Back to Bedlam

Studio album by James Blunt

Released

11 October 2004 (UK)
18 April 2005 (Germany)

Genre

Pop rock, folk rock

Length

39:28

Label

Atlantic, Custard

Producer

Tom Rothrock, Linda Perry

James Blunt chronology

Back to Bedlam
(2004)

All the Lost Souls
(2007)

Singles from Back to Bedlam

"High"
Released: 18 October 2004
"Wisemen"
Released: 7 March 2005
"You're Beautiful"
Released: 30 May 2005
"Goodbye My Lover"
Released: 16 November 2005

Alternative cover

2005 reissue cover^[1]

Back to Bedlam is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter James Blunt. The album was released on 11 October 2004 through Atlantic Records.^[2] The album was a major commercial success, topping the albums charts of over ten countries, as well as reaching number two in the United States and three other countries,^[3] and was met with much acclaim. Back to Bedlam sold 10 million copies worldwide and was the highest-selling album of 2005 in the UK with almost 2.4 million copies.^[4] It is the best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the UK with 3.2 million sold. In 2011, it was overtaken by the Amy Winehouse's Back to Black as the biggest-selling album in the UK in the 21st century.^[5] Back to Bedlam currently ranks as the 14th best-selling album in UK Chart history.^[6]

1 Licensing of tracks
2 Track listing
3 Charts and certifications
4 Personnel
5 See also
6 References

Licensing of tracks

Eight of the ten songs on the album were licensed for use in television shows, movies, advertising campaigns and trailers, a total of 34 times. This included "Tears and Rain", "So Long Jimmy" and "Cry", tracks that had not been released as singles.^[7] The album was the best-selling album of the decade 2000-2009 in the UK.^[8]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"High"	Blunt, Ross	Blunt, Ross	4:03
2.	"You're Beautiful"	Blunt, Skarbek, Ghost	Blunt, Skarbek, Ghost	3:33
3.	"Wisemen"	Blunt, Hogarth, Skarbek	Blunt, Hogarth, Skarbek	3:42
4.	"Goodbye My Lover"	Blunt, Skarbek	Blunt, Skarbek	4:20
5.	"Tears and Rain"	Blunt, Chambers	Blunt, Chambers	4:04
6.	"Out of My Mind"	Blunt	Blunt	3:33
7.	"So Long, Jimmy"	Blunt, Hogarth	Blunt, Hogarth	4:26
8.	"Billy"	Blunt, Skarbek	Blunt, Ghost, Skarbek	3:37
9.	"Cry"	Blunt, Skarbek	Blunt, Skarbek	4:06
10.	"No Bravery"	Blunt, Skarbek	Blunt, Skarbek	4:00

Japanese Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Length
11.	"You're Beautiful" (Acoustic)	3:31
12.	"No Bravery" (Live)	3:41

US iTunes Bonus Track^[1]
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Fall At Your Feet" (Acoustic)	2:25

AUS iTunes Bonus Tracks^[9]
No.	Title	Length
11.	"Goodbye My Lover" (Acoustic)	5:06
12.	"You're Beautiful" (Acoustic)	3:31
13.	"You're Beautiful" (Video)	5:06
14.	"Goodbye My Lover" (Video)	5:06
15.	"High" (Video)	3:54

Expanded Edition Bonus Disc - Live In Ireland (U.S.)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Wisemen"
2.	"High"
3.	"Cry"
4.	"Goodbye My Lover"
5.	"So Long, Jimmy"
6.	"Sugar Coated"
7.	"You're Beautiful"
8.	"Billy"
9.	"Fall At Your Feet"
10.	"Tears & Rain"
11.	"No Bravery"
12.	"Where Is My Mind?"
13.	"Goodbye My Lover" (Video)
14.	"Goodbye My Lover" (Making of the Video)

Best Buy Bonus DVD (U.S.)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Back To Bedlam" (E.P.K.)
2.	"You're Beautiful" (Video)
3.	"Live @93 Feet East" (Video)
4.	"High" (Video)

