BACK TO BEDLAM (Back To Bedlam - James Blunt)

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Product:	Back To Bedlam - James Blunt
Date:	28/04/08 (183 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great album track for track.

Disadvantages: All ballads.

--BACK TO BEDLAM--

James Blunt came onto the scene in 2005 with the release of this first album, the highly impressive 'Back To Bedlam'. Ex Army Captain, and guard at Buckingham Palace, Blunt totally changed his direction in life, to pour out his heart to music with the release of his hugely romantic and heartfelt debut album.

I first heard the track 'You're Beautiful' playing on the radio and I wondered who the singer was, as I really liked the track. I then bought the album on the strength of it. I think a lot of people did the same. 'You're beautiful' really is an absolutely stunning song and I needed to own a copy of the album so I could play this track whenever I liked, and probably on repeat. -

James Blunts first single release was 'High' in Oct 2004, which reached 148 in the charts, though I don't remember hearing it at the time. The record Company then re-released 'High' in Oct 2005 and it reached no 16 in the charts this time. When I first heard Blunt sing 'You're Beautiful', I loved the lyrics and haunting melody immediately and I was also impressed with James Blunts soft folk style enough to make me want to buy his album.-


---BACK TO BEDLAM---

---HIGH---
The album opens with the track 'High'. The soft vocals of Blunt are accompanied by the melodic chords of acoustic guitar to the start of this track. High is a lovely song with meaningful lyrics, slow in tempo with good rhythmic drumbeats. As the song reaches the chorus the drums increase in volume and speedup as they crash their way through the chorus. The track is predominantly acoustic guitar, brilliant keyboard and drums. This is a great song which did reach no 16 in the charts upon its re-release. Blunt is singing of a 'Beautiful dawn' which I read as metaphorical for the woman who has saved him from being alone and he is high on life now that she is in his. Another interpretation could possibly be that he is high on an illegal substance. He sings "I was alone until you came along", so it's possible it is either. I prefer to think he is in love. Anyway this is a truly uplifting song, full of hope for the future. Blunts vocals take a while to get used to as they are quite high in range, falsetto, but he sings with a great passion and emotion throughout, and he wins you over with his sheer sincerity of lyric.


---WISE MEN---
Wise Men is an enigma of a song. It is beautifully melodic. The lyrics are a real puzzle and the video that accompanies this track is quite horrific. It features a man throwing his passport on a fire then becoming ablaze himself. The burning of the passport would appear to symbolise the death of his identity, and his body burning, the death of the spirit. This track is not about war nor is it political as could be thought. The song is about retaining ones true identity and not conforming, though put under pressure to do so by the powers that be. Though Blunt served in Bosnia, he has steered well clear from making this in any way, shape, or form a protest album and the only track that refers to his time in Bosnia is 'No Bravery'. Wise men has poignant lyrics, accompanied by acoustic guitar, great drum rhythms and melodic keyboard. Blunts passion really shines through on this. It is quite simply a sensational track.


---GOODBYE MY LOVER---
This is a beautiful track, a very slow ballad, really heartbreaking, as the lyrics denote. The end of a relationship, never easy, always painful, and he sings of the feelings he still has for his lover. "You have been the one; you have been the one for me". Real heart rendering stuff; "And I still hold your hand in mine, in mine when I'm asleep" This song is a real tear jerker, and anyone who has had a painful break-up will identify with this track. I think its more a case of breaking up with someone while you are still in love with them that makes it all the more soul destroying and hard to take. His lover has left him for another man and you can really feel his pain through the song."Remember us and all we used to be" But he says they will always have this connection of spirit. The track opens quite simply with the lonely subdued chords of the piano. Blunt sings openly with his heart on his sleeve the pain coming through the staggeringly heartbreaking lyrics. The track is all about the lyrics as the piano continues its beautiful, quiet, stark accompaniment throughout this track. "I love you I swear that's true. I cannot live without you" Then finishing with the final accepting lyrics of "I'm so hollow" This really is a very sad track by Blunt.


---NO BRAVERY---
Well I thought there were no protest songs on this album, but this definitely is one. This track tells of war with stark images on the video of dead babies, Blair, Bush, bombing and soldiers. The piano is mournful playing a funeral dirge accompaniment. The lyrics are powerful, striking and the clash of the symbol comes in to reinforce a powerful statement of lyric. "No bravery in your eyes" relating to the soldier who has gone to war full of loyalty to his country and cause, but in reality there is no right in what he is doing, therefore he feels no sense of bravery. As the song continually repeats the lyrics "He has been here". "The smell of death is in the air". This really is a very moving song which is completely self explanatory in its context. Lyrics of death of babies, stretched out rows of tiny bodies after a bomb attack, Blunt sings sadly on about the atrocities of war in plaintive tone. This is a hard hitting track and obviously influenced by his time In Kosovo. The piano is haunting and fitting to the shameful lyrics of the song.


---YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL---
Well this track is the reason why I bought this album in the first place. I love this track. When I first heard it I was struck by its openness of lyric. The track opens with the slow even rhythmic beat of the drums, accompanied by electric guitar and keyboard. "You're Beautiful" is about a chance encounter, a fleeting moment in time when your eyes meet that of a stranger, and in that second, you just know! "I saw your face in a crowded place and I don't know what to do, cos I'll never be with you". It's a meeting of souls if you like and these 'moments' can be very poignant and meaningful and they stay with you. You'll probably never see this person again, yet they have had a profound effect upon your life. "I saw an angel, of that I'm sure. She smiled at me on the subway she was with another man" "We shared a moment that will last to the end". Really marked lyrics, possibly even a moment in Blunts life. The musical arrangement is brilliant on this track and it flows and helps to interpret the song beautifully. This is a truly stunning track and the one that prompted people to buy his album.


Track for track this is a staggeringly beautiful album. James Blunt has been likened to David Gray and Damien Rice. Again I think Blunt, like Damien Rice, is an artist in his own right. It is quite hard to put this type of singer into a specific category. What I really like is the fact he has not rushed to get another album out to run off the back of this one. Careful lyrical content and a love of his craft makes this an album of excellence and not one track let the album down as a whole. I think James Blunt takes a lot of stick. I'm not too sure why. Perhaps it is seen as 'not cool' to admit to liking him. Whatever, I definitely recommend this album if you like honesty and truth from your lyrics. The musical arrangements are quite understated, allowing the lyrical content to dominate. Back to Bedlam is an album that I play often and I am proud to have it in my collection.-

Summary: A fine album with great lyrical content.