Life Thru A Lens

2 stjerner for et par hits. Derudover pænt kedeligt

Banger

det er sgu godt nok bare ikke mig. Okay catchy melodier i mellem men totalt intetsigende

This was really bad. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was much worse. This album has no identity. I am glad no one caught me listening to this. I don’t know how I would explain myself.

The lyrics are bad. The vocals are meh. Of 12 tracks (I'm including the 'hidden track'), 4 are just him bitching about people in his life - 3 of em' celebrities or something? I've never heard of this guy or the boy band he was in, but is he ever big mad about some stuff. Put this one in the "too English for me" pile. I don't get it. The one cultural reference I did understand was Ab Fab. I highly recommend it: it's hilarious and does a way better job of satirizing the English 'celebrity/fashion class' than he's doing. Jennifer Saunders is peak. This guy is mid. 2: might'a been a 3 but I had to listen to him sing about some "golden showers" and use the word "inbreedy".

Who knew an album by a former boy band member could be so good? At first, I had doubts about "Life Thru a Lens. After I listened to three songs on it, I knew it was a great album. The two songs I enjoyed the most on "Life Thru a Lens" are "Lazy Eyes" and Angel". A few songs prevented me from giving the album a perfect rating. 4 stars for "Life Thru a Lens".

Wayyy more enjoyable and diverse than anticipated! Great Brit-pop, some more rocking tunes, and one that even sounded a bit Wilco-ish.

Ganske bra, noen bangers her! Ligger mellom 3 og 4 et sted, runder opp.

Classic!

Variert pop

Hey, it's the autobiographical simian film fellow. I admittedly haven't watched Better Man, but I've always respected it. It's kind of surreal that the most mid-2000s movie idea ever released only a couple of years ago and was actually well-received by critics. I know that Robbie Williams is one of the all time best-selling artists in the UK and that he never managed to cut it in America, but that's about as far as my knowledge of this guy goes. I suspect that this will be some of-the-time pop rock music. Here goes. More of a delicate, alt-rock, Britpoppy sound with the occasional Beatles homage, but I was more or less right. This was okay. The music is definitely competent - it just doesn't inspire me all that much. The acoustic guitars are very of-the-time and irritatingly so. Same goes for Williams' vocals. He has that 70s rock star zeal which doesn't resonate with me, but I can't really fault it. Still, there's some nice bits in here. Some of the electronic ambience and backing instruments are nice, especially the guitar. The power pop electric guitars are good when they have bite, and the same can be said about the songwriting. If there's one thing this album really suffers from, it's the length. The first half holds its own pretty decently, whereas the second half is more scatterbrained and aimless with a few alright tunes. Overall, this was decent. Aw geez dood. I've heard "Angels" before. Yet another song from my Dad's music library that would come up on shuffle whenever he'd drive me around. I had hoped that I'd be untouched by Williams so I could be in the same camp as the Muricans, though I guess it makes sense for Williams to have a presence here in Stroylia. It's a nice song - definitely listenable. The verses trail off a little, but the bridge and chorus are both pretty nice. The instrumental has that kitschy, tacky, sickly sweet feel which persists throughout a lot of British pop rock of the time. While it doesn't bother me as much as some of the other offenders, I must admit that the sound doesn't animate me all that much. I've heard "Let Me Entertain You" as well, once again through my father. My thoughts are near-identical to that of Angels. Good chorus, but I think the instrumental is a little stale. Still, it's fun as an easygoing, anthemic rock tune. Book time. "If nothing else, Life Thru a Lens proved you should never turn your back on a wounded animal. Just as most people had written Robbie Williams off, confining his early attempts at solo success to the bargain bin, his debut album rose from the ashes to elevate him as arguably the biggest British pop icon for a generation." "Williams' bravado sat comfortably with his new-found power-pop sound, which blended his natural cabaret showmanship with lyrics owing more than a nod to cheeky British seaside humor." "...the contrast between autobiographical "Ego a Go Go" and the somber "One of God's Better People" proved Williams was still torn between life in the spotlight and his working class roots." I think it's obvious that Williams is coasting by on his popular appeal, which makes it difficult for me to comment on whether or not this album belongs here. I don't know anything about Robbie Williams, so it's difficult for me to measure how influential and iconic he is, though I generally feel that pop musicians lost their souls around the 80s and 90s. There were just so many of them being pumped out, and their presence within the limelight became less about their personalities/ability to perform and more about whatever the media was willing to print. That being said, it's impossible to understate just how massive Williams is in the UK, so I like to think this album is in here on good authority. I cosign this inclusion.

Angels // Old Before I Die // Let Me Entertain You //

Its very sweet, but not only sugar, so from time to time one can enjoy this ... type of cake

They made a monkey movie for this? I guess since I am not British I wouldn’t get it but this is the most generic itunes brit pop music I have ever heard. 2/10

unfortunately its decent

Very popular in the U.K. Some good music.

Discazo!! Angels Old before I die Let me entertain you

I groaned a little when I saw today's pick -- I just expected to dislike the album. I wound up enjoying the album quite a bit. Many of the songs were familiar and I'm unsure how many are because I've already heard Robbie's version. I probably won't seek this album out but I would happily add it to a playlist of "albums I kinda liked from the 1001 project" alongside "John Barleycorn Must Die".

This was fun to listen to! Definitely want to revisit

Decent album. It's pretty fun. I felt the hidden track wasn't worth waiting for though.

Not my tjing

De helft is een beetje cringe

Middelmådig sanger, middelmådig produktion, alt for lang. Jeg synes det er lidt interessant hvor tæt den lægger sig op ad britpop, det ville have overrasket mig hvis jeg ikke havde set abefilmen og lært, at han var venner med Gallagher brødrene i 90'erne

Havde ikke regnet med at den her plade var så rock, det lyder jo som Oasis eller Blur, hvis man altså har vasket det HELT rent så man ikke kan høre nogen identitet mere. Nope herfra. Måske det mest britiske valg indtil videre, og det siger fanme ikke så lidt.

Some solid bobs.. but ultimately it feels uoriginal.

Super polished - almost fake. Still it's fine to listen to.

Kind of a guilty pleasure. Some of the songs I hate, but I love Ego A Go Go and Let Me Entertain You. It's like camp Oasis, and I love that more than actual Oasis

An admirable debut from someone clearly trying to break away from his previous candy pop genre. But even more obviously trying to sound Britpop. At times Robbie even seems to be trying to sound like Liam G from Oasis. The songs are fine and have a decent amount of variety, but ultimately pretty forgettable.

I thought I was pretty decent. Nothing really not to like I guess…but just something missing. Like it felt like he was playing something he thought I would like so maybe inauthentic or formulaic? Kind of like a nickleback. They create what they think the audience will like and make them bank bro. Perhaps a lot/most/all music is like that but sometimes it feels too obvious. 2.5 but rounding up because he rhymed “ivory tower” with “golden shower”

This isn't my bag, baby... was prepped for a 2* but gotta admit I do enjoy Angels, so I'm rounding up. 2.75/5

Allerweltspop für Zwischendurch ohne Langzeitwirkung! Einzelne Titel sind hörenswert, das Ganze am Stück eher nicht. Fastfood, keine Sterneküche!

It’s just not the music I like. Robbie Williams had some good songs in his career but this entire album is a thread to my ears. Thumbs down!

Una joya!

