Life Thru a Lens

1/5. As a person born in the U.S. after the year 2000, my introduction to Robbie Williams was his 2024 biopic where he is a CGI ape. Robbie has a pretty typical artist story for his time, a former boy-band member who made it big on his own, in this case thanks to this albums biggest hit “Angels.” As for the music, at least on this debut, it is nothing. It feels completely void of anything compelling. kinda Brit-poppy, kinda alt-rocky, kinda poppy, but never good no matter the style being tackled. The big epic tracks feel unearned and the slower emotional cuts feel insincere.

Sure, this has his biggest hit, but Escapology is the better album and it's not particularly close.

Surprised to see this on the list.

It was a decent pop album in its day, but there is nothing particularly groundbreaking going on.

2.5

As an American, my only knowledge of Robbie Williams prior to this was the song Angels and that they made a biopic where he is a monkey. Maybe I should watch that movie because I enjoyed this. Besides Angels, which is great, much of this sounds like an effort to replicate the sound of Oasis. Favorite songs were Life Thru A Lens, Angels, Old Before I Die, and Let Me Entertain You.

1.91

This is a really funny inclusion on this list. Funny gossip but my cousin went on a date with him around this time. I shockingly really enjoyed the lyrics?

3
Pretty standard pop music, few great songs but nothing special for the most part. The hidden track poem at the end is quite something...

Life thru a Lens by Robbie Williams is a fun pop album with a handful of genuinely very good songs on it, although a lot of the rest feels fairly forgettable after the listen.

The big singles are undeniably strong. “Angels” is a fantastic pop song and still sounds timeless, while “Old Before I Die” and “Let Me Entertain You” are packed with energy and personality. Those tracks really carry the album. Outside of them though, a lot of the material feels overly polished and still a little too close to Robbie’s boyband past, which makes parts of the album harder to take seriously.

That said, there are good melodies throughout and Robbie’s voice suits this style of music really well. He has charisma and confidence as a frontman, even if the songwriting is inconsistent across the album. Overall, it’s a fairly average album with some standout pop moments that remind you why Robbie became such a huge star.

Favourite tracks: “Angels” is the perfect pop song. “Old Before I Die” and “Let Me Entertain You” are also great fun
Least favourite tracks: “One of God’s Better People” is a bit naff
Album artwork: An iconic Robbie Williams cover

I do like Robbie Williams quite a bit and his music is very nostalgic and formative for anyone growing up in the early 2000s. But man, this album is held up by the big hitters. I like Hello Sir quite a bit. A lot of CRINGEWORTHY lyrics on here too.
3 but that’s pushing it.

Robbie Williams is a good example—though not the only one—of a former member of a teen dance group who has seriously and successfully evolved as a musician. That said, I would never go to one of his concerts. The ticket prices are not only unreasonable but still reflect the hype surrounding him. I mostly don’t like his music. On this album, you can still hear too much of his teen-idol roots. “Angel” was played too often on my local radio station. I’ve grown tired of the song. I like “Let Me Entertain You,” even though it’s played often, every now and then. I found the rest of the album uninteresting. 3/5

I kinda liked this. Was very 90’s sounding and had an almost Oasis sound to it. Nothing spectacular, but good overall. 4/5

hard to be objective as I hated this so much at the time but it is truly dreadful - this was considered a flop at release before Angels was out and it's not hard to see why, sub sub Britpop

"Friends with Charlie Sheen, yeah. Gonna meet the Queen, yeah." Jesus fucking Christ did a 5 year old write this??

"And cover me in your golden shower" <- virkelig?
jeg synes godt nok ikke, det er godt - faktisk overraskende ringe og det første album på listen, der faktisk gør mig lidt vred

1.0

det, der trækker den fra 0.9 til 1.0 er, at han har valgt at have et ghost track på sidste nummer. det mangler vi flere af

Some solid bobs.. but ultimately it feels uoriginal.

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

It’s a solid pop album

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.

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!