Life Thru a Lens is the debut studio album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams

Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...

. It was Williams' first solo album following his departure from Take That

Take That

Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...

.

Background

After trying hard to find his own sound during a period of personal upheaval, recordings for the album began at London's Maison Rouge studios in March of that year, shortly after his introduction to Guy Chambers

Guy Chambers

Guy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...

. Writing for Melody Maker

Melody Maker

Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...

in October 1997, Robin Bresnark gave Life Thru a Lens a very negative review; "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." The title track, "Life Thru a Lens" was written about Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson also known as T P-T, is an English socialite, "it girl", television presenter, columnist and model...

, "Ego A Go Go" was written about Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...

, "South of the Border" discusses Kate Moss

Kate Moss

Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...

, and "Baby Girl Window" was inspired by Samantha Beckinsale

Samantha Beckinsale

Samantha Jane Beckinsale is an English actress best known for her role as firefighter, Kate Stevens, in London's Burning and her role as Lesley in the sitcom Shelley from 1989–1992...

 and her late father actor Richard Beckinsale

Richard Beckinsale

Richard Arthur Beckinsale was an English actor, best known for his roles as Lennie Godber in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge and Alan Moore in the British sitcom Rising Damp....

. "One of God's Better People" and "Angels" were inspired by Williams' mother Jan. "Hello Sir" is a poem that takes a dig at one of William's former teachers. Williams reprised part of the poem on the 1 Giant Leap

1 Giant Leap

1 Giant Leap is a concept band and media project consisting of the two principal artists, Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman.-Information:...

 song "My Culture

My Culture

"My Culture" is a song by British trip-hop duo 1 Giant Leap released as the first single from their debut album, 1 Giant Leap in the spring of 2002. The track features vocals from Maxi Jazz and Robbie Williams. The song became a top ten hit in the United Kingdom and it managed to chart inside the...

".

Success

The album was released in September 1997, not long after Williams's stint in rehab. The album was launched with his first live solo gig at the Elysee Monmatre theatre in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. At first, the album was slow to take off, debuting at #11 on the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

, and falling to #104 not long after release, having sold a little over 30,000 copies. The album first reached the number-one position after spending twenty-eight weeks inside the charts, going on to spend a total of two-hundred and eighteen weeks on the chart, becoming the fifty-eighth best selling album of all time with sales of 2.4 million copies. Despite the album's success in Williams' homeland, it failed to make a bigger impact in the international market. However, in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, the album reached the top ten in early 1998. The album has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. The album has been certified as 8x Platinum

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 in the UK.

Singles

• "Old Before I Die
  Old Before I Die
  "Old Before I Die" is a 1997 song by Robbie Williams, and the first single to be taken from his debut album, Life Thru A Lens. It became a number two hit in the United Kingdom when it was released in April that year. The video has Williams performing for the camera with ageing rock stars as his...
  
  ", a track co-written by Williams, Eric Bazilian
  Eric Bazilian
  Eric M. Bazilian , is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters.-Early life:...
  
  , and Desmond Child
  Desmond Child
  Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
  
  , was released as the album's lead single in April 1997, peaking at #2 on the UK Singles Chart
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
  . The song failed to make an impact in other international charts.

• "Lazy Days
  Lazy Days
  "Lazy Days" is a July 1997 single released by Robbie Williams, the second single released from his 1997 album Life thru a Lens. The song became a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, but success was limited elsewhere....
  
  " was released as the album's second single in the summer of 1997, amidst William's battle with addiction. He was allowed to check out from rehab to shoot the video for the song. The single charted at number-eight in the United Kingdom but, because promotion was nonexistent, struggled to reach the top forty 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 considered this the end of Robbie Williams.

• "Angels", a song supposedly penned by himself and Guy Chambers, was released as the album's fourth single. The decision to release the song came after Williams met the record company to discuss concerns about his future. It later emerged that Williams had purchased the song from Dublin songwriter Ray Heffernan for £10,000 on condition of a writing credit on the album. The credit was not given but a cryptic obscure message of thanks - "Even fallen angels laugh last, thanks to Ray Heffernan" - does appear on the sleeve. The single was released in December 1997, soon becoming Williams' best selling-single in the United Kingdom, being certified 2x Platinum by the BPI
  British Phonographic Industry
  The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
  
  . The song became a hit around Europe
  Europe
  Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
  
   and Latin America
  Latin America
  Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
  
   and sold almost two million copies worldwide, rocketing sales of his album.

• "Let Me Entertain You
  Let Me Entertain You (Robbie Williams song)
  "Let Me Entertain You" is a song written by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers. Released as the fifth and last single from Williams' debut album, Life Thru A Lens. It has no connection to the songs by Queen or Shakespears Sister carrying the same title. In March 1998, the track became a top three hit...
  
  " was released as the album's fifth and final single in March 1998. It peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
  , becoming one of Williams' signature songs and being the opener of most Williams' tours throughout his career.

Track listing

1. "Lazy Days
   Lazy Days
   "Lazy Days" is a July 1997 single released by Robbie Williams, the second single released from his 1997 album Life thru a Lens. The song became a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, but success was limited elsewhere....
   
   " (Williams, Chambers) – 3:52
2. "Life Thru a Lens" (Williams, Chambers) – 3:06
3. "Ego a Go Go" (Williams, Chambers) – 3:31
4. "Angels" (Williams, Chambers) – 4:23
5. "South of the Border" (Williams, Chambers) – 3:52
6. "Old Before I Die
   Old Before I Die
   "Old Before I Die" is a 1997 song by Robbie Williams, and the first single to be taken from his debut album, Life Thru A Lens. It became a number two hit in the United Kingdom when it was released in April that year. The video has Williams performing for the camera with ageing rock stars as his...
   
   " (Williams, Child, Bazilian) – 3:52
7. "One of God's Better People" (Williams, Chambers) – 3:33
8. "Let Me Entertain You
   Let Me Entertain You (Robbie Williams song)
   "Let Me Entertain You" is a song written by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers. Released as the fifth and last single from Williams' debut album, Life Thru A Lens. It has no connection to the songs by Queen or Shakespears Sister carrying the same title. In March 1998, the track became a top three hit...
   
   " (Williams, Chambers) – 4:20
9. "Killing Me" (Williams, Chambers) – 3:55
10. "Clean" (Williams, Glenn, Slattery, Cook, Hawley) – 3:51
11. "Baby Girl Window" (Williams, Chambers) – 6:10
12. "Hello Sir" (Williams) (Hidden Track) - 1:35

Japanese Bonus Tracks

13. "Teenage Millionaire" (Williams, Chambers) - 3:16

14. "She Makes Me High" (Williams, Chambers) - 3:10

Special Edition Bonus DVD

1. "Old Before I Die" (Live on TOTP)
2. "Lazy Days" (Live on TOTP)
3. "South Of The Border" (Live on TOTP)
4. "Angels" (Live on TOTP)
5. "Angels" (Unplugged - Live on TOTP)
6. "Michael Parkinson Interview"
7. "Let Me Entertain You" (Live on TOTP)
8. "Killing Me" (Live on TOTP)

Certifications, Peaks & Sales

Country	Peak Position	Certification (If Any)	Sales/shipments
Australia	34	Gold	35,000+
Austria	33
Netherlands		Gold	40,000+
Switzerland	39	Gold	25,000+
United Kingdom	1	8x Platinum	2,400,000+