The Fray -- Water on the Flame
America needs to turn its attention to the rock band, the Fray, without genuflecting or applying unfair criticism. A band that has been nominated for four grammys, won several Billboard Magazine awards and has charted three top ten hits should command respect and earn enough interest to justify a look into their music and lyrics.
What sets The Fray apart from other modern pop/rock bands is their strong and judicious use of piano. Also, their lyrics are on the more positive side, often revealing a point of view that shows pop culture has not completely slid into the abyss. Are the lyrics just a bunch of nonsense though? Not really. Sometimes the lyrics tell a story, sometimes about love or friendship and sometimes yes, it is difficult to tell. The nature of rock lyrics allows many bands to relate to us things verbally in ways that pose a barrier to complete understanding. Words are for effect instead of representation. That is acceptable poetry, though. The Fray's lyrics are mostly relevent and often emotional. They challenge the listener to comprehend life without using too many devices. Sometimes the method works magic and sometimes not.
Study for a while, the times, the mood, the lyrical and musical work -- the progress of a band from Denver, who took a world by surprise with the release of their first venture, How to Save a Life. The band is young and may not yet realize the precarious balance they will face with their mass appeal driving them forward. Their music never comes across as timid, but instead forges ahead with originality and strength. These three albums chronologically inform our greater appreciation for the world around us. We can elevate from the mundane and find a new musical talent worthy of attention.
How to Save a Life.
Their debut album will forever be known as the lynchpin of the Fray's career. Hits like "Over My Head" and "How to Save a Life" brought them quickly to the top and beyond what a debut band might expect to accomplish. In this album, one is introduced to a unique vocalist who can sing with decent range and even higher up with a convincing falsetto that is not the slightest bit overbearing at all.
The musicians are all competent and practice reserve when it is needed and go all out when it is not. Having an acoustic piano in a rock band would pose a challenge to any band. The compositions of the music delegate quite a bit of authority to the pianist. He is not playing a background instrument. He can fill the void with interesting flourishes, create some interplay with the other instruments -- mainly the guitar -- and help add depth to the excellent vocals.
Give up looking for a song on How to Save a Life that doesn't have a tempo change within it. In fact, these changes are so numerous it would be tedious to list them all. Because of these alternating rhythms, the band didn't have to worry about fatigue the listener would experience with too much of one given tempo. In the age of downloads, it is less relevent, though. But the rule would apply to those listening to traditional albums with the original sequence of songs.
A purposeful sluggish inflection is adopted by the lead singer. In the low parts of the stanzas there is gravel in his voice where his pitch is low and he gives voice to certain patterns more staccoto than drawn out syllables. All of this can be heard in the hits "Over My Head," "How to Save a Life" and other songs as well. The lead vocals take second place to no other part of the music. The band works around that focal point as the compositions prove throughout the album. Also, the singer purposefully warps the pronunciation of vowels and gives us all kinds of alternate sounds that make for interesting deciphering.
One might listen superficially and decide the band is too minimal in their approach or that the repetition so common in rock music subtracts from the experience in this case. But really, the frequent use of elements complimenting the vocals are only used sparingly. Studio tricks are kept to a minumum. Effects are employed briefly for purpose of variety, not something relied on, and that makes the music better. Take the guitar part in the song "Falling Away." Here the reverb comes and goes without warning and does not wear out its welcome. Again, in "Over My Head" we hear nice guitar strumming in the ending chorus. The band unloads during the chorus typically and plays in a reserved manner elsewhere as in the song "Heaven Forbid," a song with exceptional vocals, full of emotion and high energy. Also the song "Fall away" follows the pattern, both songs ending with interesting interplay between the guitar and piano -- again, only brief passages. Another example of these short musical parts is how the drummer ends the songs "How to Save a Life" and "Trust Me" with measured flair.
A contemplative song that is vital to the playlist in How to Save a Life is "Heaven Forbid." The vocals dominate the song but the musicians do get a turn to make waves before dissapating into a lovely end. This song and "Trust Me" are the two standout songs besides the hits. Both are sad. Some of their songs are fun, though. For instance, "Little House" is some weird hard rock and much fun as well. The song "Hundred" is also one-of-a-kind. It features nice piano parts and only vocals to accompany them. This is the part of the concert where the drummer and bass player go backstage and kill a beer.
