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Frank Turner - Be More Kind (May 4, 2018) Album • Page 26

Discussion in 'Music Forum' started by okayibelieveyou, Jan 28, 2018.

  1. .K.

    Trusted Prestigious

    It is meant to stand out alone though for a very speacial reason.
    I understand what you mean. In a way, I agree that Silent Key is the final song on Positive Songs in studio recorded sense wrap up the album. I think Song for Josh has a more important and special meaning and stands alone as few songs could. To record the song live in the place he worked in a very strong tribute. It was planned. PSFNP is about Frank. I feel like he separated it out of respect for his friend and as the lasting message for people to take away from. It wasn’t an after thought. You can’t bury that song as a track on a record.
     
    Sean Murphy likes this.
  2. Donnie Ruth

    Trusted Supporter

    Pretty sure when he played the 930 Club after the album came out (where Josh worked) he did his set, then an encore, then came back out for a 2nd encore and played Song for Josh.

    Must have crushed everyone there.
     
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  3. Brother Beck

    Trusted Supporter

    I needed some mellow positivity today during my commute to work, so I gave an altered version of Be More Kind another try. I went with this tracklist:

    1. Don’t Worry
    2. Little Changes
    3. Blackout
    4. 21st Century Survival Blues
    5. 1933
    6. The Lifeboat
    7. There She Is
    8. Brave Face
    9. Going Nowhere
    10. Be More Kind

    This so far has been the only version of this album that even comes close to working for me, but even then I do not think “Little Changes”, “Brave Face” or “Going Nowhere” are good songs. I would LOVE to swap one or two of them out for a great b-side from an EP of other material from those sessions like Frank tends to release somewhat close to main albums.

    I thought I remembered reading that “Song For Josh” was always intended to be the closer for PSFNP but that they just felt that live recording which was ultimately used was special and powerful and that nothing they recorded in the studio would approach that level of raw emotion.
     
  4. JaytotheGee

    Trusted Prestigious


    Also listened today and can get down with that track list
     
  5. Brother Beck

    Trusted Supporter

    I've been listening to my admittedly very altered and shortened version of this album almost exclusively on my ride to and from work for several days now, and my appreciation for a few of these songs has grown a lot. In general, for me the album was hurt overall by too many mellow and 'slight' seeming songs, like ditties for lack of a better description, and by having too many such songs stacked up against each other. Energy wise it's all valleys and no peaks, with maybe one tall hill and a few other bumps to run this metaphor all the way into the ground. From an artist like Frank whose music usually blasts energy and passion at you it was a huge curveball for me.

    "The Lighthouse" is probably the song for which my appreciation has grown the most. It reminds me a lot of Frank Turner doing a Josh Ritter song, and I mean that as a compliment and not as a slight. I couldn't even get through the entire song on past listens, and for me now it has blossomed into a pretty damn powerful song.

    "Going Nowhere" is probably next for me, followed by "Brave Face". These two definitely work much, much better for me in the altered tracklist separated out from so many other songs at the same low energy level. "Brave Face" strikes me as the kind of song that would have been a banger with a different producer(s), as if these guys struggled to bottle the energy and passion Frank usually brings to songs like this and get it onto the record.

    "Little Changes" remains the weakest of the tracks that I kept for me. I love everything about it - from the message to the video to the fact that my therapist would love the idea that I'm rocking out to a song partially inspired by CBT - except for the song itself.

    I think the one song I was most disappointed in personally for this project was "Make America Great Again". While I do think it would be improved with a different arrangement and better production, it would still remain a lyrical softball on an issue that I think deserves a more impassioned response. The level of hurt and damage rained down upon actual human beings lives by the mindset and behaviors that go along with the phrase warranted more than just a "guys, we need to be nicer to each other", especially from someone like Frank. I know it's not really fair to hold up a song or a movie or a book against what you expected or wanted it to be, but I think in this case, if you're going to go there with a subject like this you have to be ready to play ball.
     
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  6. Donnie Ruth

    Trusted Supporter

    Frank released a Don't Worry EP today.

    It only has 2 new tracks. Bar Staff is certainly a more exciting, catchy (compared to the BMK album) drinking song, and How It Began is a song that’s been floating out on YouTube for a while and he played it live in Boston, but it’s a slower love song with a hint of sadness which is pretty good.

    There’s a Little Changes alternate version with more choir and I did not listen to it.
     
    Brother Beck and .K. like this.
  7. Brother Beck

    Trusted Supporter

    I can't find this anywhere for purchase yet. I'm only able to find anything on Spotify. Do you think this gets released later in the week everywhere else...?
     
  8. Donnie Ruth

    Trusted Supporter

    I don’t think it’ll be released anywhere as a physical release:
    97784617-5557-4508-BC02-5DA7BAF9C415.jpeg
     
  9. abw123

    Trusted

    You can buy it on Itunes.
     
