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==The Ballad of Belmarsh==
==The Ballad of Belmarsh==
'''''The Ballad of Belmarsh''''' is the upcoming third studio album to be released by Plan B in 2011. Originally meant to be released as a double album with ''The Defamation of Strickland Banks'',<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/7564077/Plan-B-interview.html</ref> the record will be released as a stand alone album on Plan B's own label after his record label refused to release it.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/10530968</ref>
''The Ballad of Belmarsh'' is the upcoming third studio album to be released by Plan B in 2011. Originally meant to be released as a double album with ''The Defamation of Strickland Banks'',<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/7564077/Plan-B-interview.html | title= Plan B interview | publisher=The Telegraph | date=7 April 2010 }}</ref> the record will be released as a stand alone album on Plan B's own label after his record label refused to release it.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/10530968 | title= Plan B: 'Label rejected new album' | publisher=BBC Newsbeat | date=8 July 2010}}</ref> Snippets from the album have been included in the music video for "The Recluse" and ''The Defamation of Strickland Banks'' film trailer.<ref name="YouTubeTrailer">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po_ArckLTXg</ref>

==Film version==
''The Defamation of Strickland Banks'' is intended to be made into a musical film directed by Ben Drew himself. It was orignally conceived as a short film to be released alongside the album and the original trailer was uploaded online in late 2009.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.dnrfilms.net/portfolio.php?id=1&art=61&pageNum_list_curr_portfolio_details=1&totalRows_list_curr_portfolio_details=20 | title= Plan B – The Defamation of Strickland Banks | publisher=DNR Films | accessdate=27 December 2009}}</ref> The film intends to incorporate all the music videos from the album with scenes of dialogue.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/06/plan-b-to-retire-strickland-banks | title= Plan B to retire Strickland Banks | publisher=The Guardian | date=6 January 2011 }}</ref> Kelly Brook and Roger Daltrey have also been rumoured with roles in the film.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.pressparty.com/pg/newsdesk/londonnewsdesk/view/14664 | title= Plan B plans 'Banks' film with Kelly Brook | publisher=Pressparty | date=9 November 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.dailystar.co.uk/playlist/view/171370/Plan-B-lines-up-Roger-Daltrey-for-movie/ | title= Plan B Lines Up Roger Daltrey for Movie | publisher=Pressparty | date=11 January 2011 }}</ref> A second film trailer was uploaded to YouTube in February 2011.<ref name="YouTubeTrailer"/>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 18:29, 25 May 2011

Untitled

The Defamation of Strickland Banks is the second studio album from British rapper Plan B which was released on 12 April 2010. The album is a departure from the sound heard on Plan B's debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words, with the rapper's sophomore effort providing a showcase for much more of his singing ability.[2] Lyrically the album's songs tell the fictitious tale of one Strickland Banks, a sharp-suited British soul singer who finds fame with bitter-sweet love songs like the album's opener "Love Goes Down", but then loses everything when he ends up in prison for a crime he didn't commit.[3]

Background

Plan B first mentioned his second album in an interview with NME in 2006. He explained "I've started this project about a drug addict called David Frost – no relation to the guy on TV – and basically it's the story of this guy and the levels of addiction, rehab, rehab not working, robbing ... The trials and tribulations of a fucking smackhead. It's a big story. I might release a first edition, then a second edition ...". The David Frost album eventually evolved into the current Strickland Banks album and film.[citation needed]

