The Fray
by The Fray
  • Record Label: Sony
  • Release Date: Feb 3, 2009
User Score
7.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 41 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 41
  3. Negative: 7 out of 41

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  1. Juliakay337
    Mar 19, 2012
    5
    Very disappointing. "How To Save A Life" had beautiful ballads, like "Hundred" and "Look After You". I felt real emotion in that album. This self-titled release seems like a poor copy of their debut. It doesn't feel honest or authentic anymore, just tired and bland, like they were trying to recreate their old songs in order to gain the same commercial success. Standout tracks for me areVery disappointing. "How To Save A Life" had beautiful ballads, like "Hundred" and "Look After You". I felt real emotion in that album. This self-titled release seems like a poor copy of their debut. It doesn't feel honest or authentic anymore, just tired and bland, like they were trying to recreate their old songs in order to gain the same commercial success. Standout tracks for me are "Absolute" and "Happiness". Most others, like "Where The Story Ends" and "Ungodly Hour" are nothing but forgettable.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

72
#72 Most Discussed Album of 2009
62
#62 Most Shared Album of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
56

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. AllMusic
    60
    The Fray's sophomore release picks up where How to Save a Life left off, reprising the same blend of piano-led ballads and midtempo pop/rock that helped establish the band in 2005.
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  2. Blender
    50
    The Denver foursome is spectacularly anonymous: poignant enough to bring out the waterworks, but generic enough not to get in the way of someone else’s story--making them the perfect soundtrack for prime-time melodrama.
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  3. Entertainment Weekly
    42
    Life had a handful of standouts, but follow-up The Fray is all blah, all the time: more minor-key melodies, more dreary tempos, more of singer-pianist Isaac Slade's spiceless sore-throat croon.
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