals: Owen)	Norton Mark	Mike Crossey	2:55
9.	"The Last Poet" (lead vocals: Barlow)		Price	3:16
10.	"Every Revolution" (lead vocals: Donald)	Norton Mark	Russel	4:12
11.	"It's All for You" (lead vocals: Barlow)		Hoffer	4:29
Total length:				41:32

Deluxe edition bonus tracks[1]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Don't Give Up on Me" (lead vocals: Barlow)		Hoffer	3:19
13.	"Up" (lead vocals: Owen)	Norton Mark	Russel	4:29
14.	"Come On Love" (lead vocals: Barlow)		Ralph	4:21
15.	"Cry" (Sigma featuring Take That) (lead vocals: Barlow)	Dominic Liu Sean McDonagh Matt Furmidge Chiara Hunter Cameron Edwards Joseph Lenzie	Lenzie Edwards	3:17
Total length:				57:00

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes.[10]

Take That

• Gary Barlow – vocals, keyboards, programming (tracks 5, 6, 9)
• Mark Owen – vocals
• Howard Donald – vocals

Additional personnel

• Ryan Carline – keyboards and engineering (tracks 1, 3‒7, 9‒12), vocal production (1), programming (4), vocal engineering (8)
• Charlie Russell – programming (tracks 1, 5, 10, 13), keyboards and additional engineering (2), mixing (13)
• Ben Mark – guitar (tracks 1, 5, 10, 13), programming (1)
• Paul Turner – bass guitar (tracks 1, 5, 10, 13)
• Jamie Norton – piano, keyboards (tracks 1, 10, 13)
• Ash Soan – drums (tracks 1, 10, 13)
• Mike Stevens – saxophone (track 1)
• Nicolas Magriel – sarangi, tanpura (track 1)
• Jon Green – acoustic guitar, keyboards (track 5)
• Dan Broughton – drums (track 5)
• Tom Rees-Roberts, Andy Greenwood – trumpet (track 5)
• Pete Beachill, Richard Wigley – trombone (track 5)
• Philip Jewson – horn arrangement and conducting (track 5)
• Tom Upex – engineering (tracks 1, 5, 10, 13)
• Jonny Solway – assistant engineering (track 1), engineering (5, 10, 13)
• Charlie Rolfe – assistant engineering (tracks 5, 10, 13)
• Jack Hudson – assistant engineering (tracks 10, 13)
• Mark Ralph – bass guitar, guitar, synthesizer, programming (tracks 2, 3, 14), mandolin, ukulele (3)
• Geoff Holroyde – drums (tracks 2, 3, 14), backing vocals (2)
• Scott Ralph – horns, percussion (track 3)
• Tom AD Fuller – assistant engineering (tracks 2, 14), backing vocals (2), engineering (3)
• Drew Smith – assistant engineering (tracks 2, 14), engineering (3)
• Hayley Carline – backing vocals (tracks 3‒5)
• Andy Caine – backing vocals (tracks 3, 5)
• Will Malone – strings arrangement and conducting (tracks 2, 3, 11)
• Perry Montague‐Mason – strings leader (tracks 2, 3, 11)
• Isobel Griffiths – string contractor (tracks 2, 3, 11)
• Susie Gillis – assistant string contractor (tracks 2, 3, 11)
• Stuart Price – keyboards, programming (tracks 4, 6, 9), bass guitar, mixing (4), guitar (6, 9)
• Simon Strömstedt – backing vocals, keyboards, programming (track 4)
• Tony Hoffer – bass guitar, guitar, synthesizer, programming and engineering (tracks 7, 11, 12), mixing (12)
• Dave Palmer – keyboards (tracks 7, 11, 12)
• Denny Weston Jr. – drums (tracks 7, 11)
• Tom Baxter – guitar and string arrangement (track 7)
• Oli Langford – violin, viola and string arrangement (track 7)
• Danny Keane – cello (track 7)
• Cameron Lister – engineering (tracks 7, 11, 12), mixing (12)
• Mike Crossey – bass guitar, synthesizer, programming (track 8)
• Jonathan Gilmore – guitar and recording engineering (track 8)
• Rosie Crossey – drums (track 8)
• TSA "The Session Agency" – gospel choir (track 14)
• Priscilla Jones – gospel choir arrangement (track 14)
• Matt Furmidge and Dominic Joshua Alexander Liu for Metrophonic Productions – keyboards (track 15)
• Rosie Danvers at Wired Strings – strings (track 15)
• Sigma – production (track 15)
• Scott Rosser – mastering (track 15)
• Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
• Geoff Swan – assistant mixing
• Michael Freeman – assistant mixing (except tracks 2, 3)
• Tim Young – mastering (except track 15)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2017) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 28 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 47 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 43 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 75 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 48 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 19 Greek Albums (IFPI Greece)[17] 26 Irish Albums (IRMA)[18] 3 Italian Albums (FIMI)[19] 36 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[20] 168 Scottish Albums (OCC)[9] 2 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[21] 18 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 28 UK Albums (OCC)[23] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2017) Position UK Albums (OCC)[24] 13

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Gold	202,000[26]

References

1. "Wonderland (Deluxe) by Take That". iTunes Store (GB). Retrieved 17 February 2017.
2. Flint, Hanna (17 February 2017). "Take That announce eighth studio album Wonderland WITHOUT Robbie Williams or Jason Orange". OK! magazine. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
3. Smyth, David (24 March 2017). "Take That – Wonderland review: 'enough to thrill the masses'". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
4. Cragg, Michael (24 March 2017). "Take That: Wonderland first-listen review – the boyband equivalent of a Reliant Robin". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
5. Houghton, Rianne (17 February 2017). "Take That unveil their massive new single 'Giants'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
6. "Take That unveil their second new single 'New Day'". NME. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
7. Copsey, Rob (31 March 2017). "Ed Sheeran beats Take That as ÷ claims a fourth week at Number 1". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
8. "Official Irish Albums Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
9. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
10. Wonderland (liner notes). Take That. Polydor. 2017.CS1 maint: others (link)
11. "Australiancharts.com – Take That – Wonderland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
12. "Austriancharts.at – Take That – Wonderland" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
13. "Ultratop.be – Take That – Wonderland" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
14. "Ultratop.be – Take That – Wonderland" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Take That – Wonderland" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Take That – Wonderland" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
17. "Greek Albums Chart: 14 April 2017". IFPI Greece. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
18. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Take That". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
19. "Italiancharts.com – Take That – Wonderland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
20. "Oricon Archive -=ロビー・ウィリアムスのアルバム売上ランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
21. "Top 100 Álbumes — Semana 13: del 24.03.2017 al 30.03.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
22. "Swisscharts.com – Take That – Wonderland". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
24. White, Jack (3 January 2018). "The Top 40 biggest albums of 2017 on the Official Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
25. "British album certifications – Take That – Wonderland". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Wonderland in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
26. Myers, Justin (9 July 2017). "The Official Top 40 biggest artist albums of 2017 so far". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 July 2017.