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.

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

‘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

Really? "Hide away in your ivory tower and cover me in your golden shower"... Feel like my ears have just been covered in piss after listening to this one. Awful pop rock from someone trying to come across as a bad boy. Cringe. Angels stops it from being 1*. 1.5*.

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.

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

“You’re not a middle aged white lady who wants to sleep with him,” my wife replied to my derision at this album. Formulaic and tired, this thing has all of the hackneyed 90s music production tropes on garish display.

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.

No

I got the feeling this album wanted to make me go out and buy rubbers. I did not go out and buy rubbers. Instead, I learned this dude was in the band called Take That, who had a hit song in the states that everyone except myself loved for a hot minute. This dude surely thought he was the second coming of George Michael. He wasn't George Michael. He wasn't even Andrew Ridgeley.

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

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.

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

Corporate britpop

A rebellious but good-natured attitude combined with a grandiose sound defies expectations and sticks the landing.

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.

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.

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.

2.6 - Get this mediocre Britpop shit off this list. Get your shit together, Dimery!

Some 720 albums in and just over a year left to go in this project, I find myself thinking about the albums that I know and I’m already a fan of, but haven’t been generated yet. The problem is, I forget about the rest of the 360-some albums that I’ll have to listen to. Like, I’m here wondering when Machine Gun Etiquette or Emperor Tomato Ketchup or Daydream Nation will get generated, completely ignoring the fact that there are apparently Robbie Williams records on the list. So, yeah…surprise! There’s a Robbie Williams record to talk about today. That’s exciting. Not really. Do you wish that more of the Britpop records on this list had the sheen of an overproduced pop album? Well then, this might be the record for you. I guess if there was an American analog for this, it would be if one of the New Kids on the Block (whichever one was the main one, I guess) quit the band and then put out a grunge record in like summer of 1995 when grunge was still popular, but not far from being passé. It’s pretty obvious that this record is the product of a pop star trying to insert themselves into a moment.

Soft boring generic rock. Just not my thing.

What a wonderful solo debut

This gets the rare 5 stars solely for the song Angels. One of the greatest songs from the 90s

Solid album

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.

Angels. They just dont teach that. Generational talent.

This was a really fun listen, nice variety and lots of catchy tunes. Enjoyed pretty much every song, what a great find!

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.

Review pre me realising Let Me Entertain You is on this album: Oh boy the Brit pop detractors will absolutely hate this. To be fair to them this is very bad. "Hide away in your ivory tower, and cover me in your golden shower" is a particularly early highlight of some generally horrific writing that permeates the whole thing so far. Can't deny Angels is a fucken good karaoke song though. It does also take me back to listening to mums best of Robbie CD in the study. Really can't tell if this is a one star or five star. Sounds like the bloke was having a few concurrent identity crisises throughout, some even mid-song (South of the Border is particularly wtf worthy). This is Robbie on a bad day. Review post me realising Let Me Entertain You is on this album: Oh fuck yeah Let Me Entertain You is on this album! Easy five. The secret track also points toward my recent Discovery of Robbie's Instagram where he demonstrates some genuinely funny, macabre and existential thinking which for whatever reason I feel is important to flag here as well.

I really enjoyed all of this album.

Surprisingly quite good. Full of poppy attitude and really representing the late 90s perfectly. Loads of hits.

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.

cool

pretty pretty dope

I loved every minute of this one!

Loved it!! Would listen to it again!

You know when a song hits you in a totally different way and you start to have familiar, comforting feelings? That's what happened today. I knew the name Robbie Williams, because I've been a huge fan of Oasis and the Gallagher brothers since I was a teenager, and apparently they didn't get along very well in the late 90s, trading public barbs and shit. And like the stupid fan I was, I wore an Oasis shirt as if it were a football team and I've never heard a single Robbie song to this day, at least as far as I know, and I'll explain why. There is a Brazilian forró band called "Nostalgia do Forró" that recorded a Portuguese version of Angels, which I listened to exhaustively when I was a child. So the moment Angels started playing, it was like coming home, to simpler days and away from problems. Other than that, all the prejudices I had regarding Robbie died today listening to this album. This is more than enough reason to give 5 stars!

