Take That 'Pray'

Chart Peak: 1 (4 weeks)

YouTube

Gary, Howard, Jason, Mark and Robbie have already had 4 massive hits in Britain year... 'Pray', a No.1 in July, was the biggest seller of them all.

They'd got off to a relatively slow start, by modern boyband standards, and had to wait until their ninth single to get to the top of the chart - but this was the start of a run of four consecutive Number Ones for them. It's the only representation in the Now! series of their second album Everything Changes, which proved to be the biggest seller of their original career. Like a lot of their catalogue, it was rarely heard between about 1994 and 2005, but has become a regular airplay favourite in more recent years. In truth, it's a good fit for commercial radio, a smoothly-produced song with a clear soul influence but no real grit to it. It lifts up in all the right places for a chorus, but as with a lot of Gary Barlow's compositions, I find it easier to nod at how well it's done than to be caught in any sort of passion about it, emotionally or rhythmically. It is clever that they thought to angle their musical style to appeal beyond the typical boyband audience and thus prolong their career but I'm more impressed than pleased.


Also appearing on: Now 22, 24, 29, 66, 67, 68, 72, 73, 78, 79
Available on: Everything Changes