Stoke's favourite son's sixth studio album marks a new stage in the career of Mr Robert Peter Williams, Britain's favourite popular entertainer. Severed from his former right hand man, songwriter Guy Chambers, Intensive Care sees him forging a new partnership with former Lilac Time stalwart Stephen Duffy. The result is his most complete album to date, free from the gimmicky fillers--like "Me and My Monkey" and "Jesus In A Camper Van"--that tended to drag previous efforts down.Never short of cocksure bravado, Robbie starts proceedings off with a modest declaration¡ª"Here I stand victorious, the only man who made you come", but for once he's got the tunes to back up the posturing. There're plenty of classic Robbie tracks, from the ballad-tastic "Advertising Space"--which should see "Angels" relegated to the backbenches--to the public confessional of "The Trouble With Me"; plus some daring departures in between, from the '80s pop fun of "Sin Sin Sin" to the Rolling Stones-a-like "A Place To Crash", via the Oasis-lite of "Make Me Pure" and the Smiths-esque guitars on "Your Gay Friend". You can't help but feel that Mr Williams has a point to make with this album, to all the people who said he'd be nothing without Guy Chambers; if that is the case, he couldn't have gone about it a better way than by serving up the best album of his career to date
