Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is the third album by Scottish rock group Franz Ferdinand. It was released through Domino Records on 26 January 2009 in the UK. "Ulysses" was released on the 19 January 2009 as the first single - NME.com and is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. It is a concept album loosely based around a night of partying and the morning effects after. The album has generally been well received by music critics.

Production

Recording history

Although having written about eight songs while on tour in 2005, Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy decided to write new tunes because they wanted the album to be "...quite new, to be quite different sounding from everything we've ever done before." Despite having recorded their second album in a blitz, Kapranos stressed that the band wanted to take their time. He voices, "This time we wanted to spend more time developing, and also, I suppose, allowing songs and sounds to evolve more before we ended up writing an album, and absorbing more music and ideas and, I suppose, life itself. And when I say life, I mean life off the road, because I wouldn't classify life on the road as real life." Franz Ferdinand began working on their third studio album in early 2007. Franz Ferdinand was supposed to record the album with producer Brian Higgins, yet in March 2008, the two entities parted ways. The drummer, Paul Thomson, says "We wrote with Higgins for a while and initially we thought we'd work more with him but it didn't really work out. We just realized that we're not really a pop group." However, they also commented they have not given up on the pop concept. Some songs of the album were written and recorded in the old town hall of Govan, Scotland. The band first moved in, following a year of touring in support of their second album and mostly used it for storing and rehearsing.

Musical style

The album has reportedly been inspired by the "heavy dub sound of Jamaican reggae stars." Alex Kapranos also stated the album has a "streak of electronica" but is still a mix of influences. He also commented it has "..the heavy bass and space echo you would find on a dub mix." In a Rolling Stone interview, Kapranos stated the album is more of a dance than a rock record. In an interview with Billboard.com, Kapranos said "It's the opposite of punk/pop, which took something that was wonderful and removed all the dirt." He also said the band is using Russian Polyvox synthesizers. The album has somewhat of an African influence according to an XFM article in which Alex reeled, "We're one of these bands that are always gonna sound the same no matter what we do, but there are other influences there. I guess the drums are a little different, Paul has been listening to a lot of African stuff so that's gonna come through." The song "No You Girls" uses a human skeleton for percussion. - The Guardian, 10 October 2008 (The song referred to in this article as "Kiss Me", an abbreviation of "Katherine Kiss Me", later became known as "No You Girls") "Tonight is more of a concept album that explores the highs and lows associated with an evening of debauchery. This album covers all its bases from the initial excitement of the early evening to the numbness of the morning after", writes one reviewer.

Cover art and album title

The artwork for the album is a photograph taken by Søren Solkær Starbird just after midnight behind the Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow. Talking to NME, drummer Paul Thomson said, "We wanted to get a Weegee vibe – that famous New York crime scene photographer from the '40s and '50s." Subsequently, it is part of a series where the band are taking photos with photographers in different cities they end up in. On the band's blog, they mention the series of photos as 'imaginary crime scenes, invaded by the photographer', and 'a slice of night frozen by flash'.

It was announced on 20 September 2008 that they had finished work on the album but still had no title for it. On 7 October 2008, reporter Michael Hogan from Vanity Fair interviewed Alex and Paul, who confirmed the title of their third album to be Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, with NME reporting the album's amended title and release date a week later.

Release

In August 2008, Franz Ferdinand released "Lucid Dreams" through iTunes and made it available for listen on their official website. It is also featured on the Madden NFL 09 soundtrack. The band, however, stated on their website that "Lucid Dreams" was not a single. The track on the album differs from this version.

"Ulysses" was chosen to be the first single and was released 19 January 2009. The song received first airplay at BBC Radio 1 on 17 November 2008. It was made available on the iTunes Store in North America on 2 December, and in the UK on 18 January 2009.

"No You Girls" was released as a single on April 6. - Domino Records website The song is currently being used in a commercial for the iPod Touch.

A live version of "What She Came For" was released as a free download on the NME Music website's Franz Ferdinand page on 18 December 2008. On January 9, "No You Girls" was released on iTunes. On January 13, it was released as a free download on MySpace Music. On January 22, "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand" was made available for streaming through the band's official MySpace Music profile.

It was announced via the bands website on May 20 that 'Cant Stop Feeling' would be the next single and would be released on July 6.

Blood bonus disc

:For the separate worldwide release in June 2009, see Blood (Franz Ferdinand album).

