''Life thru a Lens'' is the debut solo
studio album by English singer-songwriter
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
. It was Williams' first solo album following his departure from
Take That
Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...
. Released on 29 September 1997 through
Chrysalis Records, it is influenced by
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
, a departure from the poppier tone of music Take That employed. The album's
working name was ''The Show-Off Must Go On''.
The album's first three singles, "
Old Before I Die", "
Lazy Days
"Lazy Days" is a song by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 July 1997 as the second single from his debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'' (1997). According to Williams, the song is about b ...
" and "
South of the Border" (the only single to miss the top 10), were all moderate successes, but it was the fourth single "
Angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...
" which catapulted Williams to international fame as a solo artist. Peaking at number 4, it has sold over 1 million copies in the UK and is his biggest-selling single to date. Fifth and final single "
Let Me Entertain You" reached number three, becoming the album's third top-5 hit. "
Freedom," Robbie's first solo success, a cover of
George Michael's 1990 hit, is not featured on the album.
''Life thru a Lens'' debuted at number 11 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
and initially remained in the lower regions, but, upon the chart success of "Angels", it began steadily climbing and finally reached number one in April 1998, five months after its release. Though never selling more than 60,000 copies in a single week, the album has sold over 2,094,000 copies as of November 2013, making it Williams' fourth-best-selling studio album and fifth-best-seller overall.
Recording and music
After trying hard to find his own sound during a period of personal upheaval, Williams began recordings for the album at London's Maison Rouge studios in March 1997, shortly after his introduction to
Guy Chambers
Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams.
Education
Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, h ...
. The title track, "Life thru a Lens" was written about his then girlfriend Jacqueline Hampton-Smith who was a socialite. It is often mistakenly attributed to
Tara Palmer Tompkinson, but they did not date until 2006. "Ego a Go Go" was written about
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That.
Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...
, "
South of the Border" discusses
Kate Moss, and "Baby Girl Window" was inspired by
Samantha Beckinsale
Samantha-Jane Beckinsale (born 23 July 1966), known professionally as Samantha Beckinsale, and Sam Beckinsale, is a British actress. She played firefighter Kate Stevens in '' London's Burning''.
Early life
Beckinsale is the only daughter of ac ...
and her late father, actor
Richard Beckinsale
Richard Arthur Beckinsale (6 July 1947 – 19 March 1979) was an English actor. He played Lennie Godber in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' (along with its sequel series '' Going Straight'') and Alan Moore in the ITV sitcom ''Rising Damp''. He is t ...
. "One of God's Better People" and "
Angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...
" were inspired by Williams' mother, Jan.
Hidden track "Hello, Sir" is a poem that takes a dig at one of Williams' former teachers.
Williams reprised part of the poem on the
1 Giant Leap
1 Giant Leap is a British electronic music duo consisting of the two principal artists, Jamie Catto (Faithless founding member) and Duncan Bridgeman.
Career
Based in the UK, the two musicians set out to create a multimedia project that would ...
song "
My Culture".
The sound of the album is influenced by
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
, especially bands such as
Oasis,
a direction his former Take That bandmate
Mark Owen
Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2019, the group have sold 14 million albums and 11.4 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he ...
had also chosen to pursue on his debut album ''
Green Man
The Green Man is a legendary being primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that occurs every Spring (season), spring. The Green Man is most commonly depicted in a sculpture, or other representation of ...
'' (1996). John Bush of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
said that ''Life thru a Lens'' "continually betrays overt influences from Oasis and other Britpop stars, but triumphs nevertheless due to gorgeous production, Williams' irresistible personality, and the overall flavor of outrageous, utterly enjoyable
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...
."
Critical reception
Writing for ''
Melody Maker'' in October 1997, Robin Bresnark gave ''Life thru a Lens'' a negative review; "There's nothing here... sure, Robbie Williams is as fascinating a hapless goon as we're ever likely to come across. But this album feels more like a press release than an album – and that's not what I call music."
However, John Bush of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
was very positive in his four and a half stars out of five review, calling the album "excellent" and "one of the best U.K. debuts of the '90s".
''
Q'' ranked the album at number 43 in their 2004 list of "The 50 (+50) Best British Albums Ever" and in their unordered 2005 list of the "Ultimate Music Collection".
''
Record Collector
''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide.
History The early years
The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...
