Back To Bedlam - James Blunt > Reviews > Being Blunt, I LIke It!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Not applicable
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Great tracks, talented musician/singer/writer, relaxing music .
Disadvantages:	A bit samey in tempo

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

2005 was a really good year for music, in my opinion, especially due to the amazing talent of James Blunt. His single You're Beautiful was number one for ages and is a song I never seem to have tired of since. In fact, I bought his album on the strength of that one song and wasn't disappointed.

James Blunt is an interesting bloke. I stumbled across his concert on the BBC earlier this month and was surprised to hear him speak, as he is rather posh! He also went to Sandhurst and became a soldier. I don't know quite what I had expected from seeing one video of him - except maybe a guy who liked sitting in the snow while wearing inappropriate clothing? - but that was well away from my idea of what he was like.

I like various styles of music from cheesy pop (Girls Aloud) to jazzier stuff (Will Young) to '70s pop (Abba) to prog rock (Pink Floyd) to rap (Eminem). So I'm not sure quite where James Blunt fits in, I just know I like him. His album is good background music for relaxing to, but is also one I sing along to. It's hardly heady dance music, but is a kind of indie-pop mix with good lyrics.

James has a good voice with an unusual sound to it. He doesn't quite have the raw edge you get from smoking and drinking lots (Think Paul Heaton), but nor does he have pure choirboy tones (Hello G4). There is something about his voice that makes you recognise it as his song, even on a first hearing.

It's not only us thirty-somethings who like his music either. My fifteen year old daughter and twelve year old daughter are both big fans. In fact, I have ended up buying the album twice because the first one was 'borrowed', taken into their bedroom and hasn't been seen since! So the next time I got an Amazon voucher, Back To Bedlam went into the cart and this time, I have it ripped onto my computer as well. Ha!

My fifteen year old's favourite track is Goodbye My Lover, which one of her friends performed at a school concert recently. I still love You're Beautiful but another album track I would pick out is Tears and Rain, which is also a really beautiful, haunting piece. I liked it the first time I heard it, it seemed to stand out.

There really isn't a bad track on the album at all though. There are ten songs on the album at a running time of around forty three minutes. The three singles are on here, of course - You're Beautiful, High and Goodbye My Lover. These stay just as strong with repeated listening, although it should be noted that the album version of You're Beautiful (somewhat unnecessarily) contains the 'f' word, whereas the single has "flying high" instead. You might wish to know this if you are thinking of buying the album for a younger fan.

Wisemen is the third track on the album and I think it suffers a bit in that place, being sandwiched between two of the hit singles. It is one that rather fades into the distance, but again, it isn't a bad song, just not one of the best.

The booklet has quite an early 1970s feel to it. The lyrics to all the songs are included (always a bonus if you want to sing along) and a couple of arty photos of the rather good looking Mr. Blunt. Don't expect clear photos in various states of undress though, this is far too artistic for that and the booklet contains more silhouette artwork than photography. It is quite classy looking but faint black text on dark green makes the lyrics to So Long, Jimmy hard to read.

The overall tone to the album is rather melancholy and sometimes this has been known to bring me to tears, depending on my own mood. It is reflective and pensive, songs of love and loss and pain. The last two songs on the album - Cry and No Bravery - also cover the themes of war, death and bereavement - not surprisingly, knowing his background in the army.

The second half of the album is slightly worse than the first half. Maybe 'worse' is the wrong word, as it's not bad; it just fades into the background when compared with the first half. No Bravery isn't the best track to end on either, in my opinion; it could have done with a stronger song to finish on.

If you wanted to criticise Back To Bedlam, you could say it is all a similar pace throughout, as it contains many ballad-like songs. So Long, Jimmy is a faster track, but by no means rocky or particularly danceable.

My son (almost fourteen) and husband don't like James Blunt though. Whenever I am playing the CD, they complain about it although when I asked my son exactly why he doesn't like him, he just said "He's annoying."

Overall, I am very happy with the album and have it on repeat quite a lot. I bought it for £8.99 from Amazon, although according to Kelkoo, the cheapest places to buy it from are 4CheapCDs and BandCd.com where you can buy it for £6.99.

I'm looking forward to hearing more of James Blunt in 2006. He is obviously a very talented bloke. He wrote every track on the album and besides the lead vocals, he plays a number of instruments including guitars, piano, keyboards and various organs. Let's hope he has the long, successful career he deserves.