TheCoatman
New Member
Just misses the benchmark.
For me the standard for alternative folk music was set by 'Sleep Is For The Week' with it's intensely personal writing and under-produced feel that spoke of a relatable artist who had the same problems the rest of us have; unfortunately none of the follow up albums have managed to live up to that mark.
Don't get me wrong though, I do like this album - I just feel that the initial standard was set so high that each album after 'Sleep Is For The Week' will inevitably be compared to it and will face a collossal challenge to live up to it. However, on it's own, this album more than stands up as 'good' - I Am Disappeared is the flagship song in the album's musical armada; this is my favourite on the album - it being the first song I listened to and the reason I listened to the rest of the album.
Along with I Am Disappeared, I also think that If Ever I Stray, Redemption and One Foot Before The Other are really very good songs; there are some songs on the album I'm not too sure about - I Still Believe and Glory Hallelujah, but two songs out of twelve that I don't like at all isn't really bad going, especially as I never usually like every song on an album. Besides, after the utter attrocity that was Poetry For The Deed this album is veritable perfection. . .
So basically I like the album well enough - all the themes that make Frank Turner such an appealing artist (to me anyway) are there, it's just unfortunate that it has such a high standard to be compared to. I'm sure many people would say something like it's a brilliant album that combines the intense personality of 'Sleep Is For The Week' with a level of maturity and understanding of the music industry that is to be expected from a thirty year old artist. . . the trouble is that I never liked Frank because of his maturity. . .