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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
On their full-length debut, Denver quartet the Fray don't exactly reinvent the wheel, but those looking for melodic, mid-tempo pop could do far worse. That said, the 12 songs on How To Save a Life are barely distinguishable from each other. If you like one, you'll probably like the rest (and you'll be in the company of thousands of other listeners.) If you don't like one, it's unlikely the others will change your mind. Formed in 2002, the band consists of Isaac Slade (vocals, piano), Joe King (guitar, vocals), Ben Wysocki (drums), and Dave Welsh (guitar). Since their formation, the Fray have elicited comparisons to British groups like Coldplay and Keane, and American ones like Counting Crows and the Wallflowers. They've also toured with Weezer and Ben Folds and had songs--like "Over My Head (Cable Car)"--featured on such popular programmes as Grey's Anatomy. Though they incorporate guitar, unlike Keane, Slade's expert piano playing is prominent on every track. To his credit, he can also hit the high notes just as gracefully as Coldplay's Chris Martin, but therein lies the rub: As with the band as a whole, Slade hasn't quite found his own voice yet. How To Save a Life is polished and professional, bland and inoffensive. It goes down easy, but evaporates into the ether just as quickly. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
CD Description
This Denver-based quartet mixes the sweeping, arena-ready feel of Coldplay with the sincere, radio-friendly folk-rock of bands like Counting Crows for a highly melodic brand of palatable pop. The Fray's first release, HOW TO SAVE A LIFE, is packed with songs that push all the right mass-appeal buttons: sumptuous piano, swaying mid-tempo rhythms, anthemic choruses, and alternately soaring and meandering melodies sung in a high, emotive voice. Bridging stadium rock, emo, and classic rock on the order of U2, the Fray makes an assured first statement on their debut.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this album purely on the basis of 'How to Save a Life', which was so powerfully used on an episode of Scrubs it made me cry. It was stuck in my head for ages, and I hoped that it would be released in the UK. Although it's now been played to death on the radio, I still love it, and can and have listened to it over and over again.
I bought the album just over a week ago and it hasn't left my car stereo since; it's perfect driving music, nice MOR pop rock, with intelligent lyrics and hand tapping rhythms (would be toe tapping but not a good idea in a car!).
The Fray are similar to bands like Semisonic and Snow Patrol, with a bit of Keane mixed in, so if you like them then give the album a try. There are a couple of duff tracks - Hundred and Vienna are so dull and dreary I always skip over them. In my opinion, the stand out tracks (apart from HTSAL) are Over My Head; an upbeat melodic pop/rock song, and Look After You, a flawless emotional rock ballad. In total, out of 13 songs, only 2 of them are no good, which compared to a lot of albums is pretty solid.
I bought the album just over a week ago and it hasn't left my car stereo since; it's perfect driving music, nice MOR pop rock, with intelligent lyrics and hand tapping rhythms (would be toe tapping but not a good idea in a car!).
The Fray are similar to bands like Semisonic and Snow Patrol, with a bit of Keane mixed in, so if you like them then give the album a try. There are a couple of duff tracks - Hundred and Vienna are so dull and dreary I always skip over them. In my opinion, the stand out tracks (apart from HTSAL) are Over My Head; an upbeat melodic pop/rock song, and Look After You, a flawless emotional rock ballad. In total, out of 13 songs, only 2 of them are no good, which compared to a lot of albums is pretty solid.
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I'm sure a lot of people will be tempted to buy this album by the recent success of How To Save A Life, and if you like that song, then this album will be more of the same, plus some other things.
The album opens with She Is, which is one of several songs that The Fray manage to produce, which on first listening appears not bad, and every subsequent listen makes it sound better and better, and it is an excellent opening to the album. The next song is Over My Head, the second single by The Fray to be released in the UK, and is another magnificent song, and extremely catchy.
The third song is How To Save A Life, and if you haven't heard it, in my opinion it is another magnificent song, and one that I would tip for the Song of 2007, despite it only being April.
The next two songs are All At Once and Fall Away, which are of the same sort of style as Over My Head, and, although they may feel a little repetitive, I still love them both, and Fall Away is, in my opinion, the best song on the album, and one that should definitely be released as a third single.
The style begins to change at this point. Heaven Forbid is a calmer song, with a more pop-music-style influence, and Look After You is similar, and equally catchy. Hundred opens with a piano solo, and turns into an almost balladic piece.
The last four songs in the album, Vienna, Dead Wrong, Little House and Trust Me, and these are fairly unremarkable, although they still fit in with the general feel of the album.
