ALBUM OF THE WEEK: How to Save a Life - The Fray

 I received many positive compliments for my short-hand mini reviews of albums placed upon the social media pages, which I thank everyone for! Al could tell you though I often have a hard time "shortening" my reviews, and this is where the blog will come into play. My mini reviews will still exist for those who like a quick peek, but I can get a bit long-winded when discussing music.

This week's album of the week takes us back to 2005. It was hard not to hear either of the two lead singles on the radio somewhere, with "How to Save a Life" reaching the top 3 of the billboard 100 charts and 
"Over My Head (Cable Car)" also reaching the top 50 in the billboard 100. The album was originally received with mixed critical reviews, some feeling it felt like something they had heard before. Regardless of what the critics thought, the two singles from the album made the Fray a mainstay for several years to come. 

The album is built upon mainly piano driven ballads. I am not sure I completely agree with all the "Coldplay" comparisons. I do think Coldplay was a bit more on the nose with their writing, while The Fray chooses more abstract lyricism. I think this works to their benefit as it allows for this album to capture more varying moods than a Coldplay album. From an outside perspective the album lyrically seems to easily focus on love, heartbreak, and conflict. Nevertheless, many of the songs have more abstract perceptions. The songwriter mentions songs such as "How to Save a Life" being inspired by volunteering at a troubled youth shelter, or "Over My Head (Cable Car)" referencing the ailing relationship of his brother and him. Nevertheless, it centers around personal relationships and navigating the emotions surrounding them during troubled times. The album is fairly sonically cohesive. It makes it an easy listen if you enjoy the sort of music. You could seamlessly listen front to back and some of the songs will feel like they just blend into one another. 

It begins with song "She Is", which fits right into opening the abstract mold here. Lyrically on surface it appears to be penned in a way to dedicate to someone he loves. It is difficult to tell however, is this person still here? Is this person his partner now? Are they gone? On a trip? This song can be appreciated from both happy and sad angles. 

The album shifts to "Over My Head (Cable Car)" one of the more upbeat songs on the album. Despite the inspiration of the song, it comes off as another lyrically abstract piece discussing a relationship. Is he over his head because she is out of his league? Is he over his head in a conflict? Over his head in love with her and coming back home to her? 

"How to Save a Life" carries on a less abstract meaning. It is difficult to find any happy note in a song wondering how to save a life. The lyrics are filled with suggestions of interventions, difficulties reaching a struggling person, and feeling like more could have been done to keep this person here. The vocalist really delivers this song so strongly. His inflections and tones really portray the sheer pain of losing someone and makes the song cut a lot deeper. This and "Little House" are the particular standouts of this album to me. 

"All at Once" does not stand out as much to me. The delivery doesn't immediately grab you and it falls a bit to the background. The song itself appears to discuss falling for a particular person but feeling unsure where you stand in the relationship. There's nothing directly wrong with it, it just feels weaker compared to the strength of the other tracks on the album. It is rare to find an album, especially in the modern era, that does not have a song or two of "filler" track. 

"All at Once" does lead into a more guitar heavy track in "Fall Away" which makes up for the lackluster track behind it. Listening to the full album, the two tracks fall together nicely because "All at Once" leading to this implies to me perhaps that the issues in the first come from the pain in "Fall Away" as he discusses trying to fall away from the past, but it keeps following. It can feel like the baggage of prior times follows you around.

These tracks do make a perfect lead-in to "Heaven Forbid", a gut-wrenching emotional track of a painful acceptance of being alone for the time being. After all the love and beauty the album shifts to loss and feeling like you cannot hold onto the love that is close to you. 

"Heaven Forbid" leads into "Look After You", a sweet love song requesting someone's love in which in turn they will look after the one they love. While lyrically simplistic, I love the arrangement of the song. The bridge is such a strong piece of itself and I will often visit the song to get to that section. 

"Hundred" begins with trying to live in the present, falling back to the albums difficulty in facing the past before shifting to "Vienna", where the protagonist of the album appears to be running from love and security again struggling on the interior. With "no way to reach" him, he questions if he is already gone. 

"Dead Wrong" carries on from Vienna's theme of dealing with the interior problems. He feels he is astray. I particularly enjoy the shift from "Vienna" to "Dead Wrong" as "Vienna" implies he is travelling and it feels we are getting an insight into his mind when "Dead Wrong" comes on. 

"Dead Wrong" shifts to "Little House", one of my personal favorites from the album. It feels like a song personifying the sort of agony he feels about the past that has chased him about. It discusses distrust, secrets, and how it rips from the inside out. 

I think it is interesting the way the album closes the most. "Trust Me" seems a peculiar title in an album filled with shame, regrets, lost love, and themes of distrust. The protagonist closes asking us to "trust" him and makes light of how as we are young we are all told we will understand when we are older. He plays with this but actualizes the reality of differing experiences and the truth is, we may never understand. We may never understand why people run, leave, or make the decisions in which they do. He tells us to not trust anyone, on these sort of grounds. We are left wondering if the protagonist ever truly managed the demons he was faced with, or merely found a way to go on. But this resonates with every day life, or even the questions we may have of that old friend that moved away in which we don't see anymore. All we can do is go forward. 

LYRICISM RATING: 8/10

I enjoy the Fray and the more abstract lyricism they have. It allows for multiple interpretations of the songs themselves and adds to the relistening value of the album itself. 

MUSIC RATING: 7/10

The album is heavily cohesive and piano driven. Musically, it does not take a lot of risks. This is not necessarily a bad thing as I enjoy it, but if you are looking for something inventive and new, the Fray's album does not quite capture that.

OVERALL ALBUM RATING: 8/10

This is a personal favorite album of mine. It is easy to play it front to back without skipping and has a good deal of standout tracks. While the album is not conceptual, a story can easily be derived from the lyrics and keeps you interested from a story standpoint. 

Have you heard the album? Let me know in the comments what you think. Feel free to recommend some listens to me as well from here!