The song "Over My Head" has lots of natural rhymes and a cadence that works well with the tempo and musical phrasings. The lyrical phrases are fresh and imaginative. Look at the passage early in the song: "That everyone I knew was waiting on a queue/ To turn and run when all I needed was the truth." Here is internal rhyming within a line as well as assonance at the end of lines. Lines like, "As you lose the argument in a cable car..." set us up for what the song turns out to be; a song about a dissolving relationship. It is one of the fastest tempo songs of this depth you could wish to find, frenzied in its meaning as in its musical parts.
The emotional turmoil of the lyrics reaches a higher level in the song "Heaven Forbid," mentioned beforehand. This slow tempo song crescendos at the choruses. Many times the writers reveal an intensity of emotion without giving away too much of what lies behind it. The lyrics, at one point, show to us "Heaven forbid you end up/ Alone and don't know why..." There are not as many turns of phrase in the song that challenge us to keep up as much as in the other songs, but its powerful lyrics are memorable.
The weak side of this debut is the repetition, mentioned already. The Fray does often have variations in their compositions, even for the vocals. The lyrics in "Dead Wrong" are not very audible. "Look After You" is a little monotonous at times. Still, I would not call their weaker songs filler on this first effort. At this point, it would be reasonable to presume they would make no better album than this one. It does not seem possible to top, but time has a way of taking assumptions and proving them wrong.
The Fray -- Self-Titled (second album).
This second Fray release differs from the first album in two different ways. First, their method of changing tempos within songs is not utilized much at all in the second album. To make matters worse, the album suffers real consequences due to the overabundance of mid-tempo songs -- the first seven cuts, for instance. This sophmoric mistake might have worked for the Ramones or AC/DC to get stuck on one tempo, but modern pop/rock has higher standards than punk or heavy metal and any producer should avoid what seems so obvious. The other difference between the albums is that the instruments are more integrated in the second and this improves it's production value.
Much of what was on the first album's menu is also on this second effort -- like the disciplined reserve of the musicians who rely on unusual elements only occasionally for short periods of time. Nothing compels them to get carried away with effects or solo exercises. The musicians are there to compliment the singer, whose voice only, dominates the music. The phrases are catchy, the lyrics fun to sing along with. All this helps minimize the tempo problem. The lyrical content must be considered because it is very good, especially when compared to most rock songs. Very often the songs are entertaining and tell a story, especially in the song "Enough for Now." How the writer touches our hearts goes without comparison among the genre of modern rock. The imagery may not always be fertile and they may not consult a dictionary of literary terms when they write, but they produce a quality product nonetheless. How the words are expressed exceeds expectation.
As always, there is nothing cliche about this band's music or lyrics. The standout songs include the first four and the best "Enough for Now," seventh on the playlist. The song features a synthesizer, an instrument the band uses sparingly. The other three, "Never Say Never," "Where the Story Ends" and "We Build then We Break" are not the better songs, though the last of these works best of them primarily because it is a fast tempo song. The falsetto on the song works better than on the others and the song has lots of crazy electronic sounds also.
What is best on this album includes the first four tracks, as mentioned. These are so finely integrated with phrasings and other bright spots that it sounds like a musical mosaic of alternating quiet, simple parts leading into walls of sound created by guitar and piano (which acts as a rhythm guitar in places). The musicians do not overindulge. Every song is tasteful, but does not have much of a blues content. That observation stands for virtually all Fray music. It is simply not bluesy much. Someone interested only in music based on blues like the Rolling Stones and the Black Crowes will be disappointed. The Fray vocals can be soulful though. Hear the backing harmony on "Absolute" and the same to a lesser degree in "Syndicate." The lead vocals, especially in the song "You Found Me" make the album worthwhile listening. Between this song's vocals and the lyrics to "Enough for Now" you have a virtual masterpiece.
The lyrics of "Say When" are also commendable. In this song more than any other, the singer engages in nicely delivered wordplay in the litany of the stanzas. The song boasts many internal rhymes and good lyrical rhythms. This love song will stick in your memory. It ends with a few bars of acoustic guitar and soft, lead vocals. The pattern is emblematic of many Fray songs because you see this vast, ironic contrast many times between a song and one of it's parts -- a juxtaposing element.
