Helios (album)

Helios is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band the Fray. It was released on February 25, 2014 by Epic Records.[1]

For other albums, see Helios (disambiguation).

Helios
Studio album by
The Fray
ReleasedFebruary 25, 2014 (2014-02-25)
RecordedJune–Fall 2013
Genre
Length42:19
LabelEpic
Producer
The Fray chronology
Scars & Stories
(2012)		 Helios
(2014)		 Through the Years: The Best of the Fray
(2016)
Singles from Helios
  1. "Love Don't Die"
    Released: October 15, 2013
  2. "Hurricane"
    Released: January 14, 2014
  3. "Break Your Plans"
    Released: May 9, 2014

Background and release

The Fray's third album, Scars and Stories, was released in February 2012. In an October 2012 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, frontman Isaac Slade said that the band would be starting work on their fourth album in 2013, aiming to release it around Christmas 2013.[2] On June 4, 2013, the band announced that they had begun recording their fourth album.[3] The album was made available for pre-order on iTunes on November 25, 2013,[4] and was scheduled to be released on January 14, 2014,[5] However, the release date had been pushed back and the album premiered on February 25, 2014.[6]

Singles

The album's lead single "Love Don't Die" was released on October 21, 2013.[7] It was released to radio on October 22, 2013.[1] On May 9, 2014, the band announced on their Twitter page that the second single of the album is "Break Your Plans".[8]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
CCM Magazine[10]
PopMatters[11]

Upon its release, Helios received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Kevin Catchpole from PopMatters gave the album six out of ten discs, commenting that "the disappointing thing is how slight moments of innovation appear for fleeting seconds only, then disappear into the ether. It suggests a band that is capable of so much more, if only it wanted to try."[11] Andy Argyrakis of CCM Magazine rated the album three stars out of five, remarking how the release contains "plenty of uplifting and contemplative lyrics", yet their "signature piano pop surfaces on occasion, there seems to be a gravitation toward gang-styled choruses and massive electronic beats, which sometimes succeed, but periodically appear too derivative of today's top 40."[10]

James Christopher Monger from Allmusic gave the album two-and-a-half out of five stars, indicating how that "Helios begins innocuously enough with 'Hold My Hand,' a straight-up, anthem generator-spawned arm-waver that pairs a safe, circular, entirely familiar chord progression with a melody that returns the favor (a description that applies to most if not all of the ten songs that follow), before unleashing the album's first single, 'Love Don't Die,' a digitized boot-stomper that leans hard on the Kings of Leon/Black Keys side of the Fray spectrum. Flirtations with disco ('Give It Away') and pure Killers-cloned electro-pop ('Hurricane') follow, but the Fray never sound as comfortable as they do when they're dishing out relatively generic yet undeniably impassioned slabs of Springsteen, Train, Goo Goo Dolls, and Coldplay-inspired, open-highway treacle like 'Our Last Days' and 'Wherever This Goes'."[9]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hold My Hand"
3:41
2."Love Don't Die"
3:03
3."Give It Away"
  • The Fray
  • busbee
3:21
4."Closer to Me"
2:47
5."Hurricane"
3:48
6."Keep On Wanting"
4:41
7."Our Last Days"
  • The Fray
  • busbee
3:39
8."Break Your Plans"
3:47
9."Wherever This Goes"
  • The Fray
  • Thiessen
3:38
10."Shadow and a Dancer"
  • The Fray
  • Thiessen
4:48
11."Same as You"
5:06
Japanese bonus tracks[12]
No.TitleLength
12."Winter Sun"3:04
13."500,000 Acres"3:18

Personnel

Charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] 21
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 42
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 200
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 139
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[17] 11
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 43
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[19] 126
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[20] 83
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[21] 79
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 79
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 51
US Billboard 200[24] 8
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[25] 2

References
  1. The Fray Announce 'Helios' for January 14; Stream "Love Don't Die", Direct Current Music, October 22, 2013
  2. Ross, Matt (October 8, 2012). "The Fray Set to Start Work on Fourth LP". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  3. "The Fray - We started recording our 4th record". Facebook. June 4, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  4. "The Fray - Just 3 days until #HELIOS is available for pre-order". Facebook. November 22, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  5. "The Fray - Our brand new album #HELIOS comes out 1.14.14". Facebook. November 26, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  6. "Helios by The Fray". iTunes. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  7. "Love Don't Die: The Fray: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  8. https://twitter.com/TheFray/status/464816182798057473
  9. Monger, James Christopher (February 23, 2014). "Helios - The Fray". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  10. Argyrakis, Andy (July 1, 2014). "The Fray: Helios (Epic)" (PDF). CCM Magazine. Salem Publishing. p. 38. ISSN 1524-7848. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  11. Catchpole, Kevin (February 25, 2014). "The Fray: Helios". PopMatters. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  12. "THE FRAY HELIOS(Japan Version)". iTunes Stores. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  13. "Australiancharts.com – The Fray – Helios". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  14. "Austriancharts.at – The Fray – Helios" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  15. "Ultratop.be – The Fray – Helios" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  16. "Ultratop.be – The Fray – Helios" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  17. "The Fray Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  18. "Officialcharts.de – The Fray – Helios". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  19. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2014-03-17" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  20. "South Korea Gaon Album Chart". On the page, select "2014.03.02~2014.03.08" to obtain the corresponding chart. Gaon Chart Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  21. "Spanishcharts.com – The Fray – Helios". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  22. "Swisscharts.com – The Fray – Helios". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  23. "The Fray | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  24. "The Fray Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  25. "The Fray Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
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