FFS, Collaborations DO Work

Months ago I heard about Franz Ferdinand and Sparks (FFS) joining forces, and I was excited and worried. I wasn't surprised as I was aware that Franz were big fans of the brothers. However, when two of your favourite bands get together, it does create internal turmoil. Half of you cannot wait to hear what exceptional music they produce together, but the other half worries you've already built them up too much, and it could end up being a musical flop. Then they released a short video on YouTube called The Domino Effect, which was an excerpt of the song 'The Power Couple', with an amusing video. I was relieved.

It works because they are all clever and nerdy about music. It's odd that a 'young' indie band from Glasgow can create such sweet music with a keyboarding duo from LA, who have been around for 40+ years; but they have. What they have done, is improved upon each other's work. Franz Ferdinand have now lost their seriousness and have embraced satirical whimsy. The Sparks are now exploring with even more sounds. This is what they've produced.

Johnny Delusional: An obsessional love song about someone punching above their weight, something most people can emphasis with, which sounds a lot like how pop used to sound years ago. The music video is mind-bendingly interesting and funny, but that might be partly because I always enjoy looking at Ron. It is however, a perfect metaphor for their album, as you don't know what's coming next. 

Call Girl: This has Franz in its roots, but can't help but think it sounds similar to when Duran Duran reunited and made an album 9 years ago, with the electro, pop-rock showing through. Very clever lyrics, with the title insinuating its about a prostitute, but actually subverts that for another awkward love song. "Why won't you call, girl".

Dictator's Son: A very urgent song from Russell, which is very much a Sparks song, with its satirical lyrics. But improved upon with the vocals from Alex, giving it another interesting level, and the influence of drums.

Little Guy From The Suburbs: A stripped back song, with both singers donning deep voices, giving it a very different feel to the previous songs. It's creepy, and I think even a bit Bowie-esque. It's a nice opportunity to take a breath from the outlandishness. Very good acting in their voices, and you can feel your mood take a drop with them.

Police Encounters: A very art-pop song in sound, as usual from Franz, but laced with lyrics one could easily recognise as Sparks, about having sex with a policeman's wife. Lovely.

Save Me From Myself: Sparks through and through. It has the mix of keyboard sounds, and it tells a story in both the lyrics and the music. However, because of that, it perhaps gets a bit lost on the album. However, bravo to Alex for trying to keep up with Russell's voice as it travels up and down.

So Desu Ne: There are so many disco synths and other effects you almost imagine you're wearing florescent clothing. Probably not much Franz in this song, but I do like the lyrics “Check your blood pressure, Gonna eat your beans and eat your leisure”. It's catchy, it's different, and what more do you want?

The Man Without A Tan: The opening notes put me in mind of The Cure's Love Cats, and that feeling is echoed through the song. This is a great example of both their influences coming together; Sparks with their lyrics, and Franz with their instrument. There are a lot of elements, but they work together. There's rock, pop, 80's, and a few orchestral moments just to give it an artistic flourish.

Things I Won't Get: A lovely list of the things they want, but can't have, and it is a beautiful song that puts a smile on my face. It's just very innocent, where it's not overloaded with music, and you actually get a sense of what they're like. Plus, their harmonies are sweet.

The Power Couple: Those opening notes are the first any of us heard from the 'super group', and this is not how I thought the song would feel. I like the two singing at each other, and it sounds like two different things colliding together. It is a great song, with a hint of the two groups, and a touch of Nick Cave. I've also noted how it sounds like a song called 'A Gory Demise' from Creature Feature, mainly due to its rhythmic, regimental beat.

Collaborations Don't Work: This is the best song on the album. If you want a song that has the sounds of both groups in it, then this is it. It's a brilliantly clever song, with their two sounds warring against each other, with each singer taking swipes at the other. It's a very witty song in concept, musically and lyrically. It's an operetta. Lyrics such as "I don’t need your patronising, I don’t need your agonising" are lovely, if you know what I mean? However, they come together to prove that collaborations do work, and create a glorious union for the end of the song.

