McBusted - McBusted

The idea of combining McFly with Busted is one that used to only exist in fantasies. But now that it’s real, will it be everything that we expected? After a long build up, McBusted’s self-titled debut album is finally here. Lead single, Air Guitar, is iconic of the band’s sound. Remember all that 90s and early 00s rock you used to love? McBusted restore it in 2014 – something many of us never considered possible.

The album features some exciting guests including Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 who performs on Hate Your Guts. He delivers many comic lines including: “I hope your favourite TV show fails to record”. However, my personal favourite line from the album has to be: “You were Hannah Montana but now you’re licking things like Miley” from Before You Knew Me. This is just a tiny example of the genius lyrics that McBusted have come up with - believe me when I promise you that there are plenty more where these came from. As a result, both Hate Your Guts and Before You Knew Me are quirky and hilarious, giving McBusted a unique identity in the music industry.

The second single, Get Over It, doesn’t just have an upbeat and catchy chorus - All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth also features to please your ears. What’s more, Get Over It is one of those positive songs that avoids being over-the-top and it’s ideal to play first thing in the morning. But that’s not all of the collaborations on McBusted. Weezer’s frontman, Rivers Cuomo, makes an appearance on Getting It Out and it seems as though his influence has caused McBusted to delve further into their rock side, a great result as it completely suits them. With a traditional guitar solo and an emphasised focus on drums, Getting It Out is the ideal headbanging track.

The album shows many strengths, including great lyrics, striking harmonies, and originality. Written shortly after Busted’s break-up, What Happened To Your Band exhibits an astounding vocal range and group chants that are powerful enough to excite an arena. That’s not to say that they can’t do acoustic – Beautiful Girls Are The Loneliest demonstrates that McBusted can compose interesting acoustic layers and adapt strings to create emotional slow tracks that are just as strong as their heavier ones. It’s stripped back to capture the brilliant raw vocals of James Bourne – my only complaint is that there aren’t more of these delicate acoustic tracks.

As McBusted progresses, the album doesn’t deteriorate – far from it. Gone is an emotional anthem; its autobiographical nature is both liberating and moving. For this reason, Gone would be extremely fitting for the climactic scene of a dramatic film. McBusted doesn’t even falter on the deluxe edition which has an extra three tracks; all of them are definitely worthy of a position on the standard album. Plus, it’s wonderful to witness the friendship between these guys as it really comes across in the album, making both McBusted and their record honest and genuine. Therefore, songs like Back In Time, 23:59 and In Da Club are upbeat and perfect party jams, revealing just how fun McBusted are.

From the drums that open I See Red, it’s obvious that this is one of the best songs on the album. It’s an explosion of anger, jealousy, love, hate, and passion. I See Red best represents the album as a whole, from the fast-paced drumming to the slow bridge, it incorporates the tone of each of the other songs in under three minutes.

Yet McBusted is not without fault. Riding On My Bike is a weaker track because of the inclusion of computer-like sound effects that makes the whole ensemble feel forced. The more I listen to it, the more irritating it gets, making it a track that I will forever be skipping when it appears on shuffle. As well as this, there is an obvious imbalance between fast rock songs and slower tracks. However, we can let these minor flaws slide as they’re overshadowed by the velocity of skilfully constructed tunes. With some excellent collaborations, creative guitar riffs, and a sound that takes us on a trip back to the 90s, I am certain this album is going to please many.