    JimmyIymmiJ likes this.
  10. Brother Beck

    Trusted Supporter

    Thanks for the heads up - when I checked earlier this morning it wasn't available.
     
  11. Pavel

    Newbie

    You should, I think it's great.
     
    johnnyferris likes this.
  12. JaytotheGee

    Trusted Prestigious

    I enjoy the EP!
     
  13. Lex

    the horizon is my home

    I definitely like it, but like the last album, it feels very forgettable to me. I do like this version of Little Changes better in a lot of ways, but for me it's not something I'll ever have on repeat.
     
  14. .K.

    Trusted Prestigious

    I think this album has a happy positive Frank that we all need to get used to.
     
  15. Sean Murphy

    Prestigious Supporter

    Whether he is positive or negative has nothing to do with why I don't like most of his new material tbh
     
    SpyKi and Donnie Ruth like this.
  16. .K.

    Trusted Prestigious

    I think we get accustom to what kind of music an artist produces tonally. Do you like 1933? It’s sort of different than most of the record and more similar to his previous work.

    With Frank getting engaged and feeling playfully experimental, I could imagine him doing more songs like Little Canges in the future.
     
  17. Brother Beck

    Trusted Supporter

    I am honestly on board with all of the happiness and the positivity, and the experimentation musically, but I personally don't feel that the songwriting on Be More Kind was up to Frank's usually high standard. That being said, (my version of) the album has grown on me a little bit and I think it is a little better than I initially gave it credit for, but I still think it is somewhat slight in a way that none of his past albums have been.
     
    SpyKi likes this.
  18. abw123

    Trusted

    Agree with most of this. Think the songs are fine individually, they just don't really stand up (as an album) to his others. Hoping we get "Angry Frank" back on the next album.
     
  19. Brother Beck

    Trusted Supporter

    I was holding off on saying anything because I love Frank and don't to be a downer here, but I am a little disappointed in the new EP only because I was hoping for some great hidden gems that would give Be More Kind a little oomph. The only real new new one is 'Bar Staff' and it's a cool song but it doesn't really fit on BMK and it is nothing amazing or anything. Like I don't think it holds a candle to any of the great b-sides from PSFNP or TDH.
     
  20. Donnie Ruth

    Trusted Supporter

    Whether Frank is writing "positively" or "negatively" has absolutely nothing to do with why I dislike Be More Kind. Be More Kind felt lifeless. It bored me to death and had a real lack of that typical Frank Turner urgency and energy. 1933, Blackout, & Be More Kind are the only tracks I revisit.

    PSFNP is an album, for the most part, written in a positive tone. The album title would also back up my point (despite tracks such as Mittens or a Song For Josh). That is maybe my favorite Frank record and hit me at time in my life I NEEDED to hear that message. The songs all have life and urgency. Sure the lyrics aren't written from a person going through a bad breakup (TDH) or a young angry musician (LI&S), but it worked.

    Be More Kind has a good message behind it, but was not executed in great fashion lyrically or musically. It confuses me how proud and how much he worked on it, as I just cannot see where all that hard work and energy went to (when comparing it to his former albums). This also depresses me to say as Frank is a top 3 musician and a top 2 favorite live show for me.
     
  21. Brother Beck

    Trusted Supporter

    I’ve been listening to my abridged and reshuffled version of Be More Kind a lot lately because I’ve needed some mellow and positive music, but I unfortunately agree with almost everything you say about it here. I personally would throw ‘21st Century Survival Blues’ and ‘The Lifeboat’ in there as worthy of revisiting as well, but I really can’t muster up much of an argument in favor of any of the other songs even though I do enjoy some of them a bit.
     
  22. .K.

    Trusted Prestigious

    I like Be More Kind far more now than I did when it came out. It’s probably sits near the bottom 2-3 Frank records for me, but I think I’m on board with a bunch of songs. I don’t find it lifeless, but that’s just my opinion. I do totally agree that between BMK and the Don’t Worry EP my expectations were much higher. This writing cycle is lacking something. Maybe it’s a certain edge or certain storytelling moments. Maybe it’s the cheesy moments. I don’t know.

    I will say I’ve loved hearing every interview he’s done about this record. He’s unapologetic and honest, and has a great view on his reality.

    I’m still very on board the idea of him releasing something again sooner rather than later.
     
    Brother Beck likes this.
  23. irthesteve

    formerly irthesteve Prestigious

    "Bar Staff" is super fun
     
  24. .K.

    Trusted Prestigious

    Sand Ine The Gears never got a proper release. I could have imagined him throwing something like that on an EP like this.... unless he does another B side collection...which I hope he does
     
  25. Snoblin

    Goblin Person Prestigious

    This version of little changes should be the standard version. Feels far better.
     
    Lex likes this.