By expanding its worldview, Franz Ferdinand has very nicely settled onto a path toward career longevity.
Basically, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is their debut re-imagined for the next decade – gushing with characteristic lurching tempo changes, scream-along choruses and glossy hooks.
Now, refreshed and invigorated, they return to their gruff, pristine art-rock sexiness. It's not the exact same style as they sauntered into our lives with, they've grown and matured, but it's the natural progression we'd hoped for eight years ago.
it’s evident enough that Franz Ferdinand are masters at crafting stylish, guitar-driven anthems. ‘Right Thoughts…’ affirms this expertise, and is a very danceable fourth LP.
Franz Ferdinand's Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is an unapologetically swaggering disco-rock album that refuses to overstay its welcome.
It’s Frankenstein on the dance floor of a Transylvanian indie disco. It’s art pop after dark. It’s, at least on the surface, exactly what’s expected of them.
It's only later that you realise Franz Ferdinand's fourth isn't just a return to form but a tuneful meditation on death, decay and the void.
By embracing divergent collaborators but limiting themselves to 10 tracks and 35 minutes, the boys counter their only fault: sameness.
Mostly though, ‘Right Thoughts…’ hinges on embracing what Franz do well and aiming to do it better. But it’s not all about looking back.
Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action is a welcome return, fusing a crowd-pleasing sound with some of Franz Ferdinand's most interesting songwriting. Track for track, it may very well be the group's most satisfying album yet.
Franz Ferdinand have done what they didn’t quite manage on Tonight, combining their more experimental leanings with their irresistible dance-punk sound to create right thoughts, right words, right action, right album.
Right Thoughts… proves that reboots can sometimes trump reinvention, especially when it comes to otherwise messing with a good thing.
There’s nothing esoteric or markedly divergent here. It sounds precisely like what it is: a very straightforward Franz Ferdinand record.
Maturity is present here. But the best thing about Franz Ferdinand is the group’s perpetual youthfulness and vibrancy. They may fumble here and there, but, for the most part, their latest really does get it right.
Four albums in, Right Thoughts would be best summed up as a career snapshot. It’s the sort of record fans may well hold in high record in years to come. And whilst there are still flaws to be traced, it’s a marked improvement on Tonight.
It’s a satisfyingly snack-sized 35 minutes of pop bangers that doesn’t drop the ball once and never overstays its welcome.
A decade from now, a listener might hear Right Thoughts and wonder why it was ignored. Alternatively, they might not understand why Franz Ferdinand ever mattered at all. Context is everything in pop music, and though Franz Ferdinand have made a fine album, it’s hard not to feel like their time has passed.
It’s a tap on the shoulder, a reminder, or a nostalgic look back that this collective works best at providing kitschy, alternative dance anthems for millennials hellbent on shaking it to something more organic.
Ultimately Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is the work of a band too settled in their ways and perhaps nervous of straying too far from what they know to ever truly be loved.
While there are individual moments that are up there with the band’s best, ‘Right Thoughts…’ falls short of the return to form the opening tracks suggest.
In a year already host to some brilliant albums, it seems tired and dated.
The Scottish quartet have returned with their fourth LP, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions and like any band that have been out of the limelight for sometime coaxing themselves back into the game Franz have gone straight for the whipcracking approach with a record that is short, sharp and swift.
Their fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is just as resolute as the title.
Largely, Right Thoughts is business as usual--a steady, reliable and often invigorating business, but one that constantly, frustratingly hints that it’s capable of more.
A solid if uneven combination of tight, compact punkish rompers and meandering light rock offerings.
Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy, Bob Hardy and Paul Thompson hope to re-ignite Franz frenzy with an album that freewheels confidently from early '80s mutant disco to 1960s garage and back again.
These lyrics are all ... wordy.
While Right Words achieves a baseline level of quality or at least competency with the exception of “Goodbye Friends and Lovers” and "Love Illumination", they lack the conviction to take most of their lesser ideas to the realm of being unpleasant rather than kinda boring.
The experimental mindset is evident in moments of Right Thoughts, but only a select few, and like Tonight, it’s most prominent on the last few tracks.
A slight return to form for Franz, but for the most part a pretty standard album from the band. Sure, the punch of the first few albums weren’t really there, but for the most part a few of these tracks come pretty close nonetheless. Tracks like “Evil Eye” and “Brief Encounters” are pretty great indie rock songs with pretty good grooves and riffs. The last few tracks were pretty decent too, although some were kinda boring tbh. Idk, this album just feels like a more ... read more
The 4th album from Franz Ferdinand is another good one. It has the hooks, guitar riffs you would expect and catchy choruses. There is nothing new here from previous records and it's less inventive than their last but this is still a collection of quality songs. The first half in particular features great catchy tracks.
Fav Songs - Evil Eye, Love Illumination, Stand on the Horizon
"Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action" doesn't live up to their previous outings, but it's still a fun record with catchy lyrics and wonderful production.
Fav Tracks: Love Illumination, Right Action, Bullet, Evil Eye, Treason! Animals., Fresh Strawberries
Least Fav Track: Brief Encounters
Score:
7.8
Very Good
The 4th album from Franz Ferdinand is another good one. It has the hooks, guitar riffs you would expect and catchy choruses. There is nothing new here from previous records and it's less inventive than their last but this is still a collection of quality songs. The first half in particular features great catchy tracks.
Fav Songs - Evil Eye, Love Illumination, Stand on the Horizon
1 | Right Action 3:01 | 83 |
2 | Evil Eye 2:47 | 88 |
3 | Love Illumination 3:44 | 83 |
4 | Stand On the Horizon 4:23 | 86 |
5 | Fresh Strawberries 3:21 | 79 |
6 | Bullet 2:43 | 81 |
7 | Treason! Animals. 4:07 | 81 |
8 | The Universe Expanded 4:34 | 77 |
9 | Brief Encounters 3:09 | 78 |
10 | Goodbye Lovers and Friends 3:15 | 72 |
#27 | / | Amazon |
#28 | / | Q Magazine |
#46 | / | Rolling Stone |