Posted February 3, 200718 yr http://www.londonist.com/attachments/londonist_mark/robbie_williams.jpg Robbie Williams Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Out of all the members of Take That, Robbie Williams never really seemed to fit in. Roguishly handsome where his bandmates were merely cute, Williams was tougher and sexier than the rest, which made him more distinctive. He also fought regularly with the other members and their management, primarily because he was occasionally adverse to being so heavily packaged. So it didn't come as a surprise that he was the first to leave the band, departing early in the summer of 1995 to pursue a solo career (by some accounts, he was fired from the group). Although he was the first out of the gate, it took Williams awhile to get started. For most of 1995, he attempted to boost his credibility by tagging along with Oasis, hoping that Noel Gallagher would give him a couple of songs. He never did, but all of his time with Oasis launched Williams into a world of heavy partying, drinking, and drugging. Over the course of 1996, he was only heard from in gossip columns, and every published picture indicated he had put on considerable weight. Occasionally, he was quoted as saying his new music would abandon lightweight dance-pop for traditional Brit-pop, but his first single was a cover of George Michael's "Freedom '90." Released late in 1996, the single was a disaster, but his second single, 1997's "Old Before I Die," was more in the vein of his early pronouncements, featuring a distinct Oasis influence. Williams finally released his first solo album, Life Thru a Lens, in 1997. The album became a big hit in Britain, prompting his second, I've Been Expecting You, in 1998. (The Ego Has Landed, a U.S.-only compilation designed for breaking Williams to American audiences, was released stateside in the spring of 1999.) Sing When You're Winning followed in late 2000, gaining success with the video hit "Rock DJ," while a big-band album of standards (Swing When You're Winning) appeared a year later. During 2002, Williams celebrated an enormous new contract with EMI (rumored to be upwards of $80 million dollars), but suffered the loss of his longtime production partner, Guy Chambers. Escapology, the fifth Robbie Williams album (and the last including Chambers' input), sold millions of copies in Europe, though it failed to persuade American audiences. As a result, the 2003 concert record Live at Knebworth wasn't released in the States. He introduced a new musical partner, Stephen Duffy, with a pair of songs from his compilation Greatest Hits, then reappeared in 2005 with Intensive Care. Although the album topped charts in Europe and Williams set an impressive concert record — his 2006 world tour sold over 1.5 million tickets in one day — a certain creative atrophy was setting in, despite the new input of Duffy. Within a year, he had recorded and released Rudebox, a dance album recorded with half a dozen outside producers, some featured guests, and several covers instead of self-penned material. Rudebox hit number one across Europe soon after release.
February 3, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd700/d729/d72905ua4gn.jpg Life Thru a Lens (1997) 4.5 Stars (9 out of 10) Review by John Bush One of the best U.K. debuts of the '90s, Life Thru a Lens is an uninhibited joyride through all manner of British music, from glam to alternative to soft-rock to dance-pop. Beginning with the joyous "Lazy Days," the album 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. Whether he's romping through aggressive burners like "Ego A Go Go" and "South of the Border," crooning on the ballad "Angels," or offering a slice of life — working-class style — on the title track and "Lazy Days," Williams is a pop star through and through. For those who appreciate great pop with plenty of cheek, Life Thru a Lens is an excellent album.
February 3, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd700/d731/d731766o7u7.jpg I've Been Expecting You (Aug 25, 1998) 4 Stars (8 out of 10) Review by John Bush A more mature, calculated album from a pop star who's often gloried in being immature and spontaneous, I've Been Expecting You may suffer from comparisons to its excellent predecessor, but it also finds Robbie Williams weathering the sophomore storm quite well. While Williams' debut was infectious and outrageous, the second is indeed a more studied album. The opener, "Strong," begins very well, with the spot-on lyrics: "My breath smells of a thousand fags/And when I'm drunk I dance like me Dad," and "Early morning when I wake up/I look like Kiss but without the makeup." Many of the tracks on I've Been Expecting You show an undeniable growth, both in songwriting and in artistic expression; two of the highlights, "No Regrets" and "Phoenix From the Flames," are sensitive, unapologetically emotional songs that may not be as immediately catchy as those on his debut, but pack a greater punch down the road. Williams does indulge his sense of fun occasionally, playing up James Bond during the transcontinental hand-waver "Millennium" (which samples Nancy Sinatra's theme for You Only Live Twice), and simply roaring through "Win Some Lose Some" and "Jesus in a Camper Van."
