Back to Bedlam [Import]

James Blunt | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 13, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Atlantic UK
• ASIN: B0009RJPC8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (439 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,888 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As a piece of propaganda, James Blunt’s album Back to Bedlam does more for changing the face of the British Army than a series of television adverts ever could. Swapping a rifle for a guitar, the former cavalryman’s ballad-heavy debut is a clearly aiming to win the battle for the public’s hearts and minds. The U.K. success of singles like "You’re Beautiful" and "No Bravery" (inspired by his time stationed in Bosnia) are both heartfelt and sensitive, the latter packing an additional emotional punch beyond the typical lovelorn ballads of his contemporaries like Damien Rice. But Blunt also sings with conviction about matters of the heart, and that’s the territory that most of Back to Bedlam visits, with songs of loss like "Goodbye My Lover", "So Long Jimmy" and "Billy". And throughout, the arrangements remain understated yet effective, thanks to the input of such heavyweight producers and songwriters like Linda Perry and Guy Chambers. All of which prove that there’s a lot of depth to this modern, musical hero. --Robert Burrow

Product Description

Expanded edition of James Blunt's Back To Bedlam. Includes original disc and a second with a full live concert, recorded in Ireland in 2005. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

102 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You've got a friend in James, July 6, 2005

By 

Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Back to Bedlam (Audio CD)

This album is not something you'd expect from a guy who studied engineering, was a part of the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo, rode horseback for the Queen and watched over the Queen Mother as she lay in state. Colorful background aside, it's hard to imagine his reedy falsetto warbling through the streets of Serb villages or recording music in his landlady's bathroom, but that's exactly the way it happened for James Blunt.

His voice takes a little getting used to, but the track "Goodbye My Lover" brings to mind Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger" from the Breakfast in America album. Most of the other tracks display a lot of raw emotion. Drawing from personal experience, he sings of love, heartbreak, pain, relationships and unattainable romance.

The first single "High" asks:

"Will you be my shoulder when I'm grey and older?
Promise me tomorrow starts with you"

Other prime tracks are "Wisemen" the second hit single; "You're Beautiful" about a love that can never be (watch out for the single, totally unexpected expletive); and "So Long Jimmy" and "Billy" which up the tempo just a tad.

As the emotionally charged track "Cry" begins:

"I have seen peace, I have seen pain,
Resting on the shoulders of your name.
Do you see the truth through all their lies?
Do you see the world through troubled eyes?
And if you want to talk about it anymore,
Lie here on the floor and cry on my shoulder.
I'm a friend."

After you listen to this album, you'll feel you have a friend in James.


Amanda Richards, July 6, 2005

308 of 334 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magically Up Close & Personal, October 18, 2005

By 

Ismail Elshareef "ielshareef" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Back to Bedlam (Audio CD)

This stunning debut by James Blunt--a British soldier turned musician--will take your breath away; literally! Every single track on this beautiful release is lyrically multidimensional with incredible depth and addictive melodies. It's definitely the best release by a new artist this year hands down.

The ballad-heavy, Back to Bedlam, is romanticism reinvented. The ecstatic High starts off the album with James pleading, "Will you be my shoulder / when I am gray and older / promise me tomorrow starts with you."

It's followed by "You're Beautiful"--an ode to love that can't be had. Equally beautiful and heartbreaking as he sings, "But it's time to face the truth / I will never be with you."

"Wisemen", one of my favorite tracks, asks "Gotta ask yourself the question / where are yo now?" It's one of those

In the melancholic ballad "Goodbye my Lover", James pleads with his departed love to remember the good times they had together and try to be his friend. He ends it with the chilling, "I'm so hollow baby / I'm so hollow."

Then comes my favorite track in this release, "Tears and Rain", in which James wishes he could do away with all the demons in his head and soul; the conflicts that come with the simple act of living life. He even makes a reference to 'Dorain Gray"--Oscar Wild's alter ego character from The Picture of Dorian Gray. Absolutely solid track!

The album goes on with songs commenting on the craziness of life's affairs with "Out of my Mind" to infidelity with "Billy."

"Cry" and "No Bravery" are two emotionally packed tracks through which James tells us what he thinks of war. In "No Bravery" he goes:

"There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
Tears drying on their face.
He has been here.
Brothers lie in shallow graves.
Fathers lost without a trace.
A nation blind to their disgrace,
Since he's been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness."

James Blunt's voice takes some time to get used to, but his passion, lyrics and music are irresistible. He is to 2005 what Damien Rice was to 2004: definitely the best new artist of the year!

I've never listened to an album so much since Keane's. It's guaranteed to satisfy regardless of what genre of music you are into.

I am still singing along!

178 of 193 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive debut album by James Blunt that is hard to define, but highly listenable, October 28, 2005

By 

A. G. Corwin - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Back to Bedlam (Audio CD)

James Blunt spent a year in Kosovo as a soldier in the British Army, and that exposure of the horrors of strife and conflict inspired the emotional tenor of his work as an artist. The lyrics and melodies he wrote in his spare time from soldiering formed the genesis of his impressive debut album, Back to Bedlam. With a unique falsetto voice that fits perfectly with his acoustic guitar based melodies, Blunt creates a style that is parts folk, rock, pop, and indie, and eminently listenable.

The songs feel familar and comfortable at first listen, but what is interesting about Blunt is that his chords, melodies, and often lyrics veer in unpredictable directions, but with great results. Just when you think you know where the song is going, he changes it up a bit. That is the mark of a talented artist. Sonically, the songs are quite rich. The overall production values remind me a lot of Sarah McLachlan's: rich, deep, judicious use of strings and piano, and well crafted combination of instruments that juxatopose his unique voice. Some claim that Blunt as a songwriter envokes David Gray or John Mayer. I disagree, if anything I hear more of an Annie Lennox or Tracy Chapman, but with more melodic hooks.

Don't be suprised if you start hearing James Blunt popping up on television shows and radio everywhere. His music is accessible, enjoyable, and highly listenable, and if he can continue writing songs like High, Wiseman, So Long Jimmy, Goodbye My Lover, and No Bravery(which is heavily influenced by his experience in Kosovo), he will have a long career. Often #1 albums in Britain don't have the same appeal in the US, but if any album can crossover, this one can.

Note: This is listed as having explicit lyrics, mainly due to a pretty blatant F bomb in "you're beautiful." There weren't any others that I heard. If you find that word offensive, pick up the clean version, which has the radio/video edit