Robbie Williams is one of the UK’s most popular and successful music artists of the past few decades, and Michael Gracey’s latest biopic Better Man explores his turbulent rise to fame in an extremely creative way. The movie follows the early years of Williams’ career as a British pop icon through the lens of a CGI monkey, where everybody else in the film is played by real humans. Robbie Williams being played by a monkey is a fascinating storytelling device that allows Better Man to more closely navigate the singer’s own perception of himself during a particularly dark period in his life.
Williams first became famous for his work in Take That, a British boy band that was hugely successful in the early 1990s for their romantic ballads and catchy pop tunes. Williams was the first to leave the band, with various members of the group citing musical differences and personal conflicts as the reason behind his departure. The singer had a number of successful hits following his exit from Take That, with his most popular songs allowing him to make a name for himself outside of the group and define who Robbie Williams is as an artist.
10
Kids
Released In 2000
“Kids” was written at a fascinating point in Williams’ career, almost five years after his departure from Take That and during a brief period of reconciliation with the other members of the band. The single represents a shift away from the singer’s previous glitzy, poppy style of music and into something louder and more rock-forward.
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“Kids” was also one of Williams’ first collaborations outside of Take That, opening with some sharp vocals from Australia’s own superstar Kylie Minogue. This was a huge turning point for the singer’s career, allowing him to break free from his UK audience and prove that he was also an international hit.
9
Supreme
Released In 2000
Despite appearing on the same album as “Kids”, this single encompasses a completely different side of Williams’ personality and songwriting ability that he’s become known for in later years. “Supreme” was written alongside Williams’ long-time collaborator Guy Chambers, and the song really benefits from its introspective lyrics and powerful imagery. The song is an emotional call-to-arms for love and compassion, with a repeated refrain that Williams is “looking for a love supreme.”
The singer’s career wasn’t always this romantic (as proven by the fact that Better Man is certainly not suitable for children), but his 2000 album “Sing When You’re Winning” represented a noteworthy change in his musical palette that finally got the British public back on Williams’ side after being represented in the press for many years as volatile and unpredictable. This song was a much-needed change of pace.
8
Feel
Released In 2002
Following the huge success of “Sing When You’re Winning”, Robbie Williams decided to adopt a similar approach with his next album, which was aptly titled “Escapology”. The project featured much of the same orchestral music and introspective lyrics that listeners had enjoyed last time, but with even more familiarity and more prominent vocals. “Feels” was the biggest single from the album, and the song would have fit neatly into Take That’s catalog with its soft piano and vivid lyricism.
On “Feel”, Williams sings about the success that he’s achieved over the past few years and his inability to find any purpose in his new identity as a rock and roll star. It’s another sentimental ballad, with the singer chanting: “I just want to feel real love” in the uplifting chorus. The song also has some hugely powerful verses, with lyrics such as “I don’t want to die but I ain’t keen on living either” really standing out.
7
No Regrets
Released In 1998
“No Regrets” was the towering single from Williams’ sophomore album “I’ve Been Expecting You”, which captures much of the same powerhouse musicality as his debut, but with a much more honest and transparent kind of storytelling. This song is both upbeat and cynical in its details of Williams’ isolation from his old Take That friends, detailing the reasons behind his departure from the band and the emotions that he still has regarding the split.
The singer had been relentlessly hounded by the press for comments on the situation with Take That, and this song allowed him to take agency over his own story and tell it in an emotional, musical way.
“No Regrets” doesn’t appear in Better Man’s soundtrack, but it’s still one of Robbie Williams’ most foundational hits. The singer had been relentlessly hounded by the press for comments on the situation with Take That, and this song allowed him to take agency over his own story and tell it in an emotional, musical way. Lyrics such as “I don’t want to hate but that’s all that you’ve left me with” display his unflinching honesty about the drama.
6
Love My Life
Released In 2016
“Love My Life” is one of Robbie Williams’ more recent hits, appearing on his 11th studio album “Heavy Entertainment Show” and detailing the singer’s improved relationship with his own identity and the choices he’s made in life. It’s an extremely positive song, which contrasts strongly with some of the darker, more cynical tracks of his early catalog.
Williams has spoken publicly about his battles with substance abuse and depression throughout the late ‘90s and early 2000s, and “Love My Life” is his way of stating that while he may not have totally overcome these demons, he understands more clearly how to deal with them and not let them control his life. It’s one of his most stirring singles, with some great instrumentation as a bonus.
