Franz Ferdinand (album)

Franz Ferdinand is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand, first released on 9 February 2004^[9] through the Domino Recording Company. It was recorded during 2003 at Gula Studios in Malmö, Sweden, with Tore Johansson, who produced the majority of the album, with two tracks produced by the band themselves. It entered the United Kingdom album charts at number three in February 2004 and contains the UK top ten singles "Take Me Out" and "The Dark of the Matinée" as well as UK top 20 hit "Michael".

Franz Ferdinand
Studio album by Franz Ferdinand
Released	9 February 2004
Recorded	June–July 2003[1]
Studio	Gula (Malmö)[1]
Genre	Indie rock garage rock revival[2][3] post-punk revival dance-punk
Length	38:49
Label	Domino
Producer	Tore Johansson Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand chronology
Franz Ferdinand (2004) You Could Have It So Much Better (2005)
Singles from Franz Ferdinand
"Darts of Pleasure" Released: 8 September 2003[4] "Take Me Out" Released: 12 January 2004[5] "The Dark of the Matinée" Released: 19 April 2004[6] "Michael" Released: 16 August 2004[7] "This Fire" Released: 4 October 2004[8]

Franz Ferdinand won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and was nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. The album has since sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide,^[10] with over 1.27 million copies in the United Kingdom^[11] and at least 1 million copies in the US (corresponding to Platinum).^[12]

Reception

Critical

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	87/100[13]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[14]
Blender	[15]
The Guardian	[16]
Los Angeles Times	[17]
Mojo	[18]
NME	9/10[19]
Pitchfork	9.1/10[20]
Q	[21]
Rolling Stone	[22]
Uncut	[23]

Franz Ferdinand received universal critical acclaim, holding a score of 87 out of 100 on review aggregator site Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 31 reviews.^[13] Simon Fernand of BBC Music wrote that Franz Ferdinand "may not be a particularly long album, but it is a masterpiece of funky, punky, suave cool from the first track to the last."^[24] Anthony Thornton of NME cited Franz Ferdinand as the latest act in a line of art school rock bands with "the absolute conviction that rock 'n' roll is more than a career option" and praised the album as "the latest and most intoxicating example of the wonderful pushing its way up between the ugly slabs of Pop Idol, nu metal and Britons aping American bands."^[19] Heather Phares of AllMusic said that Franz Ferdinand "ends up being rewarding in different ways than the band's previous work was, and it's apparent that they're one of the more exciting groups to come out of the garage rock/post-punk revival."^[14] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a three-star honorable mention rating and quipped of the band: "Young enough to only work when they need the money, a musical tradition worth fighting for".^[25]

Franz Ferdinand is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die^[26] and was placed at number two on Planet Sound's Best Albums of 2004 list. Clash^[27] placed "Franz Ferdinand" at No.14 in its list of the top albums from 2004 to 2009. Online music magazine Pitchfork placed Franz Ferdinand at number 101 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.^[28]

Commercial

Franz Ferdinand had a positive commercial performance. The album entered the UK album charts at number 3 in February 2004 and at number 12 on the Australian ARIA album charts in April 2004. The album entered the Billboard 200 album charts on 26 April 2004, and climbed slowly, peaking at number 32 in December 2004.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy, unless noted otherwise. All tracks are produced by Tore Johansson except "Tell Her Tonight" and "This Fire", produced by Franz Ferdinand.

Franz Ferdinand (standard edition)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Jacqueline"	Bob Hardy, Kapranos, McCarthy	3:49
2.	"Tell Her Tonight"		2:17
3.	"Take Me Out"		3:57
4.	"The Dark of the Matinée"	Hardy, Kapranos, McCarthy	4:03
5.	"Auf Achse"		4:19
6.	"Cheating on You"		2:36
7.	"This Fire"		4:14
8.	"Darts of Pleasure"		2:59
9.	"Michael"		3:21
10.	"Come on Home"		3:46
11.	"40'"		3:24
Total length:			38:49

Franz Ferdinand (limited edition bonus disc - live at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, 07/11/2003)^[29]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Cheating on You"
2.	"Jacqueline"
3.	"Tell Her Tonight"
4.	"Shopping for Blood"
5.	"Take Me Out"
6.	"Love and Destroy"
7.	"Truck Stop"
8.	"This Fire"
9.	"Michael"
10.	"Darts of Pleasure"

Franz Ferdinand (limited edition bonus disc)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"This Fffire"		3:32
2.	"Van Tango"		3:26
3.	"Shopping for Blood"	Kapranos, McCarthy, Paul Thomson	3:34
4.	"All for You, Sophia"	Kapranos, McCarthy, Hardy	3:00
5.	"Words So Leisured"		2:18

All tracks are written by Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy, except when noted

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's CD cover and liner notes.^[30]

Franz Ferdinand

• Alex Kapranos – lead vocals, lead guitar
• Nick McCarthy – rhythm guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Bob Hardy – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Paul Thomson – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Artwork

• Vivian Lewis – back cover
• Joe Dilworth – band photo
• Roxanne Clifford – black and white photo
• Martin Clark – label photo
• Franz Ferdinand and Matthew Cooper – other artwork

Production

• Tore Johansson – producer
• Franz Ferdinand – producer (2, 7)
• Jens Lindgård – engineer
• Stefan Kvarnström – engineer
• Steve Rooke – mastering (Abbey Road)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2004–05) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[31] 12 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[32] 26 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[33] 7 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[34] 22 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[35] 24 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[36] 18 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[37] 13 French Albums (SNEP)[38] 26 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[39] 16 Italian Albums (FIMI)[40] 56 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[41] 5 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[42] 11 Scottish Albums (OCC)[43] 2 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[44] 43 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[45] 16 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[46] 35 UK Albums (OCC)[47] 3 UK Independent Albums (OCC)[48] 1 US Billboard 200[49] 32

Year-end charts Chart (2004) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[50] 51 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[51] 41 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[52] 96 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[53] 71 French Albums (SNEP)[54] 84 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[55] 90 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[56] 25 UK Albums (OCC)[57] 17 US Billboard 200[58] 111 Chart (2005) Position French Albums (SNEP)[59] 119 UK Albums (OCC)[60] 45

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[61]	Platinum	70,000^
Belgium (BEA)[62]	Gold	25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[63]	Gold	50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[64]	Gold	20,000^
Germany (BVMI)[65]	Gold	100,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[66]	Gold	20,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[67]	4× Platinum	1,290,000[68]
United States (RIAA)[12]	Platinum	1,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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2. Else, D. (2007). Great Britain. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74104-565-9.
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