Funeral For A Friend - 'Into Oblivion (Reunion)'
Rock controversy alert! Where previous FFAF releases dealt out equal handfuls of twiddle-riffery and yelping (newbies are directed to 'She Drove Me To Daytime Television' as a good example), this is a definite step away from the safety of metalworld and towards...what's the word?...classic rock?...tunefulness? No! Daytime radio play! That's it.
Sorry, that was a bit of a cheap shot. But something has clearly changed in the land of FFAF (you've got to love a band whose name abbreviates to a word like 'faff', right?), and there are going to be fans (or FFANS) who would rather their band had left the anthemic pop rock to Lostprophets.
Luckily, for extra objectivity, I prepared carefully for this review by not really getting that attached to Funeral's old sound at any point since the band first put plectrum to string. So there's no feeling of abandonment, and I can really settle down and appreciate the song on its own merits. Or the lack thereof. Here goes...
Well, it's not a bad song, dead catchy and that. Nice big meaty sound...all sort of widescreen and huge. They do that thing you have to do in anthemic pop rock songs where all the guitars pretty much drop out for the verses, so it's just the singer, the bass player and the drums, with just the odd muffled fret-cough on top, then when the chorus kicks in, everything sounds extra LOUD! and EXCITING!
And they've also got the great big singalong chorus you have to have in anthemic pop rock songs. The festival crowds HAVE to have a great big singalong chorus, or they just won't know where they are. Admittedly, getting a field full of people to wave their arms and sing "I've stared into oblivion" is kind of strange when you come to think about it. But chances are that if you're one of the people there on the day, you'll be too busy punching the air to worry about it overmuch. Anyway you can't really be too harsh, not when the band are trying so hard to get people to like them (people who don't normally like them, that is).
PS: Don't you think the first 5 seconds or so - before the drums kick in - sound like the news jingle on some regional radio station? Just me then...
Download: Out now
CD Released: May 7th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
It grows on you I guess.. My problem is that the chorus is way too repetitive and lyrically anyway pretty boring. A chorus is no excuse to get all lazy.
I like the last minute and a half though.
I suppose it's ok but it ain't the best song in the world.
this is not the ffaf i know and love :S but im not saying the rest of the album isnt going 2 b gd, kerrang mag rate it very highly. and this song does grow on you, but it doesnt seem to have that old zap. and its like theyv gone kinda soft, if theyr going for a softer but stand out song they already have one of them in history...and what a cracker of tune that is! i havnt seen the vid yet so i will watch it tomorrow and maybe comment again, but at the moment im trying to come to terms with what just happened in the champions league :'(
Kat is right, this song defo grows on you. i think i know whats missing to make the zap though. on the bus on the way to college/school/sixth form (watever you want 2 call it) today, i was listening to recovery from their album hours. its the guitars. the vocals dont have charge of that song, its run by the amazing sounds comming from those instruments! now that IS 'ROCKIN'', unlike a certain song featured on another blog. as i listen to that 'excellent' (the word used loosely) song by my federation or whatever drunken name has been thought up now, i think you should listen to recovery, tis amazing! then you might know what i mean..look, iv even gone to the trouble of finding it on youtube myself so you dont have to look it up, how nice of me :)
enjoy
Aye you're right Kerri. Even if they just brought it up a few notches for the chorus. It's not nearly loud and exciting enough. Recovery is just better though.
And I hate to mention this but My Federation's song will probably grow on you too if you hear it too much.. I was very prepared to laugh it off at first but then I made the mistake of giving it a second listen.. and a third..
[See, my little chickabiddies, Daddy ChartBlog is never wrong. Apart from all them times when he is, natch.. - Fraser]
Daddy ChartBlog? Creepy.
Tell you what.. tell me what other song this song is reminding me of because I can't figure it out and it's driving me mad!! Then you can be declared music genius for the day!