Overall, I believe that this is one of the best album releases of the year so far, with some of the best pop-rock songs I have heard for a long time. I would definitely recommend it to anybody who enjoys this genre of music, and if you enjoyed How To Save A Life, this album will almost certainly provide you with at least one more favourite to add to your collection. Certainly one to buy.
The album opens with She Is, which is one of several songs that The Fray manage to produce, which on first listening appears not bad, and every subsequent listen makes it sound better and better, and it is an excellent opening to the album. The next song is Over My Head, the second single by The Fray to be released in the UK, and is another magnificent song, and extremely catchy.
The third song is How To Save A Life, and if you haven't heard it, in my opinion it is another magnificent song, and one that I would tip for the Song of 2007, despite it only being April.
The next two songs are All At Once and Fall Away, which are of the same sort of style as Over My Head, and, although they may feel a little repetitive, I still love them both, and Fall Away is, in my opinion, the best song on the album, and one that should definitely be released as a third single.
The style begins to change at this point. Heaven Forbid is a calmer song, with a more pop-music-style influence, and Look After You is similar, and equally catchy. Hundred opens with a piano solo, and turns into an almost balladic piece.
The last four songs in the album, Vienna, Dead Wrong, Little House and Trust Me, and these are fairly unremarkable, although they still fit in with the general feel of the album.
Overall, I believe that this is one of the best album releases of the year so far, with some of the best pop-rock songs I have heard for a long time. I would definitely recommend it to anybody who enjoys this genre of music, and if you enjoyed How To Save A Life, this album will almost certainly provide you with at least one more favourite to add to your collection. Certainly one to buy.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this album after hearing 'How to save a life' used brilliantly on 'Scrubs' and I wasn't disappointed.
For the first 4-5 tracks I was thinking: "Wow, this is an amazing album," however, by the time the album finished I had stopped listening to it, all the tracks seemed to blend into one-another. It has some tracks of real quality in it such as 'She is', 'How to save a life', and 'All at once'.
I would recommend this album to most people, but beware that there is a possibilty that you may not always listen to every track, since you may get bored of the style after a while and want to change to something different.
If there was more variation in the style and tempo of the songs, then this would definately get 5 stars. As it is, it only merits a 4. Good, but not enough.
For the first 4-5 tracks I was thinking: "Wow, this is an amazing album," however, by the time the album finished I had stopped listening to it, all the tracks seemed to blend into one-another. It has some tracks of real quality in it such as 'She is', 'How to save a life', and 'All at once'.
I would recommend this album to most people, but beware that there is a possibilty that you may not always listen to every track, since you may get bored of the style after a while and want to change to something different.
If there was more variation in the style and tempo of the songs, then this would definately get 5 stars. As it is, it only merits a 4. Good, but not enough.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A brilliant song selection
The Fray have created an album that truly shows off their talent. With vocals similar to Lifehouse and a little less full on than Better Than Ezra, the bands rock feel is... Read more
Published 15 months ago by David Welham
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!
Only downloaded this album a couple of hours ago - bought the single version of How to Save a Life ages ago but only just got around to getting the album - its great - all of it! Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2009 by Harry Kerner
A Feel-good Album
When going through a patch of no sleep, I decided to watch 3 whole seasons of the NBC comedy "Scrubs". I was watching the episode `My Lunch' (Episode 5. Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2009 by M. Warwick
Good songs
There are lots of good tracks on here, not just 'How to save a life'. This band are good.
Published on 29 Jan 2009 by ZH
If it ain't broke, why fix it?
Yes, The Fray do sound very much like others of their genre but this isn't a bad thing if, like me, you're a fan of this sort of music anyway. Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2008 by Guitar Heroine
Meh.
A couple of interesting tracks on this album, the rest are all at varying degrees of tedium and repetition. Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2008 by C. ASHTON
How To Save A Life
On first listen I discounted this album, feeling it to be very samey the whole way through. But with repeated listening you really get a feel for the music on offer and realise... Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2008 by Spider Monkey
Phenomenal stuff even to this day
With the growing popularity of coldplay, the fray which seemed to come out of nowhere for me, blew me away. Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2008 by Owain
Buy it if you dont have it, get a spare if you do!
brilliant album, emotive, relaxing, amazing music. talented musicians, creating fabulous music, i can honestly say every song is amazing. Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2008 by SG
great cd
This is one of the best cd's that i have ever owned. I like all of the songs but they are still complately different so i would reccomend this cd to everyone that is looking for a... Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2008 by cpc
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