Came across Blue October one evening whilst driving and a track came on the Simon Mayo show. I was mesmerised by it on the first hear, something which very rarely happens. The track was The Feel Again (Stay). Was so good that led me to YouTube for Blue October and I was astonshed to discover they are huge in the US and have been around for around 12 years with many albums realeased.
This album is superb, a self-attributed "audio journal" through the recent life of lead singer Justin Furstenfeld's divorce and custody battle for his daughter. Google will tell you the story, once you have it and then listen to the album, all falls into place. For me, the very best of the album comes at the beginning and at the end - The Feel Again is their current UK single and why it has not shot to number 1 I'll never know. Towards the end you get songs such as Worry List - hauntingly briliant. In the middle there's lots of anger-induced songs from Furstenfeld, some "F" word expletives and songs which are filled with raw emotion. It's rare an album comes out these days which completely satisfies me and my teenage daughters - this one does. Pure brilliance. Justin Furstenfeld is touring the UK with an acoustic set in Feb and March and I cannot wait to see this genius live!