I recently heard this for the first time as my Dad bought CD secondhand recently and was playing it in his cars. He seems to be picking up a lot of CDS (including Robbie CDs) second hand at the tip atm :lol:

 

I wasn't as familiar with his earlier albums so it gave me a chance to hear them and I've been really enjoying Life Thru A Lens. It is a really good album :)

 

I couldn't seem to find a thread for it apart from this 'favourite song' thread from 2006 but I didn't want to bump it as it hasn't been posted in in 10 years :lol:

http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?s...c=2940&st=0

 

 

What did everybody think of this album? What are your favourite tracks? What didn't you enjoy about this album or era (if anything) ?

 

 

I came into being a Robbie fan after this album was released so by the time I got to hear it - he had already had hits from it and was a huge star.

 

I love the energy of those early albums and although it wasn't good for him at the time - I love his anger . He was out to prove the world wrong.

 

LTAL and Ego A Go Go are my favourites plus the signature tracks of Angels and LMEY.

 

Great album and Love brash/bold/loud Robbie - in your face and demanding to be heard. :cheer: Just how I love him. :lol:

Yeah, I love his cheeky attitude and it has still carried on throughout his career.

 

I like the Hello Sir at the end but the wait for it is so long, I will try and skip forward through the silence next time :lol: It is powerful and emotional.

Yeah, I love his cheeky attitude and it has still carried on throughout his career.

 

I like the Hello Sir at the end but the wait for it is so long, I will try and skip forward through the silence next time :lol: It is powerful and emotional.

 

 

:lol: he has secret tracks on all those early albums and you have to wait half an hour for them. :lol:

 

I heard him recite Hello Sir live at the Troxy gig where he got his Brit Icon award - and it's powerful live.

:lol: he has secret tracks on all those early albums and you have to wait half an hour for them. :lol:

 

I heard him recite Hello Sir live at the Troxy gig where he got his Brit Icon award - and it's powerful live.

 

Omg, that is so long! I don't really see hidden tracks these days on albums.

 

It must have been amazing live :yahoo:

Omg, that is so long! I don't really see hidden tracks these days on albums.

 

It must have been amazing live :yahoo:

 

It was. B-)

LTAL is one of my favourite albums . Always loved South of The Border , it has a really fresh sound to it & not over-produced . It seems like such a long time ago

 

It was. B-)

 

I just watched the video, it is cool that he still performed a hidden album track after all those years but it has a strong meaning so I can see why.

 

The crowd loved it and knew the words.

 

He's truly had a remarkable career!

I feel Bus stops like this should be mandatory B-)

 

 

http://i67.tinypic.com/okqyqw.jpg

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/robbiewilliams/vid...55810575409107/

 

 

 

-_-

I just watched the video, it is cool that he still performed a hidden album track after all those years but it has a strong meaning so I can see why.

 

The crowd loved it and knew the words.

 

He's truly had a remarkable career!

 

i saw this on tv is the full show available anywhere?

i saw this on tv is the full show available anywhere?

 

 

 

Which video do you mean Vibe, I am not sure I have seen it :unsure:

i saw this on tv is the full show available anywhere?

 

 

Do you mean the Troxy gig vibe?

 

Some of it is on YouTube but I don't think it's all of it.

Time Capsule: Robbie Williams, Life thru a Lens

 

While derided by the English press since his time in the boy band Take That, Robbie Williams proves his worth as a solo artist on his imperfect but undeniably fun debut album.

 

By Clare Martin | January 18, 2025 | 11:41am

 

 

https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/robbie-...ife-thru-a-lens

 

If you are remotely online, you’ve likely seen the memes already: Nobody in the United States knows who British pop star Robbie Williams is, and no one cares—even if his biopic Better Man is getting great reviews. And yet, here I am, asking you to give a shit as I revisit his debut solo album Life thru a Lens (the cover of which inspired the Better Man poster).

 

Williams was the youngest member of the English boy band Take That, joining in 1990 at the tender age of 16. No one expected him to be the one with the best solo career; he had all the personality and charisma, but group leader Gary Barlow was the voice. As Take That grew more successful, Williams battled substance abuse and creatively butted heads with Barlow; he was eventually asked to leave the band in 1995, since he was missing rehearsals and behaving recklessly. Over the next two years, Williams wrote and recorded the songs that would become Life thru a Lens—many of them with Guy Chambers, a musician whose publisher put him in touch with the hopeful solo artist. The Williams-Chambers partnership was a fruitful one, spawning five albums and numerous hits.

