like ‘em a lot, especially albums 1 and 2, plus 4 is alright
RELISTEN1: can confirm that the first two albums absolutely slap, some of my favorite albums around. Super clean, consistent all the way through, really really good. None of the last three albums are nearly as good as the first two. They’re not bad, way better than I remembered, they’re pretty decent, but not even on the same level as FF and YCHISMB. All in all though good, and better than I was expecting- I thought those last three albums hurt the overall ranking a lot more than they actually do, I think listening to them again they don’t really hurt it much at all. Don’t help, but don’t hurt, to varying degrees. But yeah I think low A+ is a really good fit actually
RELISTEN2: the first two albums really are so good. They’re kinda the pinnacle of the genre, of the vibe, y’know? I won’t say there aren’t other things I like more, that I’m more partial to, because there are. But boy howdy is this pretty great. Everything else falls off pretty quick, though. Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is good, I don’t really have any complaints with it, but it’s just not anywhere close to their peak. Tonight is alright, though I feel it kinda loses focus halfway through. I’m not a fan of Always Ascending, it feels stilted and awkward to me. The Human Fear is pretty good, again no real complaints but nothing that stands out. That means I’m left with two albums at the beginning that I love a lot, followed by four albums that range from ‘pretty good’ to ‘eh’.
Nothing about Franz Ferdinand is bad, and I like the albums I like enough that I want to like them, but there’s just a lot of mid stuff in there, way too much for an A+. Part of that change may be in the inevitable shift of what A+ means to me, how I shift my goalposts over time. I know I do that, shift my goalposts. It would be foolish to assume I’m beyond that somehow. I can often (or so I like to believe) do a decent job of identifying in what ways that change happens, but not always, and it’s important I be aware of that and take it into account somehow. This isn’t just that, though. I think in this case, it has more to do that I’ve fallen enough out of love, so to speak, with the band and my attachment to what I liked about it, that I’m willing to let the parts I don’t like as much say their piece. And with them properly accounted for, I just can’t warrant the A+. I do still really like Franz Ferdinand though, so I think a mid A should be about right. For now, at least. It’s always for now
tunafruitsandwitch 