February 3, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf400/f413/f41301cy174.jpg Sing When You're Winning (Oct 3, 2000) 4 Stars (8 out of 10) Review by John Bush Poised for global domination with his third album, Robbie Williams and producer Guy Chambers hardly dared mess with the formula of their 1998 crossover hit I've Been Expecting You. As such, Sing When You're Winning has plenty of introspective balladry akin to "Angels," and a few irresistible party-time tracks in similar company to "Millennium." The album also moves Williams farther away from the increasingly dated visions of Oasis-style Brit-pop to embrace post-millennial dance-pop, complete with the bruising beats and extroverted productions to match. And Chambers certainly knows his production playbook well, conjuring a panoply of classic British rock touchstones like psychedelia, slick country-rock, Ian Dury, the Who, Elton John, and Madchester. Despite a small drop in songwriting from its predecessor, Sing When You're Winning ultimately succeeds, and most of the credit must go to Williams himself. Amidst a few overly familiar arrangements and lyrical themes, Williams proves the consummate entertainer, delivering powerful, engaging vocals — no matter the quality of the material — and striking the perfect balance between tongue-in-cheek, self-mocking humor ("Knutsford City Limits") and genuine feeling (tender ballads like "Better Man" and "If It's Hurting You"). The radio-ready single "Rock DJ" is a piece of immediately gratifying pop candyfloss with a surprisingly endless shelf life, though "Kids," a vivacious, vacuous vamp of a duet with Kylie Minogue, doesn't even hold its own after one listen. Toss in a few beautiful album tracks (the opener "Let Love Be Your Energy," "Love Calling Earth," "Singing for the Lonely"), but then counter them with a few bland singalongs ("Supreme," "Forever Texas"), and the result is a scattered, entertaining album whose real star is Robbie Williams' personality.
February 3, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf000/f057/f05710y4z1m.jpg Swing When You're Winning (Nov 27, 2001) 4 Stars (8 out of 10) Review by John Bush Performance dynamo and chameleonic entertainment personality Robbie Williams made a rapid transformation — from English football hooligan to dapper saloon singer — for his fourth LP, Swing When You're Winning. Still, Williams' tribute to the great American songbook is a surprisingly natural fit with its intended target: '50s trad-pop patriarchs like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. And just like those two loveable rogues, Williams has brawled and boozed in the past, but isn't afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve; in fact, he's one of the few modern pop stars to fully embrace affecting balladry and nuanced singing. Williams and longtime producer Guy Chambers are also extremely careful with their product, so it shouldn't be surprising that Swing When You're Winning has innumerable extra-musical touches to carry it over: the cover features Williams relaxing in the studio in a period suit; his contract with EMI enabled the addition of the treasured Capitol logo at the top of the sleeve, and several tracks were even recorded at the famed Capitol tower in Hollywood. Fortunately, Williams is no less careful with his performances. Since he lacks the authoritative air of master crooners like Sinatra and Bing Crosby (along with the rest of humanity), he instead plays up his closer connections to the world of Broadway. His readings are dynamic and emotional — sometimes a consequence of trying to put a new spin on these classics (six of the covers are Sinatra standards, three are Bobby Darin's). He also invited, with nearly universal success, a series of duet partners: Nicole Kidman for the sublime "Somethin' Stupid," Jon Lovitz for the irresistibly catty "Well, Did You Evah," Rupert Everett for "They Can't Take That Away From Me," longtime Sinatra accompanist Bill Miller on "One for My Baby," even Sinatra himself for a version of "It Was a Very Good Year" on which Williams takes the first two verses (over the 1965 arrangement), then bows out as Sinatra's original counsels him concerning the later stages of life. Though it may be an overly close tribute to a familiar original (like many of the songs here), Williams' considerable skills with expression and interpretation largely overwhelm any close criticism. He's definitely much better on the comedy songs, especially the hilarious "Well, Did You Evah" (originally a duet for Crosby and Sinatra in the 1956 film High Society). Lovitz's rounded tones and faux-affected airs are a spot-on interpretation of Brother Cros, while Williams' emulation of a boorish lug ("That's a nice dress — think I could talk her out of it?") is nearly perfect as well. Though arranger Steve Sidwell hasn't done many charts (and those for the movies Moulin Rouge, Bridget Jones' Diary, and Romeo + Juliet), he also acquits himself nicely aping classic scores for "One for My Baby" and "Beyond the Sea." The lone Robbie Williams original is "I Will Talk and Hollywood Will Listen," a sweeping pipe-dream fantasy of true American superstardom for Britain's biggest pop star. It could happen, too; Pierce Brosnan surely isn't growing any younger.
