Review. Busted - A Present for Everyone

Busted pushed their way to the top of the British music industry with their self titled debut album, which featured a sound not able to be compared to any other, as no other band have ever reached such heights. From the emotional tale of a boy's desire for his teacher in 'What I Go to School For' to the heart wrenching tale of rejection in 'Crash and Burn'. Not forgetting the groundbreaking futuristic soothsaying, with some particularly spectacular evolutionary predictions, with the human race fleeing from our native land and establishing a community underwater, to be found in 'Year 3000'. While this debut set the stage for greater things, Busted needed to grow from school boys (they were 'Sleeping With the Light On' after all) into men. We must therefore look to see if this development is evidenced in 'A Present for Everyone'...

Air Hostess begins the album with a story of love at first sight. Our men catch sight of a member of cabin crew with desirable aesthetic qualities, which is evoked strongly in the line 'Walking through the terminal, I saw something beautiful', before commenting on her pristine attire 'I like the way you dress.' There is, further, a suggestion that the air hostess's presence is causing a rise in the temperature in her immediate vicinity, so much so that our heroes' 'coke has got no ice in now.' How is a man to recover from such periled desire? Of course, the answer is to inform the lady in question of your social status - 'don't you know I'm in a band?' The chorus reveals that the protagonist in this tale suffers from travel sickness, but uses the strength of his lust for his trolley-pushing princess to take his mind of his illness by writing her a love letter, the content of which was presumably too brilliant to include in this song. One has to question why Busted were not awarded an Ivor Novello award for this song, such is its depth, coupled with developing a thrashing, confident punk-pop performance.

Crashed the Wedding brings us another epic love story. At the beginning of the song, it appears that Busted are in something of a hurry 'I'm so rushed off my feet/ looking for Gordon Street.' Why the need for such an expedient excursion to Gordon Street? What is afoot in that realm? It seems that it is rather important - something concerning a former lady friend of Charlie, Matt and James and, more specifically, her impending wedding to someone who is not them! Obviously uneasy to let such a romantic crime proceed, despite the fine lady's father's concerns about these chaps, because they have yet to seek gainful employment, Busted, like power-pop superheroes, swoop down to save the day. Luckily, the lads arrive just in time to stop and 'crash' the wedding, to 'steal my girl away/ from everybody gathered there that day.' This might seem to be the end of that matter - however, Busted, being as caring as they are, take the time to console the jilted groom by informing him 'he might as well forget her/ and walk away'. After all, 'she didn't want to stay' and certainly harboured no desire to 'share his second name'. If anything, it seems the jilt-ee should be grateful, and rightly so, as Busted are 'glad' they proceeded with their last minute emotionally charged stunt. A phenomenal tale - a true modern romance.

Who's David contains a narrative which brings enough tears to the eye to cause some fairly serious water damage. It contains an accusation to a girlfriend of being unfaithful to the perpetual, unfaltering, unwavering, unmoving, unstoppable love which Busted hold for her. A glance at this promiscuous fool's mobile telephone reveals the treason which has so offended the emotions of Busted, confirming this by intimating that our man 'hated what I saw. This then leads to a heated and impassioned inquiry - 'You stupid lying bitch. Who's David? Some guy who lives next door?' This mocks David, who is clearly unaware of the severity of his relationship with this 'stupid bitch' - how could he be better than Busted? This question is not resolved explicitly, so it is submitted that Busted intended this to be a rhetorical question - it would be silly to even contemplate. 

One matter of concern, however, is Busted's lack of respect for the burden of proof which might lie on them in proving their allegations - 'Somebody saw you sleep around the town/ And I've got proof because word's going round.' The pressing matter here is their disregard for the requirement for corroboration, i.e. that the same account ought to be given by more than one person, which, frankly, makes me doubt the sincerity of the lyrics - if we are unable to trust Busted's grasp of basic legal principles, then what can we trust them to do? If you are able to get over this molehill of a trouble, then there will be very little stopping you from having the time of your life listening to this classic song.

