''Tales Don't Tell Themselves'' is the third album by Welsh
post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...
band
Funeral for a Friend
Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band from Bridgend, Wales, Bridgend, formed in 2001. The band's members are Kris Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, vocals), Darran Smith (guitar), Richard Boucher (bass), an ...
. It charted at #3 in the UK selling 25,000 copies in its first week and later went silver.
Production
During the recording of the album, Matt Davies used the same microphone he used to record the group's first album ''
Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation'' and Ryan Richards recorded his drum parts by recording cymbals separately from the rest of his drum parts and replacing the normal cymbals with electric ones whilst recording basic drums. Davies plays guitar on several of the songs; this is the first album in which he has done so.
Composition
Davies has mentioned that it is a
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
:
Release
The album was released on 14 May 2007. Before the release of the album, the band released several short studio update videos informing fans of their progress. The album was released in Japan with two bonus tracks: "Rise and Fall" and "Crash and Burn (Home Demo)"; which were also sold as bonus tracks on iTunes.
On 13 February 2007, the band released the track "Out of Reach" as a taster for fans. The lead single from the album, "Into Oblivion (Reunion)", was released on 7 May 2007. The song was first played on The
Zane Lowe
Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence through pr ...
rock show on 19 March and the official music video was uploaded to the band's MySpace page shortly after. "Into Oblivion (Reunion)" reached number 16 in the UK charts in its first week. It was nominated for the
Kerrang! Award for Best Single
The ''Kerrang!'' Award for Best Single is an honor presented at the Kerrang! Awards, ''Kerrang!'' Awards, an annual ceremony established in 1993 to recognise achievements in rock music. The award was renamed 'Best Song' for the 2018 ceremony onwar ...
. The song was once featured on
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
, with
David Platt sat in his car listening to the song.
According to Davies, speaking at a performance at Manchester's Apollo Theatre, the second single from the album is to be "Walk Away". It was released on 23 July 2007 and reached number 40 in the UK Charts.
everyHit.com - UK Top 40 Chart Archive, British Singles & Album Charts
/ref> It was accompanied by a music video featuring a fisherman who goes missing. It follows his wife and daughter both breaking down. The video ends with the mother realising she cannot go on like this and trying to continue with her life. There are also scenes of Davies singing on a couch. The video featured actress Amanda Ryan and was filmed on location in the town of Whitstable
Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent, England, at the convergence of the The Swale, Swale and the Greater Thames Estuary, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay, Kent, Herne Bay.
The town, formerly known as Whitstable-on-Se ...
on the north Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
coast in April 2007. The interior scenes were shot in another house on the seafront, not the house shown on the external shot. The video was played on 8 June 2007 on ''Kerrang!'' TV. The video concerns the missing fisherman around whom the album is based. It follows his wife and daughter both breaking down. The video ends with the mother realising she cannot go on like this and trying to continue with her life. There are also scenes of Davies singing on a couch. The video was added to the Kerrang! playlist.
Reception
''Tales Don't Tell Themselves'' received mixed reception from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 52, based on 6 reviews, which indicates "Mixed or average reviews".
Track listing
Charts
Singles
References
{{Authority control
2007 albums
Funeral for a Friend albums
Atlantic Records albums
Albums produced by Gil Norton