February 3, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf800/f813/f81384a339a.jpg Escapology (Apr 1, 2003 - US Release Date) 2 Stars (4 out of 10) Review by John Bush With the news that Escapology would be the last Robbie Williams album recorded with producer/songwriter phenom Guy Chambers, fans began to wonder whether one of Britain's most durable pop forces would execute a disappearing act from the charts with a single album. Unfortunately, Escapology makes it sound as though Chambers has already left. Backed by stale songs, formulaic arrangements, and mediocre songwriting, Williams is forced to rely on his volcanic personality to bring this album across — and despite a few strong performances, he sinks into lame self-parody time and time again. It's nearly impossible to reflect seriously on themes he's already broached several times before, as often happens here; "Feel" and "Love Somebody" are the usual looking-for-love songs, the latter with a set of trite lyrics cribbed from 30 years of rock & roll: "Always and forever, is forever young/Your shadow on the pavement, the dark side of the sun/Gotta dream the dream all over and sleep it tight/You don't wanna sing the blues in black and white." The Oasis flag-waver "Something Beautiful" finds Williams trying to keep on despite being tired with the modern world, while "Monsoon" and "Handsome Man" chart the usual celebrity regrets with an odd sense of arrogance and self-deprecation that isn't half as interesting at this point in his career as before. The highlights here are songs that barely would've made it onto Sing When You're Winning (much less his first two albums), and the sound is MOR throughout. Robbie Williams has never been an innovative artist, but previously his strong delivery and sly, ironic wit — along with savvy production and songwriting — kept any glimpse of cheese at bay. Escapology shows he's unable to avoid the trap.
February 3, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg100/g108/g10890da3pb.jpg Live at Knebworth (Oct 7, 2003) 2.5 Stars (5 out of 10) Review by John Bush From most accounts, Robbie Williams' appearance at Knebworth over three August nights in 2003 wasn't just the largest concert in British music history (reportedly 375,000 attended over the course of the weekend), but a display of Williams' mastery of an audience and a confirmation that, American listeners aside, he's one of the biggest pop stars in the world. Live at Knebworth followed just two months later, a 72-minute collection from his two-hour live extravaganza. While the audio document isn't nearly as exciting as the live experience that made fans gush, the disc does transmit the massive amounts of energy at a Robbie Williams concert. Opening with his anthem "Let Me Entertain You" (as he always does), Williams keeps the crowd hanging on his every note, changing lyrics to fit the venue, indulging in his usual blend of faux arrogance and self-deprecation, and coaxing the audience on during every song. ("Show me love, Knebworth!") However, what could have been an excellent look at Britain's foremost pop entertainer in action is marred by its focus on material from his dreadful fifth album, Escapology. After a splendid beginning (including a brief flirtation with Queen's "We Will Rock You"), Williams performs four consecutive songs from Escapology: "Monsoon," "Come Undone," "Me and My Monkey" (which drags on for over seven minutes), and "Hot Fudge." The compilers found room to fit in two of his biggest songs ("Angels," "Kids"), but apparently didn't think superior hits like "Rock DJ," "Millennium," or "No Regrets" (all of which he performed at the show) needed to appear on this disc. A solid live album with the exception of the gaping hole in its midsection, Live at Knebworth is a missed opportunity, one that Chrysalis will hopefully rectify within a few years.
