Young Pilgrim is the best of his 3 albums but definitely not that caliber of excellence, imo. Bar some great songs, just find his solo stuff pretty boring. Just couldn't really get into it (despite seeing him live). But it's high expectations when I love Busted/Fightstar (no opinion on other projects). Either way, Busted is his obvious cash-cow and it's nice for Matt and James to have this again. They're filming a new music video, right? That wasn't for Reunion, was it? Would love them to be embraced by the pop-punk scene rather than stuck with the 'boyband' image.
All My Friends is decent enough. I'd be surprised at this point if this isn't their weakest album though which is disappointing.
Reunion and Nineties have convinced me that the album will have the “Busted” sound and won’t just feel like generic pop punk. But I’m not sure it’ll be an amazing album
Honestly I do like all three songs now that I’ve heard “All My Friends” as well. I just hope they’re not all nostalgia-based lyrics lol that’ll get old fast.
I like Radio - again I feel it’s missing a classic Busted bridge. Reunion has really grown on me, so much energy and I love the tune and premise. Quality-wise I’m thinking best-to-worst: Reunion Radio = Nineties All My Friends
Can I just say that when I was 15 or so and these guys broke up I cried for days like my world was ending (I'm American btw) but my sister and I will still jam to Air Hostess like our life depends on it. So to see they're putting an album out and have apparently been active for a couple of years is blowing my mind haha.
I'm hoping all the songs grow on me when I get to hear the full album because ill still probably listen like 20 times.
It's genuinely nice to see Americans embrace/know Busted. Particularly when it means you don't have to explain that Year 3000 and What I go to School For aren't Jonas Brothers original songs, lol.
All the singles have been growers for me. But still nothing chart-worthy or iconic for the band (in comparison to their first 2 albums). Air Guitar (from McBusted) is a better 'Busted single' than anything theyve done post-reunion.
Idk. Obviously bands can do what they want, but it's considerate of a band to have a familiar sound that doesn't alienate their core fanbase that have missed them. Night Driver was alienating from a band that had a signature guitar jump to go to practically ditching guitars on Night Driver. Songs like Air Guitar personify what Busted were. It's like when Blink came back with Neighborhoods then backtracked for the pop-punk California record. Busted can always experiment with other sounds after.
I'm glad to hear that! I honestly cannot remember how I found out about them - were they ever on MTV? I was active online and a part of the old absolutepunk.net so maybe it was there - but either way I somehow got Busted on CD and became completely obsessed. They were so cheeky and fun! The Jonas Brothers, uh, kind of changed the cheekiness in those songs, so to speak....
Yeah but Air Guitar doesn't sound natural coming from guys this old, and it's just a poorly written song imo. I was really happy with what they did on Night Driver and I feel like the sound/themes they're exploring on this new album feel like too much nostalgia pandering for me. I think What Happened to Your Band or I See Red from the McBusted album are two songs that would be great for current day Busted while still sounding like a natural progression from their older stuff.
They were big in the UK but didn't get any traction in America. They actually had an MTV show (MTV UK show?) in late 2004 called 'America or Busted?' which was the band trying to get exposure in America. Ultimately hat didn't really take off and they split up shortly after anyway. It's funny cos in one of the episodes they joke on the tour bus about failing to break through in America to then split only for a band to cover their songs and it becomes a hit... Which literally happened with the Jonas Brothers, lol.
They were all in their late 20s or just turned ~30 during McBusted. Even now, the oldest guys (Matt and James) are 35. Idk, I personally think they're still young enough to pull a Pop-Rock sound off. They're just known for songs like that. Same as Mark from Blink making songs like Brohemian Rhapsody in his mid 40s. But if a bands were good at a genre, It's sad to see them leave it just cos of what's appropriate to their age. I liked Night Driver but was still a bit disappointed. This album definitely is pandering to nostalgia and they've all admitted it. If it's a one-off for the fans then I'd say that's reasonable. Also, What Happened To Your Band and I See Red are probs my fave McBusted songs, so I agree, haha. I do wonder what WHTYB is gonna sound like on this record.
Yeah I think Air Guitar came off as super silly even for McBusted. It's not so much the pop rock sound, although I don't think it's done very well on that song, the whole thing just feels gimmicky and substanceless. I dont listen to new blink stuff either. I don't think any of the new songs are as weak as AG though and I do think they could make a great pop punk guitar album, I'm just not in love with what I've heard so far. I like the McBusted version of WHTYB more than any of the new songs from HWT so far so I'm hoping this version is even better.