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MagnetApr 17, 2018It's frustrating, because behind the superficial surfaces, these songs can thrill. [No. 150, p.52]
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Feb 20, 2018Like their past work, subpar filler holds the album back. It’s worth joining them for the climb, just know that it’s going to be an uneven ascent.
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Feb 15, 2018With its mix of intriguing sounds and occasionally underwhelming songwriting, Always Ascending feels more like a first effort than the band's actual debut did. As it stands, it's a somewhat shaky but promising start for the revamped Franz Ferdinand.
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Feb 12, 2018This evergreen Glasgow outfit have only tweaked their sound rather than rebooting it decisively, though, making their fifth album a restatement of their core art school pop principles.
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Feb 9, 2018None of this feels enough to truly deserve that futuristic tag, but maybe this new set-up just needs time to find their own MO? In the meantime, we’ve got another great single to add to that hypothetical greatest hits.
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Feb 9, 2018While the record climaxes with a duo of stomping disco tracks furnished with pleasingly dour melodies. They hammer home Always Ascending’s technical brilliance, but a visceral emotional connection remains elusive.
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Feb 8, 2018Though sharp and sly, too often here there’s a shortfall of melodic potency, and an over-reliance on structures that are methodical rather than marvellous, torpedoed by their own cleverness.
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Feb 5, 2018Always Ascending thrives when the band indulge their sense of fun--it's not the best work Franz Ferdinand have ever produced, but it's proof that they should embrace their intelligence and their quirks more and not try to be a standard indie band. They’re too good for that.
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Feb 1, 2018So there’s verve, vigour, and more energy from the slightly revised line-up too, but it isn’t groundbreaking.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 53 out of 73
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Mixed: 17 out of 73
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Negative: 3 out of 73
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Feb 10, 2018
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Feb 11, 2018
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Feb 23, 2018