February 3, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh000/h087/h08724ps8he.jpg Intensive Care (Nov 1, 2005) 2.5 Stars (5 out of 10) Review by John Bush Despite his constant self-deprecation, Robbie Williams is a shrewd artist, one who can tell when a change is in order. It's impossible to tell if he would have agreed to continue working with producer Guy Chambers had Chambers not been forced out of the chair by money matters, but Williams lost little time in finding another creative partner. Stephen Duffy may not be as fluent in the last 40 years of guitar pop as Chambers is, but he immediately announces a changing of the guard on the first track, "Ghosts," with his ringing guitar and keyboards. And it works, briefly. The trailer single, "Tripping," is a warm, clubby single that slightly resembles "Rock DJ" (and it is slight in comparison), but sounds like it could find a comfortable home on both adult alternative radio and the dancefloor. Williams goes for the jugular on "Spread Your Wings," an ambitious portrait of a lover's reunion (based, he says, on an alternate view of Human League's "Louise"). His lyrics, however, only sketch in the details, and Duffy's arrangement is a pale shadow of a Smiths song from 20 years earlier. It's possible that the partnership of Duffy and Williams can still bear fruit, but it will require not only better music from Duffy, but far better performances from Williams, who delivers his lyrics as though, at this point, his performing personality can just be filled in by his fans. (Of course, personality was one trait never in short supply on previous albums.) He rarely even sounds like himself, instead choosing to channel his '80s heroes — Bono, Morrissey, George Michael, even Tom Jones briefly. It's important to point out that since Intensive Care represents a new direction and a new sound, it is much more interesting than the creatively bankrupt Escapology. Still, nearly all of the qualities that made Robbie Williams interesting between 1995 and 2000 — his irreverence, his biting wit, his status as the thinking man's conflicted hooligan — are merely memories after Intensive Care.
February 3, 200718 yr Thanks for these tip. They are very interesting and so well written. I agree with most of what has been said. Life Thru A Lens is by far the nearest thing he's had to the perfect album. Simply fantastic. :wub: I'm glad (and at the same time quite shocked) Escapology has the lowest mark. It has always been my least fave album and I always thoght I was alone in thinking that. :lol: EDIT: IC does'nt deverve a 2.5 :arrr: It is a great complete album. The lyrics on it are fantastic. If some hyped up singer/songwriter released it they would probebly give it 4 or 5 :P
February 3, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh900/h983/h98360ux30i.jpg Rudebox (Oct 23, 2006) 4.5 Stars (9 out of 10) Review by John Bush The careers of most music celebrities are like passenger ships, able to steam along nearly indefinitely without the least chance of modifying course. With his work of the 21st century, Robbie Williams appeared to have set himself on a course that was guaranteed to keep him working for decades, remaining important to thousands of fans, but never varying from the type of adult alternative singer/songwriter material expected of him. Then came Rudebox, which proves he's not that simple — or at least, not that satisfied with himself. It may be a good album because it says little about his inner life and emotional troubles, which are unceremoniously dropped in favor of hyper-sexualized or sarcastic dance music and ironic laugh-getters ("Make your body shake like you stood on a land mine," "Dance like you just won at the Special Olympics"). It may be a good album because it has some of the best productions of his career, usually amped-up electro-disco from the duo Soul Mekanik or goofy hip-hop soul from Mark Ronson (which makes him come across as Justin Timberlake at some points and Gnarls Barkley at others). It's certainly a good record in comparison to its two predecessors, which suffered from a lack of vitality. (For example, while 2005's Intensive Care desultorily attempted to rewrite the Human League's "Louise," Rudebox simply covers the song, with much more feeling.) Compared to Escapology and Intensive Care, Rudebox is not only loose and fun but, for the first time in Williams' career, receptive to outside help; aside from the producers, Lily Allen and the Pet Shop Boys make appearances, and Robbie covers songs from Manu Chao, Lewis Taylor, Stephen Duffy, and the indie band My Robot Friend. Not that the record is perfect; in fact, it has a few of the most embarrassing moments in Williams' career. The lyrics occasionally devolve into hip-hop nonsense ("Got no strings, but I think with my ding-a-ling/Wu-Tang with the bling-bling, sing a song of Sing Sing"). "The 80s" is even worse, a nostalgic but monotone rap that oddly balances adolescent trauma and pop culture ("Auntie Jo died of cancer/God didn't have an answer/Rhythm was a dancer"). Still, the next track after "The 80s" is "The 90s," a surprisingly bewitching chronicle of his boy-band years from 1990 to 1995. The fact remains that every track here is better and more interesting than anything from the previous two LPs, despite the occasional embarrassing couplet or misguided musical idea.