She Wants to be Me is one of those occasions where Busted, instead of leaving us guessing as to the story which the track holds (who knew that Air Hostess would form the backdrop for one of the great love stories, for example), provides us with a rare 'ronseal' song title. In this instance, Busted are tortured by their girlfriend slowly morphing, by the means of stalking, into her own version of them. This was not necessarily an instant, epiphanic revelation - there had been indications from an early stage that there were perhaps some misgivings with the girl's developing sense of style - 'I notice little things - same t-shirt and sunglasses.' It becomes clear, when she begins chasing supermodels and memorising Busted's phonebook that there is something far wrong. Busted then plead, simply, for recognition that they exist - 'Somebody notice me, somebody notice/ I'm fading away here.' This is not an issue I have ever had to confront in my own life, but I can only imagine that it is an incredibly challenging one to be caught up in. I'm sure Busted, in this song and their pleading would still manage to hold a sense of decorum and effectively neutralise the problem so that their obsessive girlfriend might return to her normal ways. A cracking song.

3am, from the opening chord sequence and declaration - 'I don't give a damn about you' we can see that Busted have split up from their girlfriend, since they are simply 'happy to be alone'. This is Busted at their most tender. They display a strength of character in admitting their mistake here, and seek to remedy it by calling their, now ex, girlfriend and looking to spark a reunification at 3am, as they have realised that they wish it could be how it was before. One may question why they called their girlfriend while standing outside her front door, rather than simply ringing the doorbell, however, this further demonstrates the care which Busted show to others - if they rang the bell, then it might wake other residents of the house up, which would no doubt cause some disgruntlement. Regretfully, we are not informed of the success of this tactic, but we can still feel the raw emotion which is riddled at every strum and note, something for which we should be eternally grateful.

Falling for You indicates a major shift from the sombre tones of 3am, with Busted declaring, in a bop-punk way as only they can, how they are falling for a girl. Not wanting to be too forward, Busted are unsure about suggesting that the girl might desire space in their bed, especially now that their Mum is away next week, saying 'I'd ask to have you stay/ If I wasn't so frightened.' This uncertainty shows a vulnerable streak which is perhaps explained by Busted's admission that they are incontinent or, at least, less innocent than we might assume  - 'My bed is wet/ Don't know how'. Whatever is at issue here, one thing is certain; it's the girl's fault. 'I hate what you're putting me through!/ What have you done to me now?!' shows just how scared Busted are, having never felt such a warm fuzzy feeling before (it is probably best to consider this statement in isolation from the entirety of Busted's discography in order for it to have any standing).

That Thing You Do begins with a Hendrix-esque riff, which develops into a light verse and then to a stadium filling chorus. Here, we are encountered with a startling first lyric - 'When I woke up I was so proud to see/ You lying naked next to me.' At the beginning of this review, I suggested that we should be looking for signs of Busted's growing maturity. I think this is that moment. It speaks not only of love, we have heard that from them before, but also of pride, something which indicated the shift from boyhood to manhood. Then, shockingly, we find Busted lost for words - 'Baby, I don't know what to say', and, later, 'I don't know what to do'. This girl has had a profound effect on the lads - suddenly life is not the same without her and it's all because 'I love that thing you do'. What is this thing? Is it a magic trick? I suppose we'll never know. A cracking listen.

Over Now continues this trend for Busted to show their softer side, in the light of the break up of a relationship. This is especially poignant as it appears the love which Busted showed for their girl was not reciprocated to the same extent; 'I think I loved you more'. There also comes a startling admission from Busted that 'all the promises I made were so stupid' which references not only the ultimate fallibility of the human race, but also exposes the humility which Busted show when in pressured, emotional situations. The situation turns on its head during the second verse, as suddenly 'two days gone, I'm alright/ but you can't sleep at night'. Busted's ex girlfriend is only beginning to realise what it is she has lost, and it now coming out of the relationship in a worse state for it. There is a lesson for us all  to be found in this spine tingling sonic masterpiece.