[Is it 'A Moment Like This' by Michelle McManus? It is, isn't it? ;-) - Fraser]
i dont think it will grow on me, indie music is just one type of music i despise. what IS so great about that song anyway? is it staring me in the face and im just blined by my hatred for that music so i dont see it? mcr, ffaf, madina lake (could u do a blog on them?) etc any day thanks
Well, it's just a bit different, isnit. So many bands sound exactly like so many other bands, you can get (possibly over)excited just by hearing something lively and fun-sounding. Plus the synth twiddles and big harmonies and shouting are great in headphones for bombing down the road to. Or to be kind of grown-up about it, it's just a taste thing. I like it, you don't. Never mind! - Fraser]
Try again genius :P
[is it 'People=S***' by Slipknot? - Fraser]
@ the My Federation song.. I blame the sun. It makes me (and most people) like silly music. I'm sure of this!!
everyone has to have different music tastes or it would be boring, and this site would be pointless
Kat - oh great, its the sun to blame for bad music (well people liking bad music but its supply and demand isnt it) and with the ozone layer getting thinner as depletion exceeds production of O3 so more UV rays gets through and the world gets hotter thanks to global warming does that mean theres gonna be even more bad music around? theres graphs showing a clear pattern between CO2 levels and increasing global surface temps, and CFC production and O3 depletion so maybe some one should plot one for the rapidly increasing number of indie bands against either ozone depletion or increasing temps then?! it would actually be quite interesting to see the results, dont you think?
I said *silly* music lol not *bad* music! As in the happy, chirpy stuff that would normally just irritate people. The sun makes it okay. Properly bad music is just going to be bad.
its probs just down to taste but from my experience silly music (as in the as you put it happy, chirpy stuff) = bad music
some people would class the crazy frog as silly music, i for one would definately class it as bad! i know thats an extreme example and im not trying to say you like the crazy frog, im sure you agree thats a bad song, though not everyone (being the small minority i hope) would.
i suppose its just me, i have this thing that for music to be music it has to have a meaning, as in for it to stand for something. for me personally i just dont understand where that fits in with indie music, eg same jeans...does anyone care your too lazy to get changed?! i thought not. there maybe be exceptions i know but im being general.
i get what you mean i suppose though, in the summer you can listen to the overly happy stuff whereas if you had to listen to it all winter long locked inside then it would drive you mad!
great song i love it!!!! it will never get old!!
iv just got and listened to the album....tis good, very good in fact. there are better songs than this song, put it that way. but its still not the old ffaf. ohwell, theyr touring in november (i couldnt go to this one cus of my geo exam grrr) so hopefully the album shall grow on me even more and ill have a good time (if i get a ticket). the thing that i found out a bit ago bout ffaf that really annoyed me is that they hate touring. tickets are expensive for people my age and to find out that you pay good money to see someone whod rather be someone else, who isnt giving it theyr all or enjoying it as much as the crowd didnt impress me. and if theyr not enjoying it thatll effect the crowd to. so for that meh to them! (soz i had to get that rant off my chest)
It's a fair rant though. I can understand why bands might not like touring, it's usually a pretty tough schedule.. Most of them seem to love playing for fans though, and even among those who don't really like touring a lot of them still make an effort to make it a good gig. Others just seem to go through the motions which is just pathetic regardless of how tiring touring may be.
ffaf cant complain, theyre only really big in the uk as far was i know so the greatest expectation is here and here alone. mcr had one complete amercian leg, then the european leg where they were just as enthusiastic as if it was their 1st gig. that also meant gerard spending his 30 birthday touring and mikey getting married backstage (in vegas). only 4 days after the euro leg finished they were back in the usa doing the second leg there and as soon as that is over theyr off to canada. and even though they recently got food poisoning as soon as possible they were back on he road as well as finding time to vist war veterans and the like. if anyone has the right to complain its bands that show this type of dedication not just when theyr hidden away in recording studio.
aye, people are all different though!
Can someone explain to me how to work the itunes library?! Because I can't figure the thing out.. :S
in other words some people are lazy and cant be bothered to give summat back to their fans with all their effort that their fans made and continue to make to help them get where they are today and who grant their future
No in other words some people find it really hard to leave home for long periods of time.. and some people are lazy.. and some people get really nervous in front of crowds.. and some people can't play live.. and some people tire easier than others.. and so on.
I think that people who really don't want to tour and aren't going to make an effort just shouldn't. It means their fans waste money if they do. They should just rely on their records for their careers but that might not work and I doubt record companies like it. Regardless, I think if a band is playing a gig they should always do their best to make sure it's great.. even if that means a less hectic schedule or whatever.
i know youre right, i know its cus matt has recently got married and is happy with routine and family life but im just annoyed that i might end up spending my money which could be better spent if theyre gonna give a half hearted performance. this album isnt as good as the last one either, maybe they should have quit whilst they were ahead if theyd rather be somewhere else. it just really ticked me off when i was reading the interview.....the fans do their bit and its not fair if they dont return the favour by giving an enjoyabe perfomance, for them and us. and its not like the tickets come cheap! we spend our money and expect for the band to deliver their upmost.