A Present for Everyone | ||||
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Studio album by Busted | ||||
Released | 17 November 2003 | |||
Recorded | 2003 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 45:57 | |||
Label | Universal Island | |||
Producer |
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Busted chronology | ||||
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Singles from A Present for Everyone | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AbsolutePunk | 8.2/10 |
AllMusic | |
BBC Music | Positive |
entertainment.ie | |
The Guardian | |
Sputnikmusic | |
Stylus Magazine | C |
Ultimate Guitar Archive |
A Present for Everyone is the second studio album by British pop punk band Busted. It was released on 17 November 2003 by Universal Island Records and features a sound mixing pop punk and power pop material with traditional pop rock. Five singles were released from the album, including the number-one hits "Crashed the Wedding", "Who's David" and "Thunderbirds / 3AM".
The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. It debuted and peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified 3× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of over 900,000.A Present for Everyone was Busted's final album until they reformed in 2015 and announced their third album.
The album was originally intended to be titled Drum Roll, and was referred to as such in press releases and interviews up until October of that year. Willis said in an interview on Popworld that it was called A Present for Everyone because "it is actually a present for - everyone". The album showed a more mature sound compared to their debut album. Eight of the thirteen standard edition tracks were co-written with Tom Fletcher from McFly, a band which Bourne helped form following Fletcher's departure from Busted in the early days of the band. "She Wants to Be Me" and "3am" were co-written with production team The Matrix, which showed a slight departure in sound for the band, venturing more into pop punk.
"Fake" and "Better Than This" were collaborations between Willis, Guy Chambers and Steve Power, and both were hailed as stand-out tracks on the album in critical reviews. Bourne and Neve guitarist Michael Raphael wrote "Can't Break Thru", while Simpson co-wrote "Why" with his brother Will. "Why" shows a much heavier rock sound, similar to that of Simpson's future project Fightstar, for which he later left Busted to commit to full-time. Simpson later hailed "Why" as his favourite Busted song of all time. "Better Than This", "Why" and "Can't Break Thru" have solo vocal performances from those who wrote them.