The Fray and Roberta Flack are reviewed in this week's Playback.
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The Fray, “Scars and Stories,” (Epic). 3 stars.
Roberta Flack, “Let it Be: Roberta Flack Sings The Beatles” (429). 3 1/2 stars.
The Fray, “Scars and Stories,” (Epic). 3 stars.
The Fray have tasted big-time success – their 2005 debut went double platinum and their 2009 Grammy-nominated second album included the hit “You Found Me” – but the Denver-based foursome still have a way to go to match their role models like Led Zeppelin, U2 and Bruce Springsteen.
But the big sprawling anthems and power ballads on this, their third album, sure sound arena-made. Much of it, whether subtly or more direct is a travelogue of sorts, inspired by their worldwide travels on songs like “48 to Go” and “Rainy Zurich.” The lead single “Heartbeat” is a guitar soaring standout with a killer melody. And the lyric writing is significantly beyond most of their contemporaries as heard in meticulously crafted fare such as “1961” and “The Fighter.”
Produced by Brendan O’Brien and recorded at Nashville’s Blackbird Studios, the set comes in a couple of formats. The deluxe edition features five additional cuts – Annie Lennox’s “Why;” Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia;” The Fugees’ “Ready or Not;” Emmylou Harris’ “Boulder to Birmingham;” and The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Maps.”
Songs to download: “Heartbeat,” “1961”
Roberta Flack, “Let it Be: Roberta Flack Sings The Beatles” (429). 3 1/2 stars.
Roberta Flack has some interesting Beatles’ ties. Most notably she has been a good friend to Yoko Ono, as she was her late husband John Lennon. She’s also been a longtime resident of the Dakota, Lennon’s last home, outside of which he was murdered in 1980.
She’s done various Beatles’ songs on stage over time, but for her first new album in eight years, Flack has focused on the Beatles’ songbook, from new twists on standards to a few semi-obscure tracks.
The voice that brought us “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,” sounds as warm and dusky as it did 30 years ago on songs such as “We Can Work It Out,” an exotic “In My Life,” and a brief foray into the band’s solo canon with a version of George Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity.”
There’s a 1972 Carnegie Hall live version of “Here, There, and Everywhere.” And some very inventive arrangements add to several tracks, particularly “And I Love Her (Him),” “The Long & Winding Road,” and an unexpected “I Should Have Known Better.”
Songs to download: “And I Love Her (Him),” “Isn’t it a Pity.”
Rating Scale: One Star (poor) to Five Stars (a classic).