Average Rating: 3.16 Rating Variance: 0.22 Objectivity Score: 83% (Well Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name3.5 greatFuneral for a Friend Casually Dressed & Deep in ConversationWelsh band Funeral For A Friend pull out all the stops for this emo-tinged post-hardcore debut. I'll be honest, after the first track I was thinking to myself "This isn't going to be good" - because a lot of South Wales hardcore bands have fallen into that trap of producing pedestrian albums that just adhere to the clichés of the latest fad genre (see: Bullet For My Valentine and Lostprophets). And after their excellent Four Ways To Scream Your Name EP, I would be terribly disappointed to see Funeral For A Friend follow the same route. Luckily before I had time to press stop 'Bullet Theory' exploded and I recognized the sound of the quintet at their finest, chugging riffs, hard drums, emotional lyrics and vocals that alternate between raw shouts and soft singing. Then the first single 'Juneau' hit with it's melodic riffs and excellent vocal work from Matt Davies and I knew at that point FFAF weren't just going to be a run-of-the-mill emo band. Sure, they may have the pretentious song-titles and the heartbreak-centered lyrics but Funeral For A Friend are in no way throwaway pop. Songs like 'Escape Artists Never Die' and 'Waking Up' are pure energetic slabs of punk rock that recall early The Get Up Kids material. The dramatics of 'Storytelling' and 'Red Is The New Black' are also welcome and, though sounding somewhat like a mix of Dashboard Confessional and Alexisonfire, they are undeniably powerful. There are a few tracks that don't really hold the same impact and could just as easily be B-Sides, and at times the band sound too similar to their American emo counterparts but, for a debut, it's certainly a solid effort.Panic! at the Disco A Fever You Can't Sweat Out2.5 averageMuse Black Holes & Revelations
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