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JennYThe Fray - The Fray Album Review
March 17th 2009 02:31
Release date: Februrary 3, 2009
Genre: Alternative rock, Indie rock
Length: 43:25
Label: Epic
Launched to stardom with their hit-single “How To Save A Life” in 2005, The Fray are back four years later with their self-titled sophomore effort. The album continues in the path of “How To Save A Life” - mostly piano-driven songs perfect for radio airplay. Read on for the full review of The Fray.
Syndicate picks up where “How To Save A Life” left off with an upbeat piano ballad. The song is better than I expected. It sounds like a low-budget cross between X&Y-era Coldplay and Lifehouse.
Absolute is one of the few guitar-driven songs of the album. It reminded me of the Backstreet Boys' latest album Unbreakable. The two songs so far have been pretty good. I found myself humming the chorus of this one at first listen which is pretty rare for me to do.
You Found Me is another piano-driven song. Here you really find the formulaic structure present in successful pop songs: a quiet intro featuring the singer and the lead instrument, the full band kicking in on the second verse, a chorus where every final words are repeated twice (“Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me” / “Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded”) and an instrumental breakdown after the third verse. The chorus is catchy enough to make it a guaranteed hit. (At the time I wrote this review, I didn't know that “You Found Me” had made the Top 5).
Say When is a very revealing song in my opinion because the quiet instrumental really exposes Isaac Slade's voice which isn't that great in the first place especially when he sings in a deep/raspy voice. The poor singing continues in Never Say Never but the instrumental hides it better.
Never Say Never is another piece of regular pop-fare. I wouldn't be surprised if the chorus ended up on Grey's Anatomy - or some other TV show/movie targeting the same audience - with its repeated line “Don't let me go.” The guitar solo redeems the song's commercial pop sound. This track reminds me of Yellowcard's “City Of Devils.” The songs sound nothing alike yet I can't keep the connection out of my head.
Never Say Never Video
On Where The Story Ends, I couldn't even make out what Isaac was singing in the opening lines. It felt like he was mumbling instead of singing. It gets better after a couple of listens. The piano melody is nice and upbeat.
Enough For Now also has a nice piano melody albeit slower. It's a beautiful song, probably the best-written track of the album.
Ungodly Hour is sung by guitarist Joe King instead of Isaac. His voice is a lot “cleaner” than Isaac's and fits well with the quiet tone of this song. Again, the piano melody is quite good.
After three quiet piano-driven pieces, the presence of a synthesizer on We Build Then We Break feels out of place. It sounds like they wanted to go big and sound more edgy on this song, but it just doesn't fit with the rest of the album.
The album ends with Happiness, an acoustic guitar-driven song. This is the kind of song where you can't help but compare The Fray to Lifehouse and realize that they're just a cheap knockoff. The lyrics are okay, the melody is good, but I just kept wondering how Jason Wade's voice could lift this track up.
In the end, The Fray is a good album. However, when listening to it, there's that sense that you've heard it all before whether it's by Coldplay, Lifehouse, Yellowcard (especially the Lights And Sounds album); heck even one-hit wonder band The Calling had similar songs. It's a radio-friendly pop-rock record that doesn't try to go the extra-mile – they just stick to what they know. Hopefully, it's a just a stage in the band's maturation process. Right now, they sound like a cheap version of all the bands I've previously listed, but I can see something there, something very promising. My final verdict: 3.5/5
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Comment by Chuck H
Two Cents From Beantown
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