Concept

The album tells the story from the first-hand perspective of Strickland Banks, a fictional character played by Plan B. The album's opening tracks, "Love Goes Down" and "Writing's on the Wall", are love songs sung by Strickland Banks at a concert, and are likely to be about his girlfriend, to whom he refers later in the album. "Stay Too Long" follows him and his entourage as they celebrate the success of his concert with a night out which culminates in him having a one night stand with a woman. In "She Said" we learn that this woman is obsessed with his music and believes herself to be in love with him. He rejects her so she alleges that he raped her. The subsequent trial results in his incarceration, and in "Welcome to Hell" he is sent to prison, and much of the rest of the album is about his experience inside. Throughout the course of the songs "Hard Times" and "The Recluse" we see Strickland get more isolated and insecure throughout as he struggles to cope with prison life. This results in his abuse at the hands of other prisoners, resulting in him purchasing a shiv on the prison black market throughout the course of "Traded In My Cigarettes". In "Prayin'" he is confronted by another prisoner who attacks him. With the help of another inmate Strickland kills the attacker in self-defence, with the other inmate taking the blame, and is burdened with this guilt during "Darkest Place". The next two tracks, "Free" and "I Know A Song" detail initially his anger, then his acceptance of his life inside prison. The last track, "What You Gonna Do" Strickland is in court again as new evidence has been brought up on his case. The album finishes with the listener not sure of whether he is sent back to prison or released, leaving it open to interpretation.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
BBC Music(Highly positive)[5]
Clash[6]
The Guardian[7]
Mojo[8]
NME[9]
Q[10]
Spin[11]
The Telegraph[12]
The Times[13]
Uncut[14]

Template:Album ratings prose

Upon its release, The Defamation of Strickland Banks received generally positive reviews from music critics.[15] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[15] The critics tended to compare this work with Plan B's previous album, Who Needs Actions When You Got Words, from four years earlier. The change from "spectacularly violent soliloquies"[9] on his debut to crooning soul on his second effort caught some reviewers by surprise, though not all unhappily.

Ian Wade of the BBC gave the album and Plan B (Ben Drew) great praise, calling it "tremendous work", admiring its range, as for example "on 'Welcome to Hell' he trills like a scared-to-pick-up-the-soap-in-the-prison-shower Smokey Robinson, while 'Hard Times' and 'Love Goes Down' are just lovely – anyone operating in the greasy world of pop would give a limb for such songs."[5]

For Pete Paphides of The Times, Defamation deserved 4 out of 5 stars.[13]

The Guardian's Alexis Petridis gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Though dissatisfied with the its concept and "gaping holes in the album's plot", he said, "Drew's reinvention suits him. The strength of his voice was understandably overlooked on his debut, but it comes into its own here: a high, aching croon that adds an appealing touch of self-doubt to the hardest-hitting lyrics. Rather than simply drafting in Mark Ronson to add a retro-soul veneer, he's clearly studied the source material: the result is a string of uniformly well-done Smokey Robinson pastiches. In a neat touch, the bleaker Strickland Banks's story becomes, the lovelier the melodies.".[7]

John Freeman, writing for Clash, gave it a 7/10 rating, while suggesting that the style change.[6]

NME's Sam Wolfson gave the album a rating of 6 out of 10, and expressed regret at Plan B's move into new territory.[9]

At The Telegraph, Thomas H Green gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "accessible, polished and brimming with verve". He closed his review saying, "The rapping hasn’t been completely abandoned, either, but the emphasis here is on his sweet soul voice and a thumping Motown groove, an intriguing change of direction that’s both passionate and populist."[12]

Singles

The first single from the album, entitled "Stay Too Long", was released on 11 January 2010. It entered the UK Singles Chart on 17 January 2010, where it reached a peak of 9 and a peak of number 3 on the UK R&B Chart, making it Plan B's first Top 10 single.

The second single from the album, entitled "She Said", was released on 28 March 2010. It reached number 3 in its first week in the UK Singles Chart on 4 April 2010 as well as peaking at number 1 on the R&B Chart; the single marks Plan B's biggest selling single to date.

The third single, "Prayin'" was released on 12 July 2010, where it climbed up the chart before peaking at number 16 in the UK.

The fourth single from the album was announced by Plan B as "The Recluse". The video premiered on Plan B's official site in September, which was followed by a release of 4 October 2010. The single peaked at number 35 in the UK; marking Plan B's fourth consecutive Top 40 hit; fifth overall.

The fifth single to be released from the album was "Love Goes Down" and after being added to the BBC Radio 1 Playlist, was released on 12 December 2010, where it peaked at number 62.

"Writing's on the Wall" was released as a video only promotional single in March 2011. It has been added to the Radio 1 Playlist. A straight-forward performance video for the track, filmed live at Cafe De Paris, was originally released on YouTube in 2010 shortly after the video for "She Said" was released. The 2011 version of the video features additional footage showing Strickland's girlfriend preparing a meal for him at home whilst he's out performing, and ends with footage from the "Stay Too Long" video.