Much can be said about the production of this second album. Some parts seem a bit much like the guitar in the chorus of "You Found Me." It sounds as thickly treated as something Robin Guthrie would have come up with so the average person may not even realize he is listening to a guitar. The most outstanding guitar work appears in the song "Ungodly Hour," which is not even one of the Fray's better songs on the album.
The two songs with the highest production value are the first, "Syndicate," and "You Found Me." Some would say they are overproduced, though that term never really means much if you think about it. In the song "You Found Me" the singer sounds very non-chalante with his phrasings and fits the lyrical content to perfection. From the very first song, one notices how he draws out the length of syllables at the end of words and sounds rugged in parts.
The song "You Found Me" on this second album stands out from the rest. The imagination it took to write a song about God needing our help (instead of the other way around) presents a firm irony. The lines "Where the west was all but one/ All alone, smoking his last cigarette" are full of desperation. "The west" could refer to western civilization and God, down to his last smoke could demonstrate how much He has been neglected. Later in the song, God says: "You've got some kind of nerve taking all I want" relaying the immediate and concrete message. Within the song appears some stray words about losing a lover that are more auxillary than central. Were it not for that, the song would approach greatness.
The song "Enough for Now" takes on subject matter far different than most mainstream rock. The song tells a story, a sad story, of the writer's grandmother. The grandmother's father wanted a son badly when she was born and his disappointment was bitter to the extreme. Examine the lines "The century before you never could turn 21/ Years and years he waited, just watching for a son..." The first line indicates the difficulty of attaining respect in those times, while the last line reiterates the man's singular wish. He witholds affection from the daughter in this masterfully written tale.
The Fray's self-titled album has songs that are great and parts of the lesser quality songs stand out in places too. This album is not better than their debut release. As we will find out soon enough, it would be too soon to say their careers were headed down hill. Too soon, indeed.
Scars and Stories
The most recent Fray album, Scars and Stories, takes the band further toward a full-scale pop/rock sound. No band -- not U2, not the Rolling Stones has ever cut the perfect pop rock album. And it isn't that the listener's expectations are too high or that the public isn't willing to accept something truly great. There is a boundary no one may pass through that drives producers completely off their rockers. The Fray is at that boundary with the release of this album. Maybe they will stay there a while, who can say?
Some of the Fray's strengths can get out of hand quickly if not checked. Take for instance, the use of falsetto vocals, which has been an assett from the beginning of their careers. The first two songs on the album "Heartbeat" and "The Fighter" have some falsetto that is brief and blends well with the music. A song like "Be Still" has falsetto that draws attention to itself. If it is good falsetto like the singer does here, nothing presents a problem. If it is treated with processors like in the song "Munich" or is interwoven with normal sounding vocals like in "Rainy Zurich," it can actually add something vital to the song. But the falsetto on "Here We Are" and "Wind" are a bit much for the listener to handle. We see how other bands in the past have used falsetto to their advantage, like Collective Soul, and then embarass themselves with it elsewhere.
Another issue to be dealt with for the Fray in this album concerns overdoing it. Mainly, this means that the piano and guitar parts are relied on too heavily in the score. The sound is there to help elevate the mood and intensify the experience. More, however, is always not better. This issue builds up through the first six songs without warning, even though there are ample quiet parts in the songs. By the time the seventh song, "I Can Barely Say" comes along the listener is feeling the numbness.
This seventh song delivers the listener from the problem at hand with a beautiful orchestral accompaniment. The song has a slow tempo and is their first song with a full orchestra. It brings much needed balance to the album. On the previous album, the Fray was in danger of not changing tempo enough. On this latest release maybe the band wants to prove they can play loudly. Always it will be something that keeps a band lingering at that boundary. The Fray did resolve the issue of not enough tempo changes with this album. Not only that, they alter tempo within a work like in the song "The Fighter."
One vast improvement for the Fray is the guitarist finally plays longer, more complicated parts -- the kind he was always capable of doing. He works in tandem with the piano, weaving such melodic structures that are fully in line with pop/rock but a bit jazzy at times. This is most prominent in the song "1961," a nice up-tempo song with vocals front and center. The guitar has sliding leads and picks parts of chords up and down the scale -- still not bluesy and really not needing to be. He dominates in the single "Heartbeat" and plays jangly pop with the best of them in a fun song, "48 to Go." The piano is always good and this song features organ. Otherwise, the music follows the trend started with the previous album in terms of instrumentation and moves beyond to thrill us with some new elements in their newly crafted work.
