Review Summary: The death of the Stallone family is far from over.
Frank Stallone has become somewhat of an icon in the past couple of months in Australia. Comedic and extremely successful radio duo Hamish & Andy stumbled across the Frank Stallone [brother of Sylvester] song “Far From Over”. They decided that it was something of a classic. With many segments being created for the radio show, about the impact that “Far From Over” gave people as an adrenaline kick and some sort of personal rejuvenation, the term ‘The Frank Effect’ [view here: http://www.thefrankeffect.com/ ] was penned. So, the nations love for Frank Stallone was born – so much that the single “Far From Over” was listed in the top 50 iTunes charts in recent weeks, and a once off concert had been announced. So how does this stigma that is Frank Stallone rate? Indeed, very well.
The self titled greatest hits album is full of cheesy 80’s synth rock gold. “Far From Over” is the prime example of this, with its bouncy drums, pounding synth and driving guitar riff. Many cuts on the album follow this enlightening formula, such as opening number “Runnin’” which is up tempo as well as the obligatory synth soaked melody. The instrumentation on
Frank Stallone is fairly straight forward with the same simple phrasing being used in most songs (of AABA), as the album is pretty much a guide of how to write an 80’s synth pop rock song. The majority – or whole, album follows this theorem, which in some cases can be quite tiring, yet the synth lines are so cheesy and warm, that they seem to keep you coming back for more, taking “Music Is Magic” for example. A mid tempo-ed song, which the synth bobbles between neo-classical piano to ultra ‘zappy’ textured and heavily layered synth sounds, giving off mixed effects but eventually formulating quite a hook.
One aspect of
Frank Stallone that is quite different to the average 80’s synth pop rock band is his lyrical exposé, as it seems not just soul set on love:
“This is the end
you made your choice and now my chance is over.
I thought I was in
you put me down and say I'm goin' nowhere.
Save me darlin'
I am down but I am far from over.
Give me somethin'
I need it all 'cause I am runnin' over.”
Well, sort of...
As mentioned earlier, the album can definitely tire as each listen takes place, but
Frank Stallone is to be taken in small doses, as it is an album of complete cheesiness and meant to be taken light heartedly. Stallone has pretty much nailed the coffin shut on how to create the prefect synth pop album and this is the reasoning for him creating such a hype in Australia, albeit under the pertinence of Hamish & Andy, everyone needs a bit of Frank in their life.
