Franz Ferdinand – Hits to the Head – Double Red Vinyl Records

Description

Franz Ferdinand – Hits to the Head – Double Red Vinyl Records

The first stretch of Hits to the Head explains Franz Ferdinand’s appeal with very little delay. ‘Darts of Pleasure’ leads into ‘Take Me Out,’ ‘The Dark of the Matinée,’ ‘Michael’ and ‘This Fire’: songs built from restless guitars, sharp hooks and rhythms that invite movement. Released in 2022, this twenty-track collection gathers eighteen earlier recordings and two new songs, tracing the Glasgow band’s development from their first single in 2003. It gives their best-known material a clear setting alongside the turns they took after the breakthrough.

Alex Kapranos has a knack for making a song sound urbane and slightly unruly at once. The early recordings use clipped guitar exchanges and sudden changes in emphasis to make familiar pop structures feel freshly rearranged. ‘Take Me Out’ remains the most obvious example, with its change of pace arriving like a second entrance to the same room. ‘Michael’ and ‘The Dark of the Matinée’ are equally important here, showing how the band could turn a tightly wound performance into something playful, immediate and full of character.

The collection then moves through the brash ‘Do You Want To,’ the more measured ‘Walk Away’ and the busy interplay of ‘The Fallen’ and ‘Outsiders.’ ‘Lucid Dreams,’ ‘Ulysses’ and ‘No You Girls’ bring the electronic and club-minded interests of Tonight into the picture. Hearing that change beside the earlier singles makes the continuity easy to follow: the instrumentation shifts, but the songs still depend on memorable rhythmic ideas and a singer who knows when to lean into a phrase. The compilation has enough variety to keep its pace from becoming predictable.

‘Right Action,’ ‘Evil Eye’ and ‘Love Illumination’ pick up the next stage, followed by ‘Stand on the Horizon,’ ‘Always Ascending’ and ‘Glimpse of Love.’ The final two tracks, ‘Curious’ and ‘Billy Goodbye,’ were newly recorded for this release, with production shared by Kapranos, Julian Corrie and Stuart Price. Their inclusion lets the retrospective finish with the band actively making music. Rather than simply stopping at the last familiar single, the sequence carries its danceable pop instincts into two fresh recordings that sit comfortably with what came before.

Across four sides, Hits to the Head makes a useful introduction while also bringing a well-chosen run of songs together for listeners who already know the studio albums. Its reach is specific: the collection reflects the band’s history up to its 2022 release, including material from their first five studio albums and the two new additions. This red-vinyl double-LP edition comes in a gatefold sleeve with a sixteen-page booklet. The attraction is the music’s quick wit and physical momentum, sustained through a generous selection with very few reasons to lose your place.

Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic

Release Details

Artist

Franz Ferdinand

Album

Hits to the Head

Format

Double Red Vinyl Records

Media configuration

2 LPs

Original album release

2022

Label

Domino

Vinyl color

Red

Track Listing

Side A

Darts of Pleasure

Take Me Out

The Dark of the Matinée

Michael

This Fire

Side B

Do You Want To

Walk Away (7-inch version)

The Fallen (7-inch version)

Outsiders

Lucid Dreams

Side C

Ulysses

No You Girls

Right Action

Evil Eye

Love Illumination

Side D

Stand on the Horizon

Always Ascending

Glimpse of Love

Curious

Billy Goodbye