Though the song is not laden with unusual lyrical phrases and lacks the energy found in their other work, the song "The Fighter" works wonders for them in this album. It plods along with repetitious guitar and treated bass as an allegorical love story unfolds. The stanzas tell the story in narrative form while the chorus serves to put meaning into a first person context. Two places in the song, the lines stand out. First in the last stanza "But somehow they both know/ He's not coming home." The fight is a metaphor for love and seems to be doomed. The hope offered, however, is the second example of good writing in the song. In the final chorus the lyrics vary from the first. The third line is altered, "But I got to try or it will destroy me." This line turns the "knowing" of failure into a question yet to be answered.
The very beautiful song "Rainy Zurich" also has great lyrical content. The writer makes use of strange imagery in the the last two lines of the first stanza: "And let the water fall on the flame/ It's not burning out." This could mean what it did in the first song "Heartbeat," in which we find the similar line, "You've got a fire and it's burning in the rain." He speaks of the unlikelihood of love, comparing it to countering the nature of science. The words add to the sensuality of a song that wraps us up with images of love and delight.
The stand-out songs on this album are "Heartbeat" and "The Fighter." The songwriter establishes his powers with language by writing these songs. Other stand-out songs include "Run for Your Life," "I Can Barely Say," and "Rainy Zurich," a song that may surpass anything else as far as some people will be concerned. The vocals of that work showcase the singer's talent more than any other song. It is a bit repetitious, but solid.
The band played "Heartbeat" live on Conan very smoothly. They probably are a good act to buy concert tickets for as well. After perusing through their work several times, it would be overconfidence to claim to do them justice. They look like a bunch of teenagers, though. It seems criminal to criticize them by the same standards of well-seasoned rockers, but The Fray can take the competition and do them one better. They need no special favor. They play positive songs that have nice lyrics, melody, harmony, rhythm and instrumental prowess -- especially the vocals. They are a well-rounded band that entertains without being mindless. They appeal to young people and older people who enjoy pop/rock as well. Each future release, I am sure, will be a joy.
America needs to turn its attention to the rock band, the Fray, without genuflecting or applying unfair criticism. A band that has been nominated for four grammys, won several Billboard Magazine awards and has charted three top ten hits should command respect and earn enough interest to justify a look into their music and lyrics.
What sets The Fray apart from other modern pop/rock bands is their strong and judicious use of piano. Also, their lyrics are on the more positive side, often revealing a point of view that shows pop culture has not completely slid into the abyss. Are the lyrics just a bunch of nonsense though? Not really. Sometimes the lyrics tell a story, sometimes about love or friendship and sometimes yes, it is difficult to tell. The nature of rock lyrics allows many bands to relate to us things verbally in ways that pose a barrier to complete understanding. Words are for effect instead of representation. That is acceptable poetry, though. The Fray's lyrics are mostly relevent and often emotional. They challenge the listener to comprehend life without using too many devices. Sometimes the method works magic and sometimes not.
Study for a while, the times, the mood, the lyrical and musical work -- the progress of a band from Denver, who took a world by surprise with the release of their first venture, How to Save a Life. The band is young and may not yet realize the precarious balance they will face with their mass appeal driving them forward. Their music never comes across as timid, but instead forges ahead with originality and strength. These three albums chronologically inform our greater appreciation for the world around us. We can elevate from the mundane and find a new musical talent worthy of attention.
How to Save a Life.
Their debut album will forever be known as the lynchpin of the Fray's career. Hits like "Over My Head" and "How to Save a Life" brought them quickly to the top and beyond what a debut band might expect to accomplish. In this album, one is introduced to a unique vocalist who can sing with decent range and even higher up with a convincing falsetto that is not the slightest bit overbearing at all.
The musicians are all competent and practice reserve when it is needed and go all out when it is not. Having an acoustic piano in a rock band would pose a challenge to any band. The compositions of the music delegate quite a bit of authority to the pianist. He is not playing a background instrument. He can fill the void with interesting flourishes, create some interplay with the other instruments -- mainly the guitar -- and help add depth to the excellent vocals.
