Life Thru A Lens

This book of albums sure places British mediocrity on a pedestal.

Sounds like the debut album from your mom’s favorite American Idol Finalist.

‘Life Thru a Lens” by Robbie Williams (1997) Hyper-produced pop—the kind of thing you’d expect from a boy band member gone solo. Pleasant enough to listen to, but not seriously. Williams’ voice is a high throat mewl, desperately chasing the melody, with varied quality across limited range, and incapable of either of mellow lows or powerful highs. Lyrics are too dependent on forced rhymes, and lack depth. Overall, so-so. But a nice collection of cameras on the album cover. 2/5

Que vous le croyiez ou non, quand Robbie Williams ne fait pas de doigts d'honneur à la Coupe du Monde ou n'intervient pas de façon totalement injustifiée dans une émission de télévision dédiée aux Inconnus, il conçoit des albums. Et qu'est-ce que ça donne, alors ? N'en déplaise au père de mon compagnon d'écoute eltrapeze dont les goûts sont ouvertement critiqués par une majorité de musicologues en exercice, cet album nous donne la sensation d'être retenu prisonnier d'un interminable épisode de Glee ou d'High School Musical. Seul point positif au milieu de cette pagaille : mon apparition sur la pochette du projet tout en haut à gauche. J'étais en effet ce jour-là en train de faire la queue à la pharmacie où je me rends habituellement pour acheter un shampoing anti-pelliculaire lorsque, survenant de nulle part, surgit Robbie Williams accompagné d'une foule de journalistes et de photographes. Ledit Robbie se posta rapidement devant l'une des caisses, le regard dirigé vers les sachets de pastilles mentholées avant d'exiger qu'on l'y prenne en photo dans cette position. La pharmacienne, dépassée par la situation, tentait tant bien que mal de prendre ma commande mais je n'osai pas demander mon shampoing devant pareille assemblée. Je posai donc mes lunettes de soleil sur mes yeux pour demander mon shampooing sans être reconnu, et ce moment fut immortalisé par la photo qui sera choisie pour être la pochette de cet album.

generic, boring, not notable in the slightest. Let me entertain you was almost decent but I still wouldn't listen to it again.

How is this even remotely close to qualifying for this list? Incredibly generic and overall pointless album.

What a great and uplifting album. Robbie can sing just about anything, fronted by two of his biggest hits, each song belongs on the album and has a unique edge, definitely no standard, boring pop

This album absolutely bops! I'm from the U.S., so I've never heard of this guy. Great energy in this album and super poppy without feeling dumb. Reminds me of Dishwalla but better (and I love Dishwalla). The songs have some variety and definitely emotion. My favorite songs are: Old Before I die, let me entertain you, Lazy Days, and 100% Angels - that's the best song on the album. I'm giving this an 8/10, but it could be higher due to the fact that it is hard to find all these songs in my country. I'm sure this album is good though and highly recommend it.

Not at all what I'd expected - in a good way. I've always been aware of Robbie Williams in that "oh right, he's always been huge in the UK ... former boy band guy?" way but I don't know that I'd ever heard anything by him. A bit of reading about this album shows that he wanted to break away from his previous career and was heavily influenced by the Britpop that was so prevalent/popular at the time. After even one song I'd say that's mostly accurate - I like a lot of that mid90s rock subgenre but find a lot of negatives in most of it...some combination of overly compressed loudness and constant whinging (Oasis at their worst, although they were great at their best... I digress). This is ... better? This has a good mix of instrumentation - layered guitars (but not too thick), heavy drums, cool keyboards, the occasional piano (on the semi-cheesy ballad "Angels" in particular), the vocals are mostly not annoying me - tons of melody overall... "Killing Me" has a really great chord progression - might be my favourite. Negatives: when/if I start listening to the lyrics I start to question my judgement ("Angels") which is exactly why I try to ignore lyrics if possible. So yeah, they're a little distracting to me at times - simplicity, cliched, etc (god help me if #$@$ Bon Jovi is anywhere on this list). So some of the songs are probably skip-worthy (e.g. "South of the Border") but even on that one there are a few cool instrumental parts (i.e. the funky organ post-solo). Anyways - for the most part this is a good and fun rock album I'd never have given a look at before. 7/10 4 stars

What really sells this album is his incredibly versatile voice. The songs maintain a consistent pop sound while branching off into various genres. Their production and instrumentation was done so well to really highlight what a top class vocalist Robbie is.

