Robbie Williams - In And Out Of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990-2010 Album Reviews & Song Lyrics

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Robbie Williams "In And Out Of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990-2010" album

- Release date : October 2010 -

In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010 is the second greatest hits compilation album by the British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, after his first greatest hits compilation, Greatest Hits, which was released in 2004. The album, which features 39 songs, was released in October 2010 and is his last album under his current recording contract with EMI. The lead single of the album is "Shame", co-written by and featuring fellow Take That member Gary Barlow. The song is their first collaboration in 15 years since Williams left Take That in 1995.

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, making it Williams' ninth album to debut at number one and his first since Rudebox released in 2006. It has been certified Platinum, selling over 41,000 copies on its first day of release and 120,000 copies during its first week, making the album the second-fastest selling of the year in the UK. The album topped the charts in Austria and Germany, and charted within the top five of the charts in Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

The album then takes us backwards through the decades, featuring all the colossal songs from Robbie's eight solo studio albums over the years: Reality Killed The Video Star, Rudebox, Intensive Care, Escapology, Swing When You're Winning, Sing When You're Winning, I've Been Expecting You and Life Thru A Lens. The album is rounded off with a sprinkling of Take That gold dust, featuring Everything Changes, the boyband's fourth consecutive single to go straight in at number one in the UK way back in 1994.

Speaking about the album and working with Barlow again, Williams said: "It’s incredible to listen to the album and realise that it’s already been 20 years of making music and playing gigs. And the great thing about the album is that it’s not only a celebration of my past but also a bridge to the future. The fact that part of the future includes a name from my past makes it all the more poignant for me". Beside the lead single, "Shame", the album also features a new track called "Heart and I" co-written with Barlow. The track listing and cover art of the album were revealed on 13 July 2010 on Williams' official website. The image for the cover was captured by photographer Julian Broad, who also worked with Williams for the Reality Killed the Video Star album cover. The cover was shot in May 2010 in Malibu, California.

In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010 is available in several formats: a two CD standard edition, a three CD deluxe edition with rarities and B-sides, a DVD edition which includes the music videos of the standard edition and an "ultimate edition" which includes all three CDs, the two DVDs and a bonus third DVD with a live recording of Williams' concert at the Velodrom, Berlin in 2005.

"In And Out Of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990-2010" album tracks and lyrics

"In And Out Of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990-2010" album reviews

A two-disc set that is expanded even further in accompanying CD/DVD editions, In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990-2010 presents, even in its most basic edition, no less than 39 examples of what made Robbie Williams a fascinating millennial superstar. Seemingly all things to all pop fans -- ambitious and self-deprecating, sensitive and boorish, dynamic and introverted -- Williams never lacked for people with a strong opinion of his work (although the number and force of the detractors seem at least equal to that of the supporters). Unlike his previous compilation, Greatest Hits, which was six years old in 2010, In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990-2010 presents a much richer picture of Williams' discography. All the hits are here plus, for the first time, a wealth of album tracks capable of supplementing any casual fan's understanding of what made Williams occasionally great, sometimes infuriating, and nearly always worth hearing. The collection proceeds from newest to oldest, beginning with a pair of new songs (both of which are Gary Barlow co-compositions; the two were famously at odds during their Take That days) and ending over two hours later with tracks from his debut album plus the Take That single "Everything Changes" from 1994. (The very unhappy Williams was invited to leave the group one year later, although Take That management contracts prevented him from releasing solo material for nearly two years.) The compilers have chosen well, taking slightly fewer songs from infamous duds like Escapology and Intensive Care (although those tracks appear on the first disc) and spending more time on his precocious, entertaining '90s albums I've Been Expecting You and Life Thru a Lens (plus the non-album single "Freedom," a George Michael cover that out-performed the original on the British charts). The compilation even finds time for four tracks from Swing When You're Winning, his standards side project, and the new track from his previous Greatest Hits, "Eternity." In the end, whether listeners want Greatest Hits or In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990-2010 (or the original albums themselves) will depend mostly on the amount of time and money they're willing to spend, but In and Out of Consciousness certainly offers a full portrait of Robbie Williams, the greatest pop star of the '90s and 2000s that few people appeared to respect but everyone enjoyed.

*** by John Bush, All Music Guide ***

In his native U.K., Robbie Williams, who got his start in (and recently reunited with) the '90s boy band Take That, is a superstar. But in our parts, he's never achieved the level of sustained recognition afforded, say, Justin Timberlake. That's too bad, because Williams is a smarter and more versatile singer/songwriter, as evidenced by this two-disc greatest-hits collection. Tunes such as the gospel-laced Make Me Pure and the effervescent, R&B-flavored Something Beautiful make a case that Williams is his generation's answer to Elton John, mixing an affinity for roots rock and R&B with the witty theatricality of a born showman. Elsewhere he plunges playfully and artfully into neo-disco (Rock DJ) and Latin-kissed orchestral pop (a lovely cover of Something Stupid with, of all people, Nicole Kidman), and reminds us he's responsible for one of the most irresistible hit ballads of the past two decades (Angel). A new tune, the fetching Shame— co-written and performed with fellow Take That alum Gary Barlow — confirms that this former boy wonder is in no danger of losing his mojo.

*** by Elysa Gardner, USA Today ***