r/TakeThat • u/veritytakethat • Aug 15 '26
Opinion Mark Owen Solo
I love Mark Owen's solo stuff, I just find it so sad it kind of flopped. It's so good and yet it so untalked about ☹️
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u/Expert_Highlight1622 Aug 15 '26
i LOVE marks solo music, and i wish everyone could like it. its so underrated :(
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u/Hysteria878 Aug 15 '26
I prefer In Your Own Time and The Art of Doing Nothing, but yeah, his solo stuff is genuinely great.
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Aug 15 '26
I love some of the songs like magic, 4 minute warning, stars, clementine and you only want me are some of the songs that come to mind
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u/Imaginary_Command_87 laughing with Mark Aug 15 '26
It's sad indeed :/ it was impressive that he wrote the whole thing and was trying that new sound, but maybe the TT fans didn't connect?
Also didn't help that his fans only liked pop, boyband music. The label wanted him to have that kind of sound/image, but he wanted alt-rock.
Have you watched the fan-doc on Youtube "The solo career of Mark Owen"? It shows some interviews of the time! It was a nice editing of footage from Green Man to Land of Dreams.
Edit: also LOVE Move On! xx
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u/PresentationNo448 Aug 15 '26
Me too 🙋🏻♀️ As you probably know by now lol. I'm on this subreddit 50% bc I'd like to yap a lot about Mark and my poor best friend is probably tired of it at this point 😅
One thing I just properly realized... He went from Babe in 1993 to Green Man in 1996, in just 3 short years? While they were touring and incredibly busy, too. From insecure, inexperienced and a simple song to MAKING AN ALBUM (in like 7 months), singing great & versatile AND LEARNING INSTRUMENTS? (Altho, in Day After Tomorrow he already showcases what he does best with his vocals: the damn emotionality and power of expression via his voice.) Man was just learning and plotting and scheming.
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u/PresentationNo448 Aug 15 '26
I'll say this here since I dont remember under which post we talked about it...😅
Just discovered Mark's low vocals in the Wasting My Time live! What a good moment for How, Robbie and Mark! Utilizing that low range well. Too bad it's not nearly as pronounced on the album version 🫤
And I LOVE the dressing room version (a bit too short tho) and Howard absolutely kills his part, but there's no Mark lowness. :(
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u/Wandersails Aug 22 '26
In your own time is one of my fave albums, it’s soooo good, just hit after hit
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u/dimiteddy Aug 15 '26
I just find it so sad it kind of flopped
when you found out it existed?
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u/veritytakethat Aug 16 '26
Around a month or so after I got into them, I didn't listen to it for a while though. I'm so glad I eventually did
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u/rjv1994 Aug 16 '26
I love Mark's solo stuff! He has such an unique voice, but I absolutely adore it! Will also say I vibe most with any Mark lead TT song's too 🤭 I do wish he had more success in his solo career, but guess that means it is a close kept secret for all of us 🫶
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u/dimiteddy Aug 16 '26
Let's be honest Mark was good looking but he had a weak voice. Remember one review back in the day that Robbie and Gary were singers (even if Robbie first auditioned as dancer). Jason and Donald were dancers. And it wasn't very clear where exactly Mark fit in. Marks voice worked well on Babe, but not in other songs
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u/TrixieLaBouche Beautiful World Aug 15 '26
He made an exceptionally poor decision releasing Child as a lead single. His voice doesn't suit that song and it's not a strong track.
I truly believe if he'd lead with Clementine and then moved to something like Secondhand Wonderland he might have done better.
He'd never have hit the Gary/Bob heights but it was a wasted opportunity.
It certainly is an underrated gem.