For its release on January 26, the album is available as a box set which includes the whole album on six 7-inch vinyl singles and as a 2 disc limited edition. These special editions are only available in Europe and include a bonus disc called Blood which contains dub versions of the tracks from the album.

Reception

Critical reception

Tonight received generally good reviews with a total score of 70 on Metacritic with 32 reviews. It did not receive the amount of critical acclaim their first album received. Clash magazine commented that it could be "the band's most complete work to date. Worth the wait, and in all honesty better than we could ever have hoped for." The Financial Post states that "Tonight is the band's best album: Paradoxically, they've allowed themselves a degree of release from their characteristic tension by creating structures within which they can cut loose." The Telegraph commented on how Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is a melody-packed re-affirmation of everything that has made the band so popular hitherto, but with a highly contemporary-sounding, keyboard-driven edge. The Trades stated that "this is an evolutionary step for the band rather than a revolutionary one. Smart and danceable, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand proves that Franz Ferdinand are the masters of dance-rock." NBC commented on how 'Franz Ferdinand has once again managed to outdo themselves with their best album to date.'

Uncut's and The Guardian's reviews were less enthusiastic. Uncut commented that the album sounds dry and superficial, and the songs are too similar to each other and other Franz Ferdinand songs. The Guardian stated that "if Franz's songwriting is broader than it was, it is still no deeper" and that "they'll keep trying to move your hips because they know they'll never win your heart." This was echoed by the review in the Daily Mail, which described the album as "a sterile, unwelcoming affair that fails to pack the band's usual punch." Paste Magazine was similarly severe, stating that the vocals are "leering", the production "horrific", and that the lyrics "seem to lack both heart and brain" and conclude by writing that "the layoff suggests that Franz is either too confused or too lazy to move forward".

Commercial reception

The album debuted at number two on the UK Album Chart, as well as number nine on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., selling about 31,000 copies in its first week of release.Hasty, Katie and Keith Caulfield. . billboard.com. February 4, 2009. The album, however, suffered a fifty-place decline on the Billboard 200 from #9 to #59 in its second week on the chart.

Singles

*"Lucid Dreams"

**Released: August, 2008

*"Ulysses"

**Released: 19 January 2009

*"No You Girls"

**Released: 6 April 2009

*"Can't Stop Feeling"

**Released: 6 July 2009

*"What She Came For"

**Released 31 August 2009

Personnel

*Producer: Franz Ferdinand, Dan Carey

*Mastering: John Dent

*Engineer: Paul Savage, Alexis Smith, Dan Carey, Allen Johnston (technical assistance)

*Mixing: Dan Carey (tracks 4, 7, 8, 10 to 12), Mike Fraser (tracks 1 to 3, 5, 6, 9, 10), Eric Mosher (assistant to Fraser)

*Artwork: Matthew Cooper, Franz Ferdinand (booklet), Rachel Graham (booklet), Søren Solkær Starbird (front cover)

*Personal assistant: Jeremiah Olvera

Chart peak positions

Notes

References

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Artist/Band Information

Franz Ferdinand is a rock band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos (lead vocals and guitar), Bob Hardy (bass guitar), Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing vocals) and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals).

The band first experienced chart success when their second single "Take Me Out" reached #3 in the UK Charts, followed by their debut album Franz Ferdinand which debuted on the UK album chart at #3. The band went on to win the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two BRIT Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act. NME named Franz Ferdinand as their Album of the Year. From the album, three top-ten singles were released, "Take Me Out", "The Dark of the Matinée" and "This Fire". The band has also received several Grammy Award nominations.

The band chose their name after watching the racehorse Archduke Ferdinand win the 2001 Northumberland Plate, rather than as a reference to the Austrian Archduke of the same name, whose assassination was a major factor in the outbreak of World War I.

History

Formation and early years: 2002–2003

The members of Franz Ferdinand played in various bands during the 1990s including The Karelia, Yummy Fur, 10p Invaders and Embryo. Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson played together in Yummy Fur and subsequently teamed up to write songs. Around the same time, Kapranos taught his friend Bob Hardy how to play bass after buying a bass guitar from a friend. Kapranos met co-guitarist Nick McCarthy, who had returned to Scotland after studying jazz bass in Germany, in 2001. Franz Ferdinand's long time sound engineer is Michael Parker.