Piss Off: As a misanthrope, I always wanted a song like this. Coming after Collaborations Don't Work, it's almost as if they're telling people who didn't think this union would work, to piss off. It's a jolly song, were you can imagine everyone cheering the words 'Piss off!'. The lyrics are sophisticated and acerbic, and the music is top-notch; it's another example of how they have come together. Again, they're great at acting, and the anger gleams through their voices. I love singing along myself. It would be a great point end to the album, but I got the deluxe version, so then they have to come crawling back for an encore.

So Many Bridges: A song which sounds like the mental turmoil of an agonised person, but despite its repeated message, it's a catchy song, and it has got very good lyrics. I do very much like the jazz elements, which have again been mixed with a retro pop vibe. It does slightly put me in mind of Eurythmics, but I'm still not sure why.

King Of The Song: This is a song I could imagine on either a Sparks album or a Franz Ferdinand one, which signifies a job well done. Again, another song free of too many sounds, and a very good example of how to do a pop song well, but then made just that bit more fun.

Look At Me: I like the progression in this song, and I do love Alex's voice in it as well. It has satirical lyrics, where it is essentially begging someone to look at them, in a swipe at modern times. There is again a very 80's feel to this song, which goes well with the twang of the bass.

A Violent Death: I thought the fourth song was creepy, but it sounds quite delightful compared to this. The spoken words by Alex makes it sound like an excerpt from thriller movie, with a brilliant score behind it, featuring a nice mix of piano and keyboard. It makes you uneasy. It's unlike anything I've heard before, and I just love that.

It doesn't happen often, but you can tell listening to the album that they really had fun making it, which shines through. It's nice to listen to a collection of songs, and know that they focused more on enjoying themselves than anything else. It's unexpected and delightful, and you have no way of knowing what sound is coming next in the song, let alone what they next song will be like.

They should be very proud, and it's a shame that it has taken 10 years for this beautiful music to have been made, since the ideas conception. I would hope for more in the future, but I think that's unlikely. I will just continue to enjoy it, and I will treasure the album for many years.

Album Review: Slash - Slash

We're now half way through my all my album reviews (well, technically, half way is half way through this very blog), and I am trying my best to be as 'professional' with it as possible. However, I seem to have used the words 'deep', 'meaningful' and 'powerful' quite a lot; and this blog is no different and nor do expect it to change too much. It just helps prove that music reviews are not my forte.

The album is full of completely different songs which are all sung by different artists.

The only common factor in all the songs, surprisingly, is the man with the big black hat playing guitar, incredibly well, on every track. Infact, you can guarantee every song to have a guitar solo of some sorts; and why not – it is his self-titled debut album after all.

The first song is ‘Ghost’, which is sung by our English Ian Astbury from The Cult. He seems to have a good voice which really works with the song and also the heavy guitar music. It is a very interesting song with the range of this man’s voice, mixed with the range of instruments from, the distinctive drum beat to the powerful guitar solos. It’s a good first song which I rather like.

The next song on the album is the oddly named ‘Crucify The Dead’. Then you realise it’s sung by Ozzy Osbourne and then the song title finally makes sense. When it comes to Ozzy’s voice, I am a hard one to please. On occasions it can sound awful, but on others it can sound really good. This is one of those times. The song isn’t full on hard rock like I expected, and it is really good and, believe it or not, I believe the song to have some depth.

‘Beautiful Dangerous’ is sung by Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas. I have mixed opinions about her. I dislike her in Black Eyed Peas, but on her own, she is very pleasant. Her voice really is brilliant with the power she has to put into this rock song for it to work. I actually really love it, and I wish she would do more like this; she sounds great in the chorus when she really has the powerful voice; I bet she had a sore throat the next day though.

