James Blunt - Back to Bedlam
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Music CD Cover
Artist: James BluntBrand: BLUNT,JAMES
Edition: Music CD
Format: Explicit Lyrics
CD Release Date: 2005-10-04
Music Label: Atlantic
Product features:
- BLUNT JAMES BACK TO BEDLAM
- High
- You're Beautiful
- Wisemen
- Goodbye My Lover
- Tears and Rain
- Out of My Mind
- So Long Jimmy
- Billy
- Cry
- No Bravery
Free Music Notes for Back to Bedlam
Free Music Review: Back to Bedlam
Hit: 5 Stars
Last December, my daughter introduced me to Back to Bedlam, a newly acquired CD in her collection. The powerful experience of my first listen has never left my heart, despite hundreds of repetitions. Most striking about the music is the mellow, honeyed, sweet blending of sound; the simple melodies chime and resonate fully and richly and become part of my soul. The music is alluring, addictive; his voice is hypnotic, haunting. Personal feelings of loss become magnified and feelings of love become elevated through hearing the arrangements. Blunt's music is often compared to that of Damien Rice and Elton John. I disagree. His sound is totally new, refreshing, and invigorating to my spirit. The ballads touch a level of emotion in my center that chills me, ignites me, awakens and restores me.
Significant within the CD is the natural, smooth flow of one song to the next. Track one is a florid, uplifting melody called "High." Listening to this track early in the morning always sends the thrill of gratitude through me. "Beautiful dawn - lights up the shore for me. There is nothing else in the world, I'd rather wake up and see (with you). Beautiful dawn - you're just blowing my mind again. Thought I was born to endless night, until you shine. High...." The next track flows into his most familiar song. "You're Beautiful," with its infectious melody and Blunt's lilting voice, tell the melancholy story of a "lifetime passing in seconds" (Rolling Stone) through a moment of eye contact with a former lover on the subway. When he sings, "You're beautiful, it's true. I saw your face in a crowded place, and I don't know what to do, `cause I'll never be with you", the sadness tears at my heartstrings. Following "You're Beautiful," "Wisemen" perks me up some with its catchy little tune, only to send me into the depths of despair with "Goodbye My Lover." When questioned about which song he was most proud of, James replied, "I like `Goodbye My Lover' because it's a really personal song and I recorded it in my landlady's bathroom in L.A. She had a piano in there and for me listening back to it, it actually sounds like the voice I hear in my head. It's so close to what I can imagine" (BBC). I have never heard a more gut-wrenching song about lost love, lost dreams, and lost happiness. Every single word of the entire song extols the anguish of a broken heart.And then, in case we haven't had enough sadness, flowing right along is the wringing of "Tears and Rain," where he sings about finding "comfort in pain."
At this point in the CD I'm ready to jump off the nearest tall building. Happily, "Out of My Mind," " So Long Jimmy," and "Billy" saves the day by flowing into lighter, less-intense melodies, thereby breaking, at least momentarily, the spell of grieving. These songs give us an emotional rest before "Cry" and " No Bravery," both works inspired by his war experiences. In "Cry" he laments, "I have seen peace, I have seen pain, resting on the shoulders of your name... I have seen birth, I have seen death, lived to see a lover's final breath...I have seen fear, I have seen faith, seen the look of anger on your face," all the while assuring the friend that his shoulder is available to cry on. The last track, "No Bravery," is all about the agonies of war - death, destruction and despair. Throughout the CD, the songs flow as life does: up and down, with the peaks and the valleys that we all experience.
Within the easy flow of the arrangements, there are only three songs on the whole CD that do not speak to me. "Out of My Mind," " So Long Jimmy," and "Billy" all seem superfluous and difficult to understand; not only are the lyrics hard for me to comprehend, but also the rhythm of all three songs seems jumbled and confusing. This is not to say that these songs are in any way inferior; they just do not resonate within me as powerfully as the rest of the tracks. That being said, this small pocket of less dramatic songs can be viewed as a welcome relief from the intensity of everything before and after.
Vital and refreshing, this new British artist has so much to give and to express -- creating dimension in our lives by helping us access feelings that can sometimes stay buried. Blunt says, "I guess it's always nice to be able to capture your life's experiences in a song and hold the emotion in that way. For me, this album is a diary" (BBC). I anticipate that as he acclimates himself to life out of the military, his songs will reflect more of the day-to-day living and loving experiences that make up his present life. I am also certain that as he releases more CD's, his fan base will continue to grow. I know that Blunt has much more to say and I am certain his many fans, myself included, look forward to his next release.
Back to Bedlam Poster
Simply put, James Blunt is the most successful debut artist of the year in the UK! However, he isn't one of those guys who finished school and set off to become a musician. The one time British army captain (and latest ina long line of Blunts in the armed forces) served stints as a peacekeeper in Kosovo and guard at Buckingham Palace before hanging up his uniform. His days of carrying a gun behind him, Blunt quickly began turning heads with his soaring vocals and stirring songs. His debut album, Back to Bedlam, has earned widespread praise, including comparisons to the likes of Damien Rice, David Gray and a young Elton John.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
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