Who the hell is this guy anyway oh shit it's the Better Man monkey guy Album uses cool progressions; I like all the descending lines over pedals that happen in the verses. Overall the band is alright, not great or anything but the music is written well, though the execution is a bit bland. Interestingly, I thought that Angels song was the most boring thing on the album. Lyrics are, on the whole, hilarious. "I hope I live to see the Pope get high" is just so bad I gotta not hate it. I'd say this is average rock-pop type stuff. I wanna give it a 3 but I dunno, the lyrics are pretty bad. Not everything has to be indulgent and important, but they should at least be clever. Then again, I guess I value the feeling imparted by a good chord progression over the failure of the lyrics, so eh. I'll do 3.

So much britpop here

There are days I really wonder if this project is a good use of my life. Today is 100% one of those days.

good

vocally, honestly pretty decent. songwriting...not so much.

Pop is such a funny genre. This stuff is SO boring to me, but I like a lot of Harry Styles' music. It's such a fluid genre and so much depends on what generation you grew up in. I can hear what people liked about this in the 90s, but it's dated and bland now - Judging by the stream count on Spotify, this album is big hits and a bunch of filler. - Bland brit rock. Fine pop music but kinda annoying. I bet 90s kids ate this up - Actually this love song is kinda nice. Still stuck in its genre box though

Ughhhhh normally I like pop but I did not enjoy this. Two stars

I hate everything about this. This is commercial sales-driven garbage. I don't know who could stand this for a second listen. There is no soul, no art, no message or no honest emotion. Just a wanna-be rock star and every line is a dead cliche. Except when he rhymed "hide in your ivory tower" with "cover me in your golden shower", no one else would ever write that combination or words. 0 stars

I don't like

It’s a solid pop album

I love it

Absolute anthems, and some filler. Pretty good first album for a star.

I mean, the music is probably better than the Take That bullshit, but the dude is just SO fucking full of himself I can't stand it. No thanks. 1+

I’m not sure this one earned its spot on the list. It was fine, but nothing to write home about.

Oh boy. Generic mid 90s British pop rock. Yipee. Any list of 1000 albums by a single author is going to have some serious bias, but the 90s British pop bias is so evident as I continue through this project. Isn't it a thing when making an album to put a strong opening at the beginning? The first 20 seconds of this one is the same quarter note strummed guitar chord. To me it came across as "bland bland bland bland bland bland bland bland bland bland bland bland bland bland bland bland". As I write this, I'm 2 songs in and those first few chords have been proving themselves. Let's see how the rest goes. Ok. It does not get better. There were singles off of this? How? Nope. My wife listened to the second half of it with me. "What is this? You're giving this 1 star. Aren't you?" Yeah. Yeah, I am.

Hann kom mér á óvart kallinn. Þótti þetta ekki merkilegur pappír fyrir tæpum þrjátíu árum, en þetta eldist merkilega vel og er aldrei leiðinlegt. Engin snilld, en ég ætla henda rúmum þristi á hann.

I have a soft spot for Robbie’s sophomore effort, which has co-writes from Neil Tennant and Neil Hannon, but mostly because he had a kind of goofy, self-deprecating sense of humour which was rare for a pop or rock star at the time. Everyone was SO SERIOUS - both scripted pop stars or ironic snob slack rockers - and along comes a boyband guy to have a laugh but also deliver some pop chart fastballs. This debut, however, is awful.

He was the least obvious solo star to come out of Take That. And of course he became a superstar. This album shows the start of talent that he didn’t quite demonstrate. Of course 90% of it - maybe not that much but a good whack - is his charisma. While Gary Barlow played multiple instruments and wrote songs, could sing and dance, and robbie was less good at those - every eye in the place was on Robbie. And this album starts to show where his hard work pays off. Angels was a massive hit for good reason as was let me entertain you. The first three singles were fine. This album is not quite there but it’s certainly on the way. 3.5 stars.

I first realised how 'hot' this man is to women when I overheard colleagues talking about his live show circa 2005. They were outdoing each other on how arousing he is until Julia mentions his sweat fell on her while she was up at the stage and confessed how arousing it was. It might be unfair to box Robbie Williams as essentially a stripper with a great voice and supreme sexually stage confidence. He was also open about being a sex and drug addict which may have added to his appeal. He can sexually arouse an entire stadium with his libidinous swagger. Women love his raw masculinity. His attraction is animal, fun energy rock anthems of an era. To me its pop music but for women he is definitely on the list of top 10 songs that make women rush to a dance floor irrespective of their age. Thats fun. his music is fun. life is meant to be fun so maybe it belongs here. category core 90's/2000 pop anthems that are very danceable - I'd bet this rates much higher with women than me.

It's some pretty good pop music, nothing especially interesting going on here, but neither is it offensive. First time listener so I think I missed its moment back in rhe day.

It's Mainstream Blockbuster Product (tm), designed and honed for mass market four quadrant appeal. Teens love it! Grandma loves it! It gets played at weddings, funerals and christenings! But really, this is just a delivery mechanism for Robbie Williams' celebrity. I mean, good on them for trying to put out a decent and exciting record, but this is ultimately shallow and generic filler. Let Me Entertain You is a banger and a statement of intent, and Angels is a decent generic ballad much beloved in the UK, but there is not a lot new or different here. It's a fair example of the 90s UK blockbuster pop album, but I'm not sure why it's on this list; it's like a London bus. If you miss this one, wait ten minutes and another one will come along. The celebrity of Robbie Williams is actually more important than the music. And the cover photo tells you that. There have been repeated attempts to break Robbie in America (including re-compiling tracks into new albums and an... interesting music bio film), none of which has caught on. It is telling that this album was a massive success in the UK (where his celebrity was already well established), but his music was never enough to generate interest in the US on its own merits. The only moment on this album that (barely) transcends rote cliche is Robbie's clumsily rhyming spoken word "fuck you" to his teachers in the hidden track. Let it go, Robbie, you won! You got all the money and shagged all the models and got your picture in the paper! You won, if that's the game you're playing. 1.5 stars for being generic commercial product, rounding up for not being actually hateful.

Usually I underestimate stuff now I overestimated this album and damn even the hit song didn’t hit that hard

You ever have that friend who thinks they’re really talented, and you have to sit through their sparsely-populated solo show, while they earnestly croon cringe lyrics they wrote while playing various instruments badly, attempt different styles and consider themselves a genius, and wrap the whole thing up with elements of opera and drama that fall so terribly flat, yet they are beaming with accomplishment at the end, so sure their triumph, and what are you to say?! That was the experience of listening to this album. I guess two stars for effort.

it's a very typical 90s pop album with some undeniable hits and a lot of filler

He was everywhere, literally couldn’t escape him on TV or radio. As a result, I knew so many of these songs. Looking back now, reflectively. They are well crafted songs sung by a man with a perfectly good voice and a lot of charisma. What elevates them are the two BIG singles Angeld and Let me entertain you which rise far above the perfectly fine Britpop stylings of the rest

Catchy I guess

not my jam

picks: let me entertain you, killing me

It's just kind of whatever. Not my bag musically. Can't even be bothered to take the time to give each song a point by point review.

mOnkEE

Kinda gave off oasis vibes. Saved like 2 songs. Pretty chill album

Nope. I was right to hate this the first time I heard it how many years ago.

We get it. Its a British list. This has no business being on this list. Its emotionless and it isnt influential.

