Franz Ferdinand:
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

What the ?!?!? Thank God I didn't renew my Paste subscription. Bringing down the metascore, how dare!

Although I have to give some credit; the needle definitely moved past 'Lucid Dreams' well before the end of the track :P

At least I'll always have the "Dark of the Matinee." Bah, I was looking forward to this a helluva lot.

Thats quite a harsh review, usually I look to you guys for insight to albums, but I have to say that I completely disagree with you guys on this one.

"Franz took more than three years to make Franz—a laughably long time for such meager results. The layoff suggests that Franz is either too confused or too lazy to move forward. They're still not a bad band. They're just a pitiful caricature of the sly, swaggering gang they once were. We know they're capable of more. We know we could have it so much better."

Sounds more like you guys are talking about a band like weezer there, and I hope you guys can tell that Tonight is no where near as dismal as anything weezer has released since 2001

How many times did you listen to the record before writing the review?

I have only listened once so far, but there's no way it deserves that low a rating.

At the least, they did add some new synth sounds.

I think I may end up liking this one at least better than their second album.

re: Lucid Dreams - it's OK for Panda Bear or LCD Soundsystem to have long songs, but heaven forbid Franz Ferdinand stretch it on a bit?

I think that drone into Dream Again may be my favorite part of the album.

Much of what goes into determining great art or great music can be dismissed to taste and preference. In that regard I disagree with Nick Marino’s review on all accounts. Lucid Dreams, in particular, is not a mistake but a song that shows a band that is willing to take a risk and trusts that their fans are loyal enough to take that risk with them and that in the end will be glad that they gave the song a second listen. My primary concern with Mr. Mario’s review, however, is that it is ill-informed. Franz Ferdinand is neither lazy nor confused. The recent documentary of the recording of Tonight shows the time, care, and intentionality that went in to the recording of this album. The sounds that Mr. Marino chalks up to “horrific production” are part of a profound recording process that the band purposely used to create the sounds they wanted and that added to the meaningfulness of the song. I encourage all your readers to watch the documentary and give Tonight a second listen. Too often, we are so use to “instant classics” that we do not recognize true depth, inspiration, and greatness when we see it. In a few years we will look back on Tonight and say, “That is when Franz Ferdinand gave birth to their Achtung Baby.”

chris - while i'm not disagreeing with your dismissal of mr. marino's review (it's terribly written, and who can honestly look at a sentence that starts with "franz took 3 years to make franz" and not re-write it), i think that what goes into canonizing great art and music is much closer to a combination of taste and judgement, which are quite different.

at the same time, i really do take issue with the way you seem to think that intention necessitates quality. risks don't necessarily play out. plenty of bands choose to dramatically compress the sound levels on their albums (metallica being the most recent/extreme example). it still sounds like shit.

oh, and the album sucks, the lyrics are nowhere near as good as they've ever been, and it's never going to be a classic. sorry, buddy.

I will have a hard taking taking any review Nick Marino writes after reading this. His article wreaks of lazy journalism and just seems plain rude. Not only is this album an improvement over their last, it's an exciting new direction for the band.

This is a great album. tuneless?? if it's catchy, then it's a good tune. how else would you gauge a successful "tune"? And don't miss the end of Lucid Dreams! Usually I can't stand songs over 5 minutes, but when it's 3 distinct sounds within one song, it works. The last 3 minutes is some of the best dance music I've heard in a long time. And I think the production is great. If you think it was mixed too loudly, then maybe you could lower the volume? this album sounds amazing on a good sound system.

can't stop listening to it. enjoy!

I wanted to add one thing. When discussing music, what does "meaning" actually mean?

If all i want out of an album is to have tight, danceable pop/rock, then this might be the most meaningful album ever . . . for me.

If I want obscure, poetic lyrics and overly complex melodies, then maybe Animal Collective would be meaningful.

"meaning" is so inherently subjective, and therefore a meaningless (ha) word to use in an album review. it describes nothing.

This album gets me all horned up! I love it. Amazing bass lines and great use of synthesizers. This review is like the dirtiest herb ever....SCHWAG! Don't listen to this nutbucket.Nick may be the biggest D-bag to ever right a review. Just listen to the album and make up your own mind. Peace!

