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 Chrysalis Records, it is influenced by Britpop, a departure from the poppier tone of the music Take That employed. The album's working name was The Show-Off Must Go On.[5]
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 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," Williams' first solo single, 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 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.[6]
The album cover art, a photograph of Williams at the centre of a crowd of photographers, was created by Andy Earl.[7]
^Cite error: The named reference johnbush was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Fawthrop, Peter. "Ronan – Ronan Keating". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 February 2021. while Robbie Williams went all out with an egocentric rock album and became a British landmark
^ abRobert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
^Ranking the top 10 Robbie Williams albums from worst to best
^Southall, Nick (5 November 2014). "Robbie Williams – Greatest Hits – Review – Stylus Magazine". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
^Sutherland, Mark (9 May 2016). "By the numbers: inside Robbie Williams' albums career". Music Week. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
^"New Book Chronicles Rock Photographer's Best Shots". MTV.com. 29 December 2000. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
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