Turn It On. (Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand)

Member Name: FlickeringEmber

Product:	Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Date:	30/01/09 (171 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's Franz Ferdinand; they're back!

Disadvantages: Some people don't like the new sound.

This new album, long awaited after a long absence from actively pursuing the music scene by Franz Ferdinand. It's more mature and experimental, and although it has been slated by some people, I feel that this is because these people had typecast FF as jaunty-whimsical one trick ponies, capable only of releasing music along the lines of their first two albums, and because this is different, it shocked and disappointed these people, who perhaps did not give it a fair listen for this reason. I listened to it objectively, although with anticipation, as a fan of FF since the beginning. I have gone into a few stand-out tracks below in further detail. There are no songs I would skip over on this album though, and I recommend it, although I'd recommend you get the 2 disc special edition; I wish I had!!

Ulysses opens the album with a very different sound compared to what we're used to from Franz Ferdinand. It's got elements of classic FF with the chorus, but the overall instrumental sounds like something you'd hear in a chic bar; slow with a steady, defined beat.

Twilight Omens is another slow track, but with more instrumentals to pad out the steady overall rhythm than we had heard on Ulysses. Much as before, it's classic FF with a more mature twist. There are some silly and amusing lyrics here, which reminds us it IS definitely FF; the references to puerile activities involving a calculator certainly made me smile.

No You Girls is a very cool and a livelier track than the first two and sounds more like FF of old than what we've heard from this album so far. The guitar mid-section really, really went right back to early FF and I loved it.

Live Alone is the most catchy track so far, very remeniscent of early FF with a funky bassline and easy to sing-along-to vocals with a very commercially viable sound (possible future single release?) and an electronic addition. Certainly a personal favourite track.

Lucid Dreams is the most out-there, different from the usual FF track on this album, with some warping and distortion on certain parts of the instrumentals but still sounding coherent, accessible and appealing to fans of the band.

Summary: Classic FF with a twist.