In May 2003, the band signed to Laurence Bell's independent record label Domino Records. The band had recorded an EP which they intended to release themselves; however, it was instead released by Domino as Darts of Pleasure in the latter part of 2003. The cover art was designed by Thomson. It reached #43 in the UK chart. The band won the "Phillip Hall Radar Award" at the NME Awards of 2004, announced in November 2003.

Franz Ferdinand: 2004

Ff04.jpgthumbleftThe Band performing in 2004.

The band moved to Gula Studios in Malmö, Sweden with Cardigans producer Tore Johansson to record their debut album. In January 2004 the single "Take Me Out" () reached #3 in the UK charts. The album, Franz Ferdinand, was released in early 2004, debuting at #3 in the UK Albums Chart in February 2004 and at #12 in the Australian album charts in April 2004. The album only reached the lowest levels of the Billboard 200 album charts in the US as of early 2004, but reached the top 5 of the indie rock chart and the Heatseeker chart for debut artists. After a couple of North American tours and heavy rotation of the "Take Me Out" video on MTV, the album eventually reached #32 on the Billboard 200 later in 2004 and sold over a million copies in the United States. Franz Ferdinand received a generally strong positive response from critics. NME rated with 9 out of 10 and said that the band was the latest in the line of art school rock bands featuring Duran Duran, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Roxy Music, the Sex Pistols, Wire, Travis and Blur.

On 7 September 2004 the album was awarded the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. "Take Me Out" gained first place in the Australian Triple J Hottest 100 for 2004, winning more than twice the votes of the second-place entry, with This Fire and The Dark of the Matinee entering at #24 and #50 respectively. Franz Ferdinand proceeded to win an Ivor Novello Award in 2004 and two BRIT Awards in 2005. The avant-garde music video for "Take Me Out" earned them a Breakthrough Video MTV Award. NME named Franz Ferdinand the best album of 2004, and also placed it 38th on their 100 Best Albums of All Time list. The band performed at the Grammy Awards of 2005 where they performed "Take Me Out" as a live medley with Los Lonely Boys, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas and Gwen Stefani. "Take Me Out" was also featured on the video game NHL 2005, and the breakthrough game Guitar Hero. The album has sold around 3.6 million copies worldwide.

You Could Have It So Much Better: 2005–2006

Rosfranx.jpgthumbFranz Ferdinand at the Roskilde Festival in 2006.

The band spent much of 2005 in the studio in Scotland working on their follow-up album, You Could Have It So Much Better, which was released on 3 October 2005. The band initially intended to leave the album self-titled like their debut,McLean, Craig. "Ferdinand: No Bull". Spin. September 2005. but they changed it to You Could Have It So Much Better...With Franz Ferdinand before settling on the final title.Spitz, Marc. "Franz Ferdinand". Spin. November 2005. The album's cover design was modelled on Alexander Rodchenko's 1924 portrait of Lilya Brik. The band attempted to broaden its musical range on the album; Hardy said, "There's more to life than disco-beat guitar music". After the critical acclaim of their debut, reviews of the new album were more polarised, with some complaints that the recording was rushed. However, it was generally well-received in the press and seen as an album equal to, or better than, their first by most critics. It entered the UK Album Charts at Number 1 and the US charts at Number 8.

On the tour that followed the album release, Franz Ferdinand broke the record for the longest run at the Alexandra Palace, North London, by playing four sold out nights in November–December 2005. To support the album, four singles were released. Included in that set is a double A-side single that contained a video-clip only single as well (both the AA-side "L. Wells" and the video-clip "Jeremy Fraser" are not featured on the album, recorded in early 2006 during the band's tour of Australia in support of the album). Also included is another video-clip-only single called "Wine In the Afternoon" which is the B-side to "Eleanor Put Your Boots On", and was also not featured on the album, but recorded on tour in Michigan. "Do You Want To" made it to number 4 and was declared by Q to be the greatest single of 2005, while "Walk Away" and "The Fallen" / "L. Wells" entered the top 15 of the UK Singles Chart. The fourth and final single from the second album, "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" peaked at number 30.

Tonight: Franz Ferdinand: 2007–present

FranzFerdinand4.jpgthumbleftThe band in 2008.

