Red Is The New Black (Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation - Funeral For A Friend)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation - Funeral For A Friend
Date:	29/01/08 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A decent album showcasing some fantastic Emotional Hardcore music.

Disadvantages: Not as strong as their earlier releases.

Funeral For A Friend are a quintet from South Wales and provide their own take on intelligent, Emotional Hardcore. The songs are well structured, with everything carefully thought through, and all elements of their music fitting together with absolute perfection, from the clear, undistorted vocals right down to the clean guitars and drum beats. Their sound is well produced and this is no major surprise considering the fact that they are signed to Warner. The 'Casually Dressed and Deep In Conversation' album is an intensely emotional affair with the band really putting their heart in to it, but at the same time it also has a great power to it with the vocals coming firing through at times with intense vigour. They are an Emotional Hardcore band but have a hell of a lot of bite about their music and with this album the band are really pushing this fact forward.

Stand out tracks for me from this album re the extremely carefully chosen singles of 'She Drove Me To Daytime Television' and 'Juneau.' These tunes are the perfect example of the sorts of tracks that you want to be releasing as singles when you are on a major label - they have the fire power to attract the Rock audience but at the same time have the pop sensibilities to attract a more mainstream, single buying public. I am actually quite a fan of both of these singles, everything about them just seems to work and they are outstanding tracks that can easily be listened to over and over again. Obviously the two singles that were released from this album are not the only highlights, and elsewhere tracks such 'Bullet Theory' and 'Red Is The New Black' also impress hugely so. The power that is present in the music of Funeral For a Friend truly is pleasing to hear, and every time I put their 'Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation' album in the player I am heavily impressed with what I hear.

Funeral For a Friend's 'Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation' is an excellent album and although it is now over four years old, it is still a great album to listen to and still contains many tracks which appeal to me greatly. Funeral For a Friend are no longer a favourite of mine now as they were some years ago, however some of the tracks present on this album still raise a smile or two without fail. I find it hard to dislike the music of Funeral For a Friend as I was a fan of theirs in the early days before they were even signed to a major label, days when their music was more 'Hardcore' than 'Post-Hardcore' and in my opinion their sound was a lot better for it. Although I was more a fan of their earlier sound than what is present in this album, I can still appreciate greatly the transition that the band have made from performing to an audience of few to selling out headline tours on a regular basis. 'Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation' is a great album for all those interested and should definitely be listened to if you're at all a fan of Emotional Hardcore music.



Label: Warner Music
Release Date: 13th October 2003


Originally posted by me on my website Alt-UK.com
Source: http://www.alt-uk.com/modules.php?name=Reviews

Summary: Although this album is not as heavy as their previous releases were, it's still well worth a listen.