Okay, theres some major pop slop (Clean) on this album, but theres also some extremely huge bangers and overall? It’s a laugh, it’s fun, it’s cheesy - what else do you want from Robbie Williams? I think realistically it’s not an album to change the world. But it is an album that offers you a clear and succint view into the heart of british pop culture in 1997, which is essentially what Robbie Williams was. 3.5/5.0 Best Song: Angels, obviously.

Angels and Let me entertain you. That's it. The rest of them fell like a cocaine infused britpop fever dream. The stangelhold this man had on the country is absolutey fascinating. Thank god Angels and Let me entertain you are fucking class

A pesar de conocer el nombre de Robbie Williams, nunca había escuchado ninguno de sus álbumes, y menos sabía que había sido parte de una boyband. Musicalmente, siento que este disco suena –irónicamente por su nombre– como si pudiese haber sido el soundtrack de alguna película de su época. En mi opinión, su sonido power pop se queda un poco atascado en el tiempo, a excepción de algunas canciones (entre ellas, el clásico 'Angels'), aunque no necesariamente es esto algo malo. Aprecio en sus letras las ciertas críticas a aquellos en los estratos más altos de la sociedad británica, como también que hable de los efectos que la fama tuvo tanto en su vida y en sus relaciones personales –como con sus compañeros de grupo–. Quizás no sea tan compartida mi opinión, pero para mí es un muy buen debut solista. ↑: Angels, One of God's Better People, Killing Me ↓: -

i’ll listen to train if i want this type of music

Kind of boring. Album dragged on too long. No song really jumped out. 2/5 Won't listen again

Another boring brit pop album...

Never heard or Robbie Williams but enjoyed this record.

Love this album cover. I've heard of him but never listened until today and I'm pleasantly surprised; it sounds pretty similar to a lot of the alt-rock + pop-punk movement that took off in the late 90s/early 00s, so it's interesting to see a glimpse of the precursors of the era.

This is my favorite 90s album we've listened to so far. Versatile Indie rock with harmonic interest, strong instrumentation, and a tone-sensitive singer. The singer and the music Reminds me of Fountains Of Wayne, who I've also been getting into recently. Maybe it was a decent era for Indie rock after all. My favorite track was "clean;" I like the EP pannin I'm gonna bring down the score a little bit because only a couple of the songs were memorable, and this is nowhere near the level of some other albums. I've given a seven. 5/10

Another slick from one - from a more recent era, but sounds pretty dated to me, at this point (although I wouldn't have liked it in the 90s, either). It's almost as if AI had tried to make 90s pop music, it might have come up with something like this? I feel like I'm hearing echoes of bits and pieces of other things, but not adding up to much of anything. Doesn't belong in this list. 1.

good example of why I think 90s music is inferior. Also makes me question the criteria for getting on this list. Being British? the vocal delivery rubs me the wrong way

Decent first solo album. I have a lot of time for Williams.

I don’t know why I was negatively predisposed towards Robbie Williams. I think the only place I’d even heard of him was Ted Lasso, in which he came off as an asshole. This album was solid. Listened to it twice through. New fan!

Some of the music was fun but overall it felt over produced. Lyrics were not string enough to be clever and the music at its best felt like a bad Oasis rip off. Found myself hopping that the song playing would be the last on the album. Highlights were "life through a lense" and "let me entertain you". 2.5🌟

Fun britpop

Definitely not my listening preference, but my co-worker popped in and stated she really liked this guy. I listened a few times. I don't know, it wasn't terrible but found a bit, I don't know, a poor boy's George Michael. Didn't his guy get sued for stealing music? I ask because the opening/guitar part of Baby Girl Window is a rip off of Don Henley's Heart of the Matter. Can't say anything stood out me. Decent background music, but would have changed the channel if it came on the radio. I'll go 2.5 with the round up to 3 for Monica, who insists he's really good. OK...... 2.5

3.5 Whenever I hear Robbie Williams’ name, I will forever now associate him with that Better Man movie that was a huge hit in Europe and completely flopped in America because none of us know who the hell Robbie Williams is. Robbie Williams? Not Robin? And he’s a monkey? What? Needless to say, I was a part of the majority of Americans who were completely befuddled by the film. You mean there’s this British pop icon with billions of streams I have just never heard of? Yes, I guess there is. From what I’ve gathered, he’s kind of like a British Justin Timberlake in that he was originally part of a popular boy band in the ‘90s and later had a wildly successful career as a solo artist, except Robbie is seemingly a bit more flamboyant and goofy than JT (see: him caricatured as a primate in his own movie). In the brief time I spent reading up on him, it also seems that a lot of Brits find him insufferable and his music terrible in hindsight. And yet, maybe I should get checked for COVID to see if my sense of taste is off because I kinda enjoyed this. It’s so clearly influenced by that era of Britpop, to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised if he threw a copy of (What's the Story) Morning Glory? down in front of his producer and said “I want that”, but I like said era of Britpop, so naturally, I liked this as well. There’s probably an argument to be made that this is an inauthentic, cash-grabbing attempt to ride on the coattails of bands like Oasis, but regardless, it still results in perfectly listenable music. Hell, I’d go as far as to say that the first few tracks are really good. Angels, his biggest hit, was a bit overblown for my taste, but I liked most everything else surrounding it. It started losing me a bit somewhere after the halfway point (except for Let Me Entertain You which I enjoyed), but I never really thought it got bad by any means. The closing track, Baby Girl Window, is pretty weak, and the hidden track certainly isn’t worth the wait, but that’s probably the most negative thing I can say. Plus, how often do you hear pop songs with lyrics like “I hope I live to see the day the Pope gets high”, “Hide away in your ivory tower and cover me in your golden shower”, and “And here I sit in first class, bollocks sir, kiss my ass”? I’d like to hear something like that come from JT. I teetered back and forth between a 3 and 3.5 here, but the more I think about it, the more I think I actually liked this album, Robbie’s supposed insufferableness be damned. I guess it’s time I go watch Better Man now.

I love this album

If I'm reaching for a pop album it probably wouldn't be this one

A fine pop album I guess, but truly nothing really special about it. Maybe this would mean more to me if I was British, but alas!

Always good takes me back to misspent youth

Let Me Entertain You ??? There's not a chance. The most over rated clown who really cannot sing. Includes the second worst song I've ever heard, Angels on which his vocals sound drunk. (First worst song that dirge from the wife beating hypocrite Imagine).

N paar seiner ikonischen Songs, aber jetzt nicht n Sänger oder Album was mich umgehauen hat.

Ganz ok, nicht schlecht.

durchschnittliches Pop-Album. Angels legendär und Let me Entertain you einfach ein Banger

Actually very solid pop. Not anywhere near my wheelhouse in 1997, but can appreciate it through the lens of time. High 2s

Takes me back to when Robbie was the cool kid who had escaped the 'straight' Take That to go and cane it with the Gallaghers. Little did we know where this would go or what the truth was!! Despite what he became there are some Bona fide classics on here and some that just take me back to a simpler time when i had more hair, more money and less responsibilities!!

quite enjoyed some of this. other bits were dreadful . 2

this album was good and so was the artist ive never heard of him but he sounds like liam gallagher

Robbie, Robbie, Robbie! This has no place in a list of albums you must listen to. Bland poppy crap.

