Scars & Stories

Smart rock from The Fray

The band from Colorado was formed in 2002 and it took the musicians three years to write the original material and to record it in the studio. Thereby their debut album titled How To Save A Life saw the light. That very record proved to be a breakthrough for the artist, as soon as many music lovers were attracted by The Fray’s creations. That record was good, and it was even good enough to get a place in the Top 15 of the famous Billboard 200 chart. Actually not so many groups can be proud of such a confident beginning of a career. Just like this, step by step, The Fray found their place in the sun, supported by fans and acclaimed by the critics. Later there were lots of concerts, which made the quartet’s audience even bigger. Combining gigs and songwriting, the band finally prepared songs for the second long play, which was issued in 2009. The self-titled album got to the very top of the Billboard 200 chart, and that fact proves that listeners had been looking forward to get that studio attempt. The musicians completely satisfied the fans’ expectations and the band remained faithful to its style. The Fray’s thoughtful rock was still in the groove. The quartet presented its brand new creation in 2012 - Scars & Stories included a dozen of amazing songs.

Lyrical Scars & Stories

Lyrical attitude has always been and it still is the basis of the Denver quartet’s creativity. Fortunately, some things just remain unchanged, and the direction, chosen by The Fray, is one of these things. It must be mentioned that the band traveled a lot before starting working in the studio. The musicians wrote seventy (!) songs, and only twelve were chosen for the album. It is a serious selection, no doubt about it. This way, Scars & Stories got simply the best compositions. The very first track, Heartbeat, lets us make sure of this. The soft sound of bass, delicate guitar in verses and truly powerful sound in choruses – everything is performed in The Fray’s signature style. The song The Fighter keeps on developing the theme of major-lyrical motives. It is followed by a composition Turn Me On that got quite an interesting part of bass-guitar. As in any band, which respects its own creativity, that instrument was given a notable role, as soon as the low frequencies are the basis of the whole composition. The Fray musicians know that perfectly, and that is why their songs can be a great example of the importance of a bass-guitar. In fact, all the songs of the band are worked out in an elaborated way, so the instruments complete each other and they do sound in a harmony. That way lets the vocal parts demonstrate its strength in a full volume. Thus, The Wind is an excellent presentation of collaboration of all the members of the band, while the text is an important and beautiful addition to the musical components.

Music for lovers of romance

There is no doubt that traveling was extremely useful for The Fray. The artists got a lot of impressions, and later all the emotions from new places and cultures found their place and reflection within Scars & Stories compositions. The musicians presented their signature lingering sound, which was not a revelation, of course, but the fans had been waiting exactly for that concept and for that very sound. Scars & Stories satisfied all the expectation and became a great addition to the quartet’s discography. The Fray is not the most productive band in the aspect of studio albums quantity; however one should understand that they concentrate on the quality first of all, not on the quantity. We must give a proper respect for the artists: they manage to do everything they had planned to, and every single song gets its unique attitude, showing this or that mood of the musicians. Scars & Stories once again brings quite cozy atmosphere for the listeners, which consists of nice music, smart and thoughtful lyrics and professional performance. This record is recommended to all the connoisseurs of thoughtful rock!