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To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
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James Blunt is, quite frankly, the most depressing thing to head the charts for a long time. This morning, he sits atop both the album and singles charts simultaneously - surely proof that endless marketing of what is essentially music devoid of emotion, a fun element or anything that could be tangibly defined as entertaining.
With that out of the way, only two other entries in the Top Ten this week. Elton John is at four with 'Electricity' and something by Inaya Day at nine.
Editors hit the top twenty with 'Blood' in at eighteen, which is awfully nice. Once again, the further outside we venture, the more we pick up on the tolerable tuneage, with Raveonettes and R.E.M in at 26 and 27 respectively.
A big hand must go to new kids on the block The Kooks whose debut pops up at 35 - and with good cause. Idlewild scrape in at 39 with 'El Capitan', arguably the best song on their most recent long-player. Clor and Queens of the Stone Age sit just outside at 43 and 44, whilst The Mars Volta put their oar in at 53 with 'L'Via L'Viaquez'
Picture by Colin Roberts
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To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
Is that Andy Future in the picture? -
Re: To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
No. We're not allowed to run pictures of him, this is a family site. -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
his nose is pretty.x -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
Do you think it would be unethical to piss on James Blunt's face were you find him buried up to his neck in sand? -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
I just hope it's part of that French Foreign Legion thing, where you were buried up to your neck in sand, and then left to DIE. -
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I love that picture. -
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by 'unethical' i assume you mean 'mandatory for the survival of the human race' -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
funniest thing I've ever read on Blunt is on this site (scroll to bottom of page)
http://beardmag.blogspot.com/ -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
When on earth did Tupac ask to work with Elton John? That is the question.
I think he lives in a cave in Hawaii. -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
Wow, two successive just-top-40-singles by Idlewild.
Ouch. -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
this guy ROCKS! im so happy he's finally number one - hopefully he'll be on the telly more often now! cross fingers anyways. -
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i hadn't really thought about that - companies marketing music so much that people buy it regardless of whether they really like it.
Liek when Norah Jones first popped up on TV adverts, i really liked the 5 second clip of that song about the sun she does and was quite happy hearing it between Big Brother or something. But the actual song was really rubbish apart from the clip. Not to mention the album.
It's the same with Bluntman here, there's just nothing to him- at all. advertising for him started way before his music came out? It's bizarre. -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
"This morning, he sits atop both the album and singles charts simultaneously - surely proof that endless marketing of what is essentially music devoid of emotion, a fun element or anything that could be tangibly defined as entertaining."
Um, did you mean not to finish that sentence? Also not sure how you can say it is devoid of emotion. -
Re: To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
Dave, that sentence reads fine.
Furthermore, Blunt's lyricism and music feels so contrived and forced. -
Re: To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
It sounds like Lion King gone ghetto -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
AAAAGH someone in my office is singing his sodding song under their breath! we're supposed to be a music development agency, and she's obliterating everything we stand for! -
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they pissed it all up the wall -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
James Blunt is ok. Nothing that special but decent background music. Of cource, I would be overjoyed if Clor would be number one (actually I wouldn't. I'd be happy for about 5 minutes and then think theyve sold out). Idlewild should have done better than 39 but I'm ok because I acuratly predicted it would go there. Maybe I should do chart predictions for a living. It would keep me from doing a proper job. -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
Perhaps James Blunt should duet with the Crazy Frog.
His cock is probably smaller, though. -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
on a complete unblunted point ...el captian is the best song on the new idlewild album, im with DiS there -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
I'd take a nice long run up and volley him square in the mouth.
Then he'd shut the fuck up.
Job done. -
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Why the hell is Idlewild barely scraping the top 40? El Capitan should be guranteed summer top 10 at least.
It's one of the best things they've ever done from a commercial standpoint, and no-one cares. People can be stupid.
If a more 'fashionable' band, like Doves, Razorlight, etc. had released this, it'd have got a much better placing. Just no-one seems to care about Idlewild.
Bastards...... -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
This picture scares me.
Make it stop.
xMX
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To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
And why the fuck are QotSA not in the top twenty?
IT'S FUCKING DISGUSTING.
xMx
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To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
I hate James Blunt. I vaguely listened to his song 'you're beautiful' a few times, and thought it was just another bland soppy ballad to a girlfriend or something, but then I listened to the lyrics, and realised it is about ten times worse than that. He's basically moaning about how he saw someone beautiful, shared a 'moment' and then she was gone. They'll never be together. Boo hoo. It really is utter crap. I am at a complete loss as to what people see in him and his 'music'. I agree: once again, a triumph of marketing and exposure over substance and quality. -
Re: To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
it reads ok, but the sentence isnt finished. its pretty obvious what it means, but you need to add "works" or some other verbal phrase to the end. -
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I don't care about James Blunt as much as I'm worried for the people who do like him.
B R A I N W A S H E D
That's a lie actually, he makes bile swill up in my guts. -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
Its definitely true that theres no such thing as bad publicity, given that ive never heard this song before yet all i want to do now is give it a listen a judge for myself. Not gona tho, must stay strong... -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
I hate James Blunt with every fibre of my being. Why is he popular? He is the male equivalent of Katie Melua. It's basically generic, whiny 'credible' music with amazingly shit lyrics and no originality whatsoever. -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
Just found this news item by mistake when searching for something else and have now had to register with the site, just to express my deep deep sorrow. Any chance we can burn the ashes of British alternative music and deliver them to Australia for burial (or whatever those cricket types did in 18whenever) to signify how sad this is? Was having a discussion with someone the other day saying that a huge marketing budget couldn't simply buy a fanbase by putting an innoffensive picture on the side of every damn bus in the country...Mr Blunt was my example, you see him everywhere but surely no-one buys this bland rubbish? How wrong I was...
