Take One book with a lot of photos... (Take One - Take That)

Member Name: nixtee

Product:	Take One - Take That
Date:	30/10/09 (164 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's Take That! A beautiful book.

Disadvantages: None.

Take That / Take One is the new and official hardback book pictorially documenting Take That the first time around, from 1990 to 1996.

Take That is Britain's best loved band, originally consisting of Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Robbie Williams, Howard Donald and Jason Orange, that was until Robbie rocked the pop world by exiting the band in 1995. The band had number 1 after number 1, sell out tours and teenage girls around the world chasing them. Forget Beatle-mania, this was Take That Mania! Then came 13th February 1996 (co-incidentally, Robbie's birthday), the rest of Take That announced that they were to split as a band in April that year, leaving many teenage girls devastated (so much so that hotlines were set up to help them!).

Nearly a decade later, Take That made the comeback of all comebacks, but we'll leave that for the other book - Take That / Take Two (2005 - 2009).

The front cover of this bulky hardback book features a black & white photo of the lads with Take That's logo (a circle containing 2 T's - one upside-down on top of the other) and the number 1 on top. Below Take That's logo is a yellow sticker saying:

"TAKE THAT / TAKE ONE
The official illustrated history of Britain's best-loved band with unseen pictures and exclusive commentary by the band.
1990-1996"

This sticker is removable (complete with "remove here" sign), but I'll be keeping mine on my book.

The book's spine is white with "TAKE THAT / TAKE ONE" in bold words.

Again, the back cover is white with the words:

"We got off the plane and into our own cars and just drove off. A little hug and that was that".

These words are from Mark Owen and are about the band parting ways after their last performance.

Inside this weighty book are many photos of the band - some we've seen, many others we've not. This is not a re-hash of images previously published. This is a book giving us the history of Take That in pictures, along with commentary from Gary, Mark, Howard and Jason. The commentary runs from 1 liners to several paragraphs beside each photo.

This book gives us a real insight into Take That during the 1990's - from touring, to videos & songs, outfits, each other and more. Although Robbie's own commentary doesn't feature in this book, the rest of the band mention him many times as he was every bit a part of the band as the rest of them.

At one stage in the book (accompanied by 2 fun black & white photos of Mark & Robbie), Mark says "Cheeky. Sweet. Young. It was always a lot of fun with Rob. You need your partner in crime in a band and for me that was Rob. There was cockiness to it all but there was sincerity, too.", while Gary says "Mark will never say this. A girl has never broken his heart. But Robbie did the day he left the band. He was inconsolable. They really were like brothers."

There are touching moments and funny moments as we learn more about Take That the first time around. It's like looking through a wonderful photo album, complete with their thoughts and feelings.

I loved looking through this book and remembering my own memories of those years as well as reading Take That's. Nobody else (Hah! A Take That song!) could tell us more about these pictures than Take That themselves, but one thing I possibly think that is missing is Robbie's thoughts about the photos. After all, he was a part of the band up until 1995. While I understand that he's no longer part of the band (as I write, but you never know what might happen in the future!), he was back then and they are all friends again. Still, even without Robbie's input, this book is interesting and an enjoyable gander through Take That's time the first time around.

This book is a must for any Take That fan, whether they were a fan the first time around or not! Just don't forget to get the Take That / Take Two book, as well!

ISBN: 978-0718155780
Product Dimensions: 27.2 x 21.2 x 2.2 cm
Pages: 208.

Currently available at Amazon.co.uk for £9.

Summary: A wonderful book full of photos and memories!