Overall non-offensive sound; sounds perfect for either the intro or outro credit for a movie depending on the track. Makes me want to stare out of a window of a bus as I take a long journey. Lazy Days and Angels are Outro, South of the Border and Let Me Entertain You are Intro credits. Old Before I Die is the where the kids ended up 35 years later in the coming of age block buster of the summer.

Let's get this statement out of the way- "Angels" carries this and gets the album up to 2* almost by itself. It's an undeniably great pop song that deserves its place in the canon. The rest of the album has the air of "pop artist trying to prove his worth as a solo-act by going rock", channeling all sorts of influences from the current scene and beyond to see what would stick. "Let Me Entertain You" is a rip-roaring ride and the Beatles-esque "Clean" is enjoyable if slight. The rest ranges from decent balladry to cookie cutter 90s Britpop. Good for background but doesn't hold up to much scrutiny (especially those lyrics). Also, what on earth was he thinking with Hello Sir? It's laughable.

Guy Chambers wrote a few great pop songs for this and I do like Robbie’s cheeky chappie, bad boy persona. The whole thing smacks a little bit of a desperation for authenticity and breaking away from his boy band baggage. It comes off as too manufactured for me. But hey, it’s a pop album - a decent pop album.

Soft boring generic rock. Just not my thing.

No

Nothing revolutionary but I liked all songs.

I loved this album when it came out, and still a classic. I remember being entirely sceptical of Robbie, being as he was a former Take That member and initially feeling validated in that by his awful cover of Faith (thankfully not on this album). But his brash take on Britpop was infectious and I always felt his arrogance was somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Solid album

A nostalgic classic - the man's a great poet

pretty pretty dope

I loved every minute of this one!

Il caratteristico timbro vocale di Robbie Williams aggiunge un tocco interessante a canzoni che non lo sarebbero troppo di per loro. Bello il finale di 'Lazy days' e la successiva 'Life thru a Lens'. Le prime 3 sono belle cariche, poi si arriva a 'Angels', un capolavoro, che non scopro ora, che dà una bella svolta all'album. Non è facile ripartire dopo questa e la successiva perde qualcosa, soprattutto a livello del ritornello. Piccola nota curiosa: in 'Old before i die' RW si augura una vita lunga, il contrario di molti suoi colleghi. 'One of god's better people' ha sicuramente un bellissimo testo, ma non comprendo molto la canzone in sé. 'Let me entertain you' ok, fallo, sei bravo (non sono ironico). Le ultime tre dimenticabili, tranne la bonus track 'Hello Sir': wow! Le canzoni sono tutte scritte dallo stesso cantante, non pensavo. Il massimo se lo merita tutto.

Some big Robbie songs on here - Angels and Let me Entertain you. I prefer some of Robbie's later stuff but really enjoyed this throwback of an album.

I really enjoyed all of this album.

Most of the album isn't available on Spotify, but found a decent chunk on YT. Actually a really great voice, soothing and upbeat. New artist for me that I really enjoyed!

On our honeymoon in London, we had dinner with an old friend who was living there. The conversation turned to music and he sheepishly admitted to being a fan of Robbie Williams even though his flatmates made fun of him for it. When I returned to the US, I ran across Williams' The Ego Has Landed in a used CD store and picked it up out of curiosity. It quickly became one of my favorites and it still evokes strong and specific memories of where I was living and how I spent my time that year. I only today found out that Ego is a compilation of songs from prior albums, including Life Thru a Lens. So today's listen was a fun mix of songs that I know well and songs that were new to me. I love it!