I don't know how long it took to Franz Ferdinand to record this album, but I'm sure it didn't took you more than 1 minute to write such a stupid, unfair and badly written review.

Why would paste allow this review to be published? Do they not have an editor on staff? One dude should not have the full say in the magazines opinion of the album.

This is soooooo bad it didn't even deserve a review. I'm sticking with you Nick. It just plain sux, but then I'm not sure why their initial offering was so popular either? PS-I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Nickleback is terrible. Can we throw in Dave Matthews too? Please.

..I like it.

I was listening to it and wondered why I was the only person who thought this album is awful considering all the rave reviews. I'm so glad I found this review. I wholeheartedly agree. "Tonight..." is completely tuneless and almost unlistenable. I had to force myself to finish it.

I find it hard to believe the magazine will stand behind this review. Wait until the year's best-of comes out--I'm sure it'll sing a different tune.

And comparing Franz Ferdinand to NICKELBACK?? I'm not even going to touch that one.

It's understandable, Mr. Marino, if you personally dislike an album...but that's no reason to call the band "lazy" and knock off 50+ points for it. Yes, this album is not as good as either of their first two...but neither is it deserving of a 13.

Did you actually listen to the album? You are wrong on just about every count. The 8 minutes of Lucid Dreams are a revelation: did you listen to it before crying 'wankery' or did you just look at the track length? I personally had *diminished* hopes for Franz after 'you could have it so much better' and went into this feeling I'd give them 'one more chance'. I thought I wanted poppy exuberant bliss from FF but I was surprised to find, in the unlikeliest of places, a proper Album, that holy grail of holy grails I could dive into from beginning to end. I mean, what, are you carrying out a vendetta of some sort? I can't think of another possible reason for your preposterous statements! People, the production is superb. Back when, according to you, Franz 'mattered' they were dreadfully and cheaply compressed - that is not the case now : the sound breathes here and the sonic picture is brilliant and consistent. This is the best album I've heard in the 00's, and time will prove you wrong.

I miss the old Franz Ferdinand.

this is a great album!
the time we waited is worth it, this is just a diferent album with "you could have it so much better".
every album of FF shows diferent feeling and emotions.
the first was to make girls dance.
the second was to make them cry, it was more sad.
and this third one is more fun and electric, they used diferwent instruments and it is not terrible!

franz ferdinand is unique and if you wannna hear the same melodies, the same lyrics and feeling again just be fan of another band, cause franz ferdinand have a lot more to show that sad melodies. the 3 records are great and this is not the exception

I would love to hear the album that Mr. Marinos thought he was entitled to hear-- a sort of direct brain-to-brain transfer of his musical wishful thinking. That being impossible, I'd like to offer a word of advice: Don't write reviews when you're feeling particularly hormonal or when you're having a very, very bad day. I've been enjoying this album thoroughly, and all I can say is this: your review smacks of "my biorhythm tanked and my goldfish died." The record isn't half as bad as you make it out to be, Nick.

I didn't renew either...paste is a sellout. I'll bet they like Justin Timberlake though.

You can never really take seriously any comment whose name is Anonymous. Aside from that, I think this rating's quite a bit too low.

Whoa, does this reviewer have some kind personal vendetta against the members of Franz Ferdinand? I don't know how else to justify such an extremely low rating. Yes, the record might not be their best work, but "These Girls" and "Ulysses" are damn catchy songs. Take it easy, people!

Spot on review.
Really poor album.

I've not been a huge fan of these guys but liked some of their songs along the way. When i first heard Ulysses i laughed my ass off. Then i heard the album on MySpace. What a piece of junk. There is so much better music being made out there that deserves the exposure that these guys seem to get.

Time go back into hiding and have a re-think. And don't do it here in Glasgow. I swear if i see you around town i will point and laugh.

how in the world can you give it that rating? are you deaf or something? oh by the way its tonight:franz ferdinand you might want to get the album title right at least and lucid dreams is one of the best songs of the album if not the best who needs reviews like this when you can read PROPER reviews at clash magazine they know the suss