u/CobraDai

Ever since Charlie left Busted people have made the assumption it's because they were meant to be a pop punk band but the label changed them or something but I'm going to say out a few things to disprove this.

Here's my arguments AGAINST it:

1. James and Matt met at a boyband audition (they never specified which boyband it became)
2. A manager saw potential in James and Matt so kept in contact with them to get them signed one day
3. James was writing boyband songs while their manager was shopping them around labels, influenced by Backstreet Boys
4. Matt got the American Pie 2 soundtrack on CD and showed it to James which changed their writing approach to this genius boyband/pop punk style we eventually got
5. James and Matt demo'd the songs and James said the demos ended up close to what ended up on the album.
6. Their manager knew they couldn't be a 2 piece so they auditioned for another couple of guys
7. Charlie and Tom Fletcher got in the band, Tom was dismissed quickly but the manager kept hold of him because he saw potential
8. According to James it was Busted who "put themselves in the studio" so its unclear of the timeline of this because according to Matt they recorded then re-recorded lines when Charlie joined to it appears to me they may have recorded the debut album before being signed.
9. James said the producer was great and made them "sound like they could be on radio" very proudly" video clip recently posted to Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/busted_band/comments/1swhlk7/james_debunks_the_myth_that_the_label_changed/
10. They went around record companies, including Simon Cowell who wanted them to be a "proper band" and told them they needed a drummer to which Busted said no
11. They went with Universal and James and Matt have always spoken highly of their experience with them, James said they label did a great job and "marketed the shit out of us" and Matt said he had a great experience with the label and didn't have a bad experience with any label until he went solo and started selling less so wasn't the label golden boy anymore.
12. I've never once heard James and Matt complain about how Busted were marketed, only Charlie. As an insecure 16-19 year old rocker I can only imagine how much he HATED being in all these teen girl magazines being asked "who's your celebrity crush?" etc so you can understand his point of view.
13. When Busted came back everyone though "here we go, they're back and are gonna be the pop punk band the record label wouldn't let them be" but then they came back and doubled down on the POP part instead with the Night Driver album, almost as if they didn't believe in the rock crossover they had and had imposter syndrome and saw themselves as a POP band.
14. When they made more new music with Good One and One Of These Days they once again doubled down on the POP part, very Charlie led songs which implies he wrote them. This implies to me that Charlie knows they're a POP band but doesn't want them to be a teen girl marketed boyband so he's continuing them doing pop but on his terms.

And here's the argument FOR it

1. Son Of Dork album was definitely pop punk so James had it in him but for me it was an example of what Busted would sound like if they were generic and didn't go for the genius boyband/pop-punk crossover sound they had.
2. When they made the Half Way There album it was marketed as "the album we always wanted to make" and what we got was a more classic sounding Busted album with some harder songs to appeal to the Slam Dunk sort of market they influenced but the core Busted sound was there I think.

In summary: Busted weren't a band practicing in their garage and gigging around the country until a label found them and changed their sound, Busted originated from a boyband audition and a manager who saw potential in them. The songs turned out exactly how James and Matt wrote them, they were marketed how James and Matt saw agreeable, it was just Charlie who didn't understand the assignment.

Looking at how his UK tour ticket sales went it has me wondering.

I remember when the McBusted album was released the general consensus is that it sucked and it didn't sound like McFly OR Busted but with time I think that's what makes it great.

The whole "too many cooks in the kitchen" situation gives it a unique sound, Air Guitar for example I've never heard a song anything like that it's still a breath of fresh air everytime and what a cool riff it has.

It is too silly at times for sure, a song like How's My Hair is dragged down by the lyrics and In Da Club is just way too silly but for the most part the sillyness works like in Sensetive Guy. When it takes itself seriously on songs like What Happened To Your Band and I See Red it goes to show when they can take themselves seriously they pull it off really well.

23:59 is my favourite on the album and seems to be alot of people's favourites, again like Air Guitar its got a "too many cooks in the kitchen" situation unique sound and it's killer.

I think people felt let down because they were expecting the Bourne/Fletcher brilliance of A Present For Everyone and Room On The 3rd Floor combined but what we got was something completely different and in that regard its aged really well for me.

In a sea of generic pop music and generic pop-punk music this album really stands out as pretty unique sounding.

I love the McBusted album and I'm glad they made it.

I swear it's impossible.

I went in 2012 and it was so difficult to take I took what I could get.

Went back in 2024 and same situation, angling it and if with people then spacing it out and stopping, so difficult haha.

Many attempts none good.

Imagine a 2nd documentary covering the 80s era of Paul and concluding with the 1989 comeback tour.

Not saying bad album, just not a timeless sound very of its time.

He allegedly said it on Sirius but I'm yet to come across the audio.

Busted have this crossover appeal many other pop bands don't, they pull off this unique and genius merge of a pop/boyband sort of songwriting with rock music. Whereas most "boybands" appeals only to girls, Busted had a major appeal for boys too and inspired aloooot of people to pick up an instrument, guitar sales were allegedly through the roof in Busted's prime because every 10 year old like me wanted one, they write their own songs which made kids want to write their own songs etc

People realllly underestimate their influence on our generation and write them off as a manufactured boyband, which they KIND OF are because James and Matt met at a boyband audition, a manager saw promise in them so kept hold of them, loved the songs James was writing so decided to audition a 3rd guy which was Charlie ofcourse.

Charlie famously didn't like what he signed up for and hated their target audience etc wanted to be in a "proper band" and left 2 years in then when he came back 10 years later I feel he completely misunderstood the assignment and saw them as a literal "pop" band and turned them into this synth pop band, for the band who inspired a generation to pick up a guitar it felt insecure to me like they didn't feel welcome having "rock" anywhere in their genre anymore and went POP because that's their ceiling.

Good thing though the generation of kids that got them to pick up an instrument are now grown up and playing in bands at Download, Slam Dunk etc and all cite Busted as an influence then around 2018 I noticed a shift where it was like: THANKYOU BUSTED, YOU ARE NOW CREDIBLE AND ARE WELCOME IN OUR ROCK WORLD, THANKYOU FOR INSPIRING US ALL NOW COME AND PLAY OUR FESTIVALS haha.

Then Busted fully embraced the band for everything people loved them for and went back to making guitar music with their next album knowing they got kids to pick up an instrument first time round, no longer insecure they instead doubled down and were proud of being THAT band for our generation.

Their "Greatest Hits 2.0" project too managing to get so many rock artists who love Busted on it shows their worth in the scene.

And that's why I think they are an extremely important band, I wear my love for them proudly like I do a band like Metallica.