The Fray - How To Save A Life (CD)

All Music Guide

The Fray were among the first of the flood of bands that combined the influence of British neostadium acts like Coldplay and Keane, the retroAOR bands of the mid'90s chief among them Counting Crows and the Wallflowers and American emopop bands like Something Corporate and Jimmy Eat World. The Denver fourpiece has the requisite piano and flagwaving choruses of the Brits, the slick sound and unfailing conservatism of the AOR bands, and the overemoted vocals and confessional nature that are cornerstones of emo. All the songs on their debut, How to Save a Life, sound almost exactly alike and also exactly like you would expect sincere, melodic, authentic, and bereft of anything surprising or exciting. This doesn't make for the kind of record that people will want to listen to over and over again but for modern rock, it isn't halfbad. A couple of songs, like "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "Dead Wrong," might even sound good in the background of a WB teen drama. - Tim Sendra, All Music Gui...de Read more Less