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Franz Ferdinand is the debut album by Glasgow indie rock band Franz Ferdinand released in early 2004. This album debuted at number 3 on the UK album charts in February 2004 and contains two top ten singles in the UK in "Take Me Out" and "The Dark of the Matinée" or "Matinée". The album won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. The album has since sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide.

Chart success

The album debuted at number 3 in the UK album charts in February 2004 and at number 12 in the Australian album charts in April 2004. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 album charts April 26 2004, and climbed slowly, peaking at number 32 in December 2004. It reached number 2 the Heatseeker chart for debut acts. As at September 2004, there have been five different singles released from the album. namely:
  • The "Darts of Pleasure" EP reached the top 50 of the UK singles charts in September 2003
  • "Take Me Out" reached the top 5 of the UK charts, top 10 of the Irish charts and top 40 in a composite European chart
  • "The Dark of the Matinée" or "Matinée" reached the top 10 of the UK singles charts and top 30 on the World Modern Rock Charts (a composite chart of US, German, UK, Swedish, Finnish, Canadian and Australian modern rock charts)
  • "Michael" reached the top 20 of the UK singles charts in August 2004
  • "This Fire" only first played by KROQ in September 2004.

Critical success

The Franz Ferdinand album received a generally strong positive response from critics. The NME said that the band was the latest in the line of art school rock bands featuring The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Roxy Music, the Sex Pistols, Wire, and Blur. It rated the album as 9 out of 10 and said: "This album is the latest and most intoxicating example of the wonderful pushing its way up between the ugly slabs of Pop Idol, nu metal and Britons aping American bands. What these blossoming bands have in common is the absolute conviction that rock 'n' roll is more than a career option."

The BBC's review of the album said: "At only 38 minutes long Franz Ferdinand may not be a particularly long album, but it is a masterpiece of funky, punky, suave cool from the first track to the last." The All Music Guide rated the album as four out of five stars and said: "Franz Ferdinand ends up being rewarding in different ways than the band's previous work was, but it's apparent that they're still one of the more exciting groups to come out of the garage-rock / post-punk revival."

On September 7 2004 the album was awarded the 2004 Mercury Music Prize.

Other Editions

Two other (limited) editions of the album exist, each containing a bonus disc:
  • Live At The Paradiso, Amsterdam:
  1. "Cheating On You"
  2. "Better On Holiday"
  3. "Tell Her Tonight"
  4. "Shopping For Blood"
  5. "Take Me Out"
  6. "Love & Destroy"
  7. "Truck Stop"
  8. "This Fire"
  9. "Michael"
  10. "Darts of Pleasure"
  • Bonus Disc - featuring the B-sides:
  1. "This Fffire" – 3:32
  2. "Van Tango" – 3:26
  3. "Shopping for Blood" – 3:34
  4. "All For You, Sophia" – 3:00
  5. "Words So Leisured" – 2:18

Track listing

  1. "Jacqueline" – 3:49
  2. "Tell Her Tonight" – 2:17
  3. "Take Me Out" – 3:57 ()
  4. "The Dark of the Matinée" – 4:03
  5. "Auf Achse" ("On the Axle" in German) – 4:19
  6. "Cheating On You" – 2:36
  7. "This Fire" – 4:14
  8. "Darts of Pleasure" – 2:59
  9. "Michael" – 3:21
  10. "Come On Home" – 3:46
  11. "40' " – 3:24

All tracks written by Kapranos/McCarthy, except "Jacqueline" and "The Dark Of The Matinée" (written by Hardy, Kapranos, Thomson and McCarthy).

Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom February 9 2004 Domino Records LP WIGLP136
CD WIGCD136
2CD WIGCD136X
United States March 9 2004 Domino Records LP, CD DN027
Australia April 19 2004 Sony Australia 2CD 5170999000
United States April 20 2004 Epic Records LP E92441
Canada CD EK92441
Japan June 2 2004 Sony Japan CD EICP 370
United States November 23 2004 Epic Records 2CD EK93630

See also

External links

2004 albums | Franz Ferdinand albums | Debut albums | Eponymous albums | Epic Records albums

Franz Ferdinand (album) | Franz Ferdinand (album) | Franz Ferdinand (album) | Franz Ferdinand (album) | Franz Ferdinand (musikalbum)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Franz Ferdinand (album)".

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