20 Years’ ‘Time’: Michael Bublé’s Breakthrough Comes Home on New Deluxe Edition

Michael Buble It's Time 20
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Two decades after Canadian crooner Michael Bublé enjoyed his first major chart breakthrough, the album that did so – 2005’s It’s Time – is being reissued for its anniversary.

It’s Time will be reissued in a 2CD or 2LP set (the latter pressed on silver vinyl) that’ll feature a dozen studio and live bonus tracks. Having come out at a time of considerable limited editions – some only available at certain American retailers from Target to Starbucks – this edition of It’s Time will offer all of those value-added bonus cuts in one place, alongside the radio version of unlikely hit single “Home” plus two unreleased outtakes: the original song “Just Like You” – which the then-29-year-old singer wrote when he was just 16 – and an interpretation of the Sammy Fain-Irving Kahal standard “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Both sets are available September 13.

The British Columbia crooner spent years honing his voice in just about any gig that would have him, from cruise ships to supper clubs, and parlayed his love of jazz, swing and traditional pop on several independent albums. When former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney heard him sing at a business party, he hired Bublé to perform at his daughter’s wedding, where he met Canadian soft-rock/pop producer David Foster. Foster took a chance on the young man, and his self-titled major-label debut reached the Top 10 in Canada and England and earned the singer a Juno Award for New Artist of the Year. It’s Time built on the formula of Michael Bublé, offering lively takes on songs by The Beatles (“Can’t Buy Me Love”) and Stevie Wonder (“You and I”), plus compositions by classic songwriters from Cole Porter (“I’ve Got You Under My Skin”) and the Gershwins (“A Foggy Day (in London Town)”) to Bricusse and Newley (“Feeling Good”), Pomus and Shuman (“Save the Last Dance for Me”) and Holland-Dozier-Holland (“How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved by You)”).

But It’s Time‘s secret weapon was an original song Bublé co-wrote with longtime musical director Alan Chang and Foster’s daughter Amy: an aching ballad from the perspective of a touring musician who just wants to be with his loved ones called “Home.” The track was his first Top 40 in the U.K. and, after topping Billboard‘s adult contemporary chart in America, crossed over to the back end of the magazine’s all-genre Hot 100. Its success buoyed It’s Time higher than anything he’d ever released, topping the charts in Canada, going Top 10 around the world (including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia) and selling more than four million copies worldwide. The album also cleaned up at the Junos, winning Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year (alongside a Single of the Year trophy for “Home” and Artist of the Year for the singer) and earning him his first of 12 career Grammy nominations (five of which turned into wins, all for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album).

It’s Time allowed Bublé to put his own spin on the standards-with-a-few-originals formula; the swinging “Haven’t Met You Yet,” even became a U.S. Top 40 hit in 2009. And while 2011’s seasonal perennial bestseller Christmas has ensured he’d probably never need to work again (and he almost didn’t, putting his career on hold briefly in 2016 while his then-three-year-old son was diagnosed with malignant cancer that was ultimately treated), he’s still singing and swinging at his best, last releasing the album Higher in 2022. And in a sweet irony for a man helping keep the Great American Songbook alive, “Home” became a standard on its own, becoming a hit for Irish boy band Westlife as well as country singer Blake Shelton.

The deluxe editions of It’s Time are available September 13 and can be pre-ordered at the links below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

It’s Time (20th Anniversary Edition) (Reprise, 2025)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD/LP 1: Original album (released as 143/Reprise 49347, 2005)

  1. Feeling Good
  2. A Foggy Day (in London Town)
  3. You Don’t Know Me
  4. Quando, Quando, Quando (with Nelly Furtado)
  5. Home
  6. Can’t Buy Me Love
  7. The More I See You
  8. Save the Last Dance for Me
  9. Try a Little Tenderness
  10. How Sweet It Is
  11. A Song for You (feat. Chris Botti)
  12. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
  13. You and I

CD/LP 2: Bonus material (* previously unreleased)

  1. Mack the Knife
  2. Dream a Little Dream of Me
  3. Just Like You *
  4. Home (Remix)
  5. I’ll Be Seeing You *
  6. Nice ‘N Easy
  7. Softly As I Leave You
  8. It’s All in the Game
  9. I’m Beginning to See the Light
  10. Feeling Good (Live)
  11. You’ll Never Know (Live)
  12. My Funny Valentine (Live)

Tracks 1-2 released on limited edition of original album – 143/Reprise 18996, 2005
Track 4 released on “Home” U.K. CD single – Reprise W668CD1, 2005
Track 6 and 11-12 released on Come Fly with Me – 143/Reprise 38610, 2004
Tracks 7-9 released on deluxe edition of original album – 143/Reprise 49304, 2005
Track 10 released on Caught in the Act – 143/Reprise 49444, 2005

Mike Duquette
Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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