YOU COULD HAVE IT SO MUCH BETTER. (Franz Ferdinand)

A SECOND ALBUM WITH MORE THAN ONE ATTITUDE.

You Could Have It So Much Better was released on October 3, 2005, just over a year after Franz Ferdinand's debut. The thirteen songs retain the short guitar figures, moving rhythms and signature vocals. At the same time, the record makes more room for differences in mood. An exuberant chorus can be followed by a melody that lingers longer, and an angular passage by a song that seems to flow almost by itself. It is precisely this variety that gives the album its own character.

The Fallen opens with great urgency. The guitar and the vocals both want to come forward, while the rhythm holds the movement together. The song immediately sets the band sharply. The record does not need to explain first where the energy comes from: the individual parts make that clear. Then Do You Want To clearly shows how close that energy can be to an accessible pop song.

DO YOU WANT TO AND WALK AWAY.

Do You Want To builds its appeal with short starts and a pronounced chorus. The song seems to want to pull everyone to the center at the same time. The guitar figures remain sharp enough not to smooth out the whole, but the melody is direct. It is an example of the way Franz Ferdinand uses rhythmic precision to organize exuberance. The liveliness does not stem from randomness: the accents must fall exactly in the right place.

Walk Away chooses a different approach. Kapranos lets the melody continue longer and the accompaniment gives the song a softer sway. The contrast with the fast passages before and after makes the song extra visible. This Boy and Evil and a Heathen keep the tension shorter and sharper. In one album, multiple forms of directness thus emerge: sometimes through a strong start, sometimes because a vocal line is given the space to bring its own feeling.

ELEANOR PUT YOUR BOOTS ON.

Eleanor Put Your Boots On stands in the middle of the record and changes the relationship between rhythm and melody. The lighter accompaniment lets the song lean less emphatically on a guitar accent. The vocals sound different as a result, even though the voice remains the same. It is a resting point that does not fall outside the album. It actually shows how much of Franz Ferdinand's identity is in the melodic choices, alongside the often-mentioned danceable band sound.

Then Well That Was Easy and What You Meant pull the movement back again. The record keeps its variety until the end. The title track sets its energy compactly; Fade Together lets the melody develop more calmly. Outsiders closes with a groove that is allowed to keep spinning longer. It is an ending in which the instruments do not all ask for the same place. The band keeps room for movement while the song maintains its direction.

THE ALBUM ON COLORED VINYL.

The linked Domino edition at SJELF contains one LP on colored vinyl. The original album year is 2005; the product data belongs to a later release. The image shows the cover with an orange record. For the exact edition and current availability, the product page remains the starting point. Another color does not change anything about the musical structure of the album by itself.

The record works well as a whole because the calmer songs give the moving passages a different weight. Those who only know Do You Want To discover a softer side in Walk Away, Eleanor Put Your Boots On and Fade Together. For the route from the debut to Tonight, Always Ascending and The Human Fear, read the Artist Story of Franz Ferdinand. There, this second album gets its place in the larger story.

View Franz Ferdinand on vinyl and LP and discover the accompanying repertoire at SJELF.