Robbie Millen

Canadian only 13-track collection spans the years 1987 through 1997. Highlights includes a duet with U2 on 'Sweet Fire of Love', 'Showdown at the Big Sky' which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Mainstream rock chart' and 'Broken Arrow' which was a hit single for Rod Stewart in 1991…

Arriving 25 years to the month since the release of his debut solo album Life Thru a Lens, Robbie Williams’ XXV surveys his first quarter-century as a solo artist by reupholstering a clutch of his hits with Dutch jazz and pop orchestra Metropole Orkest. Plenty of those songs—“Feel”, “Come Undone”, “Angels”—were built with aerodynamic choruses that beg to be lifted a little further and higher by some orchestral thermals, so it’s no surprise that this proves to be a successful and satisfying venture. It’s not just a case of bolting (more) strings and brass onto the tracks, though. With the assistance of long-time collaborators Guy Chambers and Steve Sidwell, plus conductor Jules Buckley, arrangements are deconstructed, tempos tweaked and lyrics rethought to bring new tones and perspectives to some pop gems.