"You Could Have it so much Better " - Franz Ferdinand - album review @n0netheless :: Damon
"It's easy to get discouraged sometimes when you listen to American rock radio because everything is so bland, so self-referential."
-- alex , Franz Ferdinand
General::
ok. this is a brillant album by any standards. All the reviews I had read gave it at least a 3.5/5 stars. NME RollingStone mag allmusic.com etc etc. But is it better than the previous album? Did they innovate or did they just took out their unused B-sides from the previous album to grind out their sophomore album? How's this album compared to other bands' followup album? Did they crash like Black Motorcycle Club Rebels (did I remember their name correctly?) or like countless other new bands starting with "The"?
In my opinion, this album is as good as their debut. Is there another "Take Me out" smash hit? No. The whole album making you dance from track 1 till the last? No.
This time there are several slow songs, most notable Walk Away. It just reminds me of a breakup during transit, like sitting on the bullet train watching things run by so quickly just after someone left you. "Mascara bleeds a blackened tear, oh\And I am cold, yes, I'm cold\But not as cold as you are" in walk away was in my mind everything i was riding to school... until i lost my bike.
Similarly to their debut album "Franz Ferdinand", every single track is strong. No fillers. Franz Ferdinand is not a single's band. Like i guess.. Garbage? Foo fighters?
This album starts with a bang with The Fallen. The chorus "For the fallen walk among us, Walk among us, Never judge us, Yeah we're all..." sounds really like "for the fallenm what a mugger, what a mugger..." during one of the late nights of mugging. Sounds like he's singing to me. Then comes the first single "Do you want to". Its a pretty nice and tight track haven't the same dancing tempo and 'la la la's.
fyi, some of the tracks are available in their websites in live.
In short, best of 2005 alongside with Gorillaz' Demon Days.