What was great about Robbie Williams debut was that, upon leaving Take That, you had no idea what direction he was going to head into. The summer of 1996 saw Robbie bleach his hair, hanging out with the likes of Oasis while going to festivals and generally doing all the things that good boy (and ex-boy) banders should *not* do. But Robbie was never one to play by the rule books and his debut album, Life Thru A Lens, was our first foray into finding out what that cavalier, renegade attitude could yield. It may have all started in the summer of 1996 with a song that didn't even end up on the album (a cover of George Michael's Freedom '90), but just eighteen months later he was one of the biggest solo stars in the land. It may have been a slow burn to the stratospheric success he experienced in the latter months of 1997 and early months of 1998, but the clues were all there to his song writing expertise and knack for an earworm in each subsequent single. Looking back, its a fascinating transition from ex-boy bander to fully fledged enduring popstar...

Freedom ~
as noted, Freedom wasn't on Life Thru A Lens and now seems to be somewhat of a forgotten footnote in Robbie history (though it did appear on his 2010 greatest hits). In hindsight there seemed to be an element of rush to the project, Robbie needing to get something out to remind the world Gary Barlow wasn't the only viable solo star from Take That. Robbie himself mentioned much later that the whole project was so rushed he had to mime to George Michael's original vocal when filming the video (as his wasn't complete yet). Despite that, the song was a great choice for an interim single; sure it wasn't in the main musical direction of his debut but George's lyrics about liberating yourself from how you've been perceived in the past suited Robbie perfectly. The instrumental was pretty faithful to the original - but, with a sizeable fan base, some great Arthur Baker remixes and a 2-CD single package, the single shot to number 2. Robbie had arrived, but the best had yet to come...

Old Before I Die ~
there had been such a rush in camps Williams and Barlow to get a first solo single out that it took 9 months for both ex-Take Thatters to come back with the first single proper from their debut albums. Robbie took a bold new musical route with the Brit-pop sound of Old Before I Die. Definitely a departure from the dance-pop and balladry of his boy band days, the single introduced a swaggering, confident new style that definitely felt influenced by his palling around with Oasis. That's not to say it wasn't brimming with the personality and verve of Robbie who seemed utterly at home in his newly fitted rock-pop persona. He delivered every line with a panache that has since defined his solo output - gripping the listener from start to finish. It worked much better as a debut single and was no surprise that it stomped into the charts at number two). With 4 brand new b-sides across two CD singles, it also started off the highly collectible nature of single releases.

Lazy Days ~
the second single from the opus came exactly 3 months after Old Before I Die (the perfect pop promotion model) and - generating necessary column inches - was released on the same day as Gary Barlow's So Help Me Girl. Lazy Days was actually a great summer time single, an easy breezy tune initially written by Guy Chambers for his group Lemon Trees but re-written with Robbie to inject into it a little more of his own style. It definitely felt as much as an anthem as Old Before I Die (with a bit of a nod to Hey Jude in the outro); and while top ten success is nothing to be sniffed at, I'm pretty sure Robbie/the label were hoping for higher than number 8. It was certainly aligned to the chart trends of the time, though perhaps a more relaxed promo schedule (because of a stint in rehab) contributed to this. Notable is a bonus track on the CD single indicating an early love of the classics that would later redefine his career; a cover of the Cole Porter gem, Every Time We Say Goodbye...

South Of The Border ~
of course the lowest charting single from the as-yet-to-released album was also my favourite of Robbie's solo moments so far. Apparently this was a last minute switch for single choice which is why the video doesn't always feel aligned to the song. Didn't matter to me - it felt like Robbie really found his groove with this song, blending crunchy indie-pop with stadium sing-along sensibilities. For a song about losing the plot after moving from his home of Stoke-on-Trent to London, it is incredibly taut and satisfying. Plus, with his new shaved head he just looked and sounded more relaxed in his new-ish solo pop star status. The garage and house remixes were some of his finest club mixes to date and deserved as much mainstream radio play as the single version. Sadly the song "only" made number 14 which was considered a flop by pop media and the speculation that his career was over began (but ended just a few weeks later)...

Look more closely at Life Thru A Lens when we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album on 29th September 2022