The Christmas Present Explained

The Christmas Present
Type:studio
Artist:Robbie Williams
Cover:Robbie Williams - The Christmas Present.png
Recorded:June–September 2019
Studio:Los Angeles, California
Las Vegas, Nevada
London, England
Vancouver, Canada[1]
Genre:Christmas
Length:78:26
Label:Columbia
Producer:
Prev Title:Under the Radar Volume 3
Prev Year:2019
Next Title:XXV
Next Year:2022

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".

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!""[7]

The song "Bad Sharon", featuring Tyson Fury on guest vocals, was called a "favourite" to be the UK Christmas number one.[8]

Singles

"Time for Change" was released as the album's official lead single on 22 November 2019.[9]

The album's second single, "Can't Stop Christmas", was released on 20 November 2020.[10]

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).[11] Despite not getting to number one 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, Williams' 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.[12] 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)[13] 53
Italian Albums (FIMI)[14] 2
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] 2
Slovak Albums (ČNS IFPI)[16] 9
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[17] 30
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 31
Chart (2020)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] 18
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[20] 12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] 148
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[22] 145
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 93
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 20
Italian Albums (FIMI)[25] 58
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26] 33
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[27] 41
Scottish Albums (OCC)[28] 21
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 31
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 27
Chart (2021)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[31] 11
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 51
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[33] 12
Italian Albums (FIMI)[34] 75
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 90
Chart (2022)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Austrian Charts)[36] 48
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[37] 51
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[38] 46
Italian Albums (FIMI)[39] 71
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[40] 83
Chart (2023)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Austrian Charts)[41] 75
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[42] 62
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[43] 29
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[44] 84

Year-end charts

Chart (2019)Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[46] 45
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[47] 5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[48] 172
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[49] 79
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[50] 28
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[51] 25
UK Albums (OCC)[52] 12
Chart (2020)Position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[53] 11
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[54] 37

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Robbie Williams announces Christmas album featuring Tyson Fury duet. The Independent. O'Connor. Roisin. 18 October 2019. 20 October 2019.
  2. Web site: Robbie Williams wants to take Christmas back from Michael Bublé – and I am here for it. NME. Bassett. Jordan. 18 October 2019. 20 October 2019.
  3. Web site: Ask Robbie Williams - Live! BBC Radio 2 - YouTube . . 13 December 2012 .
  4. Web site: Eames . Tom . 28 November 2019 . Robbie Williams interview: "I have no chance of being the Christmas number one" . 2020-11-27 . . . en.
  5. Web site: 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' . 2020-11-27 . Smooth . en.
  6. News: Griffin . Louise . 22 November 2019 . Britney Spears turned down Fairytale Of New York duet with Robbie Williams . . . UK . 11 September 2020.
  7. Web site: Bassett . Jordan . 2019-11-22 . Robbie Williams – 'The Christmas Present' review: the pop don's festive gift is anything but a lump of coal NME . 2021-01-05 . NME Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Pop Culture News . en-GB.
  8. Web site: Jones. Rich. 18 October 2019. Tyson Fury and Robbie Williams favourites to land Christmas No.1. 20 October 2019. Daily Mirror.
  9. Web site: Time for Change Official Video. YouTube.
  10. Web site: Reilly . Nick . 2020-11-20 . Robbie Williams tackles coronavirus on new festive single 'Can't Stop Christmas' . 2020-11-27 . . en.
  11. News: Coldplay beat Robbie Williams to number one. BBC News . 29 November 2019.
  12. Web site: White . Jack . 2 December 2019 . Robbie Williams on track for 13th UK Number 1 album . Official Charts Company.
  13. Web site: Top Albums (Week 48, 2019). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. fr. 3 December 2019.
  14. Web site: Album – Classifica settimanale WK 48 (dal 22.11.2019 al 28.11.2019). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. 30 November 2019.
  15. Web site: NZ Top 40 Albums Chart. Recorded Music NZ. 9 December 2019. 7 December 2019.
  16. Web site: Top 100 Slovak Albums. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. August 19, 2024.
  17. Web site: Top 100 Albumes – Semana 49: del 29.11.2019 al 5.12.2019. Productores de Música de España. es. 12 December 2019.
  18. Web site: Veckolista Album, vecka 48. Sverigetopplistan. 30 November 2019.
  19. Web site: ARIA Top 50 Albums . 28 December 2020.
  20. Web site: Official Longplay Charts Top 75 . 8 November 2019 . 27 December 2020.
  21. Web site: Ultratop Albums Top 200 . . 21 December 2020.
  22. Web site: Ultratop Albums Top 200 . . 11 January 2020.
  23. Web site: Dutch Album Top 100 . 19 December 2020.
  24. Web site: Offizielle Deutsche Charts The Christmas Present. Offiziellecharts.de – Robbie Williams – The Christmas Present . 25 December 2020.
  25. Web site: Classifica settimanale WK 52 (dal 18.12.2020 al 24.12.2020). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. 18 December 2020.
  26. Web site: The Official NZ Music Charts - Official Top 40 Albums . 25 December 2020.
  27. Web site: Poland Albums Top 50. ZVAP. 6 January 2020.
  28. Web site: Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 . . 19 December 2020.
  29. Web site: Schweizer Hitparade - Alben Top 100 . 27 December 2020.
  30. Web site: Official Album Charts Top 100 . . 25 December 2020. 30 July 2024.
  31. Web site: Official Longplay Charts Top 75 . 8 November 2019 . 8 January 2021.
  32. Web site: Dutch Album Top 100 . 2 January 2021.
  33. Web site: Offizielle Deutsche Charts The Christmas Present. Offiziellecharts.de – Robbie Williams – The Christmas Present . 1 January 2021.
  34. Web site: Classifica settimanale WK 52 (dal 24.12.2021 al 30.12.2021). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. 24 December 2021.
  35. Web site: Schweizer Hitparade - Alben Top 100 . 3 January 2021.
  36. Web site: Austria Top 40 - Alben . 4 January 2022.
  37. Web site: Dutch Album Top 100 . 1 January 2022.
  38. Web site: Offizielle Deutsche Charts The Christmas Present. Offiziellecharts.de – Robbie Williams – The Christmas Present . 30 December 2022.
  39. Web site: Classifica settimanale WK 52 (dal 23.12.2022 al 29.12.2022). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. 23 December 2022.
  40. Web site: Schweizer Hitparade - Alben Top 100 . 2 January 2022.
  41. Web site: Austria Top 40 - Alben . 3 January 2023.
  42. Web site: Dutch Album Top 100 . 30 December 2023.
  43. Web site: Offizielle Deutsche Charts The Christmas Present. Offiziellecharts.de – Robbie Williams – The Christmas Present . 29 December 2023.
  44. Web site: Schweizer Hitparade - Alben Top 100 . 31 December 2023.
  45. Web site: Austria Top 40 - Alben . 2 January 2024.
  46. Web site: ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 2019. Australian Recording Industry Association. 10 January 2020.
  47. Web site: Jahreshitparade Alben 2019. austriancharts.at. 1 January 2020.
  48. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 2019. Ultratop. 5 November 2020.
  49. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 2019. dutchcharts.nl. 5 January 2020.
  50. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts. de . . 20 December 2019.
  51. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2019. hitparade.ch. 31 December 2019.
  52. Web site: The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2019. Official Charts Company. Copsey. Rob. 1 January 2020. 1 January 2020.
  53. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts 2020. de . . 18 December 2020.
  54. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2020. hitparade.ch. 28 December 2020.