A look at Busted: the band (Part 2)

(Part 1 here)

WARNING: I talk a lot. Like, it's not even a joke. So again, get some Oreos or something as I sit you down and have you listen to me ramble on.

Assuming you've read Part 1, here we arrive at the 2nd volume of the Busted story: the 10+ year long or so hiatus, to today.

The Hiatus: (2005-early 2015)-

Welp, Busted was no more now. Charlie would spend the next 10 years redefining himself as the frontman (alongside Alex Westaway) for hardcore metal band Fightstar. Very much the opposite of the commercially-friendly Busted. "Paint your Target" off their debut (Grand Unification) is an absolute FIRE track, and it really does feel like Charlie is at home with himself. That anthemic chorus man. Sidenote: apparently Fightstar's music was inspired a lot by Evangelion (idk, I really got into EVA this year, so I just thought I'd share that-with bassist Dan Haigh apparently being the most responsible for bringing in the influence). I haven't actually listened to any of Fightstar's full albums, but out of the songs I have heard, they really do bring a great sense of dread and power to their songs. Fightstar would go on to be more beloved by critics, giving Charlie the credibility of being a "true" musician now. Metal is just a genre that definitely just feels bred for live settings, and I feel they definitely had a great run as a live band (just sucks that at first, Charlie would have to go through some heavy booing at shows just because he used to be in Busted). They'd go on to release several albums during this time, with Charlie also releasing some solo albums (which from I've heard, have a more softer, Jeff Buckley-esque tone to them). Overall, Charlie was free, but still couldn't entirely escape the shadow of Busted. As mentioned before, there was a lot he deeply resented about it, but some other interviews show him at least admitting it was still pretty fun while it lasted. But chances of any sort of reunion he was very adamantly against.

Matt meanwhile would also go on to try and do the solo thing. "Don't Let it Go to Waste" was released in 2006, under Mercury Records. The album's singles would go on to be a decent success, with all 3 cracking the top 20, and a cover of "Crash" by the Primitives which was for Mr. Bean's Holiday, but overall-not really amounting to too much. Matt was ultimately dropped by Mercury in the end. He also would go on to enter the world of TV and acting (mostly presenting and taking part in reality shows and stuff). Sadly, another thing about Matt was that he had a history of being kind of a huge junkie. Addicted to weed at 13, ended up going to rehab several times, 1st time a few months after Busted ended for drinking, and the 2nd for more drugs. Was recruited as a Scientologist for a bit, but left to be with his now-wife. Overall, the guy had kind of an unfortunate history, but he does thankfully seem to be doing a bit better nowadays.

As for James, he would spend the 1st few months post-Busted as any of us would do: eating chocolate and gaming a lot. Eventually, he started a new band, Son of Dork. With Steve Rushton on bass, and Chris Leonard (who toured with Busted during the Ticket for Everyone tour) on guitar, and others. "Welcome to Loserville" was released in 2005, produced by Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, etc.) and the opener/lead single, "Ticket outta Loserville" reached #3. But that was as much as they really amounted to in terms of trying to reach some sort of level of success Busted had. They toured with Wheatus (a huge influence on Busted, whom James would go on to have a steady friendship with Brendan B. Brown, even co-writing the song "Boy Band"), Bowling for Soup, and Army of Freshmen in 2007. Though SOD would eventually end due to James having to go to court for a few years to settle rights to Busted's catalouge. Eventually he'd move to America to continue songwriting, writing even for Jonas no less.

So for the most part, the three had now gone their separate ways. That is until 2013 when an unexpected return happened, and then finally, late 2015 and early 2016, when the real, actual unexpected return happened.

McBusted (2013-2015)

In 2013, McBusted was formed. A supergroup consisting of McFly (Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, and Harry Judd), and James and Matt. McFly and Busted had a steady history; touring together, Tom briefly being in Busted and later co-writing their biggest hits alongside James. And after Busted's split, McFly would go on to be very successful-their debut album hitting #1, making them the newest youngest band to have that title (after the Fab 4). Still active today, they definitely seemed to have made quite a great name for themselves. Very much power-pop oriented, 60s-70s influenced tracks in the veins of Brit-Invasion acts (5 Colours in her Hair, their signature hit, being the biggest indicator of this). And their later, more recent stuff of course sounding more contemporary, but still containing a great sense for hooks. Haven't really yet well-versed myself into them either (I do apologize for not really listening to all of the Busted expanded universe's music, I just wanted to focus these two posts on Busted solely, which I have devoted time to). They've been pretty well recommended.

