Float Away With the Friday Night Gods

Marah | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 16, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Artemis Records
• ASIN: B0000695TS
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,420 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Float Away

2. Soul

3. Revolution

4. People of the Underground

5. Crying on an Airplane

6. Leaving

7. Shame

8. For All We Know We're Dreaming

9. What 2 Bring

10. Out in Style

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Float Away with the Friday Night Gods should be titled Bait and Switch. Marah's third album challenges fans with such a drastically different sound that it nearly qualifies as audience abuse. While the group previously worked a brand of rock & roll all its own--faintly rootsy, vaguely Springsteen-ish, instantly distinctive--Friday Night Gods finds the band teamed with Oasis producer Owen Morris. The result, unsurprisingly, is a polished, Anglo guitar-pop record that sounds like Oasis--a silly goal that is, nonetheless, achieved to perfection on "Float Away," the string-and-synth first single. What's most frustrating, though, isn't the new sound but the band's abandonment of its own lyrical strengths. Their last album, the indelible Kids in Philly, created a vivid sense of place even as it embraced a universal sense of empathy and community--an approach that, Lord knows, we sure could use now. By contrast, Friday Night Gods favors ultracool and clichéd club-kid poses and derivative soundscapes. Everything here is distracting enough, mind you, but with the notable exception of the earnest, atmospheric ballad "Crying on an Airplane," it all feels like a retreat from significance. --David Cantwell

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Most Disappointing Album Ever, July 16, 2002

By 

N. Tomlinson (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Float Away With the Friday Night Gods (Audio CD)

Amazon's review pretty much sums it up for me, this album is an incredible let down after "Kids in Philly." I wrote a brief review of this album for my college newspaper and e-mailed it to Marah (you get the e-mail address through their website). This is their response verbatim, edited for language:

"Hey Man,
Excellent......things are working. See, our new album was meant to drive pathetic rootsy music purists to an early grave. You know, people like yourself who think they really know "REAL" music, but who are actually just overweight f--kwits (like you) who never get laid by anything less than a hippopotamus. Anyway, go buy our new one and give it another whirl......it really is our best one yet. Later on, fatboy.
Marah"

Hardly the most mature response to criticism, but I can at least respect them for answering their mail. Don't waste your time and money on this album; in fact, don't even bother checking the song clips. That way you'll be able to still feel good about "Kids in Philly," and maybe hold the band in some degree of esteem.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marah did it again!!!, August 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Float Away With the Friday Night Gods (Audio CD)

Being a native Philadelphian and a loyal Marah fan, this review may be a little biased. However, I felt the need to defend the boys since so many of their so-called fans are moaning about this third album. First of all, different does not mean bad. Change is a good thing and I think the songs on this record really define what the band has evolved into...they are a great rock and roll band. The songs are electric and inviting. Yes, Owen gave them a "new" sound, however, the band has put their heart and soul into these songs and you can certainly tell. I haven't stopped listening to it for over a week now and I hope that this is the album that opens the doors for them! It's time that other people are finally able to experience what I have have had the priveledge of listening to for the past four years!! Give it a try...you won't be dissappointed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hello -- Marah? Are you in there?, July 20, 2002

By 

Kevin Bulmer (London, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Float Away With the Friday Night Gods (Audio CD)

A lot of Marah's fans are going to hate this record. I don't. But, I can't help feeling a little perplexed; almost as if I've lost an old friend. This is still Marah, and it's good, but not for the same reasons.

I first saw Marah as an opening act two summers ago, and they blew Steve Earle (one of my favourites) off the stage with their raw, eclectic energy. I bought "Kids In Philly" right there, and it's been one of my favourites ever since. The energy on that record seemed, I guess, more sincere. "Float Away" is energetic, but it comes across as a more manufactured.

To be honest, as soon as I heard "Float Away", I thought, 'Uh-oh, here comes radio.' How selfish is that? Contrary to a lot of fans of bands like Marah, I don't feel they owe me a darn thing. They earned my attention by their live performance, and I choose whether or not to buy the records, and they can do whatever they like.

That said, I'll enjoy this record for what it is -- a hard-driving collection of immediately likeable songs that carry some of the same lyrical irony of their earlier work, even though it sounds like a different band. And, I can't wait to hear these songs next to those from "Philly" and "Cut the Crap" in concert, and see how they fit together.