Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better

The second album curse never stood a chance. Released on October 3, 2005 on Domino Recording Company and recorded in New York City and the band's own Glasgow studio with producer Rich Costey, You Could Have It So Much Better is the sound of Alex Kapranos, Bob Hardy, Nick McCarthy, and Paul Thomson arriving at their sophomore record with everything to prove and absolutely nothing to lose. The result became Franz Ferdinand's first UK number one album, and Domino's first chart-topper in the label's history.

Where their Mercury Prize-winning debut had announced a band in exhilarating discovery mode, You Could Have It So Much Better found them working harder, sounding bigger, and pushing their sound into new corners without losing any of the compulsive danceability that made them impossible to resist. The cover art, modeled on Alexander Rodchenko's 1924 portrait of Lilya Brik, signals the band's art school intelligence, and the songs themselves deliver on that promise. "Do You Want To" is their most purely pop moment to date, a ballroom glam stomper whose hooks refuse to let go. "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" introduces a softer, piano-led acoustic edge entirely new to their catalog. "Walk Away" is deceptively hooked, while "The Fallen" and "You're the Reason I'm Leaving" barrel forward with the band's signature crunchy-guitar punch. Critics noted the album's deep roots in the first wave of white electric dance music, specifically the arch-garage songwriting of mid-1960s Kinks.

This 20th anniversary remaster has earned strong praise from devotees for its fuller sound, punchier bass, and newly audible detail buried in the original mix. Like hearing a favorite album for the first time, all over again.