The unpretentiousness is a breath of fresh air amid the dire wave of emo-indie out there currently, but I don't have to listen to Franz Ferdinand to get my dose of unpretentiousness 'cause it's all been done before.

EASILY the album of the year. Absolutely fucking brilliant.

I thought this album was unfocused and somewhat boring. It has a few great singles, yes, but overall, it leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth. after a month or so, this will be collecting dust on my shelf.

One of the best albums of the year. An awesome followup, which has the band trying out new things, and branching out in directions I would have never seen them going. One thing I don't get is why they decided on "Do You Want To" as the first single. It's a good track, but others on the album are far better.

(cough) over-rated (cough)

hells yeahhhhhhh

Their sound is a bit more diversified the second time around, but consequently, it doesn't sound as solid as their first album. If anything, it shows promise for the band's future.

as good as you can get for a follow-up to the debut.

Again franz put out another good album. This album i think doesnt have all of the good songs that last had but the songs on this album that are good are really good.

Sounds so memorable and catchy.

Not bad. Just not very good. With four exceptions, the songs are not up the old standard. But what really ruins this album, is the new poppish sound. Farewell indie, hello boredom.

Absolutly Great!

Many young promising bands ussually disappear after a surprising debut album. Not Franz Ferdinand. In fact, the follow-up to their 2004 debut might even be more surprising. Why? Because it's just so damn good... With "You Could Have It So Much Better", the band took a walk on a darker and louder side. Where their last album made you want to shake your booty, this one will make you want to bang your head. Though there's still plenty of booty-shaking left. The current single "Do You Want To" might be the song that enbodies that the most. And then there are songs like "The Fallen". Opening with a riff that's so solid it will make you want to smack your mom's bottom and scream "bitch!" at her(even if you really really love your mum, like I do), it really rocks your socks. The song "Eleanor Put Your Boots Back On" shows another side of the band. It's a really nice, Beatle-esque song which shows that FF can do more than building songs with rythms which are tighter then a swiss clock. All in all it's a pretty diverse album which will appeal to even more listeners thatn their last. It also makes one thing very clear, and that is that Franz Ferdinand is definitely not another one day fly.… Expand

Utterly terrific, although am I alone in thinking that Do You Want To is the single cheesiest and horrifically annoying song to be released for a long time? The rest of the album more than makes up for it however both expanding and improving on their established sound.

awesum!! they had the impossible task of following up the first album and miracously succeeded!

Its alright, not as good as the first one and definetly not as hype as the new strokes cd will be.

Just brilliant. I love the 3 ballads. This was the big surprise to me. The rest is Franz Ferdinand at their best.

It's pretty good, has some great tracks, but certainly isn't as consistently good as their debut. However, they do broaden their range quite a bit, and when they do something new, it comes off well. The least memorable ones feel like extras from the last album.

I really liked Franz's debut, and so I was really hoping this album would be amazing. Sadly, I was wrong. This is just the boringly average follow-up you'd expect from a band like Franz Ferdinand. BUT, if you really, REALLY loved their debut, and want more of the same (along with some Beatles-y ballads and a few added flourishes), then by all means, tack on an extra few points to this score and buy it. But if you're tired of all this dancepop nonsense flooding the British music scene, skip it.… Expand

Excellent album, solid follow-up to influential debut.

This had a rating of 89 before Stylus Magazine pissed on it. Still, let the numbers continue to speak, as this is in my opinion one of the best, unabashedly cocksure albums of the year.

Sounds like the first but more in depth. Awesome if you loved the first album. Okay if you thought it was okay.

THis is dumb to the core!! Eat it outloud!

Perhaps I was expecting a let down. Perhaps I felt with such a strong debut there was nowhere else to go but down. I was as incorrect as horse wrangler heading up FEMA. Great second effort. And without the usual two year wait.

Perfect album filled with catchy lyrics, yet dark at the same time. This is a masterpiece and has just marvolous songs. PERFECT

A more than worthy follow up. perhaps a little underwhelming at first but the songs prove to be just as exciting and infectious as those on the stellar debut while the inclusion of three ballads adds another dimension. though the tall poppy killers will tell you otherwise this album is indeed Franztastic

Brilliant follow-up. Stronger songs -- better song structure and melody. Most tracks go beyond the immediate hook.

it's obviously rushed, the lack of good material here is surprising, almost all of the songs are B-Sides quality. I can't believe it's getting all these amazing reviews.