Give up looking for a song on How to Save a Life that doesn't have a tempo change within it. In fact, these changes are so numerous it would be tedious to list them all. Because of these alternating rhythms, the band didn't have to worry about fatigue the listener would experience with too much of one given tempo. In the age of downloads, it is less relevent, though. But the rule would apply to those listening to traditional albums with the original sequence of songs.
A purposeful sluggish inflection is adopted by the lead singer. In the low parts of the stanzas there is gravel in his voice where his pitch is low and he gives voice to certain patterns more staccoto than drawn out syllables. All of this can be heard in the hits "Over My Head," "How to Save a Life" and other songs as well. The lead vocals take second place to no other part of the music. The band works around that focal point as the compositions prove throughout the album. Also, the singer purposefully warps the pronunciation of vowels and gives us all kinds of alternate sounds that make for interesting deciphering.
One might listen superficially and decide the band is too minimal in their approach or that the repetition so common in rock music subtracts from the experience in this case. But really, the frequent use of elements complimenting the vocals are only used sparingly. Studio tricks are kept to a minumum. Effects are employed briefly for purpose of variety, not something relied on, and that makes the music better. Take the guitar part in the song "Falling Away." Here the reverb comes and goes without warning and does not wear out its welcome. Again, in "Over My Head" we hear nice guitar strumming in the ending chorus. The band unloads during the chorus typically and plays in a reserved manner elsewhere as in the song "Heaven Forbid," a song with exceptional vocals, full of emotion and high energy. Also the song "Fall away" follows the pattern, both songs ending with interesting interplay between the guitar and piano -- again, only brief passages. Another example of these short musical parts is how the drummer ends the songs "How to Save a Life" and "Trust Me" with measured flair.
A contemplative song that is vital to the playlist in How to Save a Life is "Heaven Forbid." The vocals dominate the song but the musicians do get a turn to make waves before dissapating into a lovely end. This song and "Trust Me" are the two standout songs besides the hits. Both are sad. Some of their songs are fun, though. For instance, "Little House" is some weird hard rock and much fun as well. The song "Hundred" is also one-of-a-kind. It features nice piano parts and only vocals to accompany them. This is the part of the concert where the drummer and bass player go backstage and kill a beer.
The song "Over My Head" has lots of natural rhymes and a cadence that works well with the tempo and musical phrasings. The lyrical phrases are fresh and imaginative. Look at the passage early in the song: "That everyone I knew was waiting on a queue/ To turn and run when all I needed was the truth." Here is internal rhyming within a line as well as assonance at the end of lines. Lines like, "As you lose the argument in a cable car..." set us up for what the song turns out to be; a song about a dissolving relationship. It is one of the fastest tempo songs of this depth you could wish to find, frenzied in its meaning as in its musical parts.
The emotional turmoil of the lyrics reaches a higher level in the song "Heaven Forbid," mentioned beforehand. This slow tempo song crescendos at the choruses. Many times the writers reveal an intensity of emotion without giving away too much of what lies behind it. The lyrics, at one point, show to us "Heaven forbid you end up/ Alone and don't know why..." There are not as many turns of phrase in the song that challenge us to keep up as much as in the other songs, but its powerful lyrics are memorable.
The weak side of this debut is the repetition, mentioned already. The Fray does often have variations in their compositions, even for the vocals. The lyrics in "Dead Wrong" are not very audible. "Look After You" is a little monotonous at times. Still, I would not call their weaker songs filler on this first effort. At this point, it would be reasonable to presume they would make no better album than this one. It does not seem possible to top, but time has a way of taking assumptions and proving them wrong.
The Fray -- Self-Titled (second album).
This second Fray release differs from the first album in two different ways. First, their method of changing tempos within songs is not utilized much at all in the second album. To make matters worse, the album suffers real consequences due to the overabundance of mid-tempo songs -- the first seven cuts, for instance. This sophmoric mistake might have worked for the Ramones or AC/DC to get stuck on one tempo, but modern pop/rock has higher standards than punk or heavy metal and any producer should avoid what seems so obvious. The other difference between the albums is that the instruments are more integrated in the second and this improves it's production value.
