The Christmas Present
studio
ArtistRobbie Williams
CoverRobbie Williams - The Christmas Present.png
Released22 November 2019
RecordedJune–September 2019
StudioLos Angeles, California
Las Vegas, Nevada
London, England
Vancouver, Canada[1]
GenreChristmas
Length78:26
LabelColumbia
Producer
Prev year2019
Next year2022

The Christmas Present is the twelfth studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, and his first studio album since 2016's The Heavy Entertainment Show. It was released on 22 November 2019, and features guest appearances from Tyson Fury, Rod Stewart, Jamie Cullum, Helene Fischer and Bryan Adams. Williams performed a pair of concerts dubbed "The Robbie Williams Christmas Party" at the SSE Arena on 16 and 17 December 2019 in promotion of the album.[2]

Background

In a Q&A with BBC Radio 2 in December 2012, Williams was asked if he would consider doing a Christmas album. "You bet", Williams stated. "I used to hate Christmas, but my wife Ayda has instilled me with Christmas spirit. It used to be a time of year that I didn't care too much for, but she loves it, loves it like a child, and because of that, I now love it, it's a very very special time of the year, and because of that, yes I'm willing to do a Christmas album, and I will do one at one point".[3]

Williams began recording the album in June 2019, just before the final leg of his Wynn Las Vegas residency, and concluded in Vancouver in October 2019. Williams joked that he was going to call the album Achtung Bublé, a play on words of the U2 album "Achtung Baby", and in reference to Michael Bublé's "monopoly" on the Christmas music market, which he said "must end now".[2] Williams was asked in an interview whether or not there were any plans for Bublé to sing on the album and he answered: "He sang with me on an album of mine called Swings Both Ways. You sort of get it in your head that you can only use that token once. I might be wrong. I should have got him involved.">[4]

In an interview with Smooth FM, Williams stated: "I wrote 50 songs for the Christmas Present record. And you can’t write 50 songs in one month because it’s Christmas and you feel Christmassy, so you have to do it when the fancy takes you."[5]

Williams initially aspired to cover "Fairytale of New York" as a duet with Britney Spears which the latter declined due to being on hiatus.[6]

Critical reception

The Christmas Present received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 52 based on 4 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]

Jordan Bassett of NME rated the album 3/5 stars, writing: "The original compositions are richer than the covers. The galloping 'Darkest Night' opens with the fabulous line "December in London / Think I’ve just been made redundant" and the optimistic 'New Year's Day' borrows quite liberally from George Michael's 'Freedom' on a jubilant bridge where Robbie and a gospel choir rapturously exclaim, "Oh! It’s an energy! Oh! The memories!""[8]

The song "Bad Sharon", featuring Tyson Fury on guest vocals, was called a "favourite" to be the UK Christmas number one.[9]

Singles

"Time for Change" was released as the album's official lead single on 22 November 2019.[10]

The album's second single, "Can't Stop Christmas", was released on 20 November 2020.[11]

Commercial performance

The Christmas Present opened at number two on the UK Albums Chart, behind Coldplay's Everyday Life. The album sold 67,000 copies in the UK during its first week, the same amount as Williams' previous album The Heavy Entertainment Show (2016).[12] Despite not getting to number one during its first week on the charts, Williams had the fastest selling cassette release in over two decades. The Christmas Present sold over 10,000 cassettes in its first seven days of release. Halfway through its second week, the album climbed to number one, outselling Rod Stewart's album You're in My Heart by 5,000 copies and becoming Williams' 13th number one, tying Elvis Presley for the most UK number one albums.[13] In its second week, 57,000 copies had been sold. Williams now ties Presley for the most #1's in a solo career, and has 17 number one albums when including his Take That career.

The Christmas Present opened at number two on the Australian music chart, behind Coldplay's Everyday Life. The following week, The Christmas Present became Williams' first number one album in Australia since Reality Killed the Video Star 10 years prior.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2019)Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[14]53
Italian Albums (FIMI)[15]2
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16]2
Slovak Albums (ČNS IFPI)[17]9
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[18]30
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19]31
Taiwanese Albums (Five Music)[20]11
Chart (2020)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21]18
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22]12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23]148
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24]145
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25]93
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26]20
Italian Albums (FIMI)[27]58
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[28]33
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[29]41
Scottish Albums (OCC)[30]21
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31]31
UK Albums (OCC)[32]27
Chart (2021)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33]11
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[34]51
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[35]12
Italian Albums (FIMI)[36]75
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[37]90
Chart (2022)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Austrian Charts)[38]48
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[39]51
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[40]46
Italian Albums (FIMI)[41]71
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[42]83
Chart (2023)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Austrian Charts)[43]75
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[44]62
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[45]29
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[46]84
Chart (2024)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Austrian Charts)[47]58
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[48]26
German Pop Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[49]18

Year-end charts

Chart (2019)Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[50]45
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[51]5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[52]172
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[53]79
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[54]28
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[55]25
UK Albums (OCC)[56]12
Chart (2020)Position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[57]11
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[58]37

References

  1. ^ O'Connor, Roisin (18 October 2019). "Robbie Williams announces Christmas album featuring Tyson Fury duet". The Independent. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  2. ^ Bassett, Jordan (18 October 2019). "Robbie Williams wants to take Christmas back from Michael Bublé – and I am here for it". NME. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Ask Robbie Williams - Live! BBC Radio 2 - YouTube". YouTube. 13 December 2012.
  4. ^ Eames, Tom (28 November 2019). "Robbie Williams interview: "I have no chance of being the Christmas number one"". Smooth. Global. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  5. ^ Eames, Tom (25 November 2020). "Robbie Williams interview: "I don't look at the charts anymore, it would be a miracle if I got there'". Smooth. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  6. ^ Griffin, Louise (22 November 2019). "Britney Spears turned down Fairytale Of New York duet with Robbie Williams". Metro. UK: DMG Media. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  7. ^ "The Christmas Present by Robbie Williams reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
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  9. ^ Jones, Rich (18 October 2019). "Tyson Fury and Robbie Williams favourites to land Christmas No.1". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  10. ^ "Time for Change Official Video". YouTube
  11. ^ Reilly, Nick (2020-11-20). "Robbie Williams tackles coronavirus on new festive single 'Can't Stop Christmas'". NME. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
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  46. ^ "Schweizer Hitparade - Alben Top 100". Retrieved 31 December 2023.
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