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Critic Reviews
83
It’s an uncommonly smart record full of unexpected, delightful detours.
10y
80
It’s perfect like a sharp knife is perfect, or a Nokia 3310 is perfect, or a light-up dance-floor is perfect, or maybe like an AC/DC album is perfect: it does the job you need it to do. It succeeds entirely on its own, self-contained terms.
11y
80
There’s more here than mere novelty appeal – enough to make you hope they repeat the experiment at some point.
11y
80
Rather like that other excellent celebrity partnership a few years ago of David Byrne and St Vincent, this is a perfect combination of two very distinctive sounds.
10y
80
Virtually every song on FFS unfolds with boundless energy and hooks aplenty. It could almost be called a “zany” affair, but the content of these songs is a little too poignant for that.
10y
80
Out of this six-mind brainstorm emerges a classy melange of sweeping disco-pop, jaunty operatics and playful art-rock; often knowingly silly, but always seriously good.
11y
80
A near-perfect blend of Sparks and Franz Ferdinand's skills, FFS is a collaboration that works very well and offers just about everything a fan of either band could want.
11y
75
It’s evident from the outset that things on FFS are going to work out just fine, and the record keeps that momentum flowing largely through to the end.
11y
75
Over 45 minutes, the combination of Sparks and Franz Ferdinand creates a thrilling, rollicking ride of sex-starved, amphetamine-laced, glitter-splattered, satire-drenched rock music.
10y
71
This is not a meeting of equals, and it doesn't have to be. It's a marquee-name band throwing their weight behind a cult act that clearly inspired them—and the cult act showing who's really in charge.
10y
70
The project never sounds like Franz Ferdinand aping Sparks, nor Sparks mimicking Franz Ferdinand. For the most part, FFS just do FFS, and on the right day, it’s a joy.
10y
70
When two such spiky forms collide you can’t expect everything to click, but ‘FFS’ is still a wonder of gelling idiosyncrasies.
11y
70
Both bands share a wildly eccentric sense of melodrama, which is why the combo clicks.
10y
60
While some moments are clearly domain of a single entity, the truth is that the six-headed monster don’t always make it that easy, instead opting to blur their sensibilities into a playful, dance rock smear.
11y
I will complete my Franz Ferdinand reviews by looking at their collaboration with Sparks. FFS was released between Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action and Always Ascending. As you would expect with a Sparks involvement the album is fun and quirky in places. The styles mix well although their are a few misses which prevents this from being a great album. The best example of the groups mixing is in Collaborations Don't Work where you almost hear a Sparks and a FF song merge into one. Some ... read more
This collaboration between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks DOES work... most of the time. Both of their tongue-in-cheek irreverence are great together and the quirky lyrics makes this record very fun. There are a few times where the quirky production can get awkward, especially on "So Desu Ne", but the rest of this project is pretty solid.
Fav Tracks: Collaborations Don't Work, Little Guy From The Suburbs, Piss Off, Johnny Delusional, The Man Without A Tan, Call Girl
Least Fav Track: So ... read more
Most of these tracks are a fun time, and the bands blend together really well. A song like "Police Encounters" is exactly what one would imagine this to sound like. Yet something about this project is underwhelming. The whole is just not greater than the sum of the the parts, and it somehow fits too snuggly in both discographies.
WOW. Not listened to much Franz Ferdinand as I type this but this supergroup album with Sparks is a masterpiece. I adore everything about this, big kudos to both these artists.
Contributions By
patton, thisisabtlgrnd, Alejandro González, erik, Edgeworth, AndreManfre93, Glitchy, sgtrock412, Lazers, bgodBecome a Subscriber
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Track List
| 1 | Johnny Delusional 3:11 | 84 |
| 2 | Call Girl 3:21 | 77 |
| 3 | Dictator's Son 4:15 | 61 |
| 4 | Little Guy from the Suburbs 5:09 | 66 |
| 5 | Police Encounters 3:10 | 70 |
| 6 | Save Me from Myself 3:57 | 71 |
| 7 | So Desu Ne 3:52 | 60 |
| 8 | The Man Without a Tan 3:28 | 66 |
| 9 | Things I Won't Get 3:03 | 55 |
| 10 | The Power Couple 3:01 | 62 |
| 11 | Collaborations Don't Work 6:42 | 66 |
| 12 | Piss Off 3:55 | 68 |
Total Length: 47 minutes
Year End Lists
| #14 | / | FLOOD |
| #23 | / | Rough Trade |
| #30 | / | Under the Radar |
| #34 | / | Q Magazine |
| #34 | / | The Guardian |
| #34 | / | Uncut |
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