My Life Is Brilliant, My Love Is Pure (Back To Bedlam - James Blunt)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Back To Bedlam - James Blunt
Date:	27/05/08 (119 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The vocals of James Blunt are always excellent, instrumentally the album has much to offer.

Disadvantages: Some may be put off by the mans high vocal style.

'Back to Bedlam' is the first album from singer-songwriter James Blunt, a 2004 release consisting of ten terrific tracks. This is folk rock at its finest I feel, the former British Army Captain certainly put to record an excellent album here and constructed a fine thirty nine minutes of music. 'Back to Bedlam' was voted 'worst album of the year' by the New Musical Express magazine, what do they know though; over 2.3 million copies of the album were shifted in 2005 alone.

Beginning with 'High', right from the offset the album is here hugely impressive. 'High' is without doubt one of my favourite tracks from this album, all ten of them are strong but this is one that most certainly captured my imagination right from the very first time that I heard it. The chorus to the track is absolutely excellent, always the voice of James Blunt is well put across here and never does the music disappoint. The guitar sounds constructed in the music are brilliant, the drumbeats also absolutely excellent and some impressive piano work can also here be heard. It's an excellent way for the album to begin and as the album progresses the music continues to impress here.

'You're Beautiful' is the second track on this album, it was the third single commercially released and also the breakthrough single for James Blunt. 'You're Beautiful' spent five weeks at number one in the UK, it also hit the number one spot at many other countries around the world and this is something that should really come as no surprise. The lyrical content of this track always is strong, the voice of James Blunt is highly impressive and the acoustic guitar accompaniment for the track certainly does not disappoint. The excellent voice of James Blunt shines through strongly here, this is something that is true of every track on this album in fact but most definitely his powerful vocal presence is highly apparent here.

'Wisemen' has always been my favourite track from this album, it's the one that I've played the most times of all tracks present on this release and given how many times I have listened to this album over the years this is really no small achievement. Lines such as 'Look who's alone now it's not me, it's not me; those three wisemen they've got a semi by the sea' are powerfully sung out by James Blunt here, always there is great passion in his voice and never do the lyrical lines fail to impress me. Everything about this track is excellent, it's a most incredible piece of music and I for one absolutely love it.

'Goodbye My Lover' was the fourth chosen single from the 'Back to Bedlam' album, the first four tracks from this album were in fact all released commercially as singles and rightfully so. The track is quite slow paced, it's an excellent piece of music however and the piano progression of the track is absolutely magnificent. Vocally the track is impressive as always here, everything about 'Goodbye My Lover' is strong, the lyrics are poignant and with this one the music of James Blunt most definitely has plenty to offer. As he sings out lines such as 'I'm so hollow' he certainly seems to be quite a lost soul, his personal pain can be felt here throughout the track and his passion certainly comes across in the vocal performance of this one.

The fifth track from this album 'Tears and Rain' is yet another excellent track, vocally the music is here supremely strong and instrumentally also the musical creation here has plenty to offer. The lyrics are intelligently constructed in the music, the vocal performance is brilliant and the chorus is I feel a definite high point of the track. The drumbeat is quite basic here but hugely effective, it's vocally where this track shines through so strongly as is the case with many of the tracks on this album. James Blunt showed himself to be such a talented singer-songwriter with this album, 'Tears and Rain' is just one of many excellent tracks from this release and was in fact co-written with Guy Chambers who co-wrote such Robbie Williams classics as 'Let Me Entertain You' and 'Angels'.

'Out Of My Mind' is yet another pleasantly constructed track from this album; it's a well worked James Blunt musical creation and vocally yet another success story. The vocals are as ever well put across here, instrumentally the music is highly impressive also and once more the lyrical content of the track comes across magnificently here. The melody of the track is brilliant, this one could easily have been released successfully as a single I feel. 'So Long, Jimmy' follows on from this and is I feel another definite highlight from the 'Back to Bedlam' album. The guitar sound is well put across and lyrically once more the music is strong. The track is quite instrumentally repetitive, this is a sound that has worked out well here for James Blunt though I feel and instrumentally there is most definitely a heavy hint of folk apparent here.

When I first listened to the 'Back to Bedlam' album from James Blunt 'Billy' was one of the tracks I remembered most fondly. The track is hugely catchy, it's well put across by James Blunt here and many of the lyrical lines from this one stuck in my mind for many months. The track speaks of sorrow becoming 'his' soulmate when referring to 'Billy', it's a powerful piece of music and most definitely one that I would highly recommend listening to. The vocal performance of James Blunt is passionate as ever here, the track is excellent and some strong piano sounds are also here put across powerfully in the music.

Using the same guitar riff in its introduction as 'You're Beautiful'; 'Cry' is another excellent track from this album. The instrumental progression of the track is absolutely brilliant, often the 'You're Beautiful' guitar riff is dropped into the sound here and this certainly provides for a strong listening experience. The guitars have plenty to offer in the music here, the track clocks in at just over four minutes in length and a fine four minutes of music it is too.

'No Bravery' provides an excellent end to a fantastic album of music, the tenth and final offering from this release certainly does not disappoint and as always here the fine voice of James Blunt shines through. The lyrics are well sung, full of meaning and the performance is passionate too. It's an exceptional way to end the album, it caps off this release magnificently and certainly I feel does the album terrific justice. It's one of the six tracks from this album to have been co-written with Sacha Skarbek, his influence is a vital one on this album I feel and given that he helped write over half the tracks on this release he certainly played no small part in making 'Back to Bedlam' the sublime album offering that it is.

'Back to Bedlam' is an excellent debut album from James Blunt, the man certainly proved his worth with this one and despite all the stick that he gets I do feel that this is an absolutely fantastic album of music. His voice will not appeal to all, I personally feel that James Blunt has an excellent voice however and throughout this album it is always the vocal performance of the man that stands out so strongly. Instrumentally 'Back to Bedlam' certainly does not disappoint, every track is incredibly instrumentally well constructed; all ten of the tracks on this album are absolutely exceptional and never is there a dull moment. So many strong tracks are included on this release, not one of the ten tracks on this album disappoints and all of them in fact offer plenty. For those with a strong appreciation for singer-songwriters then 'Back to Bedlam' is most definitely an album that should be of great appeal; it's a fine creation of folk rock and not one single weak link has here been included on this album. What I like most about the 'Back to Bedlam' album is that James Blunt here focused on constructing ten incredible tracks; less is more here and I'd rather he'd done this than put to record thirteen or fourteen lesser tracks. Definitely give this 'Back to Bedlam' album a listen if you haven't done so already, you'll surely not be disappointed.

Summary: 'Back to Bedlam' comprises of ten absolutely excellent tracks, essential listening for sure.