Someone told me he was playing twice a day at Glasto as well? Surely there's a huge amount of record company money to be paid back for that kind of stunt.... -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
Last time I'll say this (though I may get it printed on a T-Shirt).
Blunt + Cunt = Clunt -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
For the guys who slated James Blunt, do I detect a slight token of...mm... is it jealousy?
Yes - actually.
He sings with soul. He is able to feel and genuinely express emotion. He’s experienced something that most of you probably haven’t – he’s fought in a war and seen atrocities most of us cannot imagine. He’s created an album where not just one song is great – all of them are. And he wrote them all himself. He’s young, successful and, not to forget, hot (and has women falling at his feet). He’s achieved what most of us would secretly only dream of doing. He’s here and with song-writing talent like that, you might as well get over your feelings of envy because he won’t be going away.
Bottom line: Most women, if given the choice between sarcastic, insensitive, unhappy boys like you and men like James Blunt would not find the decision difficult.
I’m afraid Blunt wins hands down. -
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like the rest of us, youll hate him in time -
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HA HA HA HA HA you just registered to defend Clunt!!
I'm jealous of Malkmus. I'm jealous of Black Francis. I'm jealous of Sufjan Stevens. I'm jealous of Stuart Murdoch.
You may fancy the arse of Clunt and secretly be in love with him....but do not forget...he writes arse wipingly bad syrupy chocolate box muzak and was invented by an A & R man on a rainy day. Try listening to some Belle & Sebastian or Sufjan Stevens or Arcade Fire. They may not have the requisite 'hotness' that you obviously find so important in a recording artiste, but the piss all over Clunt & his toss.
Oh, and for the record Robbie Williams is a cunt too. -
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Good thing I'm a big fat gay then, eh?
James Blunt has all the soul of a dead cat. -
To Be Blunt: CHARTATTACK!
It's not jealousy that's making a lot of us annoyed with James Blunt, it's the really cynically bad lyrics.
Any girl that falls for the lyrics in 'You're Beautiful' is being taken for an idiot basically.
At the start of the song he sings 'my love is pure'. Love? This song is about lust not love, to cut a long story short, it's about a bloke who walks past a beautiful girl and thinks "oh i'd love to be in bed with her".
What makes it worse are the lyrics that say "she was with another man". hum, possibly her boyfriend/fiance/husband then James, and i'm sure if you had another verse-load o you'd love to point out that he's probably evil looking and probably mistreats her, and basically doesn't deserve her, like you do James.
Oh, and what is that you say about having a plan in the first verse? A plan? What to snare her away from someone she's already with. How romantic.
But luckily James Blunt actually realises he's thinking with his d**k, by the chorus when he says he'll never be with her.
Don't be fooled women, don't be taken in by lyrics that actually take the piss out of what 'love' is meant to be, it devalues what 'love' is meant to stand for, if you have half a second eye contact with someone, then think that for both of you that moment is going to last forever.
I'm all for songs that are about fleeting moments of lust for people, or songs that are just about how beautiful someone is - I'll fully admit i know the feeling of seeing someone good looking in the street, and thinking "wow", and "what if" and blah blah blah, but if i was to write a song about it, it'd be about just that - lust, at its shallow level - I would not dress it up with love song lyrics like James has done.
Let's just recap:-
My life is brilliant.
(arrogant. and twice too.)
My love is pure.
(lust, james, lust, if your love was pure you wouldn't be falling in love with every pretty girl you walk past.)
I saw an angel.
(standard song lyrics)
Of that I'm sure.
(playschool song lyrics)
She smiled at me on the subway.
(probably smiling at something her boyfriend said, like "who's that idiot staring at you?")
She was with another man.
(yes, the evil boyfriend/fiance/husband)
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.
(which is... exactly?)
You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
(fair enough)
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.
(come on James, everythings going to be alright, you'll see another pretty girl you want to marry tomorrow, at least you're being realistic now.)
Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
(all humans do that, it's called looking at each other, it does not automatically mean someone fancies you just cos their eyes meet your's.)
She could see from my face that I was,
Fucking high,
(If you face changed from being normal to f***ing high, in the space of the second you saw this girl, she would have noticed and would have been very worried.)
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
(neither do i)
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.
(yes, she's probably in bed with her boyfriend right now thinking, "how can i find this guy i momentarily saw earlier, this is going to bug me for the rest of my life.)
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
(that angel is laughing her head off at your stupidity)
But it's time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.
(at least you've admited it, I'll give you that.)
The song really makes me angry, more so cos of the lyrics, if the rest of the album is good, I'm happy to embrace it, and like it, but I'm afraid I heard You're Beautiful once to many times on the radio, and it's one thing to give him praise for the music side, which some might say is bland, and almost manufactured indie-rock, but to give him praise for lyrics, is ridiculous, they do more to harm the concept of love or pure love as he puts it, in fact the lyrics make so called 'love' more like teenage lust. And teenage lusts do not last a lifetime. Nor do they warrant Angels being involved, in any form.
Mark -
I truly
cannot believe you could be bothered to write that.
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Blunt really does suck
I'm 33 years of age, and the guy just makes me want to throw up.
'You're Beautiful' is second only to Bryan Adams 'Everything I Do' in the most souless and drab songs EVER produced.
Why is it so popular? Easy, it's the only real alternative to the crap that is RnB, Rap and Hip-Hop which continues dominates the worlds music stations for the last 10 years.
Take me back to the 80's....pleeeeease!
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