Its a shame that such a great album cover is let down by the CD itself. 4ft Fingers, the UK's most hard working Punk-Rock band had a lot to live up to since their last album was such a gem. Dont get me wrong, 4ft Fingers have produced some anthems on the album but 'A Cause For Concern' drags on and lacks what the other albums had.
Head Held High - Great expectation were expected after I heard this. A fantastic song, perfect choice to open the album.
Only Time WIll Tell - A soon as it starts I get the feeling I will be skipping this track from now on. Its not untill the verse and the catchy singing of Robert which makes me listen on. The chorus is predictable and nothing really stands out from now on.
Back On The Wagon...Again - Again the same format as every other 4ft Fingers song. Except the weird little sample at the begining. It is a winning format but you hear just one song on this album and you would of heard it all. The song itself is flawless. It is a standard melodic punk tune as we have come to expect of 4ft Fingers.
Unite Or Fall - The begining is promising. But as I listen eagerly im faced with the same format as usual. Another nice song with some excellent lyrics but nothing sticks out for me again.
Gone But Not Forgotten - I thought I was listening to Unite and fall again when it began. Slightly more harsh than the other songs on this album...until we hit the verse. It picks itself up again to a energetic chrorus with back up singing in the right places. Another standard song from the Fingers but good never the less.
Side by side - A good, different begining to this. Very pop-punk but hey...we all love it really. The pause before we go into the fast punk-rock beat is an excellent addition and this is by far one of the better songs on the album. Maybe its the fact the opening is slightly different is what makes it stand out. But...I like it anyway.
One For All And All For Me - Ah....pop-punk at its finest. Not much I can say about this track. Similar the most 4ft Fingers songs but there is something about it which makes it a bit better than the rest of this album.
Stand My Ground - The Fingers do something alittle different in the song. Nice drumming work at the begining and catchy bassline draws you in. The guitars explode in and you have one of the finest songs on the album. Again...yes again, nothing hugely different from the other songs but it sounds fresh and interesting and catchy as hell.
Irish Eyes - Normally I hate anything like this. Punk + Violins = ****. But it makes a fantastic break from the standard, same-as-always I ahve heard so far. A Different singer also gives the song its on character without stretching to far away from the 4ft Fingers sound.
Forty Years Of Misery - Defintley an anthem. This song will go down very well live. It did go down very well when I saw them. Its 4ft Fingers at their greatest. Fantastic structure and it is catchy beyond belief. I think it would of been better for this song to be earlier on in the album to keep listeners interested.
Hallow Words - A perfect time for a slow one. Well thats what it thought when this track started. Didnt stay slow for long but the whole song had a warm feeling to it. Even if it wasnt, it felt slower then the others and was a nice addition to the album.
A Life We Choose To Live - I always expect the last song on the album to really leave a mark on the band. This song however was again a great track just wasnt anything amazingly good. Same as usual...
Overall; This album felt alot longer than 45 minutes. If you like each song to have its own character then you will be dissapointed. With the exceptions of Head held High and 40 years of misery, A cause for concern is just your average Punk-Rock extravaganza. A Cause For Concern will not be ontop of your CD stack for long. If you are looking for the more harder sound of 4ft Fingers you will be wasting your money. But, alas the album itself is nothing bad. Each track is a catchy piece of art and many times better than anything the american pop-punkers are putting out today. To hear the real 4ft Fingers check out their debut album.
My score: 5/10 (but really the album is good but I expected something different. 8/10)
