By Jay Carroll
Staff Writer

The Fray has set a name for itself and has picked up a big fan base with its two previous albums, and it continues to grow with the introduction of new album “Scars And Stories.”

The Fray’s new album “Scars and Stories” was released Feb. 7.  It is The Fray’s first album since 2008. The Fray had many popular songs, such as “You Found Me” in that album, which climbed all the way to No. 7 on the US Billboard “Hot 100” chart. The song also hit the top of the US Billboard “Adult Pop Songs”.

Despite previous success,  The Fray’s new album might easily be the best one yet; they added a different feel to the new album than the albums in the past.

“Scars and Stories” has a more rock feel to it than all the other albums. The album starts with the hit song “Heartbeat,” which was released earlier than the album as a promo for the new album. From this song you could tell this was going to be a really good album. “Heartbeat” sets the tone for the rest of the album with its rocky feel.

“The Fighter” is also very good; it starts off a little slow, but 30 seconds into the song the tempo picks up a lot. The only really bad thing with the song is changes pace a lot. If it just stuck with fast after the first minute it would be a better song, instead of keeping the listener off balance.

The third song on the album is “Turn Me On.” It fits the same mood that the other two songs set for the album; it starts off a little slow and then it becomes upbeat for the rest of the song. It is a really good song, and can easily get stuck in one’s head.

However, there are a few songs on the album that break the tempo. “Be Still” is so slow, and is out of place for with the rest of the album. While the lyrics are a nice complement to the background music, the song is just a little slow.

Fortunately, there are only a few slow songs on the new album. The other songs follow a similar path to almost any other song that is made. They start off a little slow, but then it really picks up the pace.

The Fray does really nice job of incorporating nice lyrics to the background music that is created by the guitar, drums and bass guitar. The rock feel it brings to the new album is definitely a success. It works really well for the band. The album is currently at 18 on the iTunes Top Albums, and will most likely continue to climb to the top.

“Scars and Stories” is definitely an album worth buying.

Rating: A-