Framing Hanley
The Sum of Who We Are

Americans Framing Hanley are giving us the sum of who we are in their third offering, an album which has been financed by the band’s fans who contributed a very large sum of money to make this album a reality for the band. They do also have a new label, a great looking album cover and they wanted us to help raise awareness for their album here in Europe which is the heartland of our readers. It was actually released all the way back in april but I have not been quite that lazy as I got it a few months back so I have just been slightly lazy. But what about the album then, has it been worth my attention?

Well, it is modern rock/hardrock music in style. Modern production, a modern rock vocalist. Easy to take in radio friendly songs and a decent variation over thirteen tracks and three quarters of playing time. It is a solid product and has what you can expect from an album like this. Good vocalist towers above the melodies and the energy, I think this is a quite energetic and enthusiastic album. It is easy to take in but it has a bit of depth allowing you to repeat it quite a few times before tiring of it. Maybe not the most unique product I have ever heard, it is remnant of what I have heard from the genre before and doesn’t stylistically stand out particularly much.

It is a good album. A solid product. It is well produced, strong, energetic and powerful. It is a fairly delightful album to listen to, it is enjoyable and in its best moments it is a great album. Too bad that those best moments are a little few to raise this album to the top levels, not that it is bad it just lacks enough of that little extra that makes a good album great. I think that they should have dared a little more, move just a little outside that famous box. Maybe they figured that would alienate all those fans who contributed to the album, or maybe they just figured that conventional is the way to go. I think you should always alter the conventional with a bit of unconventionality, that makes for great stuff.

In the end though I think that anyone who likes this kind of music will find this album impressive, as a critic I am a bit less inclined to fall for things I have heard before and this style is something I have heard from other bands I have reviewed for Hallowed. Some of those bands are better and sharper than these guys, most of the bands are not. As I stated before I think that these guys are great in their best moments, and that alone makes it worth your while to play through the album.

The best moments I was alluding to earlier are mainly the opening track Criminal which is a very radio friendly as well as very good song. I also think that the second track Twisted Halos and the eighth track Unbreakable are very good, well worth listening to. In the end though I would say that fans of the similar bands and fans of the genre will most likely find this album being an excellent piece of work, and I would agree for some parts of it.

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