I have to admit I was freakin’ scared. As much I desired Franz Ferdinand’s new album, You Could Have it So Much Better… With Franz Ferdinand, to be a breakthrough for the ages I saw several signs that didn’t bode well for the boys from Glasgow.

First off I read an article a while back that had lead man, Alex Kapranos, quoted as saying the new album would be music for girls to cry to. This bit was almost news for me to cry to seeing that I neither wished to hear that type of music nor even see a bunch of girls crying. Unless perhaps they were incredibly attractive and consoling one another…

Anyways, later I found out from a friend that the new album was going to come with a DVD and all sorts of other fun stuff. This made me think that the music was so incredibly bad that the band had to cram as much free stuff into the deal as they could to try and distract the buyer from their wasted purchase.

So let me reiterate that as I began to listen to the new album I expected not only a worse album than the band’s eponymous debut, but a worse album than even Weezer’s Make Believe.

I’ve never been so happy to be completely wrong in my life.

Franz’s new album is one of the better Cds I’ve heard in 2005 and is, in my opinion, superior to their debut.

One thing that drove me nuts about Franz’s debut was that after the insanely awesome first three tracks the album hit a bit of lull for several songs that never really grabbed my attention. You Could Have it So Much Better fixes that problem and keeps up a relentless, energetic attack, with much less of the dark, brooding music found on their debut.

One great thing about the album in general is the riffs Franz has on every song. Nearly every song has one or even more riffs that many bands would be lucky to think up for their one hit wonder. Franz is like Frank Lloyd Wright at this point and seems to simply be shaking the riffs out of there sleeves. This plus can sometimes be a problem though, when the riffs on songs sound very similar, which happens all too often.

The album begins with, quite possibly, the best Franz song out there, The Fallen. I know what many of you are thinking, and yes I am implying that Fallen might be better than Franz’s claim to fame, Take Me Out. Whether it’s better or not is up for debate but there’s no denying that Fallen sets the tone for the rest of the album with its head banging rhythm and bouncing guitars. With the exception of three songs that I’ll get to later every song on this album has the pounding rock style of a song like Take Me Out. The Fallen simply is the one of the best songs in this style out there.

After Fallen’s excellence one has to assume that if the main single off the album follows it, it’s got to be ridiculously great. Unfortunately the single, Do You Want to, doesn’t met those expectations. It's definitely something you can dance to, which is apparently what the kids are looking for nowadays. If you hate having lyrics about as intellectually captivating as seventh grade poetry stuck in your head don't listen to this, or any of Franz's songs for that matter. Of course, if you're looking for an introspective view on society from Franz, you're looking for love in all the wrong places.


Walk Away is the first tangent Franz goes off on from the hard rocking, and surprisingly doesn’t harm the album at all. In fact the deviation makes the album all the more enjoyable. If the album was all head bangers there would be a mass brain damage epidemic across the world and the music would never again be listenable because it would be declared unsafe. Luckily the quieter, more hearfelt, Walk Away provides an acceptable transition between the children of Take me Out.

Two other songs that separate the pounders are Eleanor Put Your Boots On and Fade Together. The former will be described as Beatle-esque by essentially every music critic on the planet, but their really is no better way to describe it. If the Beatles came to power today you have to think that a song like Eleanor would be exactly what they’d come up with. They'd do it much better than Franz does, but it's nice to see Franz try this style. It really is a bit of shock to hear Alex singing in such a melodic sincere tone after becoming accustomed to his lower rocking voice. Fade Together incorporates a piano and acoustic guitar leaving Alex’s vocals to shine again. Of course that assumes his vocals do shine and in reality they don't.

These last three songs I’ve discussed really show Franz’s growth towards mastery of all things rock and roll. I think we all knew Franz could pound out some catchy chord progression but I was somewhat skeptical of their ability to write an Eleanor. The first album had slow songs but they all seemed to be dreary and depressing and these soft songs are closer to being as catchy as the harder rockers.

Well That Was Easy and I’m Your Villain amplify Franz’s ability to change pace and tone of a song, mid song. Franz uses this technique early and often on this album and is the sole most important quality the album possesses over the average album. Right when you think a song is about to get monotonous and dull the song hits a new style that, if nothing else, leaves you excited.

Overall I’d say Franz is showing a step in the right direction with this album. It's not the best album of the year, but compared to their prior work, this promises a bright future.

Song Rankings

$= Great Song worth your money
Download(essentially steal)= Good song
Skip= Average filler
Garbage= Terrible Track

1. Fallen- $
2. Do You Want to- $
3. This Boy- Skip
4. Walk Away- Skip
5. Evil and a Heathen- Skip
6. You’re the Reason I’m Leaving- Download
7. Eleanor Put Your Boots on- Download
8. Well That Was Easy- Download
9. What You Meant- Download
10. I’m Your Villain- $
11. You Could Have it So Much Better- $
12. Fade Together- Skip
13. Outsiders- Skip


My Best Albums of 2005

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Exercising