Target Stores Bonus Disc - Monkey On My Shoulder (U.S.)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Cry" (Demo)
2.	"High" (Demo)
3.	"Goodbye My Lover" (Demo)
4.	"Sugar Coated" (Demo)
5.	"Butterfly" (Demo)

French Edition Bonus DVD - Live In Paris
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Billy"
2.	"High"
3.	"Out Of My Mind"
4.	"No Bravery"
5.	"Goodbye My Lover"
6.	"So Long Jimmy"
7.	"Wisemen"
8.	"Where Is My Mind?"
9.	"You're Beautiful"

Charts and certifications

Country	Peak position	Certification (if any)	Sales/shipments
Argentina	1	2x Platinum^[10]	80,000+
Australia	1	8x Platinum^[11]	560,000+
Austria	1	Platinum^[12]	30,000+
Belgium	1	Platinum^[13]	50,000+
Canada	1	6x Platinum^[14]	600,000+
Denmark	1	2x Platinum^[15]	80,000+
Finland	10	Platinum	62,000+
France	2	Diamond^[16]	1,000,000+
Germany	1	4x Platinum^[17]	800,000+
Greece	1	2x Platinum^[18]	80,000^[19]
Ireland	1	14x Platinum^[20]	210,000+
Japan	1	Platinum^[21]	250,000+
Mexico	1	Gold^[22]	80,000+
Netherlands	2	Platinum^[23]	80,000+
New Zealand	1	7x Platinum^[24]	105,000+
Norway	1	2x Platinum	30,000+
Portugal	2	2x Platinum^[25]	40,000+
Spain	7	Platinum ^[26]	80,000+
Sweden	1	2x Platinum^[27]	120,000+
Switzerland	1	3x Platinum^[28]	120,000+
United Kingdom	1	10x Platinum^[29]	3,239,713^[30]
Europe	2	6x Platinum^[31]	6,000,000
United States	2	2x Platinum^[32]	2,200,000+^[32]

Chart (2000–2009)	Position
UK End of Decade Albums Chart	1

Personnel

Musicians

James Blunt – lead vocals on all tracks; guitar on tracks 1, 5, 6 and 9; organ on tracks 3, 4, 6 and 9; piano on tracks 4, 5 and 10; Wurlitzer electric piano on tracks 5, 6 and 7; acoustic guitar on tracks 2 and 7; Rhodes piano on tracks 3 and 4; keyboards and marimba on track 1; classical guitar on track 3; twelve-string guitar on track 4; church organ on track 5; backing vocals on track 6; grand piano on track 8; mellotron on track 9
Sasha Kristov – bass on all tracks except 4, 7 and 10; backing vocals on track 6
Charlie Paxon – drums on all tracks except 10; backing vocals on track 6
John Nau – Hammond organ on tracks 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8; Wurlitzer electric piano on tracks 1, 3, 8 and 9; piano on track 2; guitar sustain on track 4; backing vocals on track 6; tack piano on track 8
Eric Gorfain – strings on track 2, 4 and 5
The Section – strings on tracks 2, 4 and 5
John "Gumby" Goodwin – electric guitar on track 3; backing vocals on track 6; slide guitar solo on track 7
Matt Chait – guitar sample on track 4; electric guitar on track 7; guitar on track 8
Jimmy Hogarth – acoustic guitar and keyboards on track 3
Sacha Skarbek – Rhodes piano on track 3
Amanda Ghost – backing vocals on track 3
Guy Chambers – guitar feedback on track 5
Tom Rothrock – backing vocals on track 6
W. Vincent – bass on track 8
The Producer – slide guitar on track 9
Linda Perry – guitar and production on track 10
P. III – bass on track 10
Brian McCloud – drums on track 10

Production personnel

Tom Rothrock – production, mixing
Mike Tarantino – engineering; lead guitar on track 1; electric guitar on track 2; Mississippi guitar on track 7
David Guerrero – engineering on track 10
John Morrical – engineering assistance
Andrew Chavez – engineering assistance on track 10
Don Tyler – mastering

