Razorlight - Razorlight

 

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1. In The Morning

Nice cagerattling opening to the album that seems to straddle the fine line between their old, fresh and raucous sound from the 'Up All Night' album and the smooth, instrumental lyrics that weren't always present in previous Razorlight releases such as 'Vice' and 'Somewhere Else'. The only negative to this song is the ever-growing (and extremely annoying) links between this and Tom Robinson’s retro hit '2-4-6-8 Motorway'.

Rating : 7/10

 

2. Who Needs Love?

Sloppy, soppy lyrics and backlining tune that just does NOT fit in with Johnny Borrell's rugged voice, let alone his non photogenic, pug-like face. If we were looking for a ballad from a sky-rocketing indie-pop band then we would be buying 'Twelve Stops and Home' by The Feeling. I tried to like this but rigid, collar-grabbing vocals just don't match what Razorlight are trying to pull off with this song.

Rating : 4/10

 

3. Hold On

The album starts to get back on track here. Beatcrashing, tubthumpbing instrumentals lead is into the sublime first verse. Patchy lyrics but this is nothing more than filler material, and for filler material it does a bloody great job. The only problem is the fact that there is no distinct chorus to begin with which sends the song into a slightly flat state.

Rating : 6/10

 

4. America

From the second you hear this you just know it's a stand-out single. A fantastic attempt at churning out a politically-loaded message that somehow mashes up into an excellent representation of the Great British culture, whilst all the time still managing to produce a seriously catchy, toe-tapping tune. Simply brilliant.

Rating : 8/10

 

5. Before I Fall To Pieces

One of the many potential singles from the self-entitled album. As a song it has a hell of a lot to offer. The jingly, infectious backing beats, followed by the instrumentally excellent crescendo manages to successfully rocket this song up into the territory of other Razorlight classics. Then, to top it all off we have a brilliant softcore pile of noise that is disguised under a chorus. All of these gel together fantastically well to make this song a very, very strong album track.

Rating : 7/10

 

6. I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got

This song took me a good 5-6 listens before I discovered its brilliance. As soon as I heard the slow introduction to the song and the drawn-out vocals I didn't expect much - I was half expecting Who Needs Love Mark II. But oh how I was wrong. 1 and a half minutes into the track and we get the paced, anthem-like breakdown to the song which then leads into a chorus change and a whole new rocky feeling to the song. Once again, it would never work as a single as this just isn't the type of song that you would expect to be released but for an album track it does an excellent job of keeping the listener hooked and wanting to continue to keep listening.

Rating : 6/10

 

7. Pop Song 2006

Placing this song as track #7 was an extremely risky move in my opinion. At this stage the listener wants something fresh and original to keep the album flowing. Unfortunately, this song is neither fresh nor original. In fact it's far from fresh and original. It's 2 minutes and 41 seconds of the same old edgy beats and offbeat vocals that we've already listened to on numerous occasions on this album. Not neccessarily a bad track but a terrible choice for a flowing album track.

Rating : 3/10

 

8. Kirby's House

The fact that I had heard many big things about this song was, in essence, the songs downfall. After listening to many a great review I was, naturally, expecting this to be on their best from the album. It wasn’t. Granted it had a catchy opening and a very nice use of Johnny's ability to change his voice from cagey to easy listening, chill-out music but this song just isn't the direction that Razorlight should be going in. It wasn't an absolutely awful song but extremely over-rated. The lack of a definite chorus doesn't work in its favour either.

Rating : 5/10

 

9. Back To The Start

After 2 weak, under-par songs this one managed to restore my faith. By no means a classic but a simplistic yet excellent indiefied (yes I realise that isn’t a word) pop song. The break-down just before and into the chorus merges extremely well with the lively and somewhat attention-grabbing backing tune to make this a strand-out track after the previous let-downs.

Rating : 7/10

 

10. Los Angeles Waltz

The end of the album is nigh and right now we need something that will literally jump out of the CD case and slap us in the face and really drive home the fact that this is an excellent album. Now I wouldn't go as far as to say it does that but it's a really good attempt at doing so. It has a fantastically loud, high-pitched intro, an almost anthem-like chorus and a superb use of fading instruments in the background that really does top off an excellent album. Bravo Razorlight.

Rating : 7/10

 

Overall Rating : 6/10

Reviews Coming Soon:

 

Kasabian - Empire

The Fratellis - Costello Music

 

^_^

Oh dear looks like the next two supposive single choices won't take your fancy then. :(

Oh dear if America's the best thing on it :(

Oh dear looks like the next two supposive single choices won't take your fancy then. :(

 

You could say that, yes :(

Oh dear if America's the best thing on it :(

 

I HAVE got a bit bored of it now due to excessive overplayage but in retrospect it's EXCELLENT.

Btw I've started work on The Fratellus review now ^_^

Reviews Coming Soon:

 

Kasabian - Empire

The Fratellis - Costello Music

 

^_^

 

got both of them

 

The Fratellis win on dvd stuff for having the whole concert on it

 

whie the empire cd/dvd came with a pack of playing cards.

I got this Razorlight's album and I pretty much agree with your review Cassidy. I also bought the Fratellis' "Costello Music", looking forward for your review, and I want to buy Kasabian's "Empire", so your review could be defining, lol.