Robbie Williams, have I heard of this dude? Maybe... Oh, I guess I am familiar with "Angels"...but nothing else seemed familiar, and at first run through, I didn't find any interest in becoming familiar. However, as I worked on my grading, I repeated the album 3 or 4 (or 5 or 6) times and it really started to grow on me. This one is a keeper for me!

Surprisingly listenable Oasis-lite

This was some pretty cool pop music 4/5

7,7

Angels! Most of this album not available in streaming services though.

Perfect 90’s pop alternative, all the 90’s musical tropes

Album zelf een 3/5, maar +1 voor de nostalgie van 'Angels'

не, нормальная тема. В пику вот этому всему коммерческому мракобесию, которое выдаёт себя за рок, но стыдливо прячет под кожанной курткой петушиные перья попса, Робби Вильямс радостно и горделиво несёт свой попс-крест, при этом совершенно не чураясь реализовывать в его рамках некоторых рок-идеи. Причём идеи успешные, в отличие от того же Косплея. Альбом, конечно, не шедевральный, и особой глубины тут не найдёшь, но начало, например, получилось очень даже бойким и жизнеутверждающим. Первые 4-5 песен заходят на ура, а открывашка вообще встречает бронебойным гитарным риффаком, который и какая-нибудь группа Блюр не постеснялась бы забрать себе в каталог. Ангелы — отличная баллада, мощная, жизнеутверждающая. Иго Агого (че) — вообще лучшая песня на пластинке, вероятно. Вторая часть зашла поменее, всё-таки статус попс-звезды, видимо, обязывает писать хуету вроде One Of God's Better People. Впрочем, гитаристы там угарное стаккато запилили, что немного сбивает попсовую спесь с этой шельмы. Ну и песня Clean, например, довольно хороша (я так понял там про отказ от разгульного образа жизни, ну чтож, одобряем), а на Let Me Entertain You угарный клип запилен с закосом под блек-митольный образ. Ну и в аутро там поэмка запилен, в которой Робби отказывается лизать жопы нормисам и предлагает какому-то там хейтеру из прошлого полизать жопу ему, что, конечно, не без кринжетцы небольшой, но мною полностью понимаемо и даже ощущается немного впечатляюще. В общем и целом да хороший поп-рок альбом, энергетика есть, гитарки есть, мотивов завезли, пусть и без очевидных прямо хитов. Больше всего смутили песни, в которых было полуречитативное пение (вроде заглавной), но в рамках заданного жанра — да на здоровье. Ну 8/10 изи

Easy listening pop rock/classic rock. Fairly good! Really like Ego Agogo, funky, upbeat. I enjoyed this album enough to add it to my library :)

Enjoyable for the most part

Ici on est très fan de Robbie Williams et on ne s'en cache pas, n'en déplaise à robserpillère. Ce dernier essaye depuis plusieurs mois de moquer mon éducation musicale, comparant les artistes ayant bercé mon enfance tels Robbie Williams, à des boysband obscurs comme par exemple les 2be3. Ces informations sont bien sûr totalement erronées, ce que je peux en revanche vous dire en toute franchise, c'est que rob, se croyant musicien avec sa guitare de merde, reprend des chansons de groupes tel Tragedie ou encore de l'illustre K-maro. Les performances musicales émanant de son bec à merde se passent evidemment de commentaire. A suivre donc.

A little too poppy for me. I didn’t pay it a ton of attention while we listened in the car while clamming.

Noen kule sanger, noen av hans mest kjente, fra hans første album. South Of The Border og Baby Girl Window, to positive overraskelser, der sistnevnte har en "hemmelig" sang på slutten. Starten av albumet, 3 første, er ikke så mye å si noe om. Har jo Angels, Let me entertain you som trekker opp. Old Before I Die var også eb god låt.

