Reality Killed the Video Star

Reality Killed the Video Star is the eighth solo studio album by the British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released in November 2009. The album was produced by Trevor Horn and recorded between September 2008 and August 2009 in London and Los Angeles. It debuted in the top ten of 22 national album charts worldwide, and has received varying reviews from music critics. It incorporates elements of pop rock, dance-rock, alternative rock and adult contemporary music. Reality Killed the Video Star was viewed by critics and fans as being Williams' "comeback album" after the relative failure of his 2006 release, Rudebox.
The album was preceded by lead single "Bodies" released in October 2009. Other single releases include "You Know Me" and "Morning Sun". The album has been certified platinum in Europe for sales of over one million copies, including 900,000 copies sold in the UK alone. Despite this, it was Williams' first studio album not to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart, beaten to the top spot by a margin of less than 1% by the UK boy band JLS's self-titled debut album.Reality Killed The Video Star was Williams' first studio album in three years. In that period, he worked with many producers, including Guy Chambers, Soul Mekanik, Mark Ronson, and Trevor Horn. However, the British singer confirmed in August 2009 on his official website that the entire album was produced by Trevor Horn, and added that it was recorded in London.
Rumours of a new studio album co-written with Chambers had surfaced in early 2007, along with known commitments required by Williams to complete his EMI contract. British singer-songwriter Laura Critchley commented that she had sung vocals for three songs, and said that the LP would not be released until 2009. At first it was believed that Williams had reunited with Chambers, but it was later confirmed that the song "Blasphemy" was co-written by the pair during the recording sessions of Williams' 2002 album Escapology.
In February 2009, it was confirmed that Williams had written material with Soul Mekanik, Chambers and Ronson. The singer's spokesman, Tim Clark, said that the artist was planning to begin recording sessions in March and that the new album would be released in late 2009.[22] The album was mostly written in Williams' home studio and was recorded in London. Amongst those who collaborated in the songwriting were Danny Spencer and Kelvin Andrews, Brandon Christy, Craig Russo, Richard Scott and Scott Ralph, Chas Jankel and Fil Eisler.
On his official website, Williams wrote that he was working with producer Trevor Horn on his new album; he described himself as "buzzing" and went on to call the album's sound "Very, very big". Williams revealed that the new album would be titled Reality Killed the Video Star, a reference to the song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Horn's former band The Buggles. The album was originally planned to be named Il Protagonista (Italian for The Protagonist) until Williams' management told him to change the title as it was "too pretentious".[24] In July 2009 Williams wrote on his official blog about the album: "My album's a killer: old Robbie, new Robbie and a Robbie that neither of us have met...". The A.V. Club has also reported that during 2007, Williams had recorded an unreleased experimental album that, he later said, would have amounted to "career suicide".
Before the album's release, Williams spoke about his hopes for the album: "I want people to feel elated, I want them to dance, I want them to forget about who they are and where they are for 50 minutes - and, within those 50 minutes of forgetting who they are, I also hope people relate to the songs. This is a record that I’m very proud of - I think it’s fucking brilliant. I want it to be the record that, if people think of Robbie Williams, they go, Yeah, Reality Killed the Video Star." He also talked about his collaboration with producer Trevor Horn: "He’s added something to the record that I haven’t had on previous records - his genius".
In the wake of Michael Jackson's death on 25 June 2009, Williams was reported to have written and recorded a last minute tribute song to Jackson that would be included on the album. The track, "Morning Sun", was co-written by James Bond lyricist Don Black. During his BBC Electric Proms concert at The Roundhouse in London on 20 October 2009 Williams said about the song: "I thought it was about Michael Jackson [...] but it’s actually about me again."