Come Undone

Arriving 25 years to the month since the release of his debut solo album Life Thru a Lens, Robbie Williams’ XXV surveys his first quarter-century as a solo artist by reupholstering a clutch of his hits with Dutch jazz and pop orchestra Metropole Orkest. Plenty of those songs—“Feel”, “Come Undone”, “Angels”—were built with aerodynamic choruses that beg to be lifted a little further and higher by some orchestral thermals, so it’s no surprise that this proves to be a successful and satisfying venture. It’s not just a case of bolting (more) strings and brass onto the tracks, though. With the assistance of long-time collaborators Guy Chambers and Steve Sidwell, plus conductor Jules Buckley, arrangements are deconstructed, tempos tweaked and lyrics rethought to bring new tones and perspectives to some pop gems.

Twenty years since their pop music debut, Duran Duran issued another greatest-hits collection. As if 1989's Decade weren't stellar enough, this select package was much more solid. Greatest showcased the band's early days of glam rock décor and new romanticism to the alluring sophistication Duran Duran exuded throughout the '90s. The typical synth-powered pop hits are included – "Girls on Film," "Rio," "A View to a Kill" – as well as the signature ballads – "Save a Prayer" – but it might also receive criticism due to its chronological disarray. Still, that gives no reason to fret, for other goodies can be found throughout. The much-neglected "New Moon on Monday" is featured, as well as the band's mature eclecticism of such songs from the self-titled Wedding Album – "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone." The band's experimentation with new millennium electronica found on "Electric Barbarella" again refocuses on Simon LeBon as the center of the band.