Anyway, both McFly and Busted's connection would eventually lead to McBusted, the closest thing to a full-blown Busted reunion at that point. Starting in 2013 when James & Matt joined them at Royal Albert Hall, and later with their debut TV appearance performing a medley, 2014 would see them release their self-titled album. With Mark Hoppus making a guest appearance on "Hate your Guts," and people from the likes of Alex Gaskarth and even Rivers Cuomo helping with writing. "Air Guitar" serves as the bombastic, party anthem of a lead single, and then there's "What Happened to your Band?" (gee, I wonder what this song's about?). A song James (alongside Michael Raphael who co-wrote Can't Break Thru) had since his Son of Dork days.

The album performed pretty well domestically, but it was the touring that seemed to really made McBusted successful. Two huge tours in 2014 and '15 (the latter being named after Bill & Ted, which I can always get behind), both with DVD+Blu-Ray releases. Matt recalled that McBusted felt very much like a vacation. A very light-hearted side adventure. It was fun, but he did say he felt like one tour should've been enough. Not much else to say other than McBusted is one of the few examples I've seen of there being two bassists in the line-up.

The Triumphant Return:

Matt & James would approach Charlie in 2013 to ask him if he was interested in McBusted. He declined of course, but still got a share of money on behalf of Busted, and wished them the best.

But then we arrive at late 2015, and the news broke: Charlie finally decided to rejoin Busted. Charlie always felt at least some sort of guilt over just kind of leaving James & Matt out to dry. And again, despite how much he grew to resent Busted, he still ended up making good friends with them, there was never really any bad blood. And how if he had just stayed, it may have risked the friendship. Just going on, not taking any sort of break could've brought about some possible classic band in-fighting, especially considering Charlie's feelings. And a really interesting thing I read was how Busted really could've still continued on without Charlie. They were still at an all-time high when the split happened. But James & Matt decided to keep Busted retired out of respect for Charlie. If one member leaves, then it's all over. James and Matt would more than jump at the chance at any sort of reunion (I mean, McBusted happened), but it all still boiled down to whether it was unanimous with Charlie. A lot of people genuinely felt like Busted would be dead forever, the band included. The fact a comeback was actually happening was kind of a miracle for everyone.

So they decided to start talking again, and slowly but surely, Charlie would convince himself to reconnect with them again. The trio would take a secret trip to Philadelphia to just write and see if anything interesting happened out of it. And lo and behold, they came out of those sessions feeling reinvigorated with new material. And now finally free of major labels, the pressure, and fame, now older, in a different but still bold decade of music-the trio now felt more confident and ready to give Busted a revival.

2016 saw them embark on the Pigs Can Fly reunion/comeback tour, with Wheatus and Emma Blackery opening for them. Upon announcement, the tour sold out in an hour, with extra dates being added. Pigs can Fly of course referring to how no one thought this would even happen. They really went in with the pig theme (a giant inflatable Pig, a "pigsty" area of the stage, the fanbase I heard is apparently known as "piglets," etc.). And they got none other than Cobus Potgieter on drums (Cobus would go on to be their most well-known drummer of the comeback era). The tour was a success, and a live DVD would be released, featuring footage from opening night at Wembley SSE arena. In November, Busted released their anticipated 3rd album.

Night Driver (2016)

Despite the big hype, Night Driver definitely confused a lot of people upon release. Busted seemed to ditch the pop-punk element and the album's sound was more electronica. Synthesizers fill the mix, it was very 80s and New wave influenced, and even a bit funky (see "On what you're on"). It's a more contemporary sounding record, and while that may be a turn off for many, that obviously shouldn't detract from what it does manage to do right.

"On what you're On," one of the lead singles has a great dancability to it, and due to its funky nature, Matt's bass work is more upfront and adds a great layer to it. Charlie's falsetto also helps bring about its moody, club-tinged tone. Surprise but welcome saxophone solos are also brought in, alongside the track "I will break your heart," a neat flavor brought in. "Without It," is probably the weakest track overall, "New York," and "Thinking of You," I'd say are pretty more than solid, almost complimentary tracks that give a good feel for the album. "One of a Kind" continues the catchiness, and the title track is pretty great, even if Matt hates playing it live.

