The Circus

In 2006, Beautiful World, Take That’s comeback album, banished the word “boy band” from their profile, recasting them as purveyors of emotive, superbly melodic pop-rock that sat closer to Coldplay than “Could It Be Magic.” The Circus reinforces that transformation with “Greatest Day” and “The Garden” restating Gary Barlow’s gift for an epic chorus. Mark Owen proves valuable as a songwriter too, with his Beatles-influenced “Hello” and “Up All Night” injecting welcome breeziness into the proceedings.