First off I have to say that what I’m going to say about this album many may not agree with. If you are listening to Funeral For A Friend for the first time I’m sure you will like this album, if you are an old fan you will probably be pissed off because it’s nothing like “Causually Dressed In Deep Conversation” and “Hours”. Honestly “Hours” was just leading up to this album with the gradual change in style. There is no screaming at all in this album, which is what many people enjoyed to hear when listening to this band. “Hours” had some screaming but not too much, in this album it’s just completely mainstream rock. This album is actually a concept album about a fisherman lost at sea and trying to find his way home. Every track on this album is arranged in such a way that you can feel the intensity of the story that the band is telling through the music. This is one of the most well put together concept albums I’ve heard in a while.

The album begins with the single “Into Oblivion (Reunion)”, which has a main purpose to show the introduction to the story. Immediately you can tell from this song that the band has developed into a more mature rock sound than previous albums. The song has an anthem type of sound with soaring guitars in the chorus. This song also has strings and guitars in the verse that just cruise along with the lyrics. “The Great Wide Open” is more a rocker type of song. Then there is “The Diary”, which could easily be the next single, and has more of a pop rock feel. “On A Wire” is one of the slower songs, and is a type of ballad with a emotional hard-driven chorus. The “All Hands On Deck” songs are a bit more lively than the rest of the songs, and you can definitely tell how these tell the exciting parts of the story. “Out Of Reach” is definitely one of the faster songs on the album, and gives off a somewhat similar sound of their previous styles of music. The album finishes off nicely with “The Sweetest Wave”, which is a quite lengthy song with a little bit of strings and piano. The song starts off slow but has a hard hitting face paced sound differing from any kind of music ever played by the band.

I’ll say it again, this is a good album. Everyone should definitely give this a listen, if you don’t like it immediately just give it time. I honestly can see this album getting popular and very big. This will be one of the better albums released this year, and also one of the most hated and criticized albums due to everyone judging this music compared to previous Funeral For A Friend releases. Disregard the older cds before you listen to this and come into it like it is a whole new band and take it for what it is, a conceptual album that tells a story with 10 catchy well written rock songs.

Standout Tracks
“Into Oblivion (Reunion)”, “The Diary”, “All Hands On Deck Part 1: Raise The Sail”

Tracklisting
1. Into Oblivion (Reunion)
2. The Great Wide Open
3. The Diary
4. One A Wire
5. All Hands On Deck Part 1: Raise The Sail
6. All Hands On Deck Part 2: Open Water
7. Out Of Reach
8. One For The Road
9. Walk Away
10. The Sweetest Wave