Had never heard this before - liked it

Pretty slick, pretty bubbly, pretty pretty. Having trouble grabbing onto anything. Nothing bad here, like pop often is, but it seems like a high school warm-up to what will track more seriously one day.

Mediocre talent meets ridiculous ego! Has no right to be on this list.

Boy, talk about an album that does not need to be included on this list. Or better yet, don't.

Mweh

NOW That's What I Call Shite Music!

I knew the hits, but never listened to the whole album. It’s surprisingly good.

Generic Brit pop. Nothing special

"Let Me Entertain You" and "Angels" are, well, entertaining, but the rest is pretty filler-ish. It all feels a little soulless, too.

Starts out ok, but it's ultimately fairly uninteresting.

This is miles from a 1-star album and you guys know it. Lazy Days has that overwhelming "you. are. happy." sound that's extremely characteristic of Britpop from around this time. You see it all over the place in the 2000s, too, so in a way it reminds me of my childhood. One of the better tracks here. Ego Agogo starts off with a promising combo of instruments, but the lyrics are bizarre and off-putting. The point of no return is "Hide away in your ivory tower / And cover me in your golden shower", though the whole thing is pretty hard to take seriously. Good thing it's followed up by the simple, balladesque-yet-anthemic Angels. Not that it's a particularly legendary track – I have no idea why the single sold as well as it did – but it has this bland "good song" energy about it. The following track, South Of The Border, does a better job at adding musical instrument – mostly with its guitar and bassline, which add an indescribable grittiness that contrasts with the rest of the album. The chorus is the most Britpop thing to ever be released, but I guess late 90s white male British artists didn't have a choice. But... wow. The first seven tracks do not prepare you for how great Let Me Entertain You is. Everything is played a bit aggressively, especially during the chorus, where Williams goes all-out with his catchy hook. That's one thing a lot of the music on Life Thru A Lens lacks: convincing hooks. One Of God's Better People and Angels (among others) get close to having this kind of star power, but Let Me Entertain You does it best, and for that reason it's the strongest track here by a mile. Fun, engaging percussion and trumpet parts too. After this point, the music goes slightly downhill, with the lacklustre Clean and the middling Killing Me and Baby Girl Window. But man, with the excellence of Let Me Entertain You, you could convince me to take this record up to 3 stars. You know what? Screw it. 3 stars it is. 3/5 Key tracks: Lazy Days, South Of The Border, Let Me Entertain You

Ugh, again, I'm annoyed by how much I enjoyed an album. The lyrics on Life Thru a Lens are pretty daft, and the music is mostly played straight to the heart of big, banging Brit-pop perfection. But it's catchy, and Robbie Williams is just as charming as he is obnoxious. I probably won't want to put this record on again, but I did easily listen to it two or three times straight through for this review. Three stars.

Oh look another run of the mill pedestrian Brit pop album…

This was just meh. There are better Britt-pop albums from this same time.

wa een gejank😭

An interesting one, a shot at independence and his way of saying what he had to say with a few authentic all-time hits that would remain for generations to come ✨

The guy who did the biopic about his own life, except he was a CGI monkey. That sounds like some of the absurdist (nonsensical) gibberish I have become famous for (one review has three likes), but no, it was a vehicle for the bloated ego of talentless Brit, Robbie "don't call me Robin" Williams. Is this a good time to further shatter my credibility by saying Robin Williams was one of the most overrated comedians ever to lend voice to microphone? As you can see, I continue to exist as a miserable hermit, as I prepare for a guy who staged a paparazzi gathering on the cover of his first solo album. Oh joyous day. Nothing more relatable than a faded teen star doing his "artistic" solo work. Yes, nothing quite reaches into the heart of the common man as lamenting the difficulties of being wealthy beyond your wildest dreams as a teenager. Oh and don't forget the standard "i used to do drugs:-(." When you distil those heart-wrenching sentiments into an album that sounds like listening to Oasis via someone's headphone bleed-through on a crowded bus, you've produced an achievement for the proletariat equivalent to the long weekend. Cue up the construction site boombox, lads. "Angels" will play us through the shift! In the style of the similarly named comedian: Hoo hah, robbie williams sucks uhh vacuum cleaner WHOOOOSH heh heh vacuums what is that extra "u" doing in there? Yoohoo where is the u? Ho hah, I don't have any jokes hoo hah *breathing fast* BEEP BEEP BEEP there is no intelligent life here captain BEEP BEEP hoo hah ground control to major tom hoo uhh breaker breaker 1 9 houston we have a problem hoo hey ho. time to stop this review hoo room with a view ha hoo. I'm funny because I make you uncomfortable with my hyperactivity whoaa heyy honk honk. 0.5 HIGHLIGHTS: Monkey man he he

Average

Some 90s sitcom intro music

I didn't dislike this album, but none of the songs stood out. It was fine.

This isn't a good album. Angels isn't a good single, LMEY is, to be fair. I'll never listen to this again.

Niet helemaal mijn genre maar wel oké om is te luisteren.

Een paar jagers, maar zou de rest niet per se opnieuw beluisteren

Unremarkable album. Think maybe it’s impact was more poignant after leaving the sickly sweet arms of take that, but it just didn’t do much for me. I do think, however, if he hadn’t made this album l, he’d be doing panto each year. Which is what this album sounds like to me. It feels like a take that rendition of Brit pop. I liked him in take that, but this just feels like a school plays version of a bad boy in album form. You can tell he’s not really what he wants to be. Who am I to judge? This doesn’t feel like a revenge album I think he hoped for. It’s interesting because I always thought angels of being some over used, unimpressive karaoke song but it is the best song on the album. Maybe we should be more like Gary and less like Robbie.

Some of these have not aged particularly well. Feels like a strange inclusion to this list, not sure what merits it. Uneven in terms of quality, just feels like a vehicle for the singles. Maybe the last track rescues it a bit, each song just seems to try on a different style. Didn't expect much and it lived up to that.

lol I hate this

Marmite. Don't like him so much, feels like he knows he's on to a good thing and is taking the Mickey. That said, some good britpop and a couple of genuine heartfelt songs.

There's a hole where the soul should be.

Meh

Back in 2013, I took a trip to Munich. While I was there, I toured the grounds for the 1972 Olympics, and when the tour stopped at the track and field stadium, the guide mentioned that this facility was still used for concerts. She mentioned that only a handful of artists had sold out concerts there, and one of the artists she mentioned was Robbie Williams. I remember thinking to myself, ‘who the hell is Robbie Williams?’ Flash forward to the present day, and I know a bit more about Robbie, thanks to his monkey man flop. Just the other week, I saw David Gray on Track Star on Facebook and I realized that I know Robbie’s song “Angels,” which happens to be on this album! I’m not sure what the rest of this album is going to sound like, but I’m curious to hear what my last album of the nineties has in store for me. After listening to Life Thru a Lens, I can see why Robbie Williams never built a big following in the states. This album wasn’t bad, but other than a few songs, it was pretty forgettable. For a pop album, Life Thru a Lens didn’t really have any catchy melodies or snappy choruses, and I found that most of these songs left my brain just as quickly as they left. Hell, I knew “Angels” before listening to this album, and I’m struggling to remember its melody right now. Despite that though, I do think “Angels” is a beautiful song. It has a great introduction, and then goes full-tilt into an excellent pop ballad. Robbie’s vocals are really good, and the song is very well produced. As good as Robbie’s vocal talents are, they just can’t carry this album, despite some good lyrics with what feels like moments of deep self-reflection. In addition to “Angels,” “Lazy Days,” “Life Thru a Lens,” and “Let Me Entertain You” were pretty good as well. But one beautiful song and a handful of pretty good songs just isn’t enough to carry a pop album of this length. Robbie has some talents, but this album was a bit of a dud.