FF2009.jpgthumbrightFranz Ferdinand performing in 2009

On 26 January 2009, the band released their third studio album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, which they had been recording in Glasgow since the summer of 2007. Alex Kapranos has stated that "The last record was...like a teenager having sex. This one's a bit more assured and a bit friendlier for the dance floor."

Tonight was mixed by Canadian Mix Engineer Mike Fraser The song "Ulysses" was chosen to be the first single and was released on 19 January 2009. It was first played by Zane Lowe on 17 November 2008. Shortly afterwards it hit YouTube. – YouTube It did not see that much success in the UK Top 40, reaching only #20, but it fared better in Spain and Japan where it reached #2 and #3 respectively. It also entered the Top 20 of the US Modern Rock Chart. The album, Tonight was released 26 January, 2009 and debuted at #2 in the UK Album Chart and #9 in the U.S. Billboard 200. The second single, No You Girls saw success both in the charts and on the radio prior to release, eventually reaching #7 on the US Modern Rock Chart and was performed by Franz Ferdinand on Comic Relief 2009 Top of The Pops special. "Can't Stop Feeling" was released on the 6th July as the 3rd single from the album and on the 28th August, "What She Came For" was released as the 4th single in the form of a remix single. The band performed What She Came For on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on Wednesday, the 26th of August, 2009.http

The band appeared on Radio 1's live lounge performing their second single No You Girls, and did a cover of Britney Spears' comeback single Womanizer. In February 2009, Glastonbury Festival announced Franz Ferdinand as the first major band playing at that year's festival.http The band also unveiled a 19-date tour of the USA during the spring, in support of the new album. The tour included a set at the Coachella Festival. The band were also one of the main stage acts performing at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swindon in May. On 6 May 2009, it was announced that Franz Ferdinand would be the 3rd opening act for the Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown World Tour. They played from 8–26 August 2009. They followed Kaiser Chiefs and The Bravery.

On 1 June 2009, the band released Blood, a compilation album that includes dub music versions of songs from Tonight: Franz Ferdinand.http The release has been timed to coincide with Record Store Day.

In February, the band announced they had started to work on a new album.http The release date is currently unknown. Kapranos stated that the band promised themselves they would also focus on not over-publicizing their progress as he felt that's something he regretted about their previous album.

Collaborations and covers

Franz Ferdinand covered the LCD Soundsystem song "All My Friends" which appeared as a B-side on the single, and is also working on an album of Sparks covers, collaborating with the group on the recordings. They have also covered "Sexy Boy" by Air and "It Won't Be Long" by The Beatles, Pulp's popular single "Mis-Shapes", Gwen Stefani's top 5 hit "What You Waiting For?", and Blondie's "Call Me". Recently covered the Britney Spears song "Womanizer" and David Bowie's song "Sound and Vision", featuring Girls Aloud on backing vocals, for a compilation disc marking the 40th anniversary of BBC Radio One along with other leading artists. Additionally, Franz Ferdinand recorded a cover of The Fire Engines' song "Get Up and Use Me". In return, the Fire Engines recorded a cover of "Jacqueline". The band also took a similar approach with Dutch band De Kift, covering the song "Heisa-Ho" whilst De Kift recorded a cover of "Love And Destroy" with Dutch lyrics. The cover by De Kift is named "Liefde En Puin" which is the title "Love And Destroy" translated into Dutch. The band has had remixes by electronic artists Daft Punk, Hot Chip, Justice, and Erol Alkan.

Kapranos announced that on 22 April 2008 he would begin collaborating with an unknown Canadian artist, as well as implying that the band was working with Xenomania on the new album, as Alex is a fan of their work with Girls Aloud. The band also performed, played, and recorded with Jane Birkin, covering the Serge Gainsbourg song "Sorry Angel" for the 2005 album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited. In addition, Franz re-recorded the track "Brown Onions" for David Shrigley's compilation album Worried Noodles. The band kept instrumentation identical but used lyrics written by Shrigley which include the consistent repetition of the word "No" and occasionally "No brains, no teeth, no legs, no eyes...". Hot Chip, a band who are reported to be a favourite of Franz Ferdinand, also performed their own version of "No" on the same album.

The band 'met' Gorillaz in December 2005, and interviewed each other for a feature in Observer Music Monthly.

On 11 October 2008 at Diesel's Rock and Roll Circus, the band performed with rapper T.I on his hit "Live Your Life".

