Vistosa battuta di arresto per i gallesi Funeral For A Friend, che con questo "Tales Don'Tell Themselves" del 2007 imboccano definitivamente la via del pop rock "commerciale" (parola bruttissima lo so), abbandonando la buona commistione tra hardcore, emo, metal, e rock che li aveva caratterizzati in "Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation" e in "Hours".
Non c'è niente dei generi sopra citati in questo disco: molto rock scontato, questo sì, imbellettato da cori, irrobustito da chitarrone, addolcito da ballatone, ma resta sempre e comunque (e purtroppo) un prodotto per la quasi totalità scontato, che non ci si aspetta da una band di questo tipo.
Concept incentrato sulle vicende di un marinaio naufragato su un'isola deserta, il disco veleggia (o meglio, galleggia) moderatamente spedito, nel senso che si lascia ascoltare, si fa ricordare per qualche pezzo orecchiabile, ma in fondo non lascia altro se non un'amara sensazione di occasione sprecata.
"Into Oblivion" apre le danze: un pezzo tutto sommato carino e piacevole, molto melodico e immediato, che richiama per certi versi alcuni momenti di "Hours" soprattutto nei versi, per poi lanciarsi in un ritornello dalle velleità epiche. Purtroppo dopo questa traccia c'è poco o nulla... Salverei giusto l'energica "The Great Wide Open", dal ritmo serrato che cala vistosamente alla metà con un break che non riesce a entrarmi per niente in testa (e che spesso mi costringe a interrompere e a skippare oltre) e la parte prima di "All Hands On Deck" (denominata "Raise The Sail"), anch'essa in fondo discretamente energica e adrenalinica.
Il resto è calma piatta, melodie un po' vuote e scontate, addossate le une sulle altre che, come detto, sono ben suonate e prodotte, ma non alzano di certo il livello medio del disco, anzi.
Purtroppo mi vedo costretto a bocciare "Tales Don'Tell Themselves". Per quanto ho avuto modo di sentir dire anche il successivo (e per ora ultimo disco dei nostri) "Memory And Humanity" suona più o meno come il presente lavoro. Beh, se davvero è così preferisco tenermi i vecchi FFAF, quelli di "Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation" e di "Hours" (album quest'ultimo che ho sempre apprezzato tantissimo), e continuare a sperare che i nostri si riprendano da questi due naufragi e ricomincino a veleggiare spediti verso lidi a loro ben più congegnali.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Into Oblivion (Reunion) (04:23)
The days I've felt alone.
And the sea, it brings me back again.
So that I can see my wife.
And I can see my child.
Home, I'm home, it never changes,
Same old faces, same old places.
I stared into oblivion and found my own.
I stared into oblivion, into oblivion.
Find in me the home,
That you have never known.
Find in us the faith.
The faith to bring you home.
I stared into oblivion and found my own.
I stared into oblivion and found my own.
I stared into oblivion, and found my own reflection there.
(reflection there)
Home. Now that I'm coming home,
Will you be the same as when I saw you last?
Tell me how much time has passed? x3
I stared into oblivion (and found my own).
I stared into oblivion (and found my own).
I stared into oblivion (and found my own).
I stared into oblivion and found my own reflection there.
04 On a Wire (03:57)
I'm on fire
Close to the water
And I'll be saved again
Staring at the ocean, over and over
Will I ever see them again?
Why believe SOS?
Find a way to bring me home
I'm wanna be alone again, again
Find a ship to take me home
I don't wanna be alone again
Not again, not again, not again, not again
I'm on a wire, over the border
And I'll be saved again
Living on an island, over and over
I don't think I see them again
Why believe SOS?
Find a way to bring me home
I don't wanna be alone again
Not again, not again, not again, not again
As the daylight fades (daylight fades)
I am a broken man, all alone
As daylight fades (daylight fades)
And I'm just a broken man
All alone, with no home
Find a ship to take me home
I don't wanna be alone again
Not again, not again, not again, not again
Find a ship to take me home
I don't wanna be alone again
Not again, not again, not again, not again
05 All Hands on Deck, Part 1: Raise the Sail (03:27)
Horizon shows the signs,
the eye is getting closer,
birds don't fear the sky,
the clouds are looming over,
the vessel breaks the back it takes,
another wave that we must face.
Raise the sail,
as we all,
feel powerless.
Raise the sail,
as we all,
feel powerless.
Bloody hands reach out,
violence breaks my body,
drowning in the sea,
lifeboats lost without them,
the vessel breaks the it takes,
another wave that we must face.
Raise the sail,
as we all,
feel powerless.
Raise the sail,
as we all,
feel powerless.
Drowning in the wake,
as we all feel powerless.
Under crests of stars, water breaks a broken heart.
Under crests of stars, water breaks a broken heart.
Under crests of stars, water breaks a broken heart.
09 Walk Away (03:46)
All the words that we have to say
They don't leave when the moment comes
We know we have to wait
As the days go on and the places fade away
to dirt and to dust, it all fade away
And the waiting is the hardest thing to take
In an moment more before we break
If you have to let it go
And these dreams keep you awake
If you have to let it go
Walk away
In the shapes we want to see
Don't leave another piece that this puzzle needs
And the waiting is the hardest thing to take
In an moment more before we break
If you have to let it go
And these dreams keep you awake
If you have to let it go
Walk away
And the waiting is the hardest thing to take
In an moment more before we break
If you have to let it go
And these dreams keep you awake
If you have to let it go
Walk away
If you have to let it go
And these dreams keep you awake
If you have to let it go
Walk away (walk away)
If you have to let it go
And these dreams keep you awake
If you have to let it go
Walk away (walk away)
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