Escapology (album) - Definition and Overview

Escapology is a 2002 album by Robbie Williams, his sixth solo effort, and his last with producer and co-songwriter Guy Chambers. Critics were negative about the album, calling it "stale songs, formulaic arrangements, and mediocre songwriting" All Music Guide, [1] (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CAWEB0412312336&sql=10:30d3vwpqa9uk~T1). Rolling Stone was less harsh, describing it as a "self-conscious effort to craft a pop-rock blockbuster" [2] (http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/318880/robbiewilliams?pageid=rs.Artistcage&pageregion=triple1). PopMatters said it was "probably the weakest Robbie Williams album to date" [3] (http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/w/williamsrobbie-escapology.shtml).

Williams has said of the album that "half of it is written from the standpoint of 'Look, this is really me with my tears of a clown. Do they love me or hate me?' The rest of it is about somebody that I have to think I am to get up onstage. Because little me wouldn't get up there. It's too scary!"

The album was refactored for the U.S. market upon its release there in 2003.

Track listings

United Kingdom

1. "How Peculiar" (Williams/Chambers)
2. "Feel" (Williams/Chambers)
3. "Something Beautiful" (Williams/Chambers)
4. "Monsoon" (Williams/Chambers)
5. "Sexed Up" (Williams/Chambers)
6. "Love Somebody" (Williams/Chambers)
7. "Revolution" (Williams/Chambers)
8. "Handsome Man" (Williams/Chambers/Deevoy)
9. "Come Undone" (Williams/Ottestad/Hamilton/Pierre)
10. "Me and My Monkey" (Williams/Chambers)
11. "Song 3" (Williams/Chambers)
12. "Hot Fudge" (Williams/Chambers)
13. "Cursed" (Williams/Chambers/Deevoy)
14. "Nan's Song" (Williams)

In addition, two secret songs follow "Nan's Song", the first concerning the state of society, often referred to as "Save the Children", the only line of its chorus; the second concerns Williams' abstract wonderings during a date with a boring girlfriend, sometimes referred to as "I Tried Love", after the first line of its chorus.

United States

1. "Feel" (Williams/Chambers)
2. "Monsoon" (Williams/Chambers)
3. "Sexed Up" (Williams/Chambers)
4. "Get a Little High" (Williams/Ottestad)
5. "Come Undone" (Williams/Ottestad/Hamilton/Pierre)
6. "Something Beautiful" (Williams/Chambers)
7. "Love Somebody" (Williams/Chambers)
8. "Revolution" (Williams/Chambers)
9. "How Peculiar" (Williams/Chambers)
10. "One Fine Day" (Williams)
11. "Me and My Monkey" (Williams/Chambers)
12. "Handsome Man" (Williams/Chambers/Deevoy)
13. "Nan's Song" (Williams)
14. "How Peculiar (Reprise)" (Williams/Chambers)

The U.S. release, on Virgin Records, shuffles the song order, removes "Song 3", "Hot Fudge", "Cursed", and both secret songs, adding "Get a Little High", "One Fine Day", and a reprise of "How Peculiar" in their place.