A few things strike you about the cover of Take That's new album, Progress, unveiled yesterday. First, it is extremely yellow. Second, Gary Barlow seems to be looking up Mark Owen's bottom. Third, they're wearing body stockings. Fourth, there's five of them (Robbie's back!). And fifth, it's not an original idea – Fatboy Slim and, er, Supertramp have both used the "ascent of man" idea, the first in the video for Right Here Right Now, the second on the cover of their 1985 album Brother Where You Bound.
Shot by Nadav Kander, Take That's sleeve has a whiff of the early 90s club flyers that Mancunian ex-ravers including Howard Donald and Jason Orange would remember – if Progress wasn't a night at the Haçienda, it should have been.
The real intrigue, though, lies in what it reveals about the Take That pecking order. Robbie's squarely in the middle – the star, but not the frontman. Mark is squatting behind him, as if he's hiding, ashamed by his own womanising ways. Gary is right at the back – perhaps it suggests even greater shame about supporting Cameron at the last election. Howard's about to jump, possibly to counter his portrayal as Chewbacca in Star Stories. It's a bold decision for someone whose lung collapsed after doing the splits onstage three years ago. But it is Jason who's flying. Are Take That saying that he's the soul of the band? The most highly evolved? Or the only person they could put at the front without splitting up all over again?
