For me, Busted aren’t just that band that you get that nostalgic ‘oh I loved this band when I was younger’ kick from. They are the band that I’ve constantly loved since the early 2000s when they first appeared on the UK music scene. Basically anything they released, whether it was when they did individual projects or together, I was always guaranteed to love it because its Busted and I probably would be supporting them whatever but this album is genuinely an instant love at first listen.
Busted’s new album, Half Way There was released this week and it is basically everything you could ever have wanted from a Busted album. If you’ve ever been a fan of any of Busted’s music this album is for you, the guitars and unbelievably catchy songs are back. I absolutely loved the bands previous release Night Driver as it reminded me so much of band member James Bourne’s solo project Future Boy, but Half Way There is just a complete step up from that. I’d heard a very rough demo of Nineties, the first song released from the album back in September 2017 and when I’ve met the band since the last album they’ve excitedly said how much they love this album, so my excitement for this album has been around for a while but nothing could compete the with excitement I’ve had this week upon actually being able to listen to it.
Half Way There consists of ten songs all of which are such great songs. From the very Blink 182 sounding, Shipwrecked In Atlantis, to fan favourite (it was released on the McBusted album) What Happened To Your Band to the acoustic song, All My Friends which documents growing older and It Happens which documents the Busted journey – this album has something for everyone. What I love the most about this album is that Busted have gone back to exactly what made me love them in the first place even though this style of music isn’t something you’d really hear on radio anymore. To be honest, I think that’s the reason it charted so highly (amazingly hitting the number two spot in this weeks album charts) as people love the classic Busted sound. That being said although this album sounds similar to the first two albums, you can completely hear how the band have grown musically since the earlier releases.
I attended three of Busted’s album release week performances this week and I can honestly say this album is going to sound unreal on tour. Every song is just designed for a live performance and I can already imagine how fantastic this album is going to sound when they go on tour around the country in March. Plus this album will sound incredible at the summer festivals – here’s me keeping my fingers crossed they do a Glastonbury slot, because how amazing would it be to hear It Happens, a song where they mention the festival there! Busted always manage to put on such a fantastic live performance and I feel like they succeed in making sure every single person in the crowd has a fantastic time. I know I for one always leave feeling the happiest person in the world after seeing them live.
My sheer love for this band makes it so insanely difficult to write posts like this as I am well aware I’m at a risk of sounding too much like ‘oh my goodness, I love them so much, I will literally buy anything they do so you should go do the same’. I know that to an extent that is true, I probably (definitely…) would buy anything they released but at the same time I’ve always been critical over things they do and I truly wouldn’t be writing this post if I didn’t really think it was a good album. So, my advice for Half Way There? If you ever were a fan you need to give them another listen as this album ticks all the boxes for a Busted fan. If you like your pop punk type of music, why not also give it a listen? My personal favourites are Shipwrecked In Atlantis and All My Friends if you only want to give a couple of songs a listen!
If you’re interested you can listen to Busted’s album Half Way There on all the usual streaming sites, download from iTunes etc or can buy a physical copy of the album from Busted’s online store by clicking here
melissay 