‘Back From Cali’ is sung (and written) by Myles Kennedy. This too is a great song, which is characteristic of what one was expecting from this album, with it being a typical powerful rock song. It has the loud powerful voice and the great guitaring, obviously.

The next song is one of my favourites, which is completely different to the previous track. This song is ‘Promise’ sung by Chris Cornell, who hit his popularity peak a few years ago. Anyway, this song has this uplifting feel which always lifts my mood. It is a powerful rock song, but yet it seems to have this deep emotion, and it is purely beautiful. It’s a song I can listen to over, and over again.

‘By The Sword’, with Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother (Yeah, I know rock music better than I thought) singing, is an okay song. Nothing which got me excited, but as a piece of music it is very good. The tune is really good and I like it, but I’m just not overly keen on the slightly whinny voice of Andrew if I’m honest.

Unsurprisingly, this next song is my favourite. ‘Gotten’ is sung by Adam Levine, and in case you don’t know, he is the lead singer in Maroon 5. It is a classic Maroon 5 song with its emotion and power. I am pleased that he has stuck to his normal voice, rather than try to emanate a classic rock voice. This is another song I can listen to over and over and over again, and I love it. I love its deep meaning, and I even love Slash’s solo. It’s nice to hear Adam’s voice without the rest of the Maroon 5 clang.

‘Doctor Alibi’ is sung by another English rock star Lemmy Kileister. I don’t like him really and I don’t particularly like his band Motorhead. I like hard rock music, but that is just over the limit for me. The song is okay but out of my own personal preference, I don’t like it that much. However, that doesn’t matter on an album like this though, with so much variety.

‘Watch This Dave’ isn’t sung by anyone. It is instead a jamming session between Slash, Duff McKagan on another guitar and Dave Grohl on the drums. If you can appreciate pieces of just music without any singing, and you like rock, then you can like this song. It is quite nice to just listen to their musical abilities. It’s a good song.

‘I Hold On’ is sung by Kid Rock; another rock singer I don’t always like. In this instance it is quite a nice song and I think it works particularly well, with it being toned down a bit and being of the slightly ‘emotional’ type. That is what makes the album so good, with its different ranges. It has a rather good, catchy beat which you will find yourself tapping the table to, while listening to it.

‘Nothing To Say’ is by M.Shadows (Wikipedia tells me he is in Avenged Sevenfold). His band’s music, I either like or loath as yet again it can be just over my limit, so I didn’t hold out high hopes. I don’t have any strong feelings for this song. It’s okay. If I comment on the guitaring in this song, I will be quick to say it is brilliant, but as for the singing, well I won’t be quite so quick to say that it’s brilliant. It is (or at least feeling like) a very long song…

Myles Kennedy returns to sing another song he’s written called ‘Starlight’; another song which I really like. I really like his voice on this song and with the guitaring of Slash, it surprisingly works well and I really quite like it. It seems to have this deep meaning and has quite a powerful impact. Myles is from a band called Alter Bridge (according to Wikipedia again), so I may have to listen to some of their stuff.

‘Saint Is A Sinner Too’ is sung by someone called Rocco DeLuca from a band called Rocco Deluca and the Burden (Thanks Wikipedia). I really like this song; it is rather beautiful and I really like his voice. It is a great song. You don’t hear a lot of Slash’s guitaring in it, but it still is a great song. Another band for me to research and listen too – I think I might quite like him.

The final song is a happily named ‘We’re All Gonna Die’, sung by ‘That Disgusting Man From The Annoying Insurance Adverts’ Iggy Pop. I quite like his music, so I was looking forward to this. It is a rather good song and I quite like it; even though Iggy does half through seem to do an Elvis impression. Not sure it is a great final song for the album, but that is just a technicality.

If you like rock music, you are sure to find songs which you like, but don’t expect to like every song due its range. As for Slash, despite the fact it is his album, he doesn’t impress anymore. If you like Slash, you know how good his guitaring is, but don’t expect to listen to the album, expecting him to push himself to the limit of his guitaring ability.