Disco de James Blunt: “Back To Bedlam (Expanded Edition) [Edited]”

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!

OK, so those folks across the pond were in on this before most of us, but now that we've got it, wow are we lucky. This has to be near the top of my "Best of 2005" list because it's somehow different, perfectly produced and includes ten totally diverse songs that make this first effort quite amazing. Starting with "High" the opening song, and followed by the radio single, "You're Beautiful" and right through to the tenth song, "No Bravery", this CD is first rate. Only down side - the F word on the non-radio version of "You're Beautiful", which honestly works better using the word flying as the F word anyway. It's more natural and doesn't seem so forced. I use the F word, but frankly it just wasn't necessary here. Bought the Clean version of the CD after having the explicit copy..........suggest you do the same! James Blunt is the real thing!

I discovered James Blunt a few days ago during my morning commute. A DJ at WPLJ in New York had just returned from a trip to Europe and couldn't stop raving about the single "You're Beautiful." Coincidentally, Blunt happened to be in New York at the time and - even though his record hadn't been officially released in America yet - invited him onto the program to perform a set. On the strength of that performance, I went out and purchased the import album.

Blunt - who has a colorful past in the Royal Armed Forces - may be a great, emerging singer-songwriter. His debut album is mature and tuneful, with deftly written lyrics. It is unusual to have a pop-song make reference to Dorian Grey nowadays, but Blunt pulls it off. Now, I am hearing "You're Beautiful" on mainstream American stations, so I can only assume his popularity will continue to rise.

James Blunt is great. BUT if you want the version of You're Beautiful that is playing on the radio and MTV, get the clean version. In the explicit version, the phrase "flying high" is replaced with "fu**ing high." We made the mistake of getting the explicit version not realizing the explicit word was in You're Beautiful. Ruined the song for us so we sold it and bought the clean version. Not much different except for that song - but it was an important difference to us.

I went in search of the artist who sang "You're Beautiful" after an episode of ER featured it at the end of one of their shows.

While that song is great, it's not the best . The whole album is a nice blend of pop, folk, and an original sound I can't quite put my finger on. Flute, piano , and acoustic guitar, lend to different songs, each in a unique way.

I normally don't buy CDs , and would rather just download, but this was one I made an exception for. In today's day and age of quickly cranked out music by "artists" who don't even write their own music, it's nice to come across someone whose heart,soul, and life experiences, brings a visually vivid picture of the individual to his listeners.

This is one that some of the folks on my Christmas list will be getting in their stockings.