McFly- Radio:ACTIVE

Hey, y'all! It's time for me to talk about another CD on my shelf! As always, I put my iTunes on shuffle, and the CD containing the first song that played is the one I'll be talking about!

Also, just wanted to give you a heads up that this is a super special post. You'll find out why further down on this post!

Release Date: September 22, 2008

Genre: Alternative, Pop Punk

When I bought the CD: If I remember correctly, I bought all of McFly's discography in either December 2008 or January 2009, so that's when I got this.

Track Listing

1. Lies
2. One For The Radio
3. Everybody Knows
4. Do Ya
5. Falling In Love
6. POV
7. Corrupted
8. Smile
9. The End
10. Going Through The Motions
11. Down Goes Another One
12. Only The Strong Survive
13. The Last Song

(Also, side note- once again I just listed off the track listing perfectly without looking at my iTunes. Clearly, I've listened to this CD a lot)

McFly is:
Tom Fletcher- lead vocals, guitar, keyboard, piano, ukulele
Danny Jones- lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, producer
Dougie Poynter- bass guitar, vocals, guitar
Harry Judd- drums, percussion

L-R: Dougie, Tom, Danny, and Harry

About McFly: 
I've talked about McFly several times in past CDs On My Shelf posts, so most of this is copy/pasted from past posts...
They were formed in 2003, and have had the same lineup for a decade. They've released 5 studio albums: Room On The 3rd Floor (2004), Wonderland (2005), Motion In The Ocean (2006), Radio:ACTIVE (2008), and Above The Noise (2010). Their other albums are soundtracks, live, and compilations. Each of their CDs has a distinct sound. Room On The 3rd Floor, their debut album, actually broke a Beatles record in 2004. McFly became the youngest band whose debut CD debuted at #1 on the UK charts. A little obscure and seemingly unimportant, but it's a small victory. This album definitely has a Beach Boys vibe. 2006's Motion In The Ocean & 2008's Radio:ACTIVE are the most similar of their albums, and are my personal favorites (Radio:ACTIVE is my personal favorite album ever). These two definitely showcase the band's rock side. Above The Noise, their 2010 release, is more of an electropop album, and the weakest, in my opinion.

My Opinion about McFly:
(Once again, mostly copied from the last one) As I said on my last post, they're my absolute favorite band. Not many Americans know about them, but I love them. I actually first saw them when they were in Just My Luck. I forgot about them and then in 2007 (my Jo Bro obsession time) I was watching an interview with the JoBros where Nick said his favorite song was Transylvania by McFly. I watched the video and thought it was weird, and again, I forgot about them. (Transylvania is now among my all-time favorite McFly songs!). It wasn't until I discovered that the Jonas Brothers got their song, Year 3000, from the band Busted that I actually started listening to McFly. The Busted guys are close friends with McFly, which is how I really discovered McFly. And when I realized that they were the band in Just My Luck, everything really clicked. Anyway, long story long, it was a weird winding road to discovering them, but I really love them, and I love all of the members. Tom is my favorite, though. Yes, Tom of the wedding speech fame. I've told everyone for years that Tom is perfect, and now people understand. McFly is also the exception to the dumb blonde rule. Tom, the only natural blonde, is the brain, and Danny, the only one who's been brunette for 99% of the time he's been in the band, is the lovably dim-witted front-man. (OK, he's not really dumb, but it IS a running joke that he's the slow one... Because he thought an egg was a vegetable. Poor boy)

About the CD:  

This is one of the two McFly CDs that have what I consider to be the "McFly" sound. They've gone through several different sounds, but this one is their more alternative/ rock sound, and it's my favorite of their sounds. This is also their first CD that they released on their own record company, Super Records.

IMHO: 
OK, are you ready to know why this post is so special? It's because Radio:ACTIVE ... is my favorite CD of all time. EVER. So yeah, this post is pretty special. And this'll probably be my favorite CDs On My Shelf post.

As always, I'm going to give each song a rating out of 10 and then give a brief explanation of why it got that rating. 

---------------------------------------------------

Lies- 10/10. This is my favorite McFly song, and I find that kinda funny because Danny sings most of it and I prefer Tom's voice. But I love the brass, and I super love the bass solo. I just really love this song and I think it's a really great opener.

