Franz Ferdinand (You Could Have It So Much Better)

Overall Rating (Avg): 5.8
Released: October 4th, 2005 - 13 Tracks - (41:34) - (Domino Records)

Standout Tracks : "The Fallen", "This Boy", "I'm Your Villain"

Listen to "Do You Want To" as you read:


Album Art Rating: 4 The newest release from Franz Ferdinand is a great representation of their unique sound. The album combines creative alternative riffs with funk beats, making for an addictive combination to say the least. There really are no horrible songs on this album, and I felt that everything had a right to be placed there. The majority of songs are medium to fast-paced, although two (“Eleanor Put Your Boots On” and “Fade Together”) slow things down to moderate effect. These two are decent at best, and it seems as if they were only placed in for mixture, but decent nonetheless. Considering the general consistency of this album, one could easily become addicted to its catchy lines and overall flow. The tracks that I selected reflect what’s generally going on in this album: an almost disco-rock collection of quick songs. Lyrics wise, this is nothing to jump out of your chair over, but certainly better than mediocre. In relationship to previous work, I’d consider this equally on par, and it is a nice change to see a complete album in the midst of so many singles. With singles of course, you get much more variety, as the artists are only working on one specific song that they’ll try to vary considerably from what they al-ready have. A good single can attract hordes of new listeners. A full album however, will represent more consistency, where the band member’s persistent sound can be found. A good deal of the songs on this album sound similar to each other, for probably just this reason, but considering the quality of the songs repeated, this is certainly permissible. Since their first EP in 2003, they have proved that they are one of the greatest British bands of this era if not ever. This album doesn’t necessarily show it, but their singles are where their true innovation comes from. Rather, this album shows typical Franz Ferdinand sound in an expanded format.
~Trevor Nibbi


SCORE: 7

Trevor's Bottom Line: Again, I’d like to stress that this is not the album of the year, but it just might crawl its way into the top ten. All in all, a very solid album, and well worth the $9.99 of an iTunes purchase.


SCORE: 4

Justin: The follow-up to their surprise hit self-titled debut album, You Could Have It So Much Better redirects the innovative band’s approach to music with tracks like “Walk Away” and “Eleanor Put Your Boots On." Franz Ferdinand stays true to their following with their edgy hooks and dancefloor anthems while also redefining themselves; making this album is a step, though not necessarily in the right direction.


SCORE: 6.5

Joe: This album complements Franz’s self-titled album well. The band presents us with a pleasing variety of music, and again demonstrates why they are ruling over alternative music.


Videos

"The Fallen"



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justin_hawkins i totally agree aaron 2 Jan 22 2007, 9:49 PM EST by dmiracchi
justin_hawkins
Thread started: Nov 28 2006, 12:40 AM EST  Watch
read my first complaint... its not that franz ferdinand are sellouts - its that the song "elanor put your boots back on" is described in the review as "decent at best" while the rest of the album is praised. if u want to hear what tracks are good, then here it is: "elanor put your boots back on" and "walk away" are great songs and the rest of this album is dancefloor crap made for the radio... not my ears. period
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aaronros Bottom Line 0 Nov 27 2006, 10:09 AM EST by aaronros
aaronros
Thread started: Nov 27 2006, 10:09 AM EST  Watch
Who cares if they are sellouts? Im not saying they are, but this pertains to every band even bands like Audioslave, who cares? The only thing I want from music is a good listen. Most times when a band "sellsout" it doesn't sound as good, but the sellingout doesn't matter to me, only the music they make. In some cases sellingout, to some degree, has made bands better to listen to. And thats my opinion for all Justin's "sellout compliants". Forget the sellout factor, just tell me what tracks are good and which aren't.
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Anonymous just thought ben's reply should be out in the open... 0 Nov 26 2006, 8:29 PM EST by Anonymous
Thread started: Nov 26 2006, 8:29 PM EST  Watch
I hate to jump into a brawl already in progress, but here's my two cents. If you look back at the self-titled, it has some very innovative tracks, but you'd have to admit, most of them are in the genre of "dance floor-rock pop." That's just how Franz makes music. In an interview Alex Kapranos said "We just wanted to make songs that girls could dance to." While they are innovators, they are also fan pleasers. To have the variety that they did on "You Could Have It So Much Better" was something I was happy about. I mean, there are tracks like Eleanor Put Your Boots On, Walk Away, Fade Together. These songs are a departure from the crowd pleasers. I think we just have to compare the two to realize that they're really quite similar in terms of innovation/hits.

And those are my two cents...
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justin_hawkins elenor put your boots back on "decent at best"??? 1 Nov 26 2006, 7:34 PM EST by priestson1
justin_hawkins
Thread started: Nov 26 2006, 4:46 PM EST  Watch
this is the one song on this album that actually shows artistic creativity and innovation and makes this entire album "decent at best". without songs like this, franz ferdinand would have jumped into the sellout pit a loooooooongg time ago.
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justin_hawkins i will not step out of the kitchen 0 Nov 26 2006, 5:47 PM EST by justin_hawkins
justin_hawkins
Thread started: Nov 26 2006, 5:47 PM EST  Watch
im not trying to say that all mainstream music is bad or not worth listening to. what im trying to say here is that what made franz's first album so good and full of potential was their innovation and seperation from the mainstream. with this new release, franz ferdinand obviously produces most of their material to be played on the radio and be hits. without songs like "elanor put her boots back on" i would say franz ferdinand were sellouts and that they were abandoning everything that made them decent to listen to. im hoping in their next album that they form more songs like "elanor" and less like "do u want to" because of the potential they showed me in their debut
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