Much of what was on the first album's menu is also on this second effort -- like the disciplined reserve of the musicians who rely on unusual elements only occasionally for short periods of time. Nothing compels them to get carried away with effects or solo exercises. The musicians are there to compliment the singer, whose voice only, dominates the music. The phrases are catchy, the lyrics fun to sing along with. All this helps minimize the tempo problem. The lyrical content must be considered because it is very good, especially when compared to most rock songs. Very often the songs are entertaining and tell a story, especially in the song "Enough for Now." How the writer touches our hearts goes without comparison among the genre of modern rock. The imagery may not always be fertile and they may not consult a dictionary of literary terms when they write, but they produce a quality product nonetheless. How the words are expressed exceeds expectation.
As always, there is nothing cliche about this band's music or lyrics. The standout songs include the first four and the best "Enough for Now," seventh on the playlist. The song features a synthesizer, an instrument the band uses sparingly. The other three, "Never Say Never," "Where the Story Ends" and "We Build then We Break" are not the better songs, though the last of these works best of them primarily because it is a fast tempo song. The falsetto on the song works better than on the others and the song has lots of crazy electronic sounds also.
What is best on this album includes the first four tracks, as mentioned. These are so finely integrated with phrasings and other bright spots that it sounds like a musical mosaic of alternating quiet, simple parts leading into walls of sound created by guitar and piano (which acts as a rhythm guitar in places). The musicians do not overindulge. Every song is tasteful, but does not have much of a blues content. That observation stands for virtually all Fray music. It is simply not bluesy much. Someone interested only in music based on blues like the Rolling Stones and the Black Crowes will be disappointed. The Fray vocals can be soulful though. Hear the backing harmony on "Absolute" and the same to a lesser degree in "Syndicate." The lead vocals, especially in the song "You Found Me" make the album worthwhile listening. Between this song's vocals and the lyrics to "Enough for Now" you have a virtual masterpiece.
The lyrics of "Say When" are also commendable. In this song more than any other, the singer engages in nicely delivered wordplay in the litany of the stanzas. The song boasts many internal rhymes and good lyrical rhythms. This love song will stick in your memory. It ends with a few bars of acoustic guitar and soft, lead vocals. The pattern is emblematic of many Fray songs because you see this vast, ironic contrast many times between a song and one of it's parts -- a juxtaposing element.
Much can be said about the production of this second album. Some parts seem a bit much like the guitar in the chorus of "You Found Me." It sounds as thickly treated as something Robin Guthrie would have come up with so the average person may not even realize he is listening to a guitar. The most outstanding guitar work appears in the song "Ungodly Hour," which is not even one of the Fray's better songs on the album.
The two songs with the highest production value are the first, "Syndicate," and "You Found Me." Some would say they are overproduced, though that term never really means much if you think about it. In the song "You Found Me" the singer sounds very non-chalante with his phrasings and fits the lyrical content to perfection. From the very first song, one notices how he draws out the length of syllables at the end of words and sounds rugged in parts.
The song "You Found Me" on this second album stands out from the rest. The imagination it took to write a song about God needing our help (instead of the other way around) presents a firm irony. The lines "Where the west was all but one/ All alone, smoking his last cigarette" are full of desperation. "The west" could refer to western civilization and God, down to his last smoke could demonstrate how much He has been neglected. Later in the song, God says: "You've got some kind of nerve taking all I want" relaying the immediate and concrete message. Within the song appears some stray words about losing a lover that are more auxillary than central. Were it not for that, the song would approach greatness.
The song "Enough for Now" takes on subject matter far different than most mainstream rock. The song tells a story, a sad story, of the writer's grandmother. The grandmother's father wanted a son badly when she was born and his disappointment was bitter to the extreme. Examine the lines "The century before you never could turn 21/ Years and years he waited, just watching for a son..." The first line indicates the difficulty of attaining respect in those times, while the last line reiterates the man's singular wish. He witholds affection from the daughter in this masterfully written tale.
The Fray's self-titled album has songs that are great and parts of the lesser quality songs stand out in places too. This album is not better than their debut release. As we will find out soon enough, it would be too soon to say their careers were headed down hill. Too soon, indeed.
Scars and Stories
The most recent Fray album, Scars and Stories, takes the band further toward a full-scale pop/rock sound. No band -- not U2, not the Rolling Stones has ever cut the perfect pop rock album. And it isn't that the listener's expectations are too high or that the public isn't willing to accept something truly great. There is a boundary no one may pass through that drives producers completely off their rockers. The Fray is at that boundary with the release of this album. Maybe they will stay there a while, who can say?