As for personal favorites, "Coming Home," the opener and comeback single for the band sets the mood with its grand keyboard intro, and the bridge which does bring in some nice, crunchy guitars. I'm a huge sucker for D major (it's the best key and anyone who says otherwise just isn't as enlightened as I am lol), and serves as a great, anthemic return for the band; their 1st song in a decade. The song did unfortunately receive some backlash due to how different it was (specifically the original music video, which got heavy dislikes, and was taken down-nowadays, there's a version that just features live footage from PCF), but over time it's seemed to have definitely grown on people. I feel the electronica element is at its best on "Kids with Computers," which I think fully embraces it. Easy" is a more conventional sounding relationship track, and is one of the more simplistic-but still grounded tracks. It leans in on the electronica the least, but still stands up on its own. The final two tracks "Out of our Minds," while a tad forgetful, is a nice listen in the moment. And "Those days are gone," continue Busted's tendencies to leave off on a pretty emotional note. And while not officially on the album, the re-recording of "Meet you There," at Abbey Road is more than worth checking out.

Overall, a pretty good album, if a bit derivative at times. And if anything, it's just great to see Busted finally back and feeling more creatively free with their work. And as always, it seems even regardless of genre, they still more than know how to compose accessible and catchy melodies.

Half Way There (2019)

After the 2017 Night Driver Tour, in early 2019, "Half Way There," was released. The name being a reference to Year 3000, where everyone will buy their 7th album outselling Michael Jackson. It's album 4, so they're right smack in the midpoint. Cobus returns on drums for the album, Gil Norton is producing, but the big thing about Half Way There is that Busted has now officially returned to pure pop punk. Even more so than A Present for Everyone even. As even back in their peak, they were still under typical label thumbs (like censoring some songs, mixes and such). Now, they finally had the resources and freedom to just go all out in making as classic pop punk as you can get. You could very well make an argument this is Busted fully realized since back in the early 2000s.

The album opens up right with lead single "Nineties," a nostalgia track that while full of some unapologetic 90s references, still kicks you in the face with its soaring riffs. Easily one of the most revisitable songs here. "Reunion" I don't have much to say, as it's easily my least favorite, and find it pretty skippable. Next up is a re-recording of "What Happened to your Band," though Matt replaces f**k with my mind with mess with my mind here for some reason. It's a song that needless to say, feels more than appropriate on this album, and personally, I enjoy it much more than the McBusted version. "Shipwrecked in Atlantis" is a sequel to "Air Hostess," where you end up at the Atlantis hotel in the Bahamas, after the plane lands (or I guess crash-lands). The song takes a LOT of cues from Blink's "Rock Show," but it never really seemed to bother me. With Cobus' drumming of course being a huge centerpiece of helping these songs feel so full of life and crispiness. "Race to Mars" is a dreamier, space-themed track that I really love, "All my Friends," is an acoustic track that touches more on the feelings of nostalgia, memories, growing up, and such (though I do feel the chorus can feel just a tad repetitive at times-still a solid track). "MIA" is another song I've revisited a lot, "Radio," is another nice track, as the video sees the boys driving in Miss Mackenzie's car. And then we get to easily the best songs on the album, the closers "Nostalgia," and "It Happens." Nostalgia is the last we get of raw, unhinged pop punk goodness, and is basically Nineties but even more energized. And it's friggin' awesome. Being, well-nostalgic and reminiscent, while still feeling like it can age pretty gracefully. And "It Happens" closes things off as the guys sing about almost being done with the record, reflecting on their beginnings, and it brings a warm, but still mature sense of just accepting life, and how things just sometimes can happen. I think it's something a lot of us can connect to.

An all-around more than firm, and stellar collection of hits. God, it just feels so great seeing how well they've gone on to be nowadays.

In Conclusion:

For now, Busted are in hiatus mode (fortunately not for anything bad mind you). James has gone on to try his own solo career (as Future Boy), and recently got a record deal with Warner I think. Matt's continuing his career in acting and podcasts. Charlie released another solo album this year, and now has a Patreon. So yeah-overall, it just seems like they're doing a lot better for themselves, and I guess I have not much else to add other than, I've just grown to have a great appreciation for them. There a sort of intrigue I found in them as I revisited them last year. How for a couple of years, they were THE hot s**t of the UK, only for it to all just end so quickly. Charlie and Matt's stories, James' career, it was all just really interesting, and I'm one to like going down rabbit holes just to see all the connections and links. It can always give the music more perspective.

With that, I love Busted, and thank you for hearing me ramble on about them. As mentioned before, I'd really like to engage more about them, so feel free to comment.