5
Candy
Released In 2012
“Candy” is somewhat of an outlier in Robbie Williams’ discography, as it doesn’t fit into either category of music that he’s best known for. It’s not as brash and loud as his early rock songs, nor is it somber and emotional like his sentimental ballads. Instead, “Candy” is a maddeningly catchy pop tune that ushered in a lighter, breezier era of music for Williams in the 2010s.
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Despite Better Man’s great reviews, the film doesn’t really explore this period of the singer’s career – which is a shame, because it houses some of his catchiest and most enjoyable music. Songs like “Candy” feel genetically engineered to get stuck in your head, with Williams’ delivery of the “hey, ho” refrain making this one of his most fun singles to date.
4
Millennium
Released In 1998
Another hit song from “I’ve Been Expecting You”, this R&B-inspired track was Robbie Williams’s first #1 single in the UK and remains one of his most popular songs to this day. Its celebratory message and catchy melodies make it some of the most enjoyable music of Williams’ career, while the unique sample from “You Only Live Twice” gives it a very familiar atmosphere despite being totally distinct. The song also came with a great music video that solidified Robbie Williams as an incredibly charismatic music star.
Where the majority of Williams’ music is very transparent and straightforward in its lyricism, “Millennium” is much more abstract. Listeners have to really dig into the singer’s words to understand the uplifting message of this tune, even if the synth-inspired instrumentals make the tone clear straight away. “We’ve got stars directing our fate” is a brilliantly enigmatic refrain that gives the whole single a sense of mystery from start to finish.
3
Let Me Entertain You
Released In 1997
As the final single from Robbie Williams’ debut album “Life Thru A Lens”, this was the first song that many audiences heard from the singer outside of his boy band era – and it’s completely unlike anything that Take That ever made. From the song’s loud, rhythmic drums to the striking electric guitar, this is a completely different sound from the rest of Williams’ catalog.
The song has widely been established as Williams’ anthem of rebellion and disobedience following his public split from Take That, as the lyrics seemingly take aim at the society trying to chain him down.
The song has widely been established as Williams’ anthem of rebellion and disobedience following his public split from Take That, as the lyrics seemingly take aim at the society trying to chain him down. The song has a very 1990s energy that spurs its audience into breaking free of conformity, with lyrics including “you’re tired of your teachers and your school’s a drag / you’re not going to end up like your mom and dad.”
2
Rock DJ
Released In 2000
Better Man’s ending is an extremely introspective and powerful insight into how Robbie Williams views himself and how his perceptions of his own identity have changed over time, which is also something that’s explored in his smash-hit single “Rock DJ.” With its bouncy riffs and catchy background vocals, the song is a witty tribute to the party style of the late ‘90s that harbors some much more sinister themes about how destructive fame can be.
“Rock DJ” also had an extremely polarizing music video that saw Robbie Williams dancing amidst a group of young women, slowly stripping down to his underwear and ultimately ripping his skin off and throwing pieces of his body into a crowd. It’s both an astute and repulsive metaphor for Williams’ contemporary status as a sex symbol, and his feelings that no matter how much of himself he gave to the public, it would never be enough.
1
Angels
Released In 1997
“Angels” was the lead single from Robbie’s “Life Thru A Lens” debut, and it was arguably the song that made him famous as a solo artist. The powerful ballad sees the artist sing about his relationship with a guardian angel, which overpowers any other kind of romantic or platonic love in his life.
“Angels” is a very simple song, but it’s the power behind Williams’ performance and the biting honesty of the lyrics that made it such an immediate classic. It’s the artist’s best-selling single to date, it was voted as the best song of the previous 25 years at the 2005 BRIT Awards, and most importantly, it’s become a karaoke staple all over the world.
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Better Man
BiographyMusic
Directed by Michael Gracey, Better Man explores the life and career of singer Robbie Williams through his own eyes.
Release Date
December 25, 2024
Main Genre
Biography
Cast
robbie williams
, Jonno Davies
, Steve Pemberton
, Alison Steadman
, Damon Herriman
, Anthony Hayes
, Kate Mulvany
Director
Michael Gracey
Writers
Michael Gracey
, Oliver Cole
, Simon Gleeson
Studio(s)
Footloose Productions
, Zero Gravity Management
, Jumpy Cow Pictures
, Showman
, Rocket Science
Distributor(s)
Roadshow Films
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