 

I’ll be the first to admit—I am not approaching Williams’ music with an ounce of nostalgia. I didn’t know he existed before 2013, when I moved to Ireland and used his 2012 song “Candy” on a sweets-themed radio show I hosted. And as someone with no rose-colored glasses on, I have to say: His music slaps. Life thru a Lens is not pop perfection by any means; it doesn’t reinvent the wheel and contains forgettably frothy songs alongside the bangers, as well as some truly cringeworthy lyrics. But when Williams is at the top of his game, it’s clear that he’s a born entertainer.

 

Opener “Lazy Days” has the bones of a Britpop hit; this could be the poppiest song on a rock record, though in reality it’s the reverse. Sugary, stadium-ready guitar and plenty of hi-hat back Williams here. His attitude-heavy, slightly nasal vocal performance almost veers into pop punk territory at times. There’s something incredibly funny (and very British) about the central refrain: “And we will have / A jolly good time.” The title track follows in much the same sonic vein, delving into class stratification in the UK in the context of Williams’ relationship with socialite Jacqueline Hamilton-Smith. “Just because I ain’t double barreled / Don’t mean I haven’t traveled well,” he sings (double barreled last names—that is, hyphenated last names—are associated with the upper classes in the UK).

 

“Ego a Go Go” shows off a less pleasant side of Williams: his need to shove his success in the faces of people who he feels have wronged him. In this case, it’s Gary Barlow, the former lead singer of Take That. Williams’ solo career ended up eclipsing Barlow’s, but that was never a given—as mentioned earlier, the public generally expected Barlow to be the one to “make it” outside the group. When Life thru a Lens came out, it bucked expectations, eventually reaching number one on the UK charts. As such, looking back on this song now, “Ego a Go Go” feels unsavory and boastful, even if the smooth grooves feel like a precursor to the jazzy ease of the Ocean’s Eleven soundtrack. “Did I break your heart when I stole your thunder?” Williams asks. And an earlier line is straight-up hilarious, begging the question of whether Williams knew what a golden shower was (or whether that slang was developed yet): “Hide away in your ivory tower / And cover me in your golden shower.” But asking an ex-boy band member who left school at 16 not to be immature feels like asking a porcupine not to be prickly.

 

Now we get to the centrepiece of the album: “Angels.” If you go to any pub in Ireland or the UK and this song comes on at the end of the night, everyone is going to join in, without fail. “Angels” is based off a track written by Irish musician Ray Heffernan, but the iconic moment on the chorus—”And through it aaaaall”—was pure Williams and Chambers. The latter credits his musical upbringing (Chambers’ father played flute in the London Philharmonic Orchestra) for his “symphonic” and dramatic songwriting, which can most certainly be heard here. “Angels” is a cultural moment; if you don’t get it, you’re missing out.

 

“Old Before I Die” feels especially poignant following the death of fellow boy band alum Liam Payne; graduating from adolescent stardom to adulthood sadly isn’t a given. Swaggering guitar welcomes us in, boasting all the invincibility and confidence that accompanies youth. Sure, we get silly lyrics like, “I hope I live to see the day the Pope gets high,” but we also get a key change and the sheer honesty of a star reckoning with the consequences of fame.

 

“One of God’s Better People” is a fairly forgettable ballad and one of the sparsest song on the album, but that leaves our expectations low before the glorious bombast of “Let Me Entertain You.” If there’s a thesis statement to the album, this is it. Declarative piano, rattling tambourine and buzzing guitar let us know from the start that Williams is not f***ing around; this is a certifiable banger. Along with “Angels,” this is one of Williams’ signature songs, which he often opens his shows with, and for good reason. “Shake your ass, come over here, now scream,” he commands at the start, a line that’s guaranteed to get the crowd moving.

 

There’s a retro tautness to “Clean,” auguring the bright throwback sound that would later make pop artist Mika famous. Sunny and upbeat—flirting with but never totally saccharine—this may be one of the most underrated tracks on Life thru a Lens. Williams juxtaposes the darkness of substance abuse with an aural lightness. “Clean” also has some of the album’s most experimental moments: a little psychedelic instrumental breakdown, as well as a twisted, carnival-esque jam that feels appropriate considering the subject matter.

 

Life thru a Lens was just the start for Williams; since then, he’s released over 10 albums and holds a Guinness World Record as the top-selling album artist in the UK in the 21st century. His debut solo LP is a Britpop-infused two fingers to anyone who doubted him, and he’s gone on to prove his allure as an artist again and again. Is the album cheesy sometimes? Sure. Is it dated? Most definitely. But to anyone who refutes his merits as a showman, let me quote the hidden track on Life thru a Lens, directed at a bully of a teacher: “Bollocks, sir, kiss my arse.”

 

https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/robbie-...ife-thru-a-lens

Edited January 18Jan 18 by Sydney11

@1882484625098064195

 

 

 

One of my favourite albums :heart: :heart: :heart:

Edited January 23Jan 23 by Sydney11