[1] A concept album, it narrates the fictitious tale of Strickland Banks, a sharp-suited British soul singer who finds fame with bitter-sweet love songs like the album's opener "Love Goes Down", only to have it slip through his fingers when sent to prison for a crime he did not commit.

It produced the singles "Stay Too Long", "She Said", "Prayin'", "The Recluse", "Love Goes Down", "Writing's on the Wall" and "Hard Times".

[8] The album tells the story from the first-hand perspective of Strickland Banks, a fictional character played by Plan B.

"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.

Throughout the course of the songs "Hard Times" and "The Recluse", Strickland gets more isolated and insecure throughout as he struggles to cope with prison life.

The next two tracks, "Free" and "I Know a Song" detail initially his anger, then his acceptance of his life inside prison.

In the last track, "What You Gonna Do", Strickland is in court again as new evidence has been brought up on his case while he waits anxiously to hear the verdict.

The single version features newly recorded vocals from Elton John and Paloma Faith and peaked at No.

[9] The film intends to incorporate all the music videos from The Defamation of Strickland Banks and The Ballad of Belmarsh with scenes of dialogue.

Upon its release, The Defamation of Strickland Banks received generally positive reviews from music critics.

[13] 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"[20] 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 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.

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.

[16] 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.

[20] At The Daily 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.

[3] All tracks are written by Ben DrewNote Production[24] Additional musicians[24] Managerial and design[24] * Sales figures based on certification alone.

"[50] In September 2011, Plan B announced that The Ballad of Belmarsh had been put on hold in order to work on his then-upcoming film Ill Manors (2012).

[51] In April 2018, Plan B stated that the project never came to fruition because he got bored of the Strickland Banks character: "It's one of those lost albums.