Razorlight were formed as a band in 2002 by the singer-songwriter Johnny Borrell – a man who was reportedly a stand-in bassist for The Libertines for a short space of time during their early days before getting signed. Notoriously arrogant, Johnny Borrell is a man who is hated by many as in fact is this second album from the band. When released in July 2006, this self-titled second album was greeted with a mixed reception from the critics; even being nominated in the Worst Album category at the 2007 NME Awards as voted by the readers. Although their magazine writer clearly enjoyed it having rated the album an 8 out of 10, apparently this enthusiasm was not shared by the readers and to be honest that is entirely understandable.
Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the first album from the band, particularly the single ‘Golden Touch’ – I can’t say that I share the same enthusiasm for their second album, and in fact at times found it to be entirely tiresome. Sure, there are a few tracks that do stand out and are enjoyable, but for the most part the album is unmemorable and in fact quite dreary and depressing. Even when the album is good, it’s not quite great with the dreary factor ever present in each of the album’s ten tracks. ‘In The Morning’ gives the album a promising opener, however next track ‘Who Needs Love’ is really rather dull. On the subject of ‘In The Morning’ however, this track encapsulates everything that I love about the band; it is lively, energetic, and exciting. A joy to listen to, ‘In The Morning’ could not have possibly provided the album with a better opener, however the fact that it is perhaps the album’s finest moment is quite a depressing prospect.
Although ‘Hold On’ is a semi-satisfying track, it is not until we reach ‘America’ that we are again treated to a bit of class and excitement. I absolutely love this track and often find myself singing along as I listen to it. With a strong chorus and exactly the kind of drum beat that I love – ‘America’ contains the perfect formula for a decent track and certainly does not disappoint. ‘Before I Fall to Pieces’ is likewise a quality offering from the band, and is exactly the kind of music which Razorlight should be writing every time. Forget the fillers lads, concentrate on more tracks like this and perhaps next time the critics wont slam you quite so hard. A joy to listen to, ‘Before I Fall to Pieces’ is one you can listen to over and over without ever really tiring of. There is a feel good factor about the track which gives it an addictive quality, so one listen is never quite enough. If only the same could be said of the album as a whole.
‘Pop Song 2006’ is again undeniably a top quality track, another which will get you in the mood for singing and dancing. It is a confusing one that a band that can at times get their guitar riffs so perfect can at times get them so wrong. ‘Pop Song 2006’ hits all the right notes for me, and although it does seem to drag a bit towards the end I would still consider it to be one of the albums finer points. Other than this I think that I am pretty much empty handed for positive things to say about this album other than the strength which the band show in penultimate track ‘Back To The Start’. It is not the wordiest of tracks, but I find it to be strangely enjoyable a song – one I find myself listening to an awful lot in fact.
Being a drummer I find that with some bands, their drumming draws me to them more so than any other aspect of the music can. Razorlight are a prime example of one of those bands, and I find their drumming style to be oddly hypnotic. It is not massively technical, but there is just something oddly drawing about it which ropes me in every time, even when the rest of the track falls flat on its face. I have always felt this way about the drumming style of Razorlight, and in fact on their first album there was a DVD included featuring live renditions of a number of the album’s best tracks which I thoroughly enjoyed for watching the drummer do his thing live in action. So, even when the album seemingly only consists of fillers (around 50% of the time I would say) there is still some enjoyment to be gained from the listening experience.
The self-titled second album from Razorlight is a hard one to sum up. It’s an album of two halves it would seem; one half filler, one half killer. It’s not that simple however as the divide is not clear cut and in order to get to the stronger tracks you will have to trudge through the inferior tracks in the process. Whilst I would recommend this album in part in that there are some decent tracks on display here and the drumming is of an excellent standard, I would also discourage listening to this album at the same time as it is half bad after all. Whilst Razorlight’s début album was fresh and exciting, their second shows signs of the band going stale and this is really rather sad to see. ‘Razorlight’ as an album had great potential, however it would seem that it has failed to show the best in the band and is therefore somewhat of a disappointment.
Label: Mercury Music
Release Date: 17th July 2006
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
