For those not in the know, Robbie Williams today reissues his first two multi-million selling solo albums Life Thru A Lens and I’ve Been Expecting You on vinyl for the very first time -- including a special edition white vinyl of Life Thru A Lens and aquamarine for I’ve Been Expecting You that are available exclusively at: Official Purchase Links.

Released August 27th, 2021, both titles have been newly mastered at Abbey Road Studios, are pressed on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl and housed in gatefold sleeves, reproducing the original distinctive artwork. Both titles come with Download codes.

Originally released in October 1997, Life Thru A Lens was Robbie’s debut solo album. It entered the chart at #11 but had to wait almost six months before it reached #1.

It eventually spent 147 weeks on the Top 100 and has been certified 8x Platinum by the BPI for UK sales in excess of 2 million copies.

It includes the hit singles Old Before I Die (#2), Lazy Days (#8), South Of The Border (#14), Let Me Entertain You (#3) and Angels (#4), the latter his biggest selling single to date and voted the best song of the last twenty-five years at the 2005 BRIT Awards.

Side A:
1. Lazy Days
2. Life Thru A Lens
3. Ego A Go-Go
4. Angels
5. South of the Border
6. Old Before I Die

Side B:
1. One Of God’s Better People
2. Let Me Entertain You
3. Killing Me
4. Clean
5. Baby Girl Window

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.

OK, sure, not one single from the album topped the singles chart in the UK (although Angels should have done!), but the album certainly trumped all comers in its category, buoyed by both the celebrity status of its (co) maker and the catchy nature of whistle-along tunes.

Beginning with the joyous, Oasis-esque, brit-pop imbibed Lazy Days, the album continually betrays overt influences from such bands, 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 aggressively upbeat, funk-tastic bass and brass tracks such a Ego A Go Go, the excellent barn burner Let Me Entertain You and the melodic South of the Border (with its rather catchy hook and a middle-eight that has Robbie speaking thru a walkie-talkie of sorts), crooning on the simply breathtaking ballad Angels, or offering a slice of life - working-class style - on the title track and the aforementioned Lazy Days, Williams is a pop star through and through.

Oh, and with regard one of the stand out lines from verse two on Angels, did you know that And as the feeling grows/She breathes flesh to my bones was actually borrowed from a poem his sister wrote!

Elsewhere, Clean is a cheery song, albeit chock full of inane lyrics (Clean yeah/friends with Mr. Sheen yeah), but some nice bouncy guitars keep its head above water and the veritably acoustic One Of God’s Better People has Robbie singing in his lush harmonious boyband voice.

And if you give the album closer some listening time, Baby Girl Window is Robbie reciting a poem about school, which itself closes with the very British tag line of Bollocks, Sir. Kiss my ass!

Thus, and for those who appreciate great pop tunes with plenty of tongue in cheek substance veined throughout, Life Thru A Lens is an excellent album and still stands the test of time today, and given that it comes from Britain’s most-successful solo artist of all time, I’d add that it sounds even better here on this just-released vinyl!

Official Purchase Links

Official Website

Robbie Williams - Angels (Official Video)

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