Life thru a Lens

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 his then-girlfriend Jacqueline Hamilton-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, "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. 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 song "My Culture". John Bush of AllMusic wrote that Life thru a Lens "continually betrays overt influences from Oasis and other Britpop stars", a direction his former Take That bandmate Mark Owen had also chosen to pursue on his first solo album Green Man (1996). The album's music has also been characterised as power pop. ==Critical reception==

Writing for Melody Maker in October 1997, Robin Bresnark gave Life thru a Lens a negative review, writing: "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." In a retrospective review, John Bush of AllMusic was very positive, giving it four and a half stars out of five. He called it "one of the best U.K. debuts of the '90s" and "an uninhibited joyride through all manner of British music, from glam to alternative to soft-rock to dance-pop" which "triumphs" due to "gorgeous production, Williams' irresistible personality, and the overall flavor of outrageous, utterly enjoyable pop music". He concluded it was "excellent". Martin C. Strong, writing in The Great Rock Discography, reflected that the general critical consensus on Life Thru a Lens was "that Williams was having the last laugh, beating his former Take That cronies hands down (both Gary Barlow and Mark Owen were taking the solo road with middling success) and winning over a cross section of musical palates with his irrepressible style." In 2016, Tom Eames of Digital Spy ranked it as Williams' fourth best album, writing that "his partnership with Guy Chambers simply clicked" and although it "might sound dated today, the majority of the album is pure pop/rock joy". ==Commercial performance==

Life thru a Lens was released in October 1997, not long after Williams's stint in rehab. It was launched with his first live solo gig at the Élysée Montmartre in Paris. 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. It reached the number one position after spending 27 weeks on the chart, as a consequence of the enormous 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 #1, becoming the 58th best-selling album of all time in the UK with sales of 2.4 million copies. Despite its success in Williams' homeland, the album failed to make a bigger impact in the international market. Still, it reached the top 10 in Argentina in early 1998. Life thru a Lens has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide and has been certified as 8× Platinum in the UK. ==Singles==

• "Old Before I Die", a track co-written by Williams, Eric Bazilian, and Desmond Child, was released as the album's lead single in April 1997, peaking at #2 on the UK singles chart. The song failed to make an impact on other international charts. • "Lazy Days" was released as the album's second single in the summer of 1997, amidst Williams' battle with addiction. He was allowed to check out of rehab to shoot the video for the song. The single charted at #8 in the UK, but, due to nonexistent promotion, it struggled to reach the top 40 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", 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 with the record company to discuss concerns about his future. The single was released in December 1997, soon becoming Williams' best selling-single in the UK, being certified 2× Platinum by the BPI. The song became a hit around Europe and Latin America 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, becoming one of Williams' signature songs and being the opening song for most of Williams' concerts throughout his career. ==Track listing==

• Robbie Williams – vocals, backing vocals • Guy Chambers – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals • Chris Sharrock – drums, snare • Andy Duncan – percussion • Martin Slattery – keyboards • Mark Feltham – harmonica • Gary Nuttall – guitar, backing vocals • Andre Barreau – guitar, backing vocals • Steve Power – keyboards, programming • Geoff Dugmore – 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 • Steve “Smiley” Barnard – drums, backing vocals • David 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 • Nicole Patterson – backing vocals ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==