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Frank Turner


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I had a look and this thread doesn't seem to exist. There's one for Tape Deck Heart as an album but not one for the man himself overall so I thought I'd make it. 

I am an old school Frank Turner fan. I first got into him before his first record when he'd released the EPs Campfire Punk Rock and The Real Damage. I loved them to death, learned what I can and with the release of his first two records I had found a musician that I not only ridiculously enjoyed and admired, but one that I was actually glad to be influenced by. As a songwriter up until this point my influences were all pop punk related. Now Frank has punk roots, but this was folk-punk-weirdness and it bled into a lot of my songwriting and it's still present to this day. I got to see him live three times before he got as big as he is now. The first time was easily the best show I have ever experienced. One of the openers was Jacob Golden who I still have a soft spot for, but the reason this show stood out was because it was just Frank with his acoustic on his own, and he was late - because he was coming back from a funeral. Unknown to us at the time, it was the funeral of the woman he sings about in "Long Live The Queen". He was clearly distraught, but he did the show anyway. This was a while before the release of Love Ire & Song (the record Long Live The Queen is on) but he played 3 songs from the record -It was so long between that I'm never really sure which ones, the only one I'm sure of is Hold Your Tongue, which was a bonus track - because he called it a 'part 2' to 'A Decent Cup Of Tea' when I spoke to him afterwards which to this day is one of my favourite Frank songs of all time. 

When he got close to the closer, he played "The Ballad Of Me and My Friends" which is the most iconically "Frank" song to exist, and he cried. it was heart breaking. 

After the show, I met him, hugged him, thanked him, discussed the songs like I said, and I got a picture with him (I'd post it but we're talking about MySpace days, I'll find it later) and it's still one of my fondest show memories. He was broken but he opened up on stage, he spoke and drank with fans afterwards and stuck around. He travelled from London to Cardiff (which is a 3+ hours journey) straight after a funeral to play that show. it was special and incredibly sad. 

I've gone into this much detail because I'm hoping it gives a good enough picture of how much I adored his music and how much it means to me. To this day, one of the defining connections of myself and my best friend of the last 12 years is a mutual adoration of Franks music. 

So after said two records, my 'relationship' with his music got weird. I hated his third record 'Poetry Of The Deed' and to this day I hate it. it's just so cheap seeming. like he was trying to focus entirely on what people knew him for instead of just writing good music. I was so disappointed by that record that I basically ignored his career for a few years. I stuck to the early stuff and I loved it. England Keep My Bones came out with it's obnoxious singles and I continued to not bother. It was only when Tape Deck Heart was released that my icy exterior softened. Tape Deck Heart is not an amazing album, but there are some amazing songs on it that are so intriguing and honest that I fell in love with it. 'Tell Tale Signs' is now one of my favourite frank numbers because it's just... perfect, really. Because of Tape Deck and the recommendation of a friend, I gave the full England Keep My Bones a good go and once again - there's some amazing songs on it (Specifically 'Redemption' and 'Wanderlust') but the album as a whole isn't amazing. So I was content with a frank who produced songs I love in albums I was sort of 'hmm' about. 

Then he released Positive Songs For Negative People and I fell right back into "Seriously, Frank?" territory. Because it's kind of awful. There's a handful of 'alright' songs on it (Josephine is probably my favourite) but the majority of them are just cheesy and boring. Mittens has got to be one of the dumbest choruses I've ever heard. so I've been annoyed but mindful that my mind might change with the next release.

I still think that, but he dropped a new song today for his upcoming record - which is 'alternative' versions of old frank numbers, and this random new one. 

I find this song to be insipidly dull. so I'm not amused.

 

Anyway, I know quite a few people have mentioned Frank around here before so, any fans - whats your verdict on his career as a whole? do you have any interesting Frank related stories? Because I've got more lol 

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Never really listened to him, but my sister is super into him. I keep meaning to listen to his stuff but never round to it. I have Love, Ire & Song at home so will try and check it out at some point. 