At the 2009 NME Awards ceremony they performed a cover of Blondie's "Call Me" with Elly Jackson of La Roux on guest vocals.

When Franz appeared on Radio 1's Live Lounge on April 6 2009 to promote No You Girls they covered Womanizer by Britney Spears. For their version they added in the interlude from 2004 B-Side "Shopping For Blood".

They have also collaborated with Marion Cotillard for the 2010 Lady Dior campaign. The band wrote the lyrics and plays the music for the song "The Eyes of Mars", while the actress is on vocals. Kapranos noted that it was refreshing working with her as she had a lot of fun going and retrying the song time and time again.

In 2010 Franz Ferdinand contributed to the "Alice in Wonderland" soundtrack with their adaption of the song "The Lobster Quadrille".

Name

Franz ferdinand.jpgthumb130pxrightThe Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria inspired the band's name

The name of the band was originally inspired by a racehorse called Archduke Ferdinand. After seeing the horse win the Northumberland Plate in 2001, the band began to discuss Archduke Franz Ferdinand and thought it would be a good band name because of the alliteration of the name and the implications of the Archduke's death (his assassination was a significant factor in the lead up to World War I).

"Mainly we just liked the way it sounded," says Bob. "We liked the alliteration." "He was an incredible figure as well," continues Alex. "His life, or at least the ending of it, was the catalyst for the complete transformation of the world ... he was a pivot for history. But I don't want to over-intellectualize the name thing. Basically a name should just sound good ... like music." Paul has a more cynical notion. "I like the idea that, if we become popular, maybe the words Franz Ferdinand will make people think of the band instead of the historical figure."

The song "Take Me Out", on the band's first album, was the second single to be released by the band. The single release of "Take Me Out" came with the B-side, "All for You, Sophia", based on the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, whose name was Sophie, not Sophia. The band chose the name Sophia rather than Sophie to give the song a better ring. The song mentions the assassin Gavrilo Princip, the Black Hand, the location of the Apple Quay and "Urban" (Franz Urban), the name often mistakenly given to Leopold Lojka, the driver of the car.

In addition to this, in 2004 the band played a number of "secret" gigs under the pseudonym "The Black Hands", alluding to the secret society that was held responsible for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

Art

The band is notable for its use of Russian avant-garde imagery in album and single covers. Examples include: "You Could Have It So Much Better", which references a 1924 portrait of Lilya Brik by Alexander Rodchenko; "Take Me Out", which references One-Sixth Part of the World, also by Alexander Rodchenko; "This Fire" which references Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge by El Lissitzky; and "Michael", with single art based on A Proun by Lissitzky. The song "Love and Destroy" was inspired by the scene of disorder made by Margarita, a character of Michael Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita", in the apartment of the literature critic Latunzky.

Also, in "Outsiders", the lyrics "In seventeen years will you still be Camille, Lee Miller, Gala or whatever" are a reference to the lovers of the artists Auguste Rodin, Man Ray and Salvador Dalí.

Videos

Many of the videos to promote the band's singles take inspiration from Russian avant-garde much like their LP & CD sleeves.

The avant-garde music video for "Take Me Out", directed by Jonas Odell, was inspired by Dadaism (especially Max Ernst's Une Semaine de Bonté), Busby Berkeley choreographies and Russian constructivist design. XFM staff writer Alex Kapranos explained the many and varied influences behind the 1930s-style promo for second single "Take Me Out": "It's kind of two dimensional iheren a three dimensional style if that makes any sense. It's a montage of images; ourselves, pictures and things taken from other places and put together in a strange, abstract way. That's what gives the video that strange, jerky, style". The video for "This Fire" is similar to "Take Me Out" in style.

The lyrics of "Do You Want To" make reference to parties at the "trendy" Glasgow art gallery Transmission and the video includes a variety of the work of contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft, along with a reference to Pink Floyd in the mix.

Discography

* Franz Ferdinand (2004)

* You Could Have It So Much Better (2005)

* Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (2009)

Awards and honours

In July 2009 "Take Me Out" was voted number 100 in Triple J Hottest 100 of all time

Music samples

Notes

References

*Hiatt, Brian (2005). Rolling Stone (accessed 16 June 2006)

*Rebbecca Nicholson(2 Nov 2007). (accessed 30 November 2008)

*Josh Lovseth (Feb, 2007). (accessed 22 March 2008)