One For The Radio- 10/10. Oh, you don't like McFly? Guess who has 8 thumbs and doesn't give two craps? McFLY. Very sass. Much love. "Don't pretend you hate us and then sing our songs."

Everybody Knows- 10/10. I generally prefer the music to the lyrics in pretty much any song, but in this one especially. The music really makes this song. I really love the guitar. And that cowbell tho.

Do Ya- 9/10. Originally, this was one of my favorite songs on the CD, but it has since fallen down on my list of favorites, partially due to how repetitive it gets. But I do really love all the harmonies it has in it. Also, this song will forever make me think of Christmas because of the music video. And also zombies. But you should probably just watch the video.

Falling In Love- 9.5/10. This is actually the opposite of Do Ya. Originally, I wasn't a big fan, but it's become more and more of a favorite. It's certainly not the most complex McFly song, but it's very chill and I really enjoy it. Also, the harmonies are cool again. That's one of my favorite things about McFly- they always have great harmonies.

POV- 9.5/10. This one was right on the bubble as far as rating, but I put it up instead of down. I really like the piano part. It's really recognizable. The chorus is definitely the star of the song, and it's a nice contrast between the emotional chorus and the very soft verses. I really like this one.

Corrupted- 9.5/10. This one is interesting. The verses have an almost creepy vibe, probably just because of the way Tom is singing, and its sound is unlike any other McFly song. However, the chorus has a very "McFly" sound. The juxtaposition between the two is really cool.

Smile- 9/10. I like that the beginning is a capella and that the vocal accompaniment continues throughout the song. Also, the brass. My only complaint is that it tends to be just the slightest bit cheesy.

The End- 9/10. This one is my least favorite on the CD, but that's not really saying to much, given that all of the songs are really great. I still enjoy the song and know every word. I think the reason that it didn't get higher is just because as far as McFly songs go, it's very predictable. There wasn't anything particularly new or surprising.

Going Through The Motions- 9.5/10. This is probably one of McFly's most "rock" songs. This must be really fun to play live because it's just constant excitement and speed and intensity, both instrumental and vocal. Harry's probably exhausted after this song. But it's really cool.

Down Goes Another One- 9/10. This song is the sequel to "She Falls Asleep," an orchestral/vocal song from McFly's Wonderland CD. She Falls Asleep is one of my all-time favorite McFly songs, and I've always been incredibly impressed by it because Tom Fletcher composed it when he was my age or slightly younger. I wish I had that skill. Anyway, I just don't think that this quite lives up to the original (as sequels tend to do). It's good, of course, but I don't love it quite as much as She Falls Asleep.

Only The Strong Survive- 10/10. Just yesterday, I discovered that this song was added onto the CD just to make it 13 tracks, and that makes me really sad because it's one of my favorite songs on the CD, as well as one of my favorite McFly songs, and it's clearly one that they don't care about much at all or think is very good. That bums me out. Anyway, I still really enjoy it. Especially that bridge.

The Last Song- 10/10. This one and Only The Strong Survive go back and forth for the second place spot on Radio:ACTIVE, but currently, I think that The Last Song has it. This one is kinda what sparked my love for this CD. For a long time, I skipped this song whenever it came up on my iPod, because the slowness of it didn't interest me too much, but one day I actually ended up listening to it all the way through and fell in love and wanted to listen to the rest of the CD. This song was written with the mind-set that if you were going to sing one last song, you'd want it to have a little bit of everything, and that's what this has. It's really epic, and such a great ending to the CD. 

---------------------------------------------------

This time, rather than to name the top and bottom songs, I'm going to just list them in order from favorite to least favorite. But they're all beautiful.

Lies. The Last Song. Only The Strong Survive. One For The Radio. Everybody Knows. Going Through The Motions. Falling In Love. Corrupted. POV. Down Goes Another One. Smile. Do Ya. The End.

Video! 

Here ya go. The full CD. Enjoy.

Rating: 10/10. It's not like I could give my favorite CD any less!


Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Have any questions? What are your opinions on McFly? Let me know in the comments. If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow, because it lets me know y'all are liking them! Hope you enjoyed! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!