I saw him live with blink earlier this year in Birmingham and his show was 100x better than blinks. He really connected with the crowd and told an amusing story about how the last time he was at the NEC/NIa (can't remember the venue) it was for Warhammer World 1995 (or thereabouts) which was highly amusing. 

But yeah, I know diddly about him, other than he seems like such a genuine normal dude and even though I knew none of his music, I was still thoroughly entertained. 

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44 minutes ago, Rocky Braveheart said:

Never really listened to him, but my sister is super into him. I keep meaning to listen to his stuff but never round to it. I have Love, Ire & Song at home so will try and check it out at some point. 

I saw him live with blink earlier this year in Birmingham and his show was 100x better than blinks. He really connected with the crowd and told an amusing story about how the last time he was at the NEC/NIa (can't remember the venue) it was for Warhammer World 1995 (or thereabouts) which was highly amusing. 

But yeah, I know diddly about him, other than he seems like such a genuine normal dude and even though I knew none of his music, I was still thoroughly entertained. 

Definitely check out Love Ire & Song it's arguably his best overall album - I prefer Sleep Is For The Week (his first record) but it's a lot rawer and a bit sillier in places, Love Ire & Song is the first record of his where the songs are as solid as the production. England Keep My Bones might be a good one for you too. 

He is fantastic live and he is usually quite interesting and down to earth, I'd recommend him to most people tbh. 

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Frank's one of those artists for me who when they get it right, they can be untouchable, but when they don't, the results can be pretty awful (Richard Divine or Mittens, anyone?). 

 

Ive been listening to Poetry Of The Deed recently, it was never an album I rated that highly, but there are some cracking tunes on it. There's also some terrible ones. I've always found his albums to be pretty inconsistent, there's always great moments, but there's also some pretty average ones. England Keep My Bones and Love, Ire and Song are the two go-to albums for me. I don't mind the new song, it's a bit one-note though  

 

He is insanely good live, and by all accounts a very decent human being. 

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I actually love "Mittens" and I find the album kind of cheesy too. 

I think Sleep Is for the Week is the best one. I think I bought Poetry of the Deed the first time I saw him in 2014. It's an ok album, but I haven't listen to it much. Love and Ire have some cool songs too and was a step up. I love Take You Home and the opening song and overall it's a pretty great album. I feel like England Keep My Bones is a bit hit/Miss some songs are a bit boring others are brilliant, same goes for Tape Deck Heart. I think his best songs definitely are on there. Tell Tale Signs and Losing Days are probably my favorite songs of his. Losing Days feels very special to me for some reason.

I wasn't too into Positive Songs at all. It wasn't bad, but wasn't particularly good either. 

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I really hate Mittens. like a ridiculous amount - it had a lot of potential but it's just a bit wank. "I once wrote you love songs... you never fell in love!" I mean, well...really? 

but I'm on the same page as you thongrider in regards to the good and bad records and England / Tape Deck being pretty up and down.

3 hours ago, Broken English said:

Frank's one of those artists for me who when they get it right, they can be untouchable, but when they don't, the results can be pretty awful (Richard Divine or Mittens, anyone?). 

 

Ive been listening to Poetry Of The Deed recently, it was never an album I rated that highly, but there are some cracking tunes on it. There's also some terrible ones. I've always found his albums to be pretty inconsistent, there's always great moments, but there's also some pretty average ones. England Keep My Bones and Love, Ire and Song are the two go-to albums for me. I don't mind the new song, it's a bit one-note though  

 

He is insanely good live, and by all accounts a very decent human being. 

Yeah basically. Glory Hallelujah is an example of that for me... on the same album as goddamn Redemption and I Am Disappeared he lands us with that POS. 

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Frank is awesome but like you said he gives and takes, on every record there's at least one really weak song. That being said he is on of the more amusing artists out there and truly seems like a greta guy to hang out with.

I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous is one truly great song along with so many others but that one is probably my favourite song.

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