February 3, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg500/g546/g54658op4o1.jpg Greatest Hits (Oct 12, 2004) 4.5 Stars (9 out of 10) Review by John Bush A near-perfect look at the career of Britain's brightest singles artist during the late '90s and early 2000s, Robbie Williams' Greatest Hits chronologically consolidates Williams' canon of Top Tens — 19 of them in all, as of its release in late 2004. (Not all of his Top Ten singles are present, since the disc closes with a pair of new songs.) In the late '90s, Robbie Williams proved that a pop artist with a dodgy artistic background — witness his membership in Take That — was still capable of joining the long line of British artists (T. Rex, Madness, Pet Shop Boys, Blur) who completely embraced danceable pop music without selling their souls in the bargain. Williams' biggest up-tempo hits, "Millennium" and "Rock DJ," were loved by middle-aged housewives and young teens alike (slightly less so by the latter, of course). Sugary and infectious but not disposable, they were made-to-order as great radio product, an art increasingly being lost. And as shown by "Angels," the biggest hit of his career, Williams also had a winning way with balladry. He also forged a comfortable performing personality via his excitable, self-effacing cad who takes himself far too seriously and can get intensely emotional every now and then, but is usually good for a laugh. (See "Strong" for the details.) The two new tracks introduce Stephen Duffy — an original member of Duran Duran who later made his own name in the Lilac Time — as the replacement for Guy Chambers as Williams' new producer/songwriter/contributor (of course, the two songs, "Radio" and "Misunderstood," can't help but sound weak in this context). Despite pop fans being sick of his omnipresence in British pop culture, history will likely be kind to Robbie Williams. After all, would a disposable pop artist quote Latin on the back of a CD booklet? (Granted, in typical Robbie fashion the epigraph translates as, "If it has t*ts or wheels, it will make life difficult.")
February 3, 200718 yr The Oasis flag-waver "Something Beautiful" I for one, don't hear any Oasis in Something Beautiful. Love Somebody perhaps or Monsoon, but not SB :wacko:
February 3, 200718 yr Thank very much! Great reviews Can´t believe Escapology and Intensive Care have very low marks :cry: :P
February 3, 200718 yr So glad Rudebox got a great review. The stupid papers like the Mirror and Sun day it was critically panned. This was not true. At one point, I remember saying it was the most critically acclaimed album he's had in years. NME, Mojo, Uncut, Music Week, The Times among many othere gave it a great review. The Sun hardly matters, -_- Overall, I really enjoyed reading these reviews, but diagree hugely with IC getting only 2.5. I would've given it a 3.5. -_-
February 4, 200718 yr So glad Rudebox got a great review. The stupid papers like the Mirror and Sun day it was critically panned. This was not true. At one point, I remember saying it was the most critically acclaimed album he's had in years. NME, Mojo, Uncut, Music Week, The Times among many othere gave it a great review. The Sun hardly matters, -_- Overall, I really enjoyed reading these reviews, but diagree hugely with IC getting only 2.5. I would've given it a 3.5. -_- Scotty - That is so true , it got great reviews where it should count & Robbie had to have been very pleased as an artist with such good reviews from people that know the music business. Its just a pity that most people seem to believe what is in the daily papers & probably dont even buy those magazines anyway. I hope Robbie continues to make the music that he likes & not be forced by the press to do something he no longer gets any personal pleasure out of.
