Happy 10th: James Blunt, SOME KIND OF TROUBLE

10 years ago this week, James Blunt released his third album, an LP which – despite failing to provide him with a major hit single – nonetheless took the singer-songwriter back into the upper reaches of the Billboard 200.

Produced variously by Kevin Griffin, Warren Huart, Greg Kurstin, Steve Robson, and Eg White, SOME KIND OF TROUBLE definitely found Blunt in far bouncier territory than his previous albums, something he decided was in his best interest. "After the last tour, I tried writing at the piano, but I found I was repeating myself, writing sad songs about poor old me,” Blunt told Contact Music. “I needed to get away from music for a while. My new songs are more optimistic. One thing I did learn is that your artistic credibility goes out the window when you have a record that big. 'You're Beautiful' meant something to me, but to most people, it's a song they sing when they're drunk.”

You don’t have to be drunk to sing along to the album’s first single, “Stay the Night,” which is as catchy as all get-out and, in turn, found its way into the top 10 of many countries, even topping the charts in Switzerland. It wasn’t as successful in the US or UK, but it went top-40 in the latter and cracked the Hot 100 in the former, so at least it got a bit of airplay in both locations.

Alas, that’s about as big as the hits got, but songs like “So Far Gone,” “If Time is All I Have,” “I’ll Be Your Man,” and “Dangerous” are all tunes that’ll almost certainly appeal to the average James Blunt fan, so if this is an album that passed you by the first time, don’t let have it happen the second time around, too!