It's hard not to like

Didn't realize I'd like Robbie Williams so much

This was alright

I like most

Much better than expected

This is just straight up good music. Nothing groundbreaking or special, but still good and sometimes that's everything you need. Tickles my brain and makes me feel nice. This man has never played a genie in a Disney movie.

i'm a sucker for that boy band sound! i don't know if i've ever listened to take that or robbie williams, though. i really enjoyed this album. i'm not sure how much is due to williams? i wasn't that into his voice, or didn't find it as impressive as other boy band members' voices. of course, his voice isn't bad and he can certainly hit notes! this album had a great range. i do enjoy that nineties boy band sound, and i enjoy a slightly grittier sound from the britpop influence. "ego a go go" is a great example of that. also, the horns throughout the album are excellent. williams has a softer side with "angels." i'm not surprised such a soft, emotional song has become his biggest hit. his voice is well suited for it. as a side note, i listened to the whole album on youtube because spotify didn't have all songs available. i saw some scary nineties music videos as a result. williams is lucky i did not factor that into my rating!

Un 4 por Angel y Old before I die (no sabía que era suya)

Really sounds like pop Oasis, so pretty good

I'm pretty sure that before today the only Robbie Williams songs I'd heard were "Millennium" which I remember playing on MTV and that "Something Stupid" cover because he's not well known in The States. I have a half-baked theory that it has something to do with MTV cutting back on music videos which I believe limited the network's influence on popular music in America. This album is excellent by the way, I'm a sucker for a lot of Brit pop and this did it for me.

Good listening-while-getting-through-the-day music. The lyrics had stories, melodies and beats were good. Nice vocals. Overall a good balance where it neither faded into the background nor disturbed the harmony of the day. Would listen to it again.

I honestly do try to go into listening to each album without any bias, but when I saw that today’s album was by Robbie Williams, by first thought was, “Seriously?” But then, it must be on this list for a reason! Songs I already know: Angels, Let Me Entertain You Favourite after listening: Clean, Old Before I Die Overall: 7/10 This album is not at all what I was expecting. I thought it was be cheesy Take That pop music that I would forget after 5 minutes but it isn’t at all. It, dare I say it, is all rock music. Pop-rock, don’t get me wrong, but still not at all what I expected. If I was to buy an Oasis album from Wish.com, this is probably what would arrive. Same genre, not quite as good at what I hoped for, but still good in its own right. Overall, I’m happy to have been wrong with my expectations.

Listened to on 8/14/22 4/5 Favorite song: angels, killing me I had never heard this album before but really enjoyed if. The songs were easy to listen to but not boring and the lyrics were super funny

Loving the boyband rebellion vibes. The album is home to some iconic pop classics as well as some unexpected lyrics, my favourite being ‘am I straight or gay? I hope I’m old before I die. I hope I live to see the day the pope gets high’.

This is a really good pop album. It was huge in England, but barely made a peep here. I was on board early only because a friend living in London alerted me what was going on. I also happened to see Robbie Williams on his first (and only) US tour in a smaller Philly venue to support this release. He was and is a formidable entertainer. No surprise that he now has a Las Vegas residency. The songs are all very good (and Angels is iconic) and the production uniformly great.

7,5/10

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Angels, One of good’s better place, Let me entertain you

Ok

Much better than I thought at first glance. I was not expecting such solid and personal songs. I was expecting some generic pop songs and was surprised by this potent work. Without this 1001 list, I'd never think about listening to Robbie Williams, but now I'm looking for his newest albums 🙂.

To sum it up, this is pure, generic, radio friendly pop - which makes it a good album. It's unpretentious and doesn't try to be anything but catchy and inoffensive Top 40 music. You know how there are movies and TV shows that you put on just so you can sit back, turn your brain off, and relax? This is the album version of that. Not to mention, it's a much needed break from grindcore, '60s psychedelic folk rock, or electronica that this list has been giving. Standout tracks are One of God's Better People and the uber-catchy Let Me Entertain You.

One of my partner’s favorite songs is “Angel”, so I’m familiar with that song. But somehow I’ve never heard the rest of this album before. I enjoyed all the catchy britpop. Lots of catchy hooks.

I haven't ever really had much Robbie Williams on my radar—I assume just for being on the wrong side of the Atlantic. “Millennium” was pretty much the extent of it. I really appreciated this today! I was happy to let you entertain me, Robbie, with your lovely songs. Here's looking forward to more!