Life through a 90s lens brings back the nostalgic Brit invasion waves.

Звичайний альбом, деякі пісні були непогані, але ось текст інколи дуже дивний

Ok

Thai ppl love this guy

Some GREAT tracks and a few like “oh sure”. British pop rock is a vibe sometimes haha, got a little too long back sided.

This isn’t a bad album, but I really feel like it tries to be something it isn’t. Angels is good, and Let Me Entertain You as well as Killing Me are alright, but it just feels like too much. I’m sure it resonated in the 90s when that sound was still fresh and new. I guess I’ll just go back to his peak appearance in Cars 2: Collision of Worlds.

Even at his absolute peak, and at that time he was an absolute MEGASTAR in the UK, I’ve never been overly fussed on Robbie Williams and nothing I heard today changed that. It maybe doesn’t help that the best song on the album is Angels and I’ve heard that song enough times to last me a lifetime. Apart from that the singles are decent enough but nothing else on the album is anything special. As Noel Gallagher famously said "He’s just a fat dancer from Take That". Top Track - Angels

Really only one good song

Another forgettable Britpop album

Could’ve been worse for a 90’s cheesy pop album. Couple of great tracks, whole lot of cringe. Overuse of pitch correction too, quite distracting.

Angels is the cheesiest, most perfect pop ballad ever<3. Three stars just for that.

When I think of musical guilty pleasures, Robbie comes to mind. But that’s usually the hits. There are some hits on this with ‘Angels’ being the most obvious. However, the album tracks are very weak. Weak to the point that you could easily predict the rhyme in the following line, “Wake up on Sunday morning, everything feels so boring” is a shocker. My oh my!

I am fortunate enough to have never listened to Take That. I was alive and semi coherent around the time that Robbie Williams hit the scene. I remember Angels. I also remember the more poppy/dance hits that came afterwards. He has a kinda uncle baritone, kinda like the guy from Stereophonics. And the music is pretty much Britpop. I didn't mind it. I could see why people might hate it, a pop star capitalizing on a popular sound. I remember being horrified when I first saw Busted. So, I can empathize. But the album: I enjoyed the rock vibe, to an extent. That killing me slowly song kinda blew. And Let Me Entertain you is a jam, but it's cheesy as hell. 4 Stars. That's all you're getting from me Williams. All you're getting... (sorry Ed).

This album is like beating off while checking yourself out in the mirror.

Note as bad as I thought it would be. But the big singles were also not as good as I remember them being. Lots of rip off riffs and hooks. Without the vocals, you could think you listening Tom Petty, and next its a radio friendly pop punk tune. OK but not a classic

Initial impressions; 1. Who the fuck is Robbie Williams? 2. Judging by the album cover this cat gets more ass than a toilet seat. 3. Very good for what it is, high quality Mom Rock. 4. Angels is a real earworm. Overall impression; well produced and enjoyable pop music. Over half the tracks are above average but it suffers from CD era bloat, cut 3 tracks and trim it to around 40 minutes and it becomes better for my attention span. Strong pop album. This style of music will never be my listening choice, but I would still pick this before any current bro country or any current rap artist. And an added plus is reading the reviews here while listening, I haven't laughed so hard since I read the Veet for Men reviews on Amazon UK.

It seems like I love to hate on this era of music (90s to early 2000s), but honestly this was a nice surprise. I quite enjoyed this one. Nothing I'd take away, so probably not a 4? But 3.75 for sure, a 3 feels disengenuous.

I've got a lot of time for Robbie. But I don't really want to listen to the album. I'm thinking of the long term pollution of my listening history. I know the hits. That's enough for me to give it a 2. It's not music made for me, but I get why it's a thing people enjoy.

Meh, a little too poppy

really bad lyrics, whiny and derivative

Anyone who's see opus know that this guy is giving super douche cultist vibes. Okay music. No relistenability and awfully mundane for '97.

Not me good thogh

Trite unadventurous pop shallowly pitched at making the charts. Even the big hit Angel is cringey garbage.

I don’t even particularly like the one hit song I know on this album. The rest seem like mid-tempo boring 90s pop rock.

Unbedeutend

Some songs reminded me of blink-182, which i like a lot. 6.3/10

I already forgot I listened to it except the last track (hidden) which was cute. 1

It's not as bad as I thought it'd be, very of its time, but it'd be better with a much MUCH stronger singer

I like Robbie Williams' voice and there are parts of this album that I enjoy a lot, but I also feel like he thinks a whole hell of a lot of himself and it certainly isn't anything that I'd consider one of the best albums in the world.

Okay, but I think he's released better albums.

Freitag, 06.02.2026 ~ Nachmittags ~ Im Superfit Europacenter - bevor ich zur Arbeit musste.

Sonntag, 08.02.2026 Auf dem Laufband im Superfit Zoologischer Garten

Hello, I'm an American & I know who Robbie Williams is! The Donnie Wahlberg (the bad boy) of the British boy band, Take That. MTV was always trying to make British boy bands a thing in the States. And Robbie. IT didn't work. I did love that video (Rock DJ) where he does a strip tease & when he's about to take off this Undies. He starts ripping off his skin. The effects were meh at the time but it was a memorable video, not so much song wise. Is this good? Hahaha ha NO! This would only be considered "good," if you worship at the altar of Big Dumb Pop. As I say that it isn't even all that hooky or full earworms that make you want more Dumb Pop Music. The songwriting, assuming he wrote them himself, has a nice motivational message to it on some songs, though they aren't particularly well written either. Most of this screams: "Look At Me!! I'm Free From The Shackles Of My Shitty Boy Band!!" And makes an album that is not too far from the Boy Band Sound. It's intriguing because I've never heard a full breakaway solo album. It's interesting, not good. The Bad Boys Of Boy Bands are never the good singers. They're just there to be slightly dangerous. It shows here alot. 2 Let Me Entertain You is good. And Angels is screaming for some country artist to do mediocre cover of it & make it a hit. Americans won't know it's a cover or who Robbie Williams is.

This is "plastic Britpop." Hints of Oasis throughout, especially the way he sings, but it's nowhere near as interesting or rowdy. And the song "Angels" is empty and just trying to capitalize on that moment in the 90's when everyone had a song about angels. It's not terrible and it's got some catchy songs...but it's definitely Britpop lite.

