Life thru a Lens

Life thru a Lens
Studio album by Robbie Williams
Released 29 September 1997
Recorded 1997
Genre
Length 44:25
Label EMI
Producer Guy Chambers, Steve Power
Robbie Williams chronology
Life thru a Lens
(1997)
I've Been Expecting You
(1998)
Singles from Life thru a Lens
  1. "Old Before I Die"
    Released: 14 April 1997
  2. "Lazy Days"
    Released: 14 July 1997
  3. "South of the Border"
    Released: 15 September 1997
  4. "Angels"
    Released: 1 December 1997
  5. "Let Me Entertain You"
    Released: 16 March 1998

Life thru a Lens is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It was Williams' first solo album following his departure from Take That. Released on 29 September 1997 through EMI Records, it is influenced by Britpop, a departure from the poppier tone of music Take That employed.

The album's first three singles, "Old Before I Die", "Lazy Days" and "South of the Border" (the only single to miss the top 10), were all moderate successes, but it was the fourth single "Angels" which catapulted Williams to international fame. Despite only 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.

Life thru a Lens debuted at number 11 on the UK Albums Chart 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. Despite 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.[1]

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. The title track, "Life thru a Lens" was written about Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, "Ego a Go Go" was written about Gary Barlow, "South of the Border" discusses Kate Moss, and "Baby Girl Window" was inspired by Samantha Beckinsale and her late father, actor Richard Beckinsale. "One of God's Better People" and "Angels" were inspired by Williams' mother, Jan. "Hello, Sir" is a poem that takes a dig at one of Williams' former teachers.[2] Williams reprised part of the poem on the 1 Giant Leap song "My Culture".

The sound of the album is influenced by Britpop and alternative rock, especially bands such as Oasis,[3] a direction his former Take That bandmate Mark Owen had also chosen to pursue on his debut album Green Man (1996). John Bush of AllMusic 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."[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusiclink
Melody MakerNegative[2]
Q

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."[2] However, John Bush of AllMusic 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".[3]

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".[4] Record Collector included the album in their unordered 2000 list of "10 Classic Albums from 21 Genres for the 21st Century",[4] whilst Robert Dimey included the album in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[4]

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, France. At first, the album was slow to take off, debuting at #11 on the UK Albums Chart, and falling to #104 not long after release, having sold a little over 30,000 copies.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] Despite the album's success in Williams' homeland, it failed to make a bigger impact in the international market. However, in Argentina, 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

Track listing

Life Thru a LensStandard edition
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Lazy Days"  Robbie Williams • Guy Chambers 3:52
2. "Life thru a Lens"  Williams • Chambers 3:06
3. "Ego a Go Go"  Williams • Chambers 3:31
4. "Angels"  Williams • Chambers • Ray Heffernan 4:23
5. "South of the Border"  Williams • Chambers 3:52
6. "Old Before I Die"  Williams • Desmond ChildEric Bazilian 3:52
7. "One of God's Better People"  Williams • Chambers 3:33
8. "Let Me Entertain You"  Williams • Chambers 4:20
9. "Killing Me"  Williams • Chambers 3:55
10. "Clean"  Williams • Antony Genn • Martin SlatteryRichard Hawley 3:51
11. "Baby Girl Window"  Williams • Chambers 3:10
12. "Hello Sir" (hidden track)Williams 1:35

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (1997-98) Peak
position
Argentina (CAPIF)[10] 9
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 34
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 33
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 13
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[14] 59
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[15] 2*
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 42
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 34
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 39
UK Albums (OCC)[19] 1
  • Finland's peak was at midprice-chart.

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia[20] Gold 35,000+
Netherlands[21] Gold 40,000+
Switzerland[22] Gold 25,000+
United Kingdom[7] 8× Platinum 2,094,399[1]
Europe[23] 3× Platinum 3,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 Jones, Alan (25 November 2013). "Official Charts Analysis: Robbie LP sells 108k to claim UK's 1,000th Official No.1". Music Week (Intent Media). Retrieved 18 October 2015. (subscription required (help)).
  2. 1 2 3 Bresnark, Robin. "Review: Robbie Williams - Life Thru A Lens, Chrysalis". Melody Maker (IPC Media) (4 October 1997): 51.
  3. 1 2 3 John Bush. "Life Thru a Lens". AllMusic.
  4. 1 2 3 "Acclaimed Music - Life Thru a Lens". acclaimedmusic.net.
  5. 1 2 3 Scott, Paul. "Heaven-sent hit that gave Robbie solo wings - Scotsman.com News". News.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  6. "Life Thru a Lens". RobbieWilliams.com.
  7. 1 2 "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry.
  8. "Robbie Williams, "South Of The Border"". Rtl.musicbrigade.com. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  9. BPI Certification for "Angels"
  10. "Discography - Album - Life Thru a Lens". RobbieWilliams.com.
  11. "Australiancharts.com – Robbie Williams – Life Thru a Lens". Hung Medien.
  12. "Austriancharts.at – Robbie Williams – Life Thru a Lens" (in German). Hung Medien.
  13. "Ultratop.be – Robbie Williams – Life Thru a Lens" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Robbie Williams – Life Thru a Lens" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  15. "IFPI - Robbie Williams: Life Thru a Lens". IFPI.
  16. "Officialcharts.de – Top 100 Longplay". GfK Entertainment.
  17. "Charts.org.nz – Robbie Williams – Life Thru a Lens". Hung Medien.
  18. "Swisscharts.com – Robbie Williams – Life Thru a Lens". Hung Medien.
  19. "1998-04-12 Top 40 UK Albums Archive". Official Charts Company.
  20. "ARIA". ARIA. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  21. "NVPI". Nvpi.nl. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  22. Steffen Hung. "IFPI Switzerland". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  23. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards - 2002". ifpi.org.
Preceded by
This Is Hardcore by Pulp
UK number-one album
18 April 1998 – 1 May 1998
Succeeded by
Mezzanine by Massive Attack
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