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Franz Ferdinand
You Could Have It So Much Better

This is something of a revelation. I’ve not had it that long and it has shot up my list. I never bothered buying Franz Ferdinand’s debut, though I really enjoyed the copy I got hold of. It was good, but for me, way overrated. Certainly it didn’t make this list, although ‘Take Me Out’ was an absolutely brilliant single.

You Could Have It So Much Better is, er, so much better (sorry). A much more consistent and (importantly) varied offering than the debut, this is the sound of a band who now knows what’s what. No messing around, no frills, just 13 great tracks of pop splendour that puts most of the competition to shame. Incredibly tight sounding, this band have toured their Scottish butts off since the last album and you can hear it.

There are a number of slower, more reflective songs here (‘Walk Away’, love song ‘Eleanor Put Those Boots Back On’ and the Lou Reed like ‘Fade Together’ being examples), and this makes for a much more balanced collection. Yet, there are still some kick ass tracks (like the title track and the brilliant ‘Evil And A Heathen’). True, no individual track is quite up to the standard of ‘Take Me Out’, but the album is much stronger and mature overall, so who cares. Plus, ‘Do You Want Too’ is so infectious it hurts: it got so stuck in my head that it forced me into buying the album almost against my will. Good job, cause it’s been well worth the money. I have listened to it almost solidly since I bought it, much to my surprise.

Having said all this, I still think that Franz Ferdinand are seen by some as something more special than they are. This is a brilliant pop rock album, it really is, but Franz Ferdinand are not in my eyes the saviours of British music, nor the innovative geniuses that many make out. I do now see that they have the potential to be those things. But they’re not there yet. Either You Could Have It So Much Better will be their finest hour, and a pretty darn great one it would be, or they will do as they did last time, and continue to grow. If they improve again, then maybe we can talk about true greatness. Let’s hope there is more to come...