Shockingly generic. Reminds me of Taylor Swift's Evermore in a way -there's nothing wrong with experimenting in different genres, but theres an artificiality to this where someone already very famous (in the UK at least) is just absolutely trying to capitalize on a moment by ripping off bands like Oasis and Supergrass. Most songs are utterly unremarkable, Old Before I Die is like a kidz bop Oasis song

A fun brit pop album, with some great songs. Very enjoyable, didn't feel repetitive, a nice mixture

The one and only CGI monkey man. Points were deducted for being British, questionable lyricism, and being British. Aside from that, it was surprisingly listenable

Ego Agogo and Angels were the only good songs here. Everything else was just generic Britpop and just so, so crap. Generous 2

kojarze robbiego jedynie z cukierkowego traka, ktory byl popularny w czasach gdy ogladalo sie mtv, ale poza tym nie mam pojecia jak jego dyskografia wyglada, a na liscie wylosowalo jego pierwszy solowy krazek life thru a lens z 97, dziwne ze juz z okladki nie wyglada to na jego pierwszy material, bo okazuje sie, ze wczesniej byl on czlonkiem take that, rowniez nie kojarze bandy, ktora miala byc topowym psem lat 90 w muzyce popularno tanecznej wyspiarzy, co wyjasnia okladke i potezny jak na debiut sklad produkcyjny tej plyty, bo pan robbie jest listowany jako autor i wokalista, zaraz obok producenta chambersa, a razem robia dokladnie to co sie robi w muzyce popularnej przyjemne sluchowisko w lajtowej formie, slychac odejcie od bojsbendowania na rzecz rokowania w softowym wydaniu, nie ma tutaj nawet za duzo typowego popowego motywu milosciowego, a zamiast tego wydaje sie byc sporo nawiazan do poprzedniego okresu kariery pana robbiego, czy nawet jeszcze glebiej jak w ukrytym traku o systemie edukacji ktory mial go wypluc jako odpad, a zrobil taka kariere, najlepsze z tego 50 minutowego odsluchu to czesci wokalne, ktore w wiekszosci sa przykryte instrumentaliami calkowicie ponad potrzebe i tylko na kilku trakach mozna dobrze posluchac spiewania jak na najpopularniejszym traku plyty angels, o dziwo ciekawe czemu tak popularny, jak nie dlatego, ze muzycznie jest stonowany i mozna go sluchac, albo na bardziej energetycznym let me entertain you, ktory musialem juz wczesniej slyszec, pewnie w jakis tiktakach czy innych szortach, to wlasnie tego traka dodam na plejke

Gave it a go...

One of the clasps of pop rock, it was a nice album overall, great lyricis and some famous songs

Inoffensive Britpop. Pleasant and catchy enough, but it's not going to linger in my thoughts.

It was ok

Hmmm. I don’t know. I only knew about Robbie because of his 2012 song, “Candy,” which I really liked. Nothing on this album grabbed a hold of me, but nothing turned me off- that much, at least. I could see myself listening to songs again or maybe even liking them if they found me in the right circumstances. Not great, but not as terrible as I was expecting.

Good Just no for me

Now this is real coworker music. I remember enjoying the singles off this album, but writing this review a few days later, I recall nothing.

No I haven’t made any comments

Enjoyable but not one I'd listen to over and over

Woof

Very listenable. Sure, it's pop music. But so what? Some of the "reviews" of this are utterly hilarious. So, it's not high art? Who cares? It's pop music. Sure, it's not Elephant Sessions, to name check a band that 99.9% of people reading this will never have heard of. So? I mean, by all means go and listen to something more "arty". But you're missing out on stuff like this. It's probably a three, but I'll give it a four to attempt some balance.

Impressive amount of hits, but also a lot of filler. All in all this is a fun little lightweight pop record, but I fail to see how this would be essential in any way being a very mediocre example of a mostly mediocre era of British pop.

surprisingly good

Was he trying to sound like oasis or it just happened?

Vapid… why is this here?! Next…

5/11,

Yawn.

good 90s pop

Dammit, Robbie. This was far more listenable (dare I say 'enjoyable'?!) than I dared expect and now I feel dirty. I have to bear in mind that he didn't write it, although I do believe he helped, but it was genuinely a bit of a phenomenon at the time. He's pitched the attitude just right; doesn't take himself too seriously or try to be more rock'n'roll than he actually was(n't) but for a pop album, it's got a fair bit of variety and is pretty engaging. Would listen again but wouldn't admit it too loudly.

Fun pop 3

3.5

Sounds exactly as I would expect a British former boy band member striking out with his first solo album to sound like. A few decent sounding songs.

Interesting! Definitely seems ahead of it's time.

"Mum, can we have Oasis?" "We have Oasis at home, dear."

Album #1,011 To my knowledge, I've never heard any Robbie Williams or Take That music before now. I didn't hate it. In the late 90s, pop music was still tolerable. Kind of pop-punk on some tracks which can be catchy and I wouldn't mind hearing again. There is also the bad, like One of God's Better People (gag!) and I rolled my eyes at the hidden track "Hello Sir."

Yeah this completely fell flat for me. This for me felt like a diluted version of what Rock bands were doing at that time but a little more poppy and clean. I feel like someone with as big a personality as Robbie has, this album is pretty bland and by the books. This is one I for sure won’t be returning to.

It’s honestly been over twenty years since I last heard Angels, so that alone was a nice blast from the past. I forgot how good that song was. Outside of that, I’d never really listened to Robbie Williams before. I kept getting an Oasis kind of vibe, especially in the attitude and melodies, which I wasn’t expecting at all. Overall, this was a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Solid songs, good energy, and way better than I had it pegged in my head. Favorite song: Angels

Very basic, but not unpleasant, mid-90s pop music.

You've got to be kidding me. 1001 Albums you must hear before you die. Well okay, maybe not all of them. There are a couple of decent songs on this album, but holy shit, this is one where the the authors forgot the intent behind the list. There is nothing redeeming or interesting about someone being in a shitty boy band and then "redeeming" themself by partnering with decent musicians. Nothing here is is interesting, unique, influential or inspiring. I normally reserve 1* for shit that is unlistenable, but I'm adding an inappropriate for the list criterion. And I'm usually pretty generous with respect to the last bit.

Generic as hell, but it surprised me by being more in the generic rock realm than the generic pop realm. Better than expected, but still not great.

A couple songs at the start of the album were alright, but the rest of the album was generic and boring. It’s an album not really for me.

Lazy days, Angels, and Let me entertain you are the clear standouts for this record. Honestly pretty fun Britpop however mixed in with subpar filler that drags it down. Decent nonetheless.

I think it’s good; it feels like it calls back to 70s rock, especially the vocals. It is the first album that I think I’ll be revisiting for casual listening (outside of the Grab Bag)

Fucking classic this. Top 50 album of all time easily.

Pop på sitt beste.

Yuck

5/10

Expected this to be way worse. Fairly generic so I don’t know if it fits on the list.

Not my thing. I think he could write (ahem, co-write) a head-nodding catchy tune, and his voice can't be denied...but what about this earned it a place on the list?

Nostalgia overload

If you asked me to listen to this album and played "Lazy Days" and "South Of The Border" and told me it was Oasis.... I would believe you. If you played the song "Life Through A Lens" and told me Avril Lavigne wrote it I would believe that too. I think this might gain some traction on repeated listens.

Imagine thinking people NEED to - much less MUST - listen to Robin Williams before they die.

3 - decent album, don’t think I’d ever go back to it

I think in the age of streaming it’s honestly criminal not to separate out the hidden track from the final song in the playlist into its own separate track if there’s going to be this much silence otherwise. What if you wanted to put one of those last songs into your playlist? Fortunately I guess I have no real desire to put any of these songs into any of my playlists. Two stars feels a little harsh honestly as I didn’t have a BAD time listening to any of this, but I’ve given plenty of 3 star ratings to albums with at least a couple tracks I’d actively enjoy revisiting, and I’m just not feeling that desire for any of these here. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ridiculous inclusion

5.5/10 generic Britpop. Highlight: Let Me Entertain You

A member of Take That ‘doing Britpop’ ended up being a recipe for success, once Angels and let me entertain you prevailed after 3 misfiring singles. The real story really is Guy Chambers’ songwriting taking the best bits of pop/rock history with Robbie’s sometimes dodgy lyrics. Nice to hear it 28 years on - it’s aged better than I thought

Angels and let me entertain you carry hard on this album, the rest is quite boring unfortunately

Not very good.

