The Fray

The Fray | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 10, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Epic
• ASIN: B002RFX9YA
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,049 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Syndicate

2. Absolute

3. You Found Me

4. Say When

5. Never Say Never

6. Where The Story Ends

7. Enough For Now

8. Ungodly Hour

9. We Build Then We Break

10. Happiness

Disc: 2

1. Heartless (Swinghouse Session)

2. Never Say Never (Live with the London Quartet)

3. You Found Me (Live with the London Quartet)

4. Where The Story Ends (Piano Version)

5. Fair Fight (Live Version)

6. Be The One (Demo Version)

7. Uncertainty (Album Version)

8. How To Save A Life (Live From Webster Hall)

Editorial Reviews

Deluxe two CD edition includes a bonus CD that contains eight previously unreleased studio and live tracks. 2009 album from the Denver-based quartet, the follow-up to their enormously successful How To Save A Life. The Fray, who exploded into worldwide success with that album, have captured the skilled songwriting that broke them and, with the help of acclaimed producers Mike Flynn and Aaron Johnson, created a set of songs sure to make them household names. The band continues their licensing success story by collaborating with ABC's hit show, Lost in a series of music video promos featuring the album's first single, 'You Found Me' for the newest season of the show. The spots also ran during the 2008 American Music Awards, where the band was a featured performer. Over the weekend of the release and performance, the Lost video had over one million views.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid sophomore album with nice extras, November 24, 2009

By 

MusicMan (Louisville, Kentucky, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fray (Audio CD)

(4.5 stars) The Fray are a Hot AC-leaning rock band out of Denver, Colorado. Their debut album How to Save a Life spawned two big hit singles in the title track and "Over My Head (Cable Car)." The follow-up to that 2005 effort is their 2009 eponymous release.

The best word I can use to describe this album is consistent. There's little progression in style or approach from the first album; The Fray stick to the sonic formula that worked for them the first time around. Expect more piano-driven songs and Isaac Slade's emotive vocals throughout. I do, however, find this album a more cohesive effort than the debut, and the songwriting is generally strong. While there are fewer radio-ready tracks to be found here, as a unit, I believe this is overall a more unified and satisfactory listen.

This particular edition comes with an eight-song bonus disc. Four of these are live tracks: a rendition of "Fair Fight," the studio version of which is an iTunes exclusive bonus track; a performance of "How to Save a Life" at Webster Hall in which the crowd participates; and performances of the first singles ("You Found Me" and "Never Say Never") backed by The London Quartet. The "How to Save a Life" performance is nice enough, though unexceptional; however, it is good to have a version of "Fair Fight" on disc, and the vocal harmonies on the two London Quartet performances are pleasant. The other tracks on the disc consist of a piano version of "Where the Story Ends," which is decent, a demo for a song entitled "Be the One," which is a pretty good effort, and finally, the songs which are, in my opinion, the two major reasons to buy the deluxe edition: a new track called "Uncertainty" and a version of Kanye West's "Heartless." The former is a beautiful song with evocative lyrics to which I imagine most people can relate; the latter is a cool re-imagining of an excellent West song that became a surprise alternative radio hit earlier in 2009.

In summary, if you're looking for great artistic growth or a surprising sound, you won't find it here; however, if you're looking to hear an album from a band that knows its strengths and continues to play to them, then go ahead and invest in this release from The Fray. The addition of "Heartless" and "Uncertainty" make this deluxe edition the one to buy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT CD!, March 18, 2010

By 

Elizabeth J. Stephenson (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Fray (Audio CD)

There isn't a bad song on this double CD! I saw them on DIRECTV channel 101 and found myself mesmerized by them. I had to order it after that!

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen to it ALL the time, April 16, 2011

By 

Matthew DeBettencourt "MD3B3TT" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Fray (Audio CD)

I love the Fray. I first got into their music after "You Found Me", and it turned out I knew other songs like "Cable Car" and "How to Save a Life". Now I have their albums in my car to listen to all the time, and copies on my MP3 player to listen when I'm at the gym or running.