Foals, Part 2 Everything not Saved Will Be Lost, Album Review
Foals
Part 2 Everything Not Saved Will be Lost
Album Review
After fans got to see Indie-rock revolutionaries Foals make a full-form return in 2019 with the announcement that they'd not only be releasing one, but two albums, all eyes have been on them to pull out all the stops.
We had the first part of this two-piece project back in March, with Part 1 Everything Not Saved Will be Lost. I for one really enjoyed the slight return to their older material, while simultaneously being quite a new sound from Foals. However, there was already talk of this album long before its first teaser track. According to an interview with Yannis Philippakis, the frontman of Foals, each album was meant to represent two different styles.
While Part 1 supposedly presented a more textured and colourful track list, Part 2 was created to carry the "heavier" bangers. This definitely seemed so with the first two teaser tracks; the awesomely gritty "Black Bull" which was released in August, and "The Runner", which I could best describe as a slightly heavier variant of "Mountain At My Gates".
Unfortunately, I cannot give as much praise towards the third and final teaser track, "Into The Surf". I can only describe this track as the token soft ballad. However, it is so lacking in layering or melodic uniqueness, that it winds up being one of the weakest tracks Foals have put out in a long time. What adds insult to injury was that this was the track that the band chose to tease all the way back in March with the "Surf, Pt.1" interlude. That interlude led me to believe that this was going to be the most progressive and ultimately explosive tracks on the albums; a truly special one. however, "Into The Surf" was quite the opposite, and even as a soft number, it pales in comparison to the likes of "Sunday", and it set up a fair bit of worry within me towards the rest of the album.
While I would agree that the full album is overall heavier and grittier than Part 1, it is only slightly more so. In other words, I don't believe this album to have enough tracks that fit into the category of heavy. Instead, both Parts 1 and 2 come across to me as mixed bags. And while it isn't a massive problem, I feel that it would've been interesting to push the division further.
To display this point, here's an idea of which tracks i would put on each album;
Part 1 (the textured album)
"Moonlight", "Exits", "In Degrees", "On The Luna", "Cafe D'Athens", "Surf Pt.1", "Into The Surf", "Dreaming Of", "Ikaria" "Sunday", "I'm Done With The World (And It's Done With Me)"
Part 2 (the gritty album)
"Red Desert", "The Runner", "Wash Off", "Black Bull", "Like Lightning", "White Onions", "Syrups", "Neptune"
If you've listened to each of these tracks already, then hopefully you know where I'm coming from with that point.
Back to what else I thought of Pt.2, I feel that it carries both the best and the worst of what Foals has had to offer this year. While Part 1 felt consistently good, this album switches more dynamically from being brilliant to plain average. The best part of the album in my opinion has to be its first leg. Everything following this albums fifth track "Like Lightning", felt either okay or lacklustre. I will give a slight bit of praise towards the final track "Neptune", which I fell got off to an epic start. However, the stretching fade out towards the end of the song made it possibly a bit too patience-testing for me to want to listen to over and over.
So what tracks did I love? Of course there are the first two teaser tracks. While "Like Lightning" does feel quite typical in its composition, I can definitely feel it quickly growing on me. It is certainly going to be a catchy track for many listeners.
However, this albums finest moment comes in the form of "Wash Off"; the third track on Part 2. It is simply everything that Foals does so well, all wrapped up into one track. The progressive drums, the gorgeous, echoing guitar clicks, and the addictive vocals, all culminate to make what could be the best track from both albums combined!
In conclusion, the way I feel about this album is far more conflicted than Part 1. They certainly played less safe with this one and favour quality rather than quantity this time around.
Nevertheless, it is a satisfying enough conclusion to the absolutely insane year that this band has had, and a year that I have thoroughly enjoyed, partially thanks to Foals and this marvellous project.
Thank you reading,
Booth Boy
We had the first part of this two-piece project back in March, with Part 1 Everything Not Saved Will be Lost. I for one really enjoyed the slight return to their older material, while simultaneously being quite a new sound from Foals. However, there was already talk of this album long before its first teaser track. According to an interview with Yannis Philippakis, the frontman of Foals, each album was meant to represent two different styles.
While Part 1 supposedly presented a more textured and colourful track list, Part 2 was created to carry the "heavier" bangers. This definitely seemed so with the first two teaser tracks; the awesomely gritty "Black Bull" which was released in August, and "The Runner", which I could best describe as a slightly heavier variant of "Mountain At My Gates".
Unfortunately, I cannot give as much praise towards the third and final teaser track, "Into The Surf". I can only describe this track as the token soft ballad. However, it is so lacking in layering or melodic uniqueness, that it winds up being one of the weakest tracks Foals have put out in a long time. What adds insult to injury was that this was the track that the band chose to tease all the way back in March with the "Surf, Pt.1" interlude. That interlude led me to believe that this was going to be the most progressive and ultimately explosive tracks on the albums; a truly special one. however, "Into The Surf" was quite the opposite, and even as a soft number, it pales in comparison to the likes of "Sunday", and it set up a fair bit of worry within me towards the rest of the album.
While I would agree that the full album is overall heavier and grittier than Part 1, it is only slightly more so. In other words, I don't believe this album to have enough tracks that fit into the category of heavy. Instead, both Parts 1 and 2 come across to me as mixed bags. And while it isn't a massive problem, I feel that it would've been interesting to push the division further.
To display this point, here's an idea of which tracks i would put on each album;
Part 1 (the textured album)
"Moonlight", "Exits", "In Degrees", "On The Luna", "Cafe D'Athens", "Surf Pt.1", "Into The Surf", "Dreaming Of", "Ikaria" "Sunday", "I'm Done With The World (And It's Done With Me)"
Part 2 (the gritty album)
"Red Desert", "The Runner", "Wash Off", "Black Bull", "Like Lightning", "White Onions", "Syrups", "Neptune"
If you've listened to each of these tracks already, then hopefully you know where I'm coming from with that point.
Back to what else I thought of Pt.2, I feel that it carries both the best and the worst of what Foals has had to offer this year. While Part 1 felt consistently good, this album switches more dynamically from being brilliant to plain average. The best part of the album in my opinion has to be its first leg. Everything following this albums fifth track "Like Lightning", felt either okay or lacklustre. I will give a slight bit of praise towards the final track "Neptune", which I fell got off to an epic start. However, the stretching fade out towards the end of the song made it possibly a bit too patience-testing for me to want to listen to over and over.
So what tracks did I love? Of course there are the first two teaser tracks. While "Like Lightning" does feel quite typical in its composition, I can definitely feel it quickly growing on me. It is certainly going to be a catchy track for many listeners.
However, this albums finest moment comes in the form of "Wash Off"; the third track on Part 2. It is simply everything that Foals does so well, all wrapped up into one track. The progressive drums, the gorgeous, echoing guitar clicks, and the addictive vocals, all culminate to make what could be the best track from both albums combined!
In conclusion, the way I feel about this album is far more conflicted than Part 1. They certainly played less safe with this one and favour quality rather than quantity this time around.
Nevertheless, it is a satisfying enough conclusion to the absolutely insane year that this band has had, and a year that I have thoroughly enjoyed, partially thanks to Foals and this marvellous project.
Thank you reading,
Booth Boy
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