Loved this album, great Debut by Robbie. All killers no fillers

A nostalgic classic - the man's a great poet

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!

One the best pop albums ever.

Нежно люблю тембр Робби ещё с детства, обволакивающий такой. Новые для меня песни понравились больше старых при этом:)

Nothing revolutionary but I liked all songs.

Love this album. Robbie Williams at his post boy band best

Realized I had no idea what Robbie Williams sounded like, and was just vaguely aware of him being a British cultural icon. I started playing this, forgot, and had to double check the artist because of how much I was enjoying Ego Agogo. Why did I think it'd be awful? I just watched the infamous Rock DJ video for the first time and don't know how I should feel. I think I'm a Robbie Williams fan?? Should I listen to Take That?? None of this made it to America, so wasn't a part of my formative years. One reason I'll probably never truly feel British, even after living in the UK for nearly a decade. Great mindless 90s/00s pop.

Stunning debut. Well deserved five stars

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!

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!

Even with Robbie Williams sounding a lot like Liam Gallagher (at least to me), I liked a lot of what I heard. Robbie seemed to be trying different things throughout the album. And eve though some of the songs (musically and lyrically) may not be as good as one was hoping, he at least was willing to try something new. Some of the songs that did not work for me: Angels, Baby Girl Window. I mean, forget the hidden track at the end there, "Baby Girl Window" still sounds a bit on the immature side. The poem at the end doesn't help, but I get why it was there. "Angels".... look I know it's a VERY popular song, but singing about loving angels, it's just... bleah. Songs that really worked for me: "Let Me Entertain You," "Old Before I Die." The first one was almost like him saying he could do a musical if necessary. "Old Before I Die" comes off a bit more tongue in cheek to me. Was there a bit of autotune? Possibly. The music is pretty positive for the most part, and done very well. The songs are pretty personal and I can see why he would leave a group to record them. I liked this album quite a lot, even with the few clunkers that were there. Definitely a surprise for me.

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

Like

Vraiment nice Robbie boy. I like pop rock britannique. J'ai vraiment aimé l'ambiance et les sons de cet album. (Moins que Janice, mais still).

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 :)

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.

Enjoyable for the most part

C'était sincèrement meilleur que j'anticipais. Je ne m'attendais pas du tout à ce qu'il y aille une vibe rock voir pop-punk ska aussi présente. Mélangé au style plus pop conventionnel ça faisait un mélange très intéressant. Ce n'est pas un album qui est si incroyable par ses compositions on ses paroles, mais généralement l'exécution est assez solide que c'est facile de passer au travers. Un bon équilibre entre radio friendly et intriguant. 7/10

Baita som tche

наверное почти такой же как предыдущий

Pretty great album. Loved the singing and music arrangement. Could do without the 14 minute track of two songs equaling five minutes of music on a 15 minute track. Common in the 90’s, annoying to revisit.

Another good album

This isn't my favorite Robbie Williams album but I like them all. 4

7,7

Guilty pleasure. Stands up quite well.

Some nice power pop 90's stuff. Some cheesy wedding ballads too, but a decent blend for an album I've never given a chance to.

I liked listening to this. Helps that its got two alltimer banger pop songs: Angels and Let Me Entertain You.

‘Life Thru A Lens’ is brash and unashamedly pop, but mostly it’s fun. It’s peak 90s, complete with a hidden track at the end, something which a lot of artists did, as it was the style at the time. I’m ashamed to admit I like this more than I probably should.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This was alright

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

a do angel la

Had no idea what to expect. Really good. Kind of sounded like George Michael.

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

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

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

Kinda enjoyed this.

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

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

Interesting throughout. Not expecting to like it as much as I did

Very nice

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

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!

I like most

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

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

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.

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

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.

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 🙂.

Ok

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.

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

7,5/10

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’.

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

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.