Personal enjoyment: 2/5 Relevance to this list: 3/5

Britpop - Oasis, Goo goo dolls better Life thru a lense Angels South of the border

This did not make me feel good or happy. Dislike.

I honestly didn't expect to like this album this much. Plus, the cover art is just great

For a chimpanzee he has a lovely singing voice (3.5)

It’s now well-documented that I am no Britpop fan. I can be swayed, though, if the songs are good or novel in some way. I thought I would dislike this a lot more than I did, and I think it’s because there are genuinely great melodies, good songwriting, and a sound that veers away from the ‘70s Bowie worship of most Britpop and finds something more modern. This is how a lot of the pop-rock in America sounded in ’97-‘98, which makes it even funnier/weirder that Williams never popped off in America. Huh. Well, anyway, this was decently pleasant. It’s not a must-listen, but I’ll keep it in my library for now.

I like the rhymes.

Rubbish. (I'm an American, so this is witty) (14/100)

Die Rock-Songs hierauf finde ich generisch und furchtbar, die ruhigeren Songs teils nur langweilig, teilweise stark.

Eigentlich ganz geil

Like many Americans, I'd heard the name, but never heard any his music. And now I know... that's ok. Boy band guy goes solo. Yah, I know what that's going to sound like. While it's not like bad bad, there's nothing to make we want to hear it, or him, ever again. Angels is a decent pop song with a good hook. "Let Me Entertain You" is a fair listen. All the rest just runs together like MOR radio pop. Not much else to say because it doesn't say much. I'm giving it a 2 because while nothing here Annoys me, it's just taking up space and I had to waste an hour of my life listening to something that sounds just like a thousand other things.

I thought this would be some generic-ass garbage. It still was a bit, but not that bad actually. It just sounds like Oasis, but if it was watered down further for the masses. For most of the run-time, all I could think was "Man, Liam Gallagher probably hated this shit". From the Better Man movie (and interviews I probably haven't seen), that seems true. The good thing is that Robbie is having fun and the record isn't complete rubbish to me. In fact, I was going to give it a 3, but near the end, the music became a little corny. That was perhaps my Oasis senses getting the best of me. I have to emphasize that once you've heard Champagne Supernova, you never really go back. So I didn't think this sucked, but it was definitely an "ehh" for me. Whatever that hidden track poem was was funny though (5/10, 2/5 on this scale)

Dosta lejm album. Kužim zašto je tu, ali isto kužim zašto možda ne bi trebao biti. 2/5, 3/10

Rock, leaning pop

Solid pop music infused with glam and full of personality. I had heard of Robbie Williams but hadn’t actually heard his music (to my knowledge; or Take That’s music for that matter). He definitely has vocal presence and sings like he means it. Production is polished but not too glossy. Nothing earth-shattering here, but I think it’s a good record. 3.5 if I could.

I get all the haters, but I’ve always had a Robbie Williams fascination. I think the hate comes from the boy band era. But he’s got a great voice. Sounds like Elton John on a few songs. 3.5

I can see why Robbie Williams is such a star in the UK. I wasn't familiar with his music before listening to this, and while it isn't necessarily my usual cup of tea, it was enjoyable.

I seem to remember that of all the members of Take That, Robbie was supposed to be the one who wouldn't amount to anything. Yet he is the only one who ended up with a career performing, and you've got to admire him for that. Having said that, I'm so not a fan. But, there were bits of this that really weren't that bad. on the whole I think it's worth a 3

It’s a 3. Can’t explain why it’s not a 1. Let’s never speak of this again. Next….

What to do after leaving one of the UK's most successful boy bands? Find someone to help write some banging tunes and release a Britpop inspired album. It's really good, obviously the singles stand out as the best songs, but at the time, I couldn't help liking Robbie's reinvention and natural charisma, which is reflected in his vocal performance.

shite mate

The fast songs were annoying but ok if you like music like this, I guess. But the slow songs were intolerable, like I couldn't get more than 30 seconds in before having to skip to the next track.

I used to lash this album as a kid. But unfortunately with mature ears this just sounds like someone desperately trying to sound like LG and then their production team insist that the iconic Angels appear to save the downfall of a career.

lekker

This does not deserve to be here. It’s the Most mid album I’ve heard so far after 874 albums. Couldn’t finish it

Not really my thing

2.5 Nope.

more english pablum but at least robbie Williams's nasally voice is really grating

Nope

4/10… britpop / dance rock / *1997

Robbie Williams is a guy that I only knew three things about before today. I knew that he is not to be confused with late comedy legend Robin Williams, I knew that he is completely unknown in the US despite being VERY popular in countries like the UK and Australia, and I knew about the biopic about him from last year where he is, for some reason, portrayed as a motion-captured anthropomorphic chimpanzee. Wait, I knew a fourth thing, actually. I knew that he has an album on this list, which is very unsurprising when you take the other things into consideration, especially the UK popularity thing. You can't just be a UK music artist and sell 75 million copies without getting an album on this list. I'm actually surprised that he doesn't have more. You'd think this guy would get glazed like crazy by Dimery and Co., but no. They did the right thing and restrained themselves to only one Robbie Williams album on the list. Good job, guys! Anyway, this album's alright in my eyes. I can see why he's popular, but I also kinda get why he never really took off in the US. His whole style is very UK-coded, and his musical style wasn't exactly the most marketable in the US at the time of his career starting to pop off in the UK. I mean, this debut album of his was in 1997. America was too busy engaging with things like hip-hop, alt-rock, and even the beginnings of nu-metal to care about some cheeky British lad or whatever. But that begs the question. Who was right? Was the UK right in propping this guy up to be a star, or was the US in the right by not giving a piss? Eh. I wouldn't really give the point to either specifically. There are things I like here and things I don't care for as much. Robbie's definitely got some things going for him. His songwriting has a good blend between stardom and honesty that I can respect. There's some solid variety on the album, which I always appreciate. "Angels" is genuinely a great song. I don't have it in me to call Life Thru A Lens a bad album, but there are other things that I could see others not caring for. I'm not huge on Robbie's vocals for the most part, and the writing has some weak points. Additionally, while I respect the variety, there isn't really anything that the album does that hadn't already been done by other Britpop acts like Oasis. So, while I do like this album, I can still see why others don't care for it. It's a solid debut album. Maybe his others are even better! I don't know, and I probably never will. Strong 3/5.

It's an alright album for brit pop, but... you definitely lose two points for putting 8 minutes of dead silence in the last track to hide a "hidden track" and maintaining that silence in this day and age of streaming. For a spoken word track. Don't be a ponce. My Rating: 2/5 flashbulbs

Had enough of a beat to avoid a standard britpop 2 star

Very well produced and very reminiscent of the era. I kept waiting for the eventual song that I'd go. "Oh, it's that guy"... Angels was that song. Bottom line. He's alright. I'm glad to have heard more than just his hit.

