Busted (2002 Busted album)

Busted is the self-titled debut studio album by English pop punk band Busted. It was released in the UK in September 2002 and peaked at #2 the following January after the success of second single "Year 3000", which reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart.

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
Released	30 September 2002 (2002-09-30)
Recorded	2002
Genre	Pop rock, pop punk
Length	37:17
Label	Universal Island Records
Producer	Steve Robson, James Bourne
Busted chronology
Busted (2002) A Present for Everyone (2003)
Singles from Busted
"What I Go to School For" Released: 16 September 2002 "Year 3000" Released: 13 January 2003 "You Said No (a.k.a. Crash and Burn)" Released: 21 April 2003 "Hurra Hurra Die Schule Brennt" Released: 27 June 2003 "Sleeping with the Light On" Released: 11 August 2003
Alternative cover
Japanese artwork for Busted

Background

The first single released from the album was "What I Go to School For", which reached #3. This was followed by "Year 3000", which reached #2, "You Said No" and "Sleeping with the Light On". "You Said No" peaked at #1 and "Sleeping with the Light On" peaked at #3. A European only single, "Hurra, hurra, die Schule brennt", was released on the same date as "You Said No" was released in the UK.

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] Six tracks were co-written with John McLaughlin and Steve Robson. The other remaining songs were written by the band themselves.[3] who often collaborate with each other.[4] 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.

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, bassist Matt 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'.[5]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Melodic	[7]

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".[3] 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".[8] 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".[9]

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 versions of "Dawson's Geek" and "Year 3000". The version of "Year 3000" which appears as the B-side 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 versions were also only released on cassette, meaning they are also very rare and hard to find. The band also recorded a collaboration with fellow pop rock band McFly, a cover of The Kinks' "Lola", which appears as the B-side to the band's debut single "5 Colours in Her Hair".

Track listing

Busted — Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"What I Go to School For"	James Bourne Charlie Simpson Matt Willis John McLaughlin Steve Robson	Steve Robson	3:30
2.	"You Said No"	Bourne Simpson Willis McLaughlin Robson Richard Mark Rashman	Robson	2:47
3.	"Britney"	Bourne McLaughlin Robson	Robson	3:31
4.	"Losing You"	Bourne Simpson Willis McLaughlin Robson	Robson	3:54
5.	"Year 3000"	Bourne Simpson Willis Robson Matthew Fletcher	Robson	3:17
6.	"Psycho Girl"	Bourne Rashman	Robson	3:51
7.	"All the Way"	Simpson Bourne	Robson	2:26
8.	"Sleeping with the Light On"	Bourne Willis	Robson	3:38
9.	"Dawsons’s Geek"	Bourne Simpson Willis	Robson	2:27
10.	"Without You"	Bourne Simpson	Robson	4:09
11.	"Loser Kid"	Bourne Simpson Willis	Robson	3:48
Total length:				45:57

Busted — British and Japanese special edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
10.	"When Day Turns Into Night"	Simpson • Bourne	Steve Robson	3:35
11.	"Everything I Knew"	Bourne • Willis	Steve Robson	3:10
13.	"Extra Exceedingly Fitness" (Interlude)	Bourne • Simpson	James Bourne	0:18
Total length:				52:28

Busted — German edition bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Hurra, hurra, die Schule brennt"	Schlasse • Klein • Hönig • Larson • Möller	Steve Robson	3:35

• "You Said No" was originally titled "Crash and Burn" prior to the album's re-issue.

Personnel

• James Bourne – guitars, vocals, keys, production
• Charlie Simpson – guitars, vocals, drums
• Matt Willis – bass, vocals
• Steve Robson – production, synths

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2002–03) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] 19 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[11] 9 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] 51 European Top 100 Albums[13] 11 French Albums (SNEP)[14] 57 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 43 Irish Albums (IRMA)[16] 5 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[17] 25 Japanese International Albums (Oricon)[18] 9 Scottish Albums (OCC)[19] 1 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 88 UK Albums (OCC)[2] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2003) Peak position Danish Albums Chart[21] 75 UK Albums Chart[22] 9 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Japan (RIAJ)[23] Gold 100,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[24] 4× Platinum 1,195,110[25] Summaries Europe (IFPI)[26] Platinum 1,000,000^* ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "British album certifications – Busted – Busted". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 October 2010. Select albums in the Format field. Type Busted in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
2. "Busted | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
3. Loftus, Johnny. "Busted > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
4. "John McLaughlin: Songwriter". The Writers. windsweptpacific.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2002.
5. Earp, Catherine (30 November 2018). "Busted reveal songs they'll never play live". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
6. AllMusic Review
7. Roth, Kaj (28 October 2003). "Busted - s/t". Melodic. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
8. Hodges, Jacqueline (20 November 2002). "Busted Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
9. Stubbs, Dan, Busted, review, Q, December 2002.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Busted – Busted" (in German). Hung Medien.
11. "Danishcharts.dk – Busted – Busted". Hung Medien.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Busted – Busted" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
13. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (15 February 2003). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Internet Archive. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
14. "Lescharts.com – Busted – Busted". Hung Medien.
15. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
16. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (22 February 2003). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. – via Google Books.
17. "バステッドのアルバム売上ランキング".
18. "Google Translate".
19. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
20. "Swisscharts.com – Busted – Busted". Hung Medien.
21. "TOP20.dk © 2003". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
22. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 - 2002". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
23. "Japanese album certifications – Busted – Busted" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
24. "British album certifications – Busted – Busted". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2012. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Busted in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
25. Jones, Alan (2 December 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Little Mix hold No.1 spot with Glory Days". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
26. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2003". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.