Ignore the baggage and take this album at face value. It’s good pop, I’d argue there are 2 brilliant songs here ( South of The Border & Old Before I Die ). When this was released he was too close to his previous life. Good pop, well made. ‘Angels’ is utter dogshit.

Unexpected great listen! Loved the energy on this record, the songwriting, the way it rocks hard it it’s own way!

Kinda enjoyed this.

Some absolute bangers on this. Never listened all the way through but the ones I did know didn’t disappoint

Huh, maybe North America really is missing out. This was pretty great!

Great album, even though pop isn't really my thing Some great tracks, whole thing fits together well Quite a step up for Robbie from Take That

Bummer that the hidden track on “Baby Girl Window” can’t be heard. It’s not a good format on digital platforms. Not sure if others can hear it. He has a nice versatile voice. I didn’t expect him to bring out some nice soothing vibrato. But he does beautifully on “Angels.” I don’t usually listen to britpop. But I like this record quite a bit. Not every record has to be incredibly great. I think this is a feel-good record with decent singing and pleasant melodies. Highlights: Lazy Days, Angels, South of the Border, One of God’s Better People, Killing Me

Very nice

Just good for this kind of genre, solid music and well sung. There’s a bit of “poor little rich famous me” to this, though looking over the trajectory of Williams’ life and solo career it’s clear his struggles are real. And a little pop-slick. But I can’t really fault it seriously.

Robbie ontsnapt met dit album zijn boy-band-stature. Binnen het genre pop laat hij zien dat hij met uitersten kan omgaan. Zelfs de nummers met meer stem-geweld lijkt hij heel ongeforceerd te zingen. Wat dat betreft is hij wat ondergewaardeerd. Misschien omdat het buiten de hit Let me Entertain You (sterk nummer) zich net niet genoeg onderscheidt. Er zit voor het gevoel telkens net iets meer in. We krijgen vast nog een volgend album van Robbie. Ik ben benieuwd of de potentie waargemaakt wordt. Voor nu: 3,5 ster.

Je kunt er van alles van zeggen, maar dit allemaal toch goed in elkaar gestoken spul. Het rockt bij vlagen, wat ballads, je kunt er niet tegen zijn. Williams liet na al dat Take That-gezwijmel zien wat hij waard was.

Enjoyed much more than I thought I would, but that's not saying much

Couldn’t get the whole album on Spotify.

angel

Only a couple of songs worth listening to

Production: 12/20 Songwriting: 7/20 Innovation: 8/20 Bangers: 15/20 Emotional response: 13/20 = 55 It's fun and like I'm 10 years old again

Not as good as I thought it was going to be... still plenty of solid British pop. Angels is amazing.

Wish I could listen to the whole thing pretty groovy and some earthy vocals 3.4

You know what? This is actually pretty good. Another 3.5* candidate

I don't mind Britpop, and Robbie Williams is the classic example of it, but I also didn't grow up with it. Totally fine; don't need to listen again, not mad about it, wouldn't turn it off. Just fine.

Great debut album. Poppy when it needs to be and lyrical when it has to be.

Unable to listen on spotify, consider at a later time.

5

Coole plaat, coole dude!

meh

Pretty good music

.

Nostalgia factor stronger than the music

Klonk niet helemaal zuiver, maar misschien lag dat aan spotify. Aangenaam, maar niet iets dat ik bewust ga opleggen.

Not sure if this makes sense, but I feel like if I had heard this in the 90s when I was really into bands like Vertical Horizon, I might be a fan today. As it is, this is ok and fine.

fine. almost a 4. maybe with the music we're not allowed on spotify its better. Just another generic deep voiced white guy.

Angels still a classic and some decent others. Wanted 3.5.

Yes the lyrics are ropey at points, yes there are some absolute dud tracks but there are some good tunes on this ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alright, decent singles but that's about it

not on spotify, so couldnt listen

Cool britpop sound with some nice songs and a fair bit of filler. 'Angels' is the standout, when that second verse hits you can understand why it became such a popular song.

Come back to this one

Best pop album is still bad

Not really my thing.