You Could Have it So Much Better?

I was anxious to hear the new Franz Ferdinand album, You Could Have It So Much Better... With Franz Ferdinand. After such an impressive debut, I was hoping they would avoid the sophomore slump. Productshop referred to Franz as the 00's Elastica - great debut, lackluster follow-up - not a ringing endorsement. With barbs like this in mind, I've spent a couple of days listening to You Could Have It, and I've gotta say, overall it may be a better album. I don't think there's an obvious stand-out track like "Take Me Out" (although "Do You Want To" comes close) but the album has a better overall balance than Franz Ferdinand did. However, Franz tries to push their muscianship a bit and throw in a couple of slow tracks - not a good idea, as they are clearly the weaker tracks on the album. My faves from You Could Have It are "Outsiders," "The Fallen," "You're the Reason I'm Leaving," "I'm Your Villain," and "Do You Want To." Let's keep it upbeat, shall we?