James Blunt: From Bedlam to Mind

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Don't look at me like that. I think he's pretty good. He writes catchy tunes that people like, has a distinctive voice and seems like a genuine sort of chap. Mrs R.O. suggested this one too and there's only four albums so this can be quick and dirty.

BACK TO BEDLAM

11th October 2004

Back to Bedlam is the debut studio album by the English singer-songwriter James Blunt, released on 11 October 2004 by Custard and Atlantic Records.^[1] It is named after the famous psychiatric institution of Bethlem Royal Hospital, which is commonly known as Bedlam.

Initially lingering in the lower regions of the UK Albums Chart in its first few months of release, it became a major worldwide success after its third single, "You're Beautiful", became a worldwide hit in the summer of 2005. Back to Bedlam would go on to become the highest-selling album of 2005 in the UK, with over 2.4 million copies sold.^[2][3] By December 2009, the album had been certified 10× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of over 3 million, making it the best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK.^[4] In 2011, it was overtaken by Amy Winehouse's Back to Black as the best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK.^[5] Back to Bedlam currently ranks as the 18th best-selling album in UK chart history and the biggest selling debut album by a British artist.^[6] As of 2017, it has sold 3.33 million copies in the UK^[7] and over 11 million copies worldwide.^[8]

From Wikipedia

High

You're Beautiful

Wisemen

Goodbye My Lover

Tears and Rain

Out of My Mind

So Long, Jimmy

Billy

Cry

No Bravery

Just huge. Officially the bestselling UK album of the noughties. Success so early in a career was inevitably going to create a love/hate dynamic with the public. He's either the soundtrack to your life at the time or a crappy, sappy love song writer. My attitude can be summarised by paraphrasing a classic Colemanballs entry from Simon Bates "You either love James Blunt or you hate him. I like him". There's actually more of an edge to his songs than that when you listen to them. All the hits are packed into the first half, including the mega-successful 'You're Beautiful'. I've always found the little false start at the beginning ("My life is brilliant") slightly puzzling, but it does kind of work. The success of this must surely be in part due to it being it's a sentimental song, set on the underground, which came out at the time of the 7/7 bombings. The version on the album replaces 'flying high' with another f-word. I think flying makes more sense to be honest. I've never been that happy with "when she thought up that I should be with you" near the end either.

Next 'Wisemen'. Have never listened closely enough to really figure out what it is about. It's got a bit of that Craig David thing going on where he's singing too many words for the melody. It has a nice flowing keyboard part and features yet more bad language. Tut tut. Mrs R.O. informed me that she wanted me to play 'Goodbye My Lover' at her funeral. Cheery thought.

I'd describe 'Out Of My Mind' as "light grunge", which you can probably find somewhere on a Dulux paint chart. 'So Long Jimmy' is disappointingly not delivered as if wearing a red wig, kilt and paintbrush sporran, but does end with some nice Ray Manzarek-y keyboard bits. The version of the album on Spotify ends with an acoustic version of Crowded House's 'Fall At Your Feet', much to the missus's consternation "That's not on MY version!"

ALL THE LOST SOULS

17th September 2007

All the Lost Souls is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter James Blunt, released on 17 September 2007. It is the follow-up to his hugely successful 2004 debut album, Back to Bedlam.^[2] The first single released from the album was "1973", which started radio play on 23 July 2007.^[3]

Several songs on the album were performed at live shows during Blunt's 2006 tours, including "1973", "I Really Want You", "Annie" and "I Can't Hear the Music". His touring band, consisting of Paul Beard (keyboards and vocals), Ben Castle (guitar and vocals), Malcolm Moore (bass guitar and vocals) and Karl Brazil (drums and percussion), backed Blunt on the new album. Tom Rothrock returns as producer; Rothrock also produced Back to Bedlam.^[4] Blunt also performed the song "Same Mistake" during his performance at the Live Earth concert in London. The album received mixed reviews, but peaked at number one in over 20 countries.^[5]

From Wikipedia

1973

One of the Brightest Stars

I'll Take Everything

Same Mistake

Carry You Home

Give Me Some Love

I Really Want You

Shine On

Annie

I Can't Hear the Music

So '1973' is a song about reincarnation right? Because according to Wikipedia he was born in 1974 and so couldn't have been spending every Saturday night in a nightclub with Simona one year earlier. I like it though, I reckon it's his best song. 'One Of The Brightest Stars' reminds me of something else, but I can't put my finger on it, something from the seventies I think.