References

^ ^a ^b "Back to Bedlam". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/album/back-to-bedlam/id80809811. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
^ "Back to Bedlam". iTunes Store New Zealand. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/back-to-bedlam/id341536716. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
^ "James Blunt - Back To Bedlam - Music Charts". αCharts.us. http://acharts.us/album/14242. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
^ Christie Scores Top Selling Uk Single Of 2005
^ [http://www.nme.com/news/amy-winehouse/58866 Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ becomes UK’s biggest-selling album of the 21st century ] NME. Retrieved 27 August 2011
^ The 20 Biggest Selling Albums of the 21st century Music Week. Retrieved 19 August 2011
^ Poletta, Michael (2007-07-21). "Beautiful and the Beat". Billboard (magazine) (Billboard).
^ Radio 1 chart of the decade, 28th December 2009.
^ "Back to Bedlam". iTunes Store Australia. Apple Inc. http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/back-to-bedlam/id131276928. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
^ CAPIF
^ ARIA
^ IFPI Austria
^ IFPI Belgium – July 1st, 2006
^ CRIA
^ IFPI Denmark
^ Disque En France
^ IFPI Germany
^ Warner Music Greece
^ Ticketnet.gr
^ IRMA – Irish Charts Certifications
^ RIAJ Certification Awards May 2006
^ AMPROFON
^ NVPI
^ RIANZ – September 11th, 2006
^ AFP – Week 11, Year 2007
^ PRMUSICAE
^ IFPI Sweden – Hitlistan Top 60
^ IFPI Switzerland
^ BPI
^ Adele still on top but UK album sales fall to 13-year low
^ IFPI Europe
^ ^a ^b Billboard – Ask Billboard

Preceded by X&Y by Coldplay Wonderland by McFly First Impressions of Earth by The Strokes	UK number one album 17 July 2005 – 3 September 2005 12 September 2005 – 18 September 2005 15 January 2006 – 21 January 2006	Succeeded by Wonderland by McFly Life in Slow Motion by David Gray Stars of CCTV by HARD-Fi
Preceded by Monkey Business by The Black Eyed Peas	Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album 29 August 2005 – 25 September 2005 9 January 2006 – 12 February 2006 17 April 2006 – 7 May 2006	Succeeded by Have a Nice Day by Bon Jovi

James Blunt

Discography

Back to Bedlam	"High" · "You're Beautiful" · "Wisemen" · "Goodbye My Lover" · "No Bravery"

All the Lost Souls	"1973" · "Same Mistake" · "Carry You Home" · "I Really Want You" · "Love, Love, Love" · "Je réalise" · "It Is My Song"

Some Kind of Trouble	"Stay the Night" · "So Far Gone" · "If Time Is All I Have" · "I'll Be Your Man" · "Dangerous"

Other albums	Chasing Time: The Bedlam Sessions · Monkey On My Shoulder EP · Les Sessions Lost Souls · Trouble Revisited

Related articles	James Blunt: Return to Kosovo

UK best-selling albums (by year) (1990–2009)

1990: ...But Seriously (Phil Collins) · 1991: Stars (Simply Red) · 1992: Stars (Simply Red) · 1993: Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell (Meat Loaf) · 1994: Cross Road (Bon Jovi) · 1995: Robson & Jerome (Robson & Jerome) · 1996: Jagged Little Pill (Alanis Morissette) · 1997: Be Here Now (Oasis) · 1998: Talk on Corners (The Corrs) · 1999: Come on Over (Shania Twain) · 2000: 1 (The Beatles) · 2001: No Angel (Dido) · 2002: Escapology (Robbie Williams) · 2003: Life for Rent (Dido) · 2004: Scissor Sisters (Scissor Sisters) · 2005: Back to Bedlam (James Blunt) · 2006: Eyes Open (Snow Patrol) · 2007: Back to Black (Amy Winehouse) · 2008: Rockferry (Duffy) · 2009 : I Dreamed a Dream (Susan Boyle)

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