James Blunt: Back To Bedlam (20th anniversary, red vinyl) [WARNER]

Why you'll love it

This 20th anniversary edition is remastered and pressed on recycled red vinyl. Back to Bedlam was the UK's best-selling album of the 2000s and has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide.

This edition

• 20th anniversary edition
• Red vinyl
• Recycled vinyl
• Remastered
• Pressed in Germany

About the album

Not many singer-songwriters arrive by way of Sandhurst. James Blunt served as an officer in the British Army, writing songs and recording demos in his time off, and after he left in 2002 his tape found its way to Linda Perry, who was just launching her Custard Records label and signed him after a set at South by Southwest.

He made the album in Los Angeles in 2003 with producer Tom Rothrock, playing many of the instruments himself. While in town he stayed with Carrie Fisher, who let him record "Goodbye My Lover" in her bathroom, and you can hear the intimacy in it. "You're Beautiful" is the falsetto ballad that went round the world, "High" opens the record on a hopeful rise, "Wisemen" and "Tears and Rain" carry the singles' warmth and "No Bravery" closes on a sober note.

The title borrows the old nickname of London's Bethlem Royal Hospital, and the record still ranks as the biggest-selling debut album by a British artist. Few things in pop are as reliable as a former cavalry officer with an acoustic guitar, as the shop speakers have proved on several Saturdays.

Also at Kops: more James Blunt on vinyl · browse Pop

Tracklist

Listen

On Custard / Atlantic, a reissue of the 2004 album.