I liked the bell-like piano in 'I'll Take Everything'. He does a very gentle 'Werewolves of London' Awooooo! on 'Same Mistake' despite claiming that he's "screaming at the top of his voice". Can't decide if 'Carry You Home' is a love song or break up song. Maybe both. More adult content in 'Give Me Some Love', he's "taken a s**tload of drugs". I bet all of his fans sing along gleefully, even though they haven't.

'I Really Want You' makes use of some odd but interesting instrumentation, sounds a bit like someone running their finger around the rim of a crystal goblet. 'Shine On' is a bit Snow Patrol 'Chasing Cars'-ish. Next song is 'Annie'. I wonder if there is a girl's name (common English) that hasn't been done as a song title?

'I Can't Hear The Music' is a risky title isn't it? Dangling a tempting opportunity in front of the hostile reviewer. It's pretty good, starts quiet and swells to a big finish with a nice little cymbal to close. Last one 'Love, Love, Love' is OK but didn't really grab me to be honest.

SOME KIND OF TROUBLE

8th November 2010

Some Kind of Trouble is the third studio album by the British singer-songwriter James Blunt, released on 8 November 2010.^[4] On 6 December 2011, a deluxe version of the album was released, titled Some Kind of Trouble: Revisited.^[5]

In an interview with Contact Music, Blunt said of the album: "After the last tour, I tried writing at the piano, but I found I was repeating myself, writing sad songs about poor old me. I needed to get away from music for a while. My new songs are more optimistic. One thing I did learn is that your artistic credibility goes out the window when you have a record that big. 'You're Beautiful' meant something to me, but to most people, it's a song they sing when they're drunk."^[6] In an interview with Robert Copsey from Digital Spy, Blunt describes the album, saying "It's got a certain innocence to it, which my last album didn't have. It doesn't sound like the current popular electro sound; it sounds like the late 70s / early 80s when the US electric guitar bands came to the UK. What I really like about it is its energy and optimism – it's completely positive." While answering what is his favorite track from the album, he answered "My favourite track is probably 'Turn Me On'."^[7]

From Wikipedia

Stay the Night

Dangerous

Best Laid Plans

So Far Gone

No Tears

Superstar

These Are the Words

Calling Out Your Name

Heart of Gold

I'll Be Your Man

If Time Is All I Have

Turn Me On

'Stay The Night' opens with "It's 72 degrees, zero chance of rain". We saw him at the Radio 2 festival in a day last year and he opened with this. It was not apt. It is a good bright breezy song though.A lot of this slips by pleasantly but unremarkably. One of my criteria for an artist is some kind of observable progression and Blunt is weak in this respect. I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it but for all his flaws, Billy Joel's tendency to try his hand at any old musical style did add a bit of interest.

'Superstar' is a cut above, with a good chorus and a nice synth backing.'I'll Be Your Man' is a great bit of pop. The last song 'Turn Me On' is interesting, definitely a Monkees influence going on here, which is never a bad thing. Blunt's voice DOES have Mickey Dolenz type quality to it.

MOON LANDING

18th October 2013

Moon Landing is the fourth studio album by the British singer-songwriter James Blunt, released on 18 October 2013 through Custard Records and Atlantic Records. The album is the follow-up to 2010's Some Kind of Trouble, making it Blunt's first new material in three years. The album features production from the likes of Tom Rothrock, Steve Mac, Guy Chambers and Steve Robson, and was executively produced by Tom Rothrock, who worked with Blunt on 2004's Back to Bedlam.^[2]

The first single from the album "Bonfire Heart" debuted at number six before peaking at number four the following week in the UK Singles Chart. The single peaked at one in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It was in the top 10 in different countries all over the world.

From Wikipedia

Face the Sun

Satellites

Bonfire Heart

Heart to Heart

Miss America

The Only One

Sun on Sunday

Bones

Always Hate Me

Postcards

Blue on Blue

The cover reminds me of that Debbie Harry record with the needles through her face (see left). They're both quite pretty aren't they? Good cheekbones.

He had just started promoting this when he did Hyde Park last year. I think his performance of 'Bonfire Heart' was the first time I'd heard it. There's some military allsuions in the lyrics. I'm still not sure that "Your mouth is a revolver, firing bullets at the sky" really works. He also makes some reference to grenades in his latest single - 'Postcards'. That also reminds me of 'Foundations' by Kate Nash - which in itself is not a good thing but the song itself isn't in the same league of annoyance. 'Telephone' is a bit like that Bruno Mars song with all the guys in monkey masks. Sort of a light reggae thing.

