''Guilty'' is the third studio album by English

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

. It was released on 3 November 2003 in the United Kingdom and on 25 November in the United States. It debuted at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

after its release, and it was certified 2× Platinum in December 2003. The album was particularly successful in the UK, Europe, Japan and New Zealand. "

Guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

", "

Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" is a soul song, by American musician Stevie Wonder, released in June 1970 as a single on Motown's Tamla label. It spent six weeks at number one on the U.S. R&B chart and peaked at number three on the U.S ...

", "

Breathe Easy "Breathe Easy" is a song written by Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Michael Larsson and Lee Ryan and released by the British boy band Blue. The song was included on their third studio album, ''Guilty'' (2003). It was released as a single on 22 Marc ...

" and " Bubblin'" were released as singles from the album. "Guilty", co-written by

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

, was the most successful single from the album, peaking at number two in the UK.

Singles

* "

" — The debut single, released in October 2003. The single peaked at No. 2 on the

, No. 29 on the Australian Top 40, at No. 14 in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and No. 6 in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The song has received a Silver sales status certification for sales of over 200,000 copies in the UK. * "

" — The second single, released in December 2003, featuring guest vocals from

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

. The song is a cover version of Stevie's number one hit. The single peaked at No. 11 on the

, No. 31 on the Australian Top 100, No. 22 in

and No. 17 in

. * "The Gift" - A Japanese alternative single to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours", featuring the said track as a B-side. "The Gift" only appears on the Japanese version of ''Guilty''. The single peaked at No. 3 on the

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

. A music video was recorded and included on the Japanese edition of ''4Ever Blue''. * "

" — The third single, released in March 2004. The single peaked at No. 4 on the

. The song was produced by multi-platinum producers DEEKAY & co-written by Lee Ryan, Lars Halvor Jensen, and Michael Martin Larsson. The song has received a Bronze sales status certification for sales of over 100,000 copies in the UK. In Italy, an Italian-language version of the song, "A Chi Mi Dice", was released as a single instead. * " Bubblin'" - The fourth and final single, released in June 2004. The single peaked at No. 9 on the

. The single version of "Bubblin'" features vocals from L.A.D.E. In France, a French-language version of the song, "You & Me Bubblin'", was released a single instead. This version features vocals from French boyband LINK-UP.

Critical reception

Betty Clarke from ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' found that ''Guilty'' showed "Blue as we already know them: heavy on soul-puppy richness, light on meaning. It's easy listening in the most honourable sense, and there's no need to dress it up in seam-bursting bondage pants ..What's left is a nifty little record." In a retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Sharon Mawer rated the album two out of five stars. She remarked that some songs on the album "were straying perilously close to

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

territory and to many Blue fans, the most important thing about them was that they were not as bland as Westlife." In a negative review, Chris Long from

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

, called the album "in equal parts, vapid, bland, hopelessly derivative, unimaginative and, occasionally, downright offensive." He further wrote that "there is not one moment of the ballad-heavy, drippy, sugar-sweet overdose of Guilty that deserves even a second listen ..This is the sound of a band more interested in increasing their tabloid column inch count with their various late night shenanigans and celebrity ligging, than in their music. There is no effort, no emotion, no desire in any of the tunes on offer."

Track listing

* ''Guilty: Live from Wembley'' In Japan, the band's live DVD, ''Guilty: Live from Wembley'', was packed with a ten-track bonus CD.

Tour

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2003 albums Blue (English band) albums Albums produced by Stargate Albums produced by Steve Robson Albums produced by Cutfather