Franz Ferdinand (album)

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Franz Ferdinand
Studio album by Franz Ferdinand
Released 9 February 2004
Recorded 2003
Genre Post-punk revival, indie rock
Length 38:49 (single disc)
54:35 (double disc)
Label Domino Records
Producer Franz Ferdinand, Tore Johansson
Professional reviews
Franz Ferdinand chronology
Franz Ferdinand
(2004)		 You Could Have It So Much Better
(2005)
Singles from Franz Ferdinand
  1. "Darts of Pleasure"
    Released: September 8, 2003
  2. "Take Me Out"
    Released: January 12, 2004
  3. "The Dark of the Matinée"
    Released: April 19, 2004
  4. "Michael"
    Released: August 16, 2004
  5. "This Fire"
    Released: November 12, 2004

Franz Ferdinand is the debut album by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand, released in early 2004. It entered the United Kingdom album charts at number three in February 2004 and contains three UK top ten singles: "Take Me Out", "This Fire" (on the download chart) and "The Dark of the Matinée" (often referred to simply as "Matinée"). Franz Ferdinand won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. The album has since sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide.

This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.

Contents

[edit] Chart performance

The album entered the UK album charts at #3 in February 2004 and at #12 on the Australian ARIA album charts in April 2004. The album entered the Billboard 200 album charts on April 26, 2004, and climbed slowly, peaking at #32 in December 2004. It reached #1 on the Heatseeker chart for new acts. As of September 2004, there have been five different singles released from the album:

  • The "Darts of Pleasure" EP reached the top 50 of the UK singles charts in September 2003.
  • "Take Me Out" reached #3 on the UK charts, #8 on the Irish charts and #?? in a composite European chart.
  • "The Dark of the Matinée" or "Matinée" reached #8 of the UK singles charts and top 30 of the World Modern Rock Charts (a composite chart of United States, German, UK, Swedish, Finnish, Canadian and Australian modern rock charts).
  • "Michael" reached #17 on the UK singles charts in August 2004.
  • "This Fire" only first played by KROQ in September 2004.
  • "Take Me Out" was voted #1 in the national Australian music poll, the Triple J Hottest 100 (2004) and "This Fire" and "The Dark of the Matinée" were placed at #29 and #50, respectively.

[edit] Reception

Franz Ferdinand received universal critical acclaim. The NME said that the band was the latest in the line of art school rock bands featuring The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Duran Duran, Roxy Music, the Sex Pistols, Wire and Blur. It rated the album as 9 out of 10 and said: "This album is the latest and most intoxicating example of the wonderful pushing its way up between the ugly slabs of Pop Idol, nu metal and Britons aping American bands. What these blossoming bands have in common is the absolute conviction that rock 'n' roll is more than a career option."

The BBC's review of the album said: "At only 38 minutes long Franz Ferdinand may not be a particularly long album, but it is a masterpiece of funky, punky, suave cool from the first track to the last." Allmusic rated the album as four out of five stars and said: "Franz Ferdinand ends up being rewarding in different ways than the band's previous work was, but it's apparent that they're still one of the more exciting groups to come out of the garage-rock / post-punk revival."

The album received an extremely positive 87 rating on Metacritic[1] putting it among the top 100 albums rated by the site.

Franz Ferdinand was placed at No.2 by Planet Sound in their Best Albums of 2004 list.

The album is noted in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Clash [2] placed "Franz Ferdinand" at No.14 in its list of the top albums from 2004-9.

Online music magazine Pitchfork placed Franz Ferdinand at number 101 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.[1]

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and composed by Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy except tracks 1 and 4 by Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy and Bob Hardy.

Lead vocals by Alex Kapranos, except where noted. 

# Title Length
1. "Jacqueline"   3:49
2. "Tell Her Tonight" (lead vocals performed by Nick McCarthy (verses) and Alex Kapranos (chorus, bridge)) 2:17
3. "Take Me Out"   3:57
4. "The Dark of the Matinée"   4:03
5. "Auf Achse"   4:19
6. "Cheating on You"   2:36
7. "This Fire"   4:14
8. "Darts of Pleasure"   2:59
9. "Michael"   3:21
10. "Come on Home"   3:46
11. "40'"   3:24
38:49

[edit] Limited edition digipak with live bonus disc

The limited edition first release in the UK came in gatefold digipak with a bonus disc containing all tracks recorded live at The Paradiso in Amsterdam:

# Title Length
1. "Cheating on You"    
2. "Jacqueline"    
3. "Tell Her Tonight"    
4. "Shopping for Blood"    
5. "Take Me Out"    
6. "Love & Destroy"    
7. "Truck Stop"    
8. "This Fire"    
9. "Michael"    
10. "Darts of Pleasure"    

[edit] Limited edition bonus disc

In the United States, a limited edition album was released later in 2004, containing the normal album disc (coloured white), with the tracks listed above, but also came with an extra disc (coloured black), containing the re-recorded version of "This Fire" titled "This Fffire" and four B-sides. The tracks "Van Tango" and "Shopping for Blood" were B-sides to "Darts of Pleasure", while "All for You, Sophia" and "Words So Leisured" were B-sides to "Take Me Out".

# Title Writer(s) Length
1. "This Fffire"   Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy 3:32
2. "Van Tango"   Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy 3:26
3. "Shopping for Blood"   Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy, Paul Thomson 3:34
4. "All for You, Sophia"   Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy, Bob Hardy 3:00
5. "Words So Leisured"   Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy 2:18

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom 9 February 2004 Domino Records 12" WIGLP136
CD WIGCD136
CD 2 WIGCD136X
United States 9 March 2004 Domino Records 12" DN027
CD E92441
CD 2 EK93630
Japan 2 June 2004 Sony Japan CD EICP 370

[edit] Album singles

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pitchfork staff (September 28, 2009). "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200-151". Pitchfork. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7707-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-150-101/5/. Retrieved October 1, 2009. 
v • d • e
Franz Ferdinand
Alex Kapranos · Robert Hardy · Nicholas McCarthy · Paul Thomson
Studio albums
Singles
Compilations
Blood (Remixes)
Other releases
Production
Related articles
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