Rudebox - Reception

Reception

According to review aggregator Metacritic, Rudebox received an average of 53 out of 100 indicating mixed to average reviews from music critics, based on twelve critiques. In the United Kingdom, the album sold 54,667 copies on the day of release, taking the number-one slot on the albums chart midweek. By Wednesday, the album had sold over 75,000 copies. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Official UK Albums Chart, selling over 147,000 copies in its week of release. Despite reaching the number one spot, sales were far below what was expected by his label EMI, and overall sales were overtaken by his former band Take That's Beautiful World. However, the album performed better than Beautiful World outside the UK. The fallout of the album's relative failure led to the firing of two music executives responsible for the album's development. The album was released in the Netherlands on 20 October 2006, on the same day the album was certified platinum as a result of pre-order sales of over 70,000 copies. In Belgium, the album sold 50,000 copies and went platinum. It was released on 23 October 2006 in Australia and debuted at number-one, achieving platinum status in its first week. It has since been certified 2× Platinum. 220,000 copies of the album were sold in France on the week of release, as well as 600,000 in Germany, and 700,000 in the UK. On 8 November 2006, IFPI certified the album 2× Platinum in Europe with sales of over 2 million copies, making it the fastest platinum selling album of 2006. On 20 November 2006, the album reached number-one in Mexico, becoming Williams' first number-one album there. The album was certified platinum there, with sales of over 100,000 copies. Rudebox became the eighteenth best selling album of 2006 worldwide according to the IFPI.