Following Plan B's performance at the Brit Awards 2011, the track was released for download on iTunes the next day as "She Said Prayin' (Live From The Brits)", and charted at 72 in the UK singles chart. The performance was a medley of the two tracks mentioned in the title, but also included an excerpt of an unknown track from "The Ballad Of Belmarsh" at the beginning.

The final single, a re-recording of "Hard Times" featuring Elton John and Paloma Faith was released on iTunes on 19 May 2011.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ben Drew

Standard edition
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Love Goes Down"Ben Drew, David McEwan, Eric Appapoulay (add.)3:52
2."Writing's on the Wall"Paul Epworth3:42
3."Stay Too Long"Paul Epworth3:44
4."She Said"Ben Drew, David McEwan, Eric Appapoulay (add.)3:31
5."Welcome to Hell"Paul Epworth4:32
6."Hard Times"Ben Drew, David McEwan, Eric Appapoulay (add.)3:57
7."The Recluse"Ben Drew, Eric Appapoulay (add.)3:19
8."Traded in My Cigarettes"Ben Drew, David McEwan, Eric Appapoulay (add.)4:14
9."Prayin'"Paul Epworth3:46
10."Darkest Place"Ben Drew, David McEwan, Eric Appapoulay (add.)4:20
11."Free"Ben Drew, David McEwan, Eric Appapoulay (add.)3:42
12."I Know a Song"Ben Drew, David McEwan, Eric Appapoulay (add.)3:10
13."What You Gonna Do"Ben Drew4:11
Disc 2 (deluxe edition)
No.TitleLength
1."Verses"4:01
2."Spend My Money"4:09
3."Prayin" (original demo version)3:53
4."She Said" (live from Café de Paris)3:42
5."Welcome to Hell" (live from Café de Paris)4:45
6."Stay Too Long" (Pendulum remix)7:06
7."She Said" (Shy FX remix)4:23

Personnel

  • Ben Drew – vocals, producer, mixing
Production[16]
  • David McEwan – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Paul Epworth – producer, mixing
  • Eric Appapoulay – additional producer, mixing
  • Mark "Top" Rankin – engineer, mixing
  • Will Kennard – additional mixing
  • Harry Escott – string arrangements
  • Sally Herbert – string arrangements
  • Jason Yarde – brass arrangements
  • Guy Davie – mastering
Additional musicians[16]
  • Aleysha Gordon – backing vocals
  • Hannah Kemoh – backing vocals
  • Samantha Smith – backing vocals
  • Jennifer Dawodu – backing vocals
  • Marvin Cottrell – backing vocals
  • Tom Wright-Goss – guitar
  • Eric Appapoulay – bass, backing vocals
  • Jodi Milliner – bass
  • Richard Cassell – drums
  • Paul Epworth – drums
  • Everton Newson – violin
  • Louisa Fuller – violin
  • Sally Herbert – violin
  • Warren Zielinski – violin
  • Bruce White – viola
  • Sonia Slany – viola
  • Ian Burdge – cello
  • Harry Escott – additional cello
  • Jason Yarde – alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
  • Zem Audu – tenor saxophone
  • Harry Brown – trombone
  • David Prisemen – trumpet, flugelhorn
  • Mark Crown – trumpet
Other personnel[16]
  • Fabrice Spelta – art direction
  • Mike Hosey – art direction
  • Ben Parks – photography
  • Roy Eldridge – management
  • Sam Eldridge – management

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom 12 April 2010 679/Atlantic CD 5051865847120
2xCD 5051865899327
United States 19 April 2011 Atlantic CD 527576

Chart performance

On 18 April 2010, the album debuted on the UK Albums Chart at No. 1, selling 68,173 copies in its first week and a further 47,950 in its second week. It was the 5th biggest selling album of 2010 in the UK with sales of 826,400.[citation needed] The album has sold over 900,000 copies to date.