'' included the album in their unordered 2000 list of "10 Classic Albums from 21 Genres for the 21st Century",
whilst Robert Dimery included the album in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
''.
Commercial performance
The album was released in October 1997, not long after Williams's stint in rehab. The album was launched with his first live solo gig at the
Élysée Montmartre in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. At first, the album was slow to take off, debuting at number 11 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
, and falling to 104 not long after release, having sold a little over 30,000 copies.
The album reached the number one position after spending 27 weeks on the chart, as a consequence of the huge success of the "Angels" single, boosting the album's sales to 300,000. The album spent a total of 218 weeks on the chart and two weeks at number one, becoming the 58th best selling album of all time with sales of 2.4 million copies.
Despite the album's success in Williams' homeland, it failed to make a bigger impact in the international market. However, in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, the album reached the top ten in early 1998. The album has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. The album has been certified as
8× Platinum in the UK.
Singles
* "
Old Before I Die", a track co-written by Williams,
Eric Bazilian
Eric M. Bazilian (born July 21, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. Bazilian is a founding member of the rock band The Hooters. He wrote " One of Us", a song first recorded by Joan Osborne in 1 ...
, and
Desmond Child, was released as the album's lead single in April 1997, peaking at #2 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. The song failed to make an impact in other international charts.
* "
Lazy Days
"Lazy Days" is a song by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 July 1997 as the second single from his debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'' (1997). According to Williams, the song is about b ...
" was released as the album's second single in the summer of 1997, amidst Williams' battle with addiction. He was allowed to check out from rehab to shoot the video for the song. The single charted at number-eight in the United Kingdom but, because promotion was nonexistent, struggled to reach the top forty of any other European chart.
* "
South of the Border" was released as the album's third single in September 1997. It failed to make a significant impact on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #14, and as such, many saw this as the end of Williams' solo career.
* "
Angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...
", a song penned by Williams and Guy Chambers, was released as the album's fourth single. The decision to release the song came after Williams met the record company to discuss concerns about his future. The single was released in December 1997, soon becoming Williams' best selling-single in the United Kingdom, being certified 2× Platinum by the
BPI.
BPI Certification for "Angels"
/ref> The song became a hit around Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
and sold almost two million copies worldwide, rocketing sales of his album.
* " Let Me Entertain You" was released as the album's fifth and final single in March 1998. It peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, becoming one of Williams' signature songs and being the opening song for most of Williams' concerts throughout his career.
Track listing
Personnel
* Robbie Williams – vocals, backing vocals
* Guy Chambers
Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams.
Education
Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, h ...
– keyboards, guitar, backing vocals
* Chris Sharrock
Chris Sharrock (born 30 May 1964) is an English drummer, hailing from Bebington, Cheshire (now Merseyside), England. He has been a member of the Icicle Works, the La's, the Wild Swans, World Party, the Lightning Seeds, Robbie Williams's liv ...
– drums, snare
* Andy Duncan – percussion
* Martin Slattery
Martin Paul Slattery (born 30 December 1973 in Blackburn) is an English multi-instrumentalist and composer.
He plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, saxophone, and flute.
Slattery was first a member of Joe Strummer's backing band T ...
– keyboards
* Mark Feltham – harmonica
* Gary Nuttall – guitar, backing vocals
* Steve Power – keyboards, programming
* Geoff Dugmore
Geoff Dugmore (born 12 April 1960) is a Scottish drummer, musical director and producer. He was a member of the bands The Europeans, and Wildlife.
Career
Educated at Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow, Scotland, Dugmore started his musical care ...
– drums, percussion
* Steve Bush – programming
* Derek Watkins – trumpet
* Fil Eisler – guitar, bass guitar, tom-tom
* Mark Smith – bass guitar, programming
* Oscar O'Loughlin – guitar
* Mark Smith – guitar, programming
* Steve Sidwell – trumpet
* Chester Kamen – guitar
* Dave Catlin-Birch – bass guitar, backing vocals
* Kerry Hopwood – programming
* André Barreau – guitar, backing vocals
* Beverley Skeete – backing vocals
* Carroll Thompson – backing vocals
* Andy Caine – backing vocals
* Claudia Fontaine – backing vocals
* Smiler – backing vocals
* Nicole Patterson – backing vocals
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
* Finland's peak was at midprice-chart.
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
1997 debut albums
Robbie Williams albums
Britpop albums
EMI Records albums