Busted
Cover of the 2003 edition. The original cover is identical but without the Busted or enhanced CD logos. (Band members left to right) Matt Willis, Charlie Simpson and James Bourne.
Studio album by
Busted
Released30 September 2002 (2002-09-30)
Recorded2002
Genre
Length37:17
LabelUniversal Island
Producer
Busted chronology
Busted
(2002) 		A Present for Everyone
(2003)
Singles from Busted
  1. "What I Go to School For"
    Released: 16 September 2002
  2. "Year 3000"
    Released: 13 January 2003
  3. "You Said No (a.k.a. Crash and Burn)"
    Released: 21 April 2003
  4. "Hurra, hurra, die Schule brennt"
    Released: 21 April 2003
  5. "Sleeping with the Light On"
    Released: 11 August 2003
Alternative cover
Japanese artwork for Busted

Busted is the self-titled debut album by English pop rock band Busted. It was released in the UK in September 2002 and peaked at number 2 the following January after the success of second single "Year 3000", which reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Five singles were released from the album: "What I Go to School For", "Year 3000", "You Said No", "Hurra, hurra, die Schule brennt" (released in continental Europe only) and "Sleeping with the Light On".

Busted was the 8th best-selling album of 2003 in the UK. The album has sold over 1.2 million copies and been certified as 4× Platinum in the UK.[1] The album spent 77 weeks on the UK Top 75 Albums chart.[2]

Both "What I Go to School For" and "Year 3000" were covered by the Jonas Brothers, and released on their 2006 album It's About Time.

Background

With the original line-up of Busted having broken up in 2001, guitarist James Bourne and bassist Matt Willis set about finding a new band member. Charlie Simpson and Tom Fletcher both originally made it in, but the latter was cut from the final lineup.[3][4]

Six tracks on the album were co-written with John McLaughlin and Steve Robson, who often collaborate with each other.[5] The other remaining songs were written by the band themselves.[6]

Singles

The first single released from Busted was "What I Go to School For", which reached number 3. This was followed by "Year 3000", which reached number 2, "You Said No" and "Sleeping with the Light On". "You Said No" peaked at number 1 and "Sleeping with the Light On" peaked at number 3. With "You Said No", Busted entered the Guinness World Records for being the first artist to have their first three singles enter the top three of the UK Singles Chart in ascending order.[7]

A European-only single, "Hurra, hurra, die Schule brennt", was released on the same date as "You Said No" was released in the UK.

"You Said No" is titled "Crash and Burn" on the original album release, but its title was changed for the single release because of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.[8] In an interview with Newsround, Willis said, "We were deciding what single to go for just as that happened and we really wanted to use Crash and Burn but we thought the name was inappropriate - it would have been bad taste."[9] Simpson also stated in 2016 that "we thought it was a bit insensitive around 9/11."[10]

On the cassette release of the album, "Losing You" is advertised as a single. However, the song never was released as a single, and it is unknown whether it was planned to be or if this was a mistake. In 2018, Willis said that they would never play the song live, stating "We've never played that song. For a very good reason – we don't like it. It's not very good, it's quite embarrassing."[11]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Melodic[13]

AllMusic states: "[Busted] slide smoothly between... dull teen pop ballads with the sickeningly overwrought vocals typical of the genre... and relatively more creative stuff that punches up the formula with pop-ternative production and smirking, yet still squeaky clean lyrical witticisms. At best it's BBMak with better cheekbones; at worst, Busted is a neutered Sum 41".[6] On bbc.co.uk, Jacqueline Hodges wrote: "Think a younger, British Wheatus or Blink-182 junior and you will be along the right lines. Their cheeky and geeky Green Day-type lyrics... are endearingly refreshing in these days of Gareth Gates and Ronan Keating mush".[14] Q was more positive, Dan Stubbs writing: "Tales of copping off, time travel and a five-fingered fantasy about a schoolteacher with a nice bottom are delivered through inspired one-liners and clever gimmicks".[15]

B-sides

Busted recorded a number of B-sides for their album campaign, including a number of classic covers, including cover versions of "Brown Eyed Girl", "Fun Fun Fun" and "Mrs Robinson", as well as new tracks including "Late Night Sauna", "My Good Friend" and "Last Summer", as well as the demo version of "Year 3000". The version of "Year 3000" which appears as the B-side to "Sleeping with the Light On" is the version which the band presented to Universal Music before they were signed by the label. "My Good Friend" has never been released on CD, and only appears on the cassette release of "You Said No", becoming one of the rarest Busted tracks around. The demo version of "Year 3000" was also only released on cassette, meaning it is also very rare and hard to find.

