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Review rated by 95 Ciao members on average: very helpful
Even though I am not a major fan of Frank I have a huge liking for this album and thought I had to tell you about it. I only own this album as I mostly download my songs but as I was going to buy ‘Love Ire and Song’ but decided on this one instead which i was greatly impressed by.
Who Is Frank Turner?
I wouldn’t know why anyone wouldn’t have heard of him but for those who haven’t Frank Turner is a Folk song writer and singer who was a former vocalist for the punk band Million Dead. He was born in 1981 and has released several successful albums including the compilation album ‘The First Three Years’. Frank became known when he joined Million Dead in 2001 and stayed with them for four years releasing two albums; after they spilt he decided to become solo and has done many shows around London.
The First Three Years
As mentioned above The First Three Years is a compilation album which funnily enough shows the music of Frank from the first three years of his solo music career. The album was released in Dec 2008 and in Jan 09 to the general public with Xtra Mile Recordings. The album has twenty three tracks which also includes some of his unreleased songs.
Album List - 1. The Real Damage - taken From The XMR Single Session split 7" with Reuben (Jan06) 2. Nashville Tennessee - taken From Campfire Punkrock EP – (May
06) 3. Thatcher Fucked The Kids - taken From Campfire Punkrock EP –( May 06) 4. This Town Ain't Big Enough For The One Of Me - taken From Campfire Punkrock EP –(May 06) 5. Casanova Lament - taken From Campfire Punkrock EP – (May 06) 6. I Really Don't Care What You Do On Your Gap Year - taken From Campfire Punkrock EP – (May 06) 7. The Outdoor Type - taken From the split 10" with Jonah Matranga – (June 06) 8. You Are My Sunshine – taken from the split 10" with Jonah Matranga (June 06) 9. Sea Legs taken from The Real Damage EP (May 07) 10. Back To Sleep - taken from The Real Damage EP (May 07) 11. Sunshine State taken from The Real Damage EP (May 07) 12. Heartless Bastard Motherfucker taken from The Real Damage EP – (May 07) 13. Pay To Cum taken from The Softcore Tour CD Bad Brains cover –( 07) 14. Fix Me- taken from The Softcore Tour CD Black Flag cover – (September 07) 15. Hold Your Tongue - taken from The Love, Ire & Song recording sessions 16. Front Crawl - taken from the Love, Ire & Song recording sessions 17. Jet Lag (Rock) taken from the Love, Ire & Song recording sessions 18. Photosynthesis taken from Truck Sessions June 08 19. Worse Things Happen At Sea taken from Truck Sessions 08 June 08 20. Imperfect Tense - taken from Truck Sessions 08 - June 08 21. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Postal Service) previously unreleased cover 22. Smiling At Strangers On Trains (Million Dead) previously unreleased cover 23. Dancing Queen (ABBA) previously unreleased cover 24. Longing For The Day previously unreleased demo (digital exclusive)
Album Info
Producer- Martin Price and George Elliott Label- Xtra Mile Released- December 1st 2008 (Jan 09 for Public)
Thoughts on the Album
The album is unique which a mixture of his talent from his covers of Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’ to his folk upbeat tracks like ‘The Real Damage’. He tells the world stories through his music and many of his tracks are so poetic and free flowing. I think the album is certainly one of the best as it includes many classics of his music but I couldn’t listen to it all of the time as it gets abit repetitive after a while. Never the less Frank’s music is inspirational and he has become some sort of a hero in the last year. The album is defiantly for Frank’s fans and if you love him you’ll love the album.
My Favourite tracks from the album-
Casanova Lament (2.12) - I love the soft violins and the gentle guitar in this song gives it a calm melody to a powerful song. The song has good lyrics and is easy to listen along to. I like the contrasts of the track with the soft music and the strong lyrics of one night stands and being lonely. The track is quite short but it doesn’t need to be any longer really.
Sunshine State (3.05) – I like this song because it has soft melody with a dismal theme with the lyrics. His voice is brilliant and it just shows his natural talent. Even though it has a familiar theme of a break up the different tones used in the song gives it a great atmosphere.
Dancing Queen (3.41) – I’m not a huge Abba fan but I love Frank’s cover of this song. I prefer this much more than the original track has it just gives a whole new feel to the lyrics. Frank’s voice is just changes the vibe even though it is a dance song this version is brilliantly done.
Vocals
Frank’s vocals have just a brilliant tone and just give his music so much tension and they create such an atmosphere. The covers are very well done and I think sometimes people doing covers really ruins the original thinking of an example McFly doing a Queen cover, however Frank just changes the whole vibe of the songs completely but in a good way. He doesn’t ruin the song just creates a different and sometimes in my opinion better version.
Choice of Songs
I really liked the choice of songs for this album. You have a varied selection including covers, unreleased tracks and some of his first classic tunes. It has a great field of vocals, lyrics and incredible music. They are maybe two or three tracks that I don’t really listen to and mainly skip but most of the album is worth listening to.
Appearance
I really like the front cover of the album and thinks its very eye catching. Even though it has a lot of dark colours and features it is a great look. The black and red really go together and having his name in the middle in white stands out a lot for those fans. I like all of the other album covers included in the middle showing those who do not know that this is a compilation album with tracks from all of his first three years of solo music.
Availability
The album can be brought or you can download the tracks from many leading music websites such as Play.com who charges 70p a track. Also Amazon has the album to download fully for £6.49. If you want to buy the CD album it can be purchased from Ebay £7.99 or £9.95 from 194u.com. Frank on his website as also recommended- Pure Groove and Banquet Records for good online ordering.
Overall
Overall The First Three Years is a definite must buy if you are a Frank Turner fan and it has a great selection of his best music. I would recommend to fans and to anyone who wants to try something new and likes acoustic music.
Official Website- www.frank-turner.com
* Thanks for reading- blackmagicstar4. March 2009. *
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09.10.2009 20:11
well reviewed
22.09.2009 14:06
very well reviewed!
01.05.2009 18:44
thank you.