Some of the Fray's strengths can get out of hand quickly if not checked. Take for instance, the use of falsetto vocals, which has been an assett from the beginning of their careers. The first two songs on the album "Heartbeat" and "The Fighter" have some falsetto that is brief and blends well with the music. A song like "Be Still" has falsetto that draws attention to itself. If it is good falsetto like the singer does here, nothing presents a problem. If it is treated with processors like in the song "Munich" or is interwoven with normal sounding vocals like in "Rainy Zurich," it can actually add something vital to the song. But the falsetto on "Here We Are" and "Wind" are a bit much for the listener to handle. We see how other bands in the past have used falsetto to their advantage, like Collective Soul, and then embarass themselves with it elsewhere.
Another issue to be dealt with for the Fray in this album concerns overdoing it. Mainly, this means that the piano and guitar parts are relied on too heavily in the score. The sound is there to help elevate the mood and intensify the experience. More, however, is always not better. This issue builds up through the first six songs without warning, even though there are ample quiet parts in the songs. By the time the seventh song, "I Can Barely Say" comes along the listener is feeling the numbness.
This seventh song delivers the listener from the problem at hand with a beautiful orchestral accompaniment. The song has a slow tempo and is their first song with a full orchestra. It brings much needed balance to the album. On the previous album, the Fray was in danger of not changing tempo enough. On this latest release maybe the band wants to prove they can play loudly. Always it will be something that keeps a band lingering at that boundary. The Fray did resolve the issue of not enough tempo changes with this album. Not only that, they alter tempo within a work like in the song "The Fighter."
One vast improvement for the Fray is the guitarist finally plays longer, more complicated parts -- the kind he was always capable of doing. He works in tandem with the piano, weaving such melodic structures that are fully in line with pop/rock but a bit jazzy at times. This is most prominent in the song "1961," a nice up-tempo song with vocals front and center. The guitar has sliding leads and picks parts of chords up and down the scale -- still not bluesy and really not needing to be. He dominates in the single "Heartbeat" and plays jangly pop with the best of them in a fun song, "48 to Go." The piano is always good and this song features organ. Otherwise, the music follows the trend started with the previous album in terms of instrumentation and moves beyond to thrill us with some new elements in their newly crafted work.
Though the song is not laden with unusual lyrical phrases and lacks the energy found in their other work, the song "The Fighter" works wonders for them in this album. It plods along with repetitious guitar and treated bass as an allegorical love story unfolds. The stanzas tell the story in narrative form while the chorus serves to put meaning into a first person context. Two places in the song, the lines stand out. First in the last stanza "But somehow they both know/ He's not coming home." The fight is a metaphor for love and seems to be doomed. The hope offered, however, is the second example of good writing in the song. In the final chorus the lyrics vary from the first. The third line is altered, "But I got to try or it will destroy me." This line turns the "knowing" of failure into a question yet to be answered.
The very beautiful song "Rainy Zurich" also has great lyrical content. The writer makes use of strange imagery in the the last two lines of the first stanza: "And let the water fall on the flame/ It's not burning out." This could mean what it did in the first song "Heartbeat," in which we find the similar line, "You've got a fire and it's burning in the rain." He speaks of the unlikelihood of love, comparing it to countering the nature of science. The words add to the sensuality of a song that wraps us up with images of love and delight.
The stand-out songs on this album are "Heartbeat" and "The Fighter." The songwriter establishes his powers with language by writing these songs. Other stand-out songs include "Run for Your Life," "I Can Barely Say," and "Rainy Zurich," a song that may surpass anything else as far as some people will be concerned. The vocals of that work showcase the singer's talent more than any other song. It is a bit repetitious, but solid.
The band played "Heartbeat" live on Conan very smoothly. They probably are a good act to buy concert tickets for as well. After perusing through their work several times, it would be overconfidence to claim to do them justice. They look like a bunch of teenagers, though. It seems criminal to criticize them by the same standards of well-seasoned rockers, but The Fray can take the competition and do them one better. They need no special favor. They play positive songs that have nice lyrics, melody, harmony, rhythm and instrumental prowess -- especially the vocals. They are a well-rounded band that entertains without being mindless. They appeal to young people and older people who enjoy pop/rock as well. Each future release, I am sure, will be a joy.