Preceded by
"The Fame" by Lady GaGa
"Iron Man 2" by AC/DC
 UK Albums Chart number-one album
24 April 2010
8 May 2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK R&B Albums Chart number-one album
24 April 2010 – 5 June 2010
9 October 2010 		Succeeded by
"The Element of Freedom" by Alicia Keys
"Disc-Overy" by Tinie Tempah

The Ballad of Belmarsh

The Ballad of Belmarsh is the upcoming third studio album to be released by Plan B in 2011. Originally meant to be released as a double album with The Defamation of Strickland Banks,[32] the record will be released as a stand alone album on Plan B's own label after his record label refused to release it.[33] Snippets from the album have been included in the music video for "The Recluse" and The Defamation of Strickland Banks film trailer.[34]

Film version

The Defamation of Strickland Banks is intended to be made into a musical film directed by Ben Drew himself. It was orignally conceived as a short film to be released alongside the album and the original trailer was uploaded online in late 2009.[35] The film intends to incorporate all the music videos from the album with scenes of dialogue.[36] Kelly Brook and Roger Daltrey have also been rumoured with roles in the film.[37][38] A second film trailer was uploaded to YouTube in February 2011.[34]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a211368/plan-b-i-havent-abandoned-hip-hop.html
  2. ^ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-interviews/2010/01/15/i-ll-shock-my-fans-with-my-soul-singing-on-new-album-but-i-haven-t-sold-out-says-rap-star-plan-b-86908-21969383/
  3. ^ Plan B interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' April 2010
  4. ^ Birchmeier, Jason "The Defamation of Strickland Banks - Plan B". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  5. ^ a b Wade, Ian (12 April 2010). "BBC - Music - Review of Plan B - The Defamation of Strickland Banks". BBC.
  6. ^ a b Freeman, John (24 March 2010). "Plan B - The Defamation Of Strickland Banks | Clash Music Latest Album Review". Clashmusic.com. Clash Music.
  7. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (8 April 2010). "Plan B: The Defamation of Strickland Banks". guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media.
  8. ^ Mojo review link (ADM)
  9. ^ a b c Wolfson, Sam (16 April 2010). "Album Review: Plan B - 'The Defamation Of Strickland Banks' (679)". NME.com. IPC MEDIA.
  10. ^ Q review link (ADM)
  11. ^ "SPIN Review".
  12. ^ a b Green, Thomas H. (9 April 2010). "Plan B: The Defamation of Strickland Banks, CD review". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group.
  13. ^ a b Paphides, Pete (10 April 2010). "Plan B: The Defamation of Strickland Banks review". Times Online. Times Newspapers.
  14. ^ Uncut review link (ADM)
  15. ^ a b "The Defamation Of Strickland Banks reviews at Metacritic.com. Metacritic. Retrieved on 23 July 2010.
  16. ^ a b c "Release: The Defamation of Strickland Banks". MusicBrainz. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  17. ^ "Top 50 Albums Chart - Australian Recording Industry Association". ARIA. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  18. ^ Belgian Albums Chart
  19. ^ http://danishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Plan+B&titel=The+Defamation+Of+Strickland+Banks&cat=a
  20. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/european-albums?chartDate=2010-05-01
  21. ^ French Albums Chart : 17-23 May 2010
  22. ^ French Digital Albums Chart : 17-23 May 2010
  23. ^ http://www.media-control.de/groesster-charts-erfolg-fuer-blind-guardian.html
  24. ^ Greek Albums Chart
  25. ^ "GFK Chart-Track". chart-track.co.uk. GfK. 22 July 2010.
  26. ^ Swiss Albums Chart
  27. ^ "Chart Archive". UK Albums Chart. The Official Charts Company.
  28. ^ "European Albums: Best of 2010". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  29. ^ "Top 40 UK Albums of 2010 - The biggest albums of 2010". (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5vQf64s36). BBC. Retrieved 2 January 2011
  30. ^ http://ifpi.com/content/section_news/plat2011.html
  31. ^ "BPI > Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  32. ^ "Plan B interview". The Telegraph. 7 April 2010.
  33. ^ "Plan B: 'Label rejected new album'". BBC Newsbeat. 8 July 2010.
  34. ^ a b http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po_ArckLTXg
  35. ^ "Plan B – The Defamation of Strickland Banks". DNR Films. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  36. ^ "Plan B to retire Strickland Banks". The Guardian. 6 January 2011.
  37. ^ "Plan B plans 'Banks' film with Kelly Brook". Pressparty. 9 November 2010.
  38. ^ "Plan B Lines Up Roger Daltrey for Movie". Pressparty. 11 January 2011.
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