So that's it. A pleasant weekend's listening. Here's the playlist: 

THE AFTERLOVE

24th March 2017

The Afterlove is the fifth studio album by the English singer James Blunt, released on 24 March 2017 through Atlantic Records.^[1][2] To promote the album, Blunt embarked on The Afterlove World Tour in August 2017.

On 23 January 2017, Blunt posted a video clip on his Twitter to announce the album, with the caption "Check out my 12 inch..." In the clip, Blunt appeared naked from the waist up in his bathtub, promising to show fans "something huge", with the camera then panning down to him holding a 12-inch copy of the album.^[3] Blunt recorded the album between 2015 and 2016 before it was finished in early 2017.^[4]

From Wikipedia

Love Me Better

Bartender

Lose My Number

Don't Give Me Those Eyes

Someone Singing Along

California

Make Me Better

Time of Our Lives

Heartbeat

Paradise

It's easy to dislike James Blunt. He's upper middle class, used to be an army officer and has a ridiculous high pitched voice overlaid with his Harrovian received pronunciation. Even his mouth is a funny shape. On top of all that, he seems to not give a flying fuck about Twitter-trolling, which is surely the pinnacle of modern celebrity crime. He's also unapologetically commercial to the point where he borders on the calculating. Take 'Make Me Better', a song that could have been written following the order from the record company "Give us something that people can use for their first dance at their wedding" (and Ed Sheeran has a co-writing and production credit to boot - could it be any more mainstream?). He gets away with it by displaying a degree of self-awareness that would make Gary Barlow fill in his own tax return.

Opening single and track on this album, 'Love Me Better' does all that in spades, referencing how he knows he annoys people and had a ubiquitous hit. But is he admitting, that underneath, while he's good at deflecting the criticism, he's also just a bit fed up with it and does actually give a f.f.? In which case I'm probably not helping, even though I do tend toward sympathy for him providing harmless, well-crafted, feelgood light pop.

The arrangements on this album are a lot sparser than he's done before, and there's more reliance on electronic instruments, but the content doesn't divert much from what he's done before. So like all the rest, not offensive (although many who take music more seriously than me might disagree) nor unpleasant, but not exciting either.

ONCE UPON A MIND

25th October 2019

Once Upon a Mind is the sixth studio album by the English singer James Blunt, released on 25 October 2019 through Atlantic Records.^[2] Blunt was due to embark on the Once Upon a Mind Tour in 2021.^[3] A deluxe version of the album – the Time Suspended Edition – was released on 26 June 2020 featuring two new demo songs and six acoustic tracks.

The first single from the album, "Cold", was released on 29 August 2019.^[4] The video was then released on 9 September 2019.^[5]

From Wikipedia

The Truth

Cold

Champions

Monsters

Youngster

5 Miles

How It Feels To Be Alive

I Told You

Halfway

Stop The Clock

The Greatest

There are some decisions you make in the first flush of youth which you are then obliged to repent at leisure. So when I was just finding my way with this blogging lark, and churning out a review every couple of days, it seemed a good idea to rattle through Blunt's output to date. At the time it was four albums so it just met the criteria and I banged them out over a weekend. If you look at those reviews you'll see they follow the sparse nature of my early work. What I never thought was (a) Blunt probably had quite a lengthy and successful career ahead of him and (b) I was going to stick at it for at least another 5 years. It probably means I'll be adding to the post when Blunt is staggering around the stage at 70, except I'm likely to be dead by then.

And so James Blunt achieves the distinction of being the first artist to have two new albums added to the original post. Whilst I may make a bit of a performance about how he's not all that in line with the general profile of the acts I spend my time on, and he's clearly a 'mum's favourite' I could have made a worse decision. He's a cut above your average member of the legions of British male singer-songwriters called James and he's funny and self aware. He's unapologetic of an overtly emotional song, which is about the only way you can get away with that sort of thing. In fact 'Monsters' on this album, about a son saying farewell to his father, forced a small tear from my own eye when I listened to it earlier.

There's less upbeat material on this one, it's more melancholy with only a couple of foot-stompers to get the oestrogen flowing, but as usual, there's little wrong with it and you could do a lot worse.