'Half Way There': Album Review

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Before I get started with the review, lets get something out of the way: Yes, Busted are back. They have been for over three years now (so if you didn’t know this then I can only assume you’ve been living under a rock…) and in that space of time, they’ve been on two tours: one arena tour and one tour of lots of intimate venues. They played Glastonbury and took it by storm, and also released their 3rd album: ‘Night Driver’. For a lot of 2018, the band spent time working hard (and battling bats) on bringing to life the album of everyone’s dreams – their fourth and latest album that dropped today: ‘Half Way There’.

The excitement that came from the trio throughout the process of writing and recording this album has had fans hyped for countless months. This album was earmarked as being the album that shows that ‘Busted are back back’ and having listened to the album in its entirety since it dropped at midnight – I can safely say that Busted, are in fact, back back.

Admittedly, I am a long-term fan and anyone who takes a glance at my Twitter (particularly today) would know that I’m a fan and some may even question my ability to write an unbiased review, but as far as I’m concerned – this album is something that is special to the band and fanbase alike so surely it makes sense to hear the thoughts from a fan?

Last year, the boys dropped ‘Nineties’ from ‘Half Way There’; giving fans their first insight into the album. In addition to the song, Busted also dropped a music video for ‘Nineties’. (credit to the incredible photographer/videographer Rankin for his work on the video). The music video is a fun reflection on all the things the boys miss from when they were growing up – from ditching school to watch ‘The Goonies’ to their desire to meet Kelly from ‘Saved By The Bell’. It was the perfect nostalgic song (and video to match) and was definitely the best way to give us a taster of ‘Half Way There’.

More recently, the boys also released ‘Radio’ as a single and shared a music video for it (again, the incredible work of Rankin). ‘Radio’ took a reflective journey also and for me – emphasised the importance of music. It shows how something like listening to the radio can hold so many memories and can take you on a journey to your past and looking back on times you shared with a person that isn’t necessarily in your life anymore.

Today, the eagerly awaited ‘Half Way There’ was released to the world and fans (new and old alike) have been loving it – me included. It’s got everything a Busted fan could possibly want from their fourth album. ‘Shipwrecked in Atlantis’ is the sequel to ‘Air Hostess’ that none of us knew we needed until you listen to it and you find yourself dancing and singing along to it. (Having heard this live at The 100 Club back in October – I can vouch for this and assure you that fans were doing exactly that even though they were hearing it for the first time). Songs like ‘What Happened to Your Band’ and ‘It Happens’ will pull on your heartstrings and for any Busted fan; it’ll be the song that fills the gap in your heart from the years between then and now.

It wouldn’t be a Busted album if it weren’t full of pop culture references and incorporating issues that face the world today and songs such as ‘Race To Mars’ and ‘All My Friends’ do exactly that with references to Elon Musk and being in the generations of using FaceTime and being a city worker.
The whole album is a nice round number of ten songs that each take you on a different journey and evoke different emotions. Whether you’re in the mood to dance around your home, to stare wistfully out your window as nostalgic music plays or whether you want to shout lyrics at the top of your lungs; this is the perfect album for any mood. It allows people of all ages to connect through music and share the common-ground of an album that is, arguably, Busted’s best album to date.

‘Half Way There’ is available now on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music and all supermarkets and independent record stores. The album currently sits at Number One on the iTunes chart and rightfully so. Help make this album the first number one album Busted have had and go and buy it. Trust me – you won’t regret it.

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