Fake discusses a matter which is rather delicate - 'do I need to measure?' It concerns an inability to stand to attention, as it were and Busted's concerns about this, particularly as it may lead to a disintegration of the relationship they have with their lady (I've lost count of how many they've had now on this album). Busted's ability to 'tackle' such an issue in front of such a large audience takes both guts and stupidity, but likely more of the former. It does end with an optimistic tone, suggesting that when they do finally 'finish', that 'you're gonna wanna be with me'. At least we all know there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Meet You There, all sarcasm aside, is actually a really good song. It details a potential break up between a man and woman. It tells of regret at the demise of the situation and how Busted may have acted inappropriately, leading the other party to become angry with them. This may possibly be due to accusations of infidelity against Busted's girl, possibly in a newspaper or other form of printed media - 'When I heard the stories/ Said things I didn't mean/ Should have stayed calm.' It seems that this altercation is the final straw for their partner, with her suggesting that it has caused the termination of their union - 'It's written all over your face/ Such a painful thing to waste/ Tell me now where do we go?/ Now the future's not so clear/ I can't believe we've ended here.' It is also, possibly, an indictment of the media, with Busted asking 'Where's the world that doesn't care?', which suggests that the printing of the allegations regarding their lover is at the root of the issue here. Perhaps Busted were also at fault, in believing the stories before consulting their lover. Nonetheless this is a great song and tells a story which brings a tear to the eye.

Why also seems to speak of an unsatisfactory relationship. This time, it seems that it has simply become stagnant - 'Loving you could be so easy/ Loving you could be so great.'  The use of 'could' in this context tells us that it is not presently easy nor great to love the recipient of this monologue at present, but that it once was. This relationship seems to have lost itself from the one where they would 'joke about the things we used to see', this being replaced with a 'selfish compromise' and 'self indulgent, useless, bunch of lies'. The song ends with a delicate acoustic outro, which sees Charlie consider whether a change would be for the better, rather than have him continually lamenting the demise of the relationship he is currently in. Phenomenal stuff.

Loner in Love tells of a man who has a great friendship with a girl who has a 'current boyfriend', and perhaps has designs on something more. We are told of a perfect day which the pair spent together watching dolphins and then running 'in slow motion over the sand/ Into the ocean holding your hand.' The chorus tells of the ache which the man feels in somehow not being able to bring himself to phone the girl, and realising that his life sucks. To make matters worse, the man runs into the aforementioned 'current boyfriend' who proceeds to 'kick my teeth in', which leaves our man in an even worse predicament, for he is no longer able to smile, further reducing his chances of acquainting himself with a young lady, and maybe even courting her.

Better Than This finds Busted with a girl who is clearly further up the social ladder than them, with a far more advanced vocabulary. 'I'm uncultured but I'm not quite sure what that means' shows the extent to which this problem exists - this leads to Busted asking the girl just what exactly it is that she wants from them as, at the moment, it appears that they are irresolvably incompatible. The only way out of this is to end it all - 'I don't wanna leave you/ But baby I need to.' After all, there must be better than this - it suits both parties to conclude the relationship, so they might both seek to find one which satisfies them both absolutely. A haunting romantic song.

Can't Break Thru is another romantic song. Busted are in a relationship with a girl who says that they don't blow her away. Even their friends were sceptical that they would manage to stay together for longer than a week. The girl is always complaining about them and it is only natural that there comes a stage where Busted may question whether they ought to be in the relationship at all, after all 'You don't even know who I am.'
'I'm giving up and I'll never reminisce/ I've found a way, I'm getting over this/ I let go in every way/ Cos I don't need you' represents the final word on the matter - it has to end. This shows that Busted have a strong will and backbone and will not stand for any unjust criticism. Hopefully they won't find issue with this review!

Nerdy, track 15, closes the album. There is a girl at school who Busted have a crush on, but she doesn't know. She is a popular person at school, which appears to have resulted in her developing an ego, but Busted continue their unrequited love regardless. They even voted for her in the school elections, a clear sign of their commitment to her. It appears that one of the main hurdles facing Busted in attaining the affections of the fine lady is their reputation  - 'Just because I'm nerdy/ And my friends are thirty/ It doesn't mean that I swing that way.' Busted then follow their lady round to the 'store' and notice that her friends are smoking. This leads them to take a principled stance - 'I'd do anything to have you/ But I wouldn't take a toke.' This final matter on such a multi-layered album demonstrates that Busted are suitable, nay, perfect role models for their fans. They say no to smoking and, presumably, to excessive alcohol consumption and drugs too. A remarkable finish to a remarkable album.

There is always a risk that a band will suffer 'second album syndrome', but Busted's sophomore album does not fall into this trap. Indeed, such sophistication is demonstrated in the philanthropic sentiment suggested by the album title - Busted have a present for everyone; this album is the gift that keeps giving. Even if you have to pay for it, it will reward you far beyond the £9.99 you pay in a shop or even the 50p at a car boot sale. Highly recommended.

11/10