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Escapology

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 40 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Chrysalis
Release Date: 01 April 2003
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Pop, Rock
Summary
UK pop star Robbie Williams follows the success of Sing When You're Winning with this, his fifth and most adult-sounding LP.
Also By This Artist: Intensive Care Reality Killed The Video Star Rudebox Sing When You're Winning
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Dot Music
Musically and vocally, there's few surprises but at least lyrically he's moved on from clever-ish wordplay and inane love songs, to tell tales of being generally screwed-up at the hands of the multi-million dollar pop machine.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
More than anything in his career, Escapology is literally riddled with confession and confusion.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Occasionally, Williams even manages candor without cockiness.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
His straitjacket is an entrenched reliance on "lighters aloft" ballads, or, ironically, Oasis-derived anthems. [Dec 2002, p.113]
Rolling Stone
While 2000's Sing When You're Winning was a trashy masterpiece that the States ignored, Escapology sounds like a more self-conscious effort to craft a pop-rock blockbuster.
Read Full Review >E! Online
It doesn't help that the best song here, "Feel," sounds like a bad Richard Ashcroft B-side; the worst is a seven-minute mariachi stomp about traveling to Las Vegas with a monkey, called "Me and My Monkey."
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Backed by stale songs, formulaic arrangements, and mediocre songwriting, Williams is forced to rely on his volcanic personality to bring this album across -- and despite a few strong performances, he sinks into lame self-parody time and time again.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
An unholy brew of overreaching ambition and soul-destroying complacency.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Like Eminem, Williams is desperate to give his own spin on tabloid coverage and determined to prove himself as human as the rest of us, but incapable of letting us forget he's a star. Except Eminem is the voice of a generation while Robbie Williams is just the voice of Robbie Williams, and while Eminem has Dre, Robbie has a ramshackle posse of musicians roped in to create this album's (wait for it) 'spontaneous' live sound.
Read Full Review >Blender
Being shallow and immature is both his strength and his weakness. [Apr 2003, p.131]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 40 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
naji a gave it a10:
its amazing
Killa Ben gave it an8:
This is a great album to sing along to if you're trying to learn. Especially 'Love Somebody' and 'Some Kind of Beautiful'. Definitely go with the UK vesion, though- U.S. version omitts some great tracks.
Oliver gave it a0:
i love the ways brits are always running down the yanks for not "getting" their sophisticated brand of humour... as an outsider, i don't think robbie williams is funny, or clever... he's just a singer of no substance with bland songs culled from decades of retro pop, dressed up in slick modern production... oh and for everyone who keeps on harping on the sarcasm angle, it happens to be the lowest form of wit... and robbie isn't even very good at it...
Dave gave it a2:
I'm a big fan of Robbie Williams and British pop in general, but this cd is truly painful to listen to. Very disappointing.
Amy T gave it a 10:
The reason this album will be lost on most Americans is the lack of the ability to understand sarcasm and the complete inability to be self depreciating. This is Robbie's whole persona... the cocky/cheeky stage presence is the whole value of Robbie - not to mention a strong singing ability. In a world where Dylan with the personality and entertainment value of a turnip and the voice of a cheese grater can be glorified - Robbie is well worth my entertain budget.
Kiwi J gave it a 5:
If the plan was to break Williams in the States, recording his most British album to date probably wasn't such a great move. Whilst its radio friendly melodies should have proved popular, the typically sardonic and "humorous" lyrics simply don't travel very well, and would have left most American listeners non-plussed. Add to that the fact that too many tracks simply sound the same and you have a deeply average album.
Mark Y gave it a 7:
I think this album is almost brilliant - granted , there are one or two bland tracks but the gems more than make up for it (something beautiful/me and my monkey). An entertaining album from a great entertainer ... nothing more - nothing less.
