At times it reminds me of S/A/W act Big Fun. There’s a nice piano roll and a scattering of vocal effects. The simple synths feel a bit wooden or at least dated. This is followed by You Are The One, which is quite a pumping 90s dance track with a thick bass line. Again, the 90’s beat and samples, along with the bedtime talk from a breathy Gary, ensured that this track became a hit, narrowly missing the top spot – and giving the group a #2 hit. Next up is lead single Why Can’t I Wake Up With You?this has a great beat and synth line. There’s a wonderful bouncy beat, plenty of synth strings, and a ton of house piano and the soft beat all feel borrowed from her hit Too Blind To See It. Meaning Of Love sounds like it’s a missing Kym Sims track – aside from having Gary singing all over it. Sadly, his high-pitched vocals from about 1m 45s feel like a mis-step that let it down. There’s a ton of funky brass sections throughout that honk their way through alongside some ‘oohs’ from the rest of the group whilst Gary takes lead vocals again. There’s a sense of a lost era in Whatever You Do To Me, reminding me a bit of something you might find on the Blues Brothers soundtrack. This has a nice downbeat feel to it, despite his high vocals and warm backing vocals. Howard has the vocals here, and he is a welcome contrast from Gary. Up next is If This Is Love, which seems to have taken more of those rent-a-90s-beats previously used in Pray. This was the 6th and final UK single, giving them a #3 hit. This is a mid-tempo ballad, with soaring strings that fit perfectly with the vocal range of the group. Turn the lights down for Love Ain’t Here Anymore, with Gary singing his regrets out – ‘ Love’s gone away to a town called Yesterday‘ he sings. The original, which saw Dan Hartman‘s slightly higher vocals set against a full-on disco soundtrack, comes in as a decent second place. An perfect vocal combination, and unsurprisingly a springboard for Lulu’s renewed musical career. This version of course includes the belting vocals of 60’s starlet Lulu, who makes light work of the vocals and really shows off her powerful vocal range – a raw contrast against Gary’s softer voice. The strings, piano, disco beat and tempo are all wonderful. That zooming whoosh turns up, and Gary is soon back and into their huge #1 UK cover of Relight My Fire. This song feels like a bit of a ‘nice’ filler, as if it’s a gentle interlude in the middle of something greater. The funky mid section gives the rest of the group (noticeably Robbie) some space to add backing vocals whilst saxophone honks over the top. This song is laced with a gentle percussive beat, laden with some keyboard brass and a some tinkling piano and guitar parts. This is followed by Wasting My Time which gives Gary another outing on the mic. This song gave the group their very first UK #1 single. The song is light and summery, thanks to the 90’s rent-a-beat which sounds similar to most of Eternal’s tracks. Gary Barlow takes the helm here, and his soft soulful vocals make light work of this whilst the rest of the group put in some great vocal harmonies. Next up is their huge hit Pray, which needs little to no explanation. Even though it’s a bit weaker than some of the other singles here, the track did give them another #1 UK singles. At times, this song feels somewhat Stock/Aitken/Waterman, but it’s not. He opens the song with some sultry reassurance before it opens out into a bouncy little pop song. This 13 track album opens with title track and fifth single Everything Changeswhich sees Robbie Williams take the lead. Take That’s 1993 album ‘Everything Changes’
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