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 James BluntBack to Bedlam [Clean] Release Date: 2005 01 04 Label: Custard/Atlantic Rating:  |
Soulful British crooner James Blunt's wistful debut infuses the listener -- in this order -- with rainy-day hope, the wistful comfort of unattainable love, and finally, world-weary resignation. While his parched and effeminate falsetto recalls Gasoline Alley-era Rod Stewart with a healthy dose of Antony and the Johnsons, it's the late Elliott Smith who casts the largest shadow on Back to Bedlam. Predictable but effective four-chord guitar motifs are the chosen vehicle for the ex-Royal Armed Forces soldier, and when they connect ("Wiseman," "Goodbye My Lover," "You Are Beautiful"), it's like a "Dear John" letter from a lover who you know will remain a close but ultimately guarded friend. Opening track "High" sets a determined mid-tempo pace that rarely wanes -- it's like an acoustic version of "Drive" by the Cars with a Coldplay chorus. It's a pace that would sink some records, but Bedlam's perfectly rendered, under-40-minute run time ensures that the listener doesn't suffer from a melancholic overdose. Blunt recounts his harrowing experiences as part of the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo on the closer, "No Bravery," and it's a shock to hear all of the romantic lyricism that informed Bedlam up to this point reduced to "Old men kneel and accept their fate/Wives and daughters cut and raped/A generation drenched in hate," but it's damn effective -- as is the majority of this fine debut. [This is the "clean" version of this release.] James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
Tracks:
| Title | Composer | Time | |
| 1 | High | Ross, Blunt | 4:03 |
| 2 | You're Beautiful | Blunt, Ghost, Skarbek | 3:33 |
| 3 | Wisemen | Skarbek, Blunt, Hogarth | 3:42 |
| 4 | Goodbye My Lover | Blunt, Skarbek | 4:18 |
| 5 | Tears and Rain | Blunt, Chambers | 4:04 |
| 6 | Out of My Mind | Blunt | 3:33 |
| 7 | So Long, Jimmy | Blunt, Hogarth | 4:24 |
| 8 | Billy | Ghost, Skarbek, Blunt | 3:37 |
| 9 | Cry | Blunt, Skarbek | 4:06 |
| 10 | No Bravery | Blunt, Skarbek | 4:00 |
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