My typical take on pop music is that it's boring insipid swill, and brit-pop hasn't fared much better. This is not the case for this album. This is a good album. It's varied, and fun, and interesting, and while it's still not really my style of music, I could see this being someone's favorite album - something put on to get a road trip started, picked up on vinyl even though you've owned the CD for over two decades, something cherrished.

Greit album

My theory is that Robbie's musical powers are proportional to his level of arrogance. Whilst there is clearly a high degree of self-importance on display here, I feel there is still a hint of humility he was yet to fully expunge in this, his first album.

Some of the arrangements are pretty well done, but the songwriting is bland and unmemorable.

Wild to think there was a time when someone decided " Let Me Entertain You" should be the 8th track, not the opener it obviously should be. Angels is up there with Mr Brightside as one of the songs that literally everyone in Britain will sing along to. Difficult to judge something like that. But it's a typical pop album, a few absolute bangers, and a lot of lesser songs. The highs are high though.

For people who weren't there, "Angels" hit a level of drunken pub shout-alongs later demolished by Mr. Brightside, but this song was huge.

Shit only good because of angles and let me entertain u

Some of the songs are poppy almost bubblegum punk, but I can’t stand the vocals. Not sure how to describe it, but I just can’t get past it… it’s not you Robbie it’s me, I’m sure. I guess I’ll round to 2 stars since I wouldn’t complain if someone put it on, but it’s definitely not fir me.

Not bad, catchy. Not my usual thing, but better than expected. Let's mark it as 3, but it's a 2 and a 1/2 for me.

Great album

Das Debut von Robbie mit Angels und Let me entertain you. Der Rest ist ok, aber kein Highlight. Eigentlich 3 Sterne, aber für Angels gibt es einen Bonusstern. 4/5

I am shocked that I have never listened to him. I've barely even heard of the guy. He has a very long list of well received songs and albums on that side of the pond. He's a pretty good songwriter (with the exception of 'One of God's Better People', that song was a turd top to bottom, in my opinion).

Not my fav album, but like RW

"I've heard of this thing called rock. I'd like one."

Decent, Angels and Let Me Entertain You are the highlights

Just makes me want to listen to Oasis

holy cheese

A good blend between rock and pop, though the songs are of mixed quality. 6/10

It should be called ‘songs from a room that I wrote while listening to my first album’

The most interesting thing for me is how some artists are hugely popular in the UK and don't really make in the US. I've heard the name Robbie Williams before but didn't know any of this album, including the big tracks: Angels has 700M plays, Let Me Entertain You has 196M plays. All in all it's an OK rock-pop album, and I see some stylistic connections to Oasis. The hidden track "Hello Sir" is a big up yours to his dad.

Go home, England, you're drunk. This is aggressively uninteresting, but I could see someone arguing it's 2 stars because it's largely competent. That said, the fact that this album doesn't have "Millenium" on it makes me worry there's another Robbie Williams album lurking on this list.

Kind of like how I marvel at the fact that there are whole swaths of people who find Trump compelling and charismatic, it boggles my mind that there's a whole country that apparently find Robbie Williams entertaining. There's no vocal talent there, all of the music sounds super derivative, so it's gotta be charisma right? But charisma that clearly fails him the minute he leaves England.

3.5

Maybe just not in the mood, but 2.5

Not for me. I probably would’ve given it a two on another day but not today.

Nothing interesting here. In fact, some of this is just downright irritating. The arrogance of the concept is astounding, yet Robbie Williams offers nothing of substance to justify such a high opinion of himself.

Not really my thing but I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it at all and actually there are a few songs I didn’t know on there that I did enjoy. Not dreadful.

robbie, jung und poppig.

Wenn Pop, dann Robbie Williams. Erträglich bis sehr gut.

There is a sort of muso orthodoxy that Guy Chambers carried Robbie Williams through this album but I think he is unfortunately often too pedestrian by half for the funny, soulful, honest thing Robbie Williams is reaching for. You can see why a lot of pop stars will employ dozens of songwriters instead of one.

Couldn’t finish it

Decent, but another questionable entry on the list. Light beer of albums

Surprisingly enjoyed. Row tapping to the songs.

Robbie is nostalgic to me and I just watched his movie so that might sway some of this. Most of this is generic 90s pop. Angels is the standout here. Old before I die was like Temu Oasis. Highlight: angels, let me entertain you

Meh. Forgettable and not my taste.

3 just because Angels

High energy and very Britpop influenced. All strong songs and vocals and very enjoyable!

Angels is the hit. Clean is hilarious. Clean like Charlie Sheen? Even in 1997 that had connotation to it. Everything else is mid to bad.

Worth a listen, feel-good pop, somewhat corny. I enjoy the humor and directness in the lyrics. Angels is a lovely chune.

Une chance qu'il y avait Angels parce que tout le reste était très ordinaire.

Actually very very surprised on how much I enjoyed this Angel is fantastic but all the others have good feel. Not the best of singers but it fits so well.

Maso

Ik vind het choquerend dat je in een lijst met 1001 albums die je gehoord moet hebben Robbie Williams tegenkomt. Robbie, zelf z'n grootste fan, doet op dit album diverse collega's na, onder andere Oasis en blink-182. Misschien ook wat Prince, George Michael, Lenny Kravitz en generieke stadiumcountry-artiest. Uiteindelijk is het gewoon popmuziek bedacht door handige commerciële jongens, dus het lepelt allemaal wel makkelijk naar binnen zolang je z'n zelfingenomen gezicht en vervelende houding even wegdenkt. Daardoor kan ik dit geen écht slechte score geven. Daarnaast staan er twee prima hitjes op die ik beide meerdere keren dronken heb staan meeschreeuwen in een dompige boeren feesttent, waarbij de coverband van dienst dan steevast Angels liet overgaan in Hey Jude van the Beatles. Echt standaard. Ik zou dit een 3 kunnen geven maar ik laat de snobbistische onderbuik een beetje meewegen en ik hou het op 2 sterren omdat ik daar zin in heb.

I liked this far more than I expected. I expected something more, I don't know, shallow? Plastic? Manufactured? It felt like natural, organic songwriting versus artificial pop. (Not that his other stuff is artificial pop, I just don't know much of his material) I was actually a little disappointed in Angel, which is apparently his big hit. Just felt like generic anthem pop/rock. (Full disclosure: I gave this more of a listen than originally planned because this gorgeous, incredibly cool woman said she loved this album when she was younger. Honestly that's good enough for me. Yeah, she's that amazing) Update: Okay so that lady is not so amazing and not incredibly cool. She actually sucks ass. So now I don't give a shit. Now my biased opinion is that this album is terrible. It's fucking trash.

I can’t believe I had never heard of this person before. Wasn’t bad.

2.5

Good album, I like Robbie Williams! 7.3/10

This album has a feeling to it that is soulless, without any raw emotion and only a masquerade of songs to follow in the footsteps of other artists. It has a happy mood throughout, although to its own detriment as it feels repetitive and tiring. Angel was a nice change of pace but not nearly enough to save 9 songs of this "fake" nature to it. (6/10 - Well made so that's enough to give it 3 stars, but nothing special or interesting)

Monkey 🫵

Pretty ok soft rock. Really nothing to be excited about, but more songs were goodish. 2.5/5 - 3/5

His lyrics let him down - there’s shovels of passion but it simply isn’t good enough. Standouts still serve for a jukebox.

This is the kind of vacuous, "easy listening" noise that I do not appreciate from the 90s