r/busted_band

1. Radio:ACTIVE by McFly
2. Half Way There by Busted
3. Wonderland by McFly
4. Motion in the Ocean by McFly
5. Busted by Busted
6. Power to Play by McFly
7. Room on the 3^(rd) Floor by McFly
8. McBusted by McBusted
9. A Present for Everyone by Busted
10. The Lost Songs by McFly
11. Above the Noise by McFly
12. Night Driver by Busted
13. Young Dumb Thrills by McFly

Go on then. What do we all think.

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.

This is driving me crazy - does anyone else remember when A Present For Everyone came out, there was a TV ad that had a little girl saying what she wanted for Christmas was “a present for everyone”?? My mum has a false memory of me saying it but I’m 100% certain it was a TV ad.

I could be wrong but I remember it being a voiceover saying “Warning! When you ask your child what they want for Christmas, and they say (cut to the little girl saying “I want a present for everyone”) they do not mean peace and love on planet Earth. They mean the new album from busted” etc or something along those lines

What do you guys think album 5 will sound like?

I always imagined it’ll be a bit faster, heavier, still core busted but with a modern edge. Not far from BMTH sound. I just feel like Charlie should bring more of his heavier side to busted. They could really shake things up. Especially with the growth they had in recent years.. download was huge for them.

Does anyone remember the website 'vjscorpio.com' it had so many Busted videos, does anyone know if it's still possible to enter the website..? or find any archives from it?

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.

Does anyone have any updates on James' health status? Is he posting at all?

If you could create your own custom Busted setlist, featuring any of their songs, including B-Sides and Bonus Tracks. What would yours be?

They had one show in LA for Night Driver. Just felt like a missed opportunity

I often wonder, do you think Matt, James or Charlie pop onto Reddit and find a Busted page, and have a read at it? Just comes to me now and then and makes me laugh…we give James’ our best wishes in posts about him, and we share our love/dislike to certain Busted albums/tracks

It’s actually really fun connecting with you all, I try my best lately to update on here and keep the Busted spirit alive during an hiatus 👊🏻

What do you think Busted would’ve sounded like if Tom had actually stayed in the band fully?

Would 4 singers have been crazy?