The Flood

"The Flood" is a song by British pop group Take That from their sixth studio album, Progress. It was released as the lead single in the United Kingdom on 7 November 2010. The song is the first to feature Robbie Williams since his return to the band in July 2010, and features Gary Barlow and Williams on lead vocals.

Music video
The video features the five members of the band racing against another crew in specially-made five-seater Sculling boats. The band's boat is named "Progress" after the record breaking number 1 album, whilst the band wear old-fashioned white rowing kits, bearing a custom-designed Take That crest. The group are shown to be competing in a race against a younger crew and although losing the race, the group continue going past the finish line and are shown to row down the River Thames past famous London landmarks before fading away into a stormy sea. The video for the single was filmed on Dorney Lake in Buckinghamshire, which will play host to the rowing events at the 2012 Olympics.

Critical reception
The single has been gaining rave reviews across the media and social network sites since its first play at BBC Radio 1 with social network users and fans commenting on the single as "incredible". On the documentary Look Back, Don't Stare Elton John listens to an early demo of the song with the band and comments "Brilliant, do you know how big this is gonna be?"

Digital Spy awarded the single 4 stars commenting that the single "reveals itself to be a genuinely epic pop belter" whilst The News of The World gave the song 5 stars by saying the single is "already hailed as a classic to rival Back for Good" and with "a mammoth anthem, it'll sound even better when [Take That] belt it out in concert". The Telegraph again praised the single stating "The Flood is a stirring us-against-the-world pop anthem that blends the best of Williams’ rabble rousing instincts with Gary Barlow’s smooth songwriting." Orange agreed with this view, stating that "when it comes to perfect pop, they're still the masters of their game".

Promotion
The song was placed on the Radio 1 A Playlist for a number of weeks after its first play on radio in early October. The band appeared on X Factor result show 6 to perform "The Flood" live for the first time on 14 November, it was also the first time they had performed as a five piece in 15 years. They also performed it on Children in Need and closed the show with number 1 single "Never Forget". They then sang "The Flood" on X Factor Italy on November 23rd, as well as on The Voice of Holland on the 27th. Following that was Skavlan. Then they performed it on Benissimo on the 1st of December. Next up was the Late Late Show on the 10th and then they performed it live on Wetten Dass in Germany. They also performed "The Flood" on Strictly Come Dancing and French version of this show Danse avec les stars. Then the sang it on the X Factor final on the 12th, where they also sang their number 1 hit single "Never Forget" with the final three contestants. They closed the Royal Variety Performance with "The Flood", with their backing dancers representing the progress of man.

Chart performance
"The Flood" first debuted in Denmark at number 7 on 22 October 2010 before moving up to 4. The track also debuted Top 10 in Ireland on the Irish Singles Chart dated 11 November 2010, at number 8, but later rose to number 3 whilst also spending 15 weeks in the Irish Top 50. On 14 November 2010, the single debuted at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart with sales of 69,484 copies, and remained there the week after selling 89,917. The track has also debuted in the Top 40 across many European charts. The track has to date spent 6 weeks in the top ten of the UK Singles Charts with its overall sales in the UK standing at 453,482

Track listing

 * UK CD single
 * 1) "The Flood" – 4:51
 * 2) "The Flood" (Instrumental) – 4:51


 * UK Download single
 * 1) "The Flood" - 4:51
 * 2) "The Flood" (Video) - 5:00


 * UK DVD single
 * 1) "The Flood" (Video) – 5:00
 * 2) "The Flood" (Behind the Scenes) – 2:30


 * Promotional single
 * 1) "The Flood" (Radio Edit) - 3:54
 * 2) "The Flood" (Instrumental) - 4:51


 * European Download single
 * 1) "The Flood" - 4:51


 * German single
 * 1) "The Flood" - 4:51
 * 2) "The Flood" (Instrumental) - 4:51
 * 3) "The Flood" (Video) - 5:00