Franz Ferdinand (album)

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Franz Ferdinand
Studio album by Franz Ferdinand
Released	9 February 2004
Recorded	2003
Genre	Post-punk, indie rock
Length	38:45 (single disc) 54:35 (double disc)
Label	Domino Records
Producer	Franz Ferdinand, Tore Johansson
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Alternative Press (10/10) link The Guardian link NME (9/10) link Pitchfork Media (9.1/10) link Robert Christgau link Rolling Stone link Uncut (10/10) link
Franz Ferdinand chronology
Franz Ferdinand (2004) You Could Have It So Much Better (2005)
Singles from Franz Ferdinand
"Darts of Pleasure" Released: September 8, 2003 "Take Me Out" Released: January 12, 2004 "The Dark of the Matinée" Released: April 19, 2004 "Michael" Released: August 16, 2004 "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" or "Matinée". Franz Ferdinand won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. The album has since sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide. The album is notable as one of the very few modern albums that are not compressed to the max in participation of the loudness war.^{[citation needed]}

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

Contents 1 Chart performance 2 Reception 3 Track listing 3.1 Limited edition digipak with live bonus disc 3.2 Limited edition bonus disc 4 Personnel 5 Release history 6 Album singles

[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 #2 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 the top 5 of the UK charts, top 10 of the Irish charts and top 40 in a composite European chart.
• "The Dark of the Matinée" or "Matinée" reached the top 10 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 the top 20 of 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." The All Music Guide 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.

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

[edit] Track listing

Lead vocals by Alex Kapranos, except where noted. All songs written by Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy except where noted.

1. "Jacqueline" (Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy, Bob Hardy) – 3:49
2. "Tell Her Tonight" – 2:17
   • Lead vocals performed by Nick McCarthy.
3. "Take Me Out" – 3:57
4. "The Dark of the Matinée" (Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy, Bob Hardy) – 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

[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 a live performance at The Paradiso in Amsterdam:

1. "Cheating on You" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)
2. "Better on Holiday" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)
3. "Tell Her Tonight" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)
4. "Shopping for Blood" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)
5. "Take Me Out" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)
6. "Love & Destroy" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)
7. "Truck Stop" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)
8. "This Fire" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)
9. "Michael" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)
10. "Darts of Pleasure" (Live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam)

[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".

1. "This Fffire" – 3:32
2. "Van Tango" – 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" – 2:18

[edit] Personnel

• Alex Kapranos – lead guitar, lead vocals
• Nick McCarthy – rhythm guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Bob Hardy – bass guitar
• Paul Thomson – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Andy Knowles (touring only) – drums, keyboards, guitar

[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

• "Darts of Pleasure"
  • Released: November 18, 2003 (US), September 8, 2003 (UK)
  • Chart positions:
    • #44 (UK)
• "Take Me Out"
  • Released: January 12, 2004
  • Chart positions:
    • #3 (UK)
    • #7 (Canada)
    • #66 (US)
    • #3 (US Modern Rock)
    • #42 (Hot Digital Songs)
    • #6 (Brazil Hot 100)
• "The Dark of the Matinée"
  • Released: April 19, 2004
  • Chart positions:
    • #8 (UK)
• "Michael"
  • Released: August 16, 2004
  • Chart positions:
    • #14 (UK)
• "This Fire"
  • Released: November 12, 2004
  • Chart positions:
    • #8 (UK Downloads Chart)
    • #17 (US Modern Rock)

v • d • e Franz Ferdinand Alex Kapranos · Robert Hardy · Nicholas McCarthy · Paul Thomson Studio albums Franz Ferdinand · You Could Have It So Much Better · Upcoming third album Singles "Darts of Pleasure" · "Take Me Out" · "The Dark of the Matinée" · "Michael" · "This Fire" · "Do You Want To" · "Walk Away" · "The Fallen / L. Wells" · "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" Other releases Darts of Pleasure (EP)  · Franz Ferdinand (DVD) Production Rich Costey · Tore Johansson Related articles Discography · Domino Records · Sound Bites: Eating on Tour with Franz Ferdinand · The Karelia · Yummy Fur