Track listing

Busted — Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."What I Go to School For"
Steve Robson3:30
2."You Said No"
  • Bourne
  • Simpson
  • Willis
  • McLaughlin
  • Robson
  • Richard Mark Rashman
Robson2:47
3."Britney"
  • Bourne
  • McLaughlin
  • Robson
Robson3:31
4."Losing You"
  • Bourne
  • Simpson
  • Willis
  • McLaughlin
  • Robson
Robson3:54
5."Year 3000"
  • Bourne
  • Simpson
  • Willis
  • Robson
  • Tom Fletcher
Robson3:17
6."Psycho Girl"
  • Bourne
  • Rashman
Robson3:51
7."All the Way"
  • Simpson
  • Bourne
Robson2:26
8."Sleeping with the Light On"
  • Bourne
  • Willis
Robson3:38
9."Dawsons’s Geek"
  • Bourne
  • Simpson
  • Willis
Robson2:27
10."Without You"
  • Simpson
  • Robson
Robson4:09
11."Loser Kid"
  • Bourne
  • Simpson
  • Willis
Robson3:48
Total length:45:57
Busted — British and Japanese special edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
10."When Day Turns into Night"Simpson • BourneSteve Robson3:35
11."Everything I Knew"Bourne • WillisSteve Robson3:10
13."Extra Exceedingly Fitness" (Interlude)Bourne • SimpsonJames Bourne0:18
Total length:52:28
Busted — German edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
12."Hurra, hurra, die Schule brennt"Schlasse • Klein • Hönig • Larson • MöllerSteve Robson3:35

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[1] 4× Platinum 1,200,000‡
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[30] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b "British album certifications – Busted – Busted". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Busted | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Seven fun facts you may not know about McFly | Get to know the band!". Music Plus Sport. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  4. ^ Gibsone, Harriet (29 October 2022). "McFly's Tom Fletcher looks back: 'People threw things at us in the street. These days, they just want to say something nice'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  5. ^ "John McLaughlin: Songwriter". The Writers. Windswept Pacific. Archived from the original on 14 June 2002.
  6. ^ a b Loftus, Johnny. "Busted > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  7. ^ Warner, Sam (18 November 2013). "10 Things About... McBusted". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  8. ^ Jeff C (12 February 2003). "Busted Rename New Single After Shuttle Disaster". Pop Dirt. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Busted boys gossip about fans and fame". Newsround. CBBC. 23 April 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  10. ^ Wilson-Taylor, James (4 November 2016). "INTERVIEW: Busted Reveal All On Jonas Brothers Covers, "Dated" Pop Punk & Their Whole New Sound". PopBuzz. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  11. ^ Earp, Catherine (30 November 2018). "Busted reveal songs they'll never play live". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  12. ^ AllMusic Review
  13. ^ Roth, Kaj (28 October 2003). "Busted - s/t". Melodic. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  14. ^ Hodges, Jacqueline (20 November 2002). "Busted Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  15. ^ Stubbs, Dan, Busted, review, Q, December 2002.
  16. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Busted – Busted" (in German). Hung Medien.
  17. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Busted – Busted". Hung Medien.
  18. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Busted – Busted" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  19. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (15 February 2003). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Internet Archive. ((cite magazine)): |last= has generic name (help); Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  20. ^ "Lescharts.com – Busted – Busted". Hung Medien.
  21. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  22. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (22 February 2003). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books. ((cite book)): |last= has generic name (help)
  23. ^ "バステッドのアルバム売上ランキング". ORICON NEWS.
  24. ^ "Google Translate".
  25. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Busted – Busted". Hung Medien.
  27. ^ "TOP20.dk © 2003". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  28. ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 - 2003". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  29. ^ "The Official UK Albums Chart 2004" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  30. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2003". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.


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