Sing When You're Winning [ENHANCED]

Robbie Williams

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 2000)
• Original Release Date: October 3, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00004YLIY
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #113,597 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Let Love Be Your Energy

2. Better Man

3. Rock DJ

4. Supreme

5. Kids

6. If It's Hurting You

7. Singing for the Lonely

8. Love Calling Earth

9. Knutsford City Limits

10. Forever Texas

11. By All Means Necessary

12. The Road to Mandalay

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Music Reviews

If you're tempted to smirk at Robbie Williams's hip-factor-free approach to music, you are too late; he's already beaten you to the punch. On Sing When You're Winning, the British megastar's self-parodying caricatures, filled with both bravado and deprecation, safely evade overearnestness in forms such as crickets chirping behind the love song "If It's Hurting You," and the unexpected orchestral string arrangement from Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" in "Supreme," a sermon for the aging broken-hearted. "Kids," his rousing bubblegum-funk duet with Kylie Minogue bursts into what can only be described as a full-out "musical number"; pop music hasn't seen such stare-down chemistry since Sandy and Danny declared "You're the One That I Want" back in 1978. From the "One Night in Bangkok" tributary disco track "Rock DJ" to the lighter-igniting anthem "Let Love Be Your Energy," this is unadulterated, epic pop music, and Williams' smart, irresistible wit permits the listener to indulge guiltlessly in all the album's bombastic fun. --Beth Massa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unadulterated, beautiful pop music at its finest, October 4, 2000

By	Nick (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews

"Sing when you're winning" is a beautiful album indeed. It shows a more mature Robbie, moving on from his past in Take That. Here's a breakdown of each individual song:

Let Love Be Your Energy: A great upbeat song that shows us that Robbie really can sing hard. It sends a great message and is great to play loudly while driving in your car with the windows down!

Better Man: A nice slow song. Robbie humbily admitting his shortcomings in life. Beautiful.

Rock DJ: Simply amazing dancy disco-y tune.

Supreme: A great number with some beautiful strings done to the melody of "I Will Survive." The words are different, with a very powerful chorus.

Kids: A duet with Kylie Minogue. Probably my favorite song on the CD. Another upbeat song with a very strong chorus.

If it's Hurting You: A nice and slow song with some country sounds to it.

Singing for the Lonely: Nice medium paced acustic ballad.

Love Calling Earth: Nice slow piano song with keyboards.

Knutsford City Limits: Good up-tempo song with a strong chorus.

Forever Texas: Awesome guitar song with hilarious lyrics that make fun of Texas hicks!

By All Means Necessary: Another pretty slow song.

The Road to Mandalay: A WONDERFUL closer. Kind of an acustic guitar British folk song. It'll have you going "buh buh buh ba ba ba ba baaaaah" in your head long after you listen to it.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superb pop music, April 20, 2001

By	Erica Anderson (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I really didn't dig Robbie Williams' music when I first heard him back in '98, '99. When I heard that he used to be in the boy group Take That, I really didn't want to hear what he was singing at the time. You heard one pop artist you heard them all right? Wrong! Robbie Williams is not your typical pop artist and never will be. Categorizing him with every other cheeseball known as boy groups and solo pop artists (i.e Ricky Martin) out there would be a crime against humanity. It took me awhile to get into The Ego Has Landed" but when "Sing When You're Winning" came out I immediately bought the cd on the day it was released here in the US.

"Sing When You're Winning" is a infectious blend of pop and rock. The lyrics for the most part are tongue in cheek for example "Kids", Robbie's duet with Kylie Minogue, another huge pop star overseas but not here in the US. "Better Man" is a lovely ballad that picks up where "Angels" left off. "Rock DJ" is a fun, catchy little number that I love to turn the volume up on the radio. "Supreme" uses a sampled bit of the eternal disco classic "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. On the US version of "Sing When You're Winning", there is a video clip to "Rock DJ" which is probably a bit too explicit for MTV/VH1 to show (although I did see it once on MTV2). I must say that it was both funny and gross at the same time but only Robbie can pull off a video like that.

Why Robbie Williams isn't huge here as he is in Europe is beyond me. His music is obviously not being exploited to the masses here. Then again maybe people just don't have the sense of humor to understand songs like "Kids" and "Rock DJ". Either way, the US is missing out on a terrific artist.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "But if you're sellin' it ... it's all right!", July 8, 2002

By	New World Smurf "new_world_smurf" (Richmond, Virginia) - See all my reviews

Recently, David Bowie slagged Robbie Williams as "cruise ship pop." Coming from a man whose best selling album was Nile Rodgers-produced dance pop, Ziggy Stardust notwithstanding, I think I may want to take a cruise in the near future.

It's easy to call Robbie Williams the British male version of Britney Spears--after all, he sells bazillions of albums to screaming teenage girls, appears scantily clad on the covers of magazines, and even has that all-important Pepsi endorsement. But one listen to "Sing When You're Winning" quickly dispels the notion of Williams as a media-driven pop tart. This is a genuinely fun CD to listen to, with flashes of cheeky humor, infectious beats, interesting lyrics (written by Williams), and--gasp!--real instruments. "Rock DJ," which received some US airplay and some raised eyebrows over its ... um, stripped-down video, is a solid dance tune which again proves that any song that lifts the bass line from Barry White's classic "It's Ecstasy (When You Lay Down Next To Me)" is a good one. "Kids" has an awesome groove, and it's the first song that I've heard Kylie Minogue on that didn't make me want to slit my wrists immediately afterwards. There isn't one bad song on this album, from the near-country rock of "Forever Texas" to the poignant "If It's Hurting You" to the rousing "Let Love Be Your Energy." Williams has been compared to George Michael, but isn't nearly as outwardly consumed with respectability--he's a born performer with a sense of humor, and it shines through.

This CD was intended to be Williams' big Stateside break, and while it sold respectably (800,000 copies) it was by no means a monster, which is a shame. Even if you're not a big pop fan, you'll find a lot to like about "Sing When You're Winning." Do it for the kids!