''The Great Wide Open'' is a "mini-album" from

Funeral for a Friend Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band from Bridgend, Wales, Bridgend, formed in 2001. The band's members are Kris Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, vocals), Darran Smith (guitar), Richard Boucher (bass), an ...

, the title track taken from the album '' Tales Don't Tell Themselves''. Originally planned as the third single from the album, it was later deferred by two weeks and expanded to a mini-album in order to release the live tracks recorded in August.

Music video

The song's

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

shows the band playing in a little shack lost on a beach at night with waves resting on the shore. Around the middle of the video, some green, red and white lights flash throughout the house.

Mini-album

Atlantic Records released the mini album on 15 October 2007. It includes the track of the same name from the 'Tales Don't Tell Themselves' album as well as the video, and also 8 classic live tracks - the 1st 2 EPs 'Between Order & Model' and 'Four Ways to Scream Your Name'.

Track listing

:Source:

Reception

In his review for

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

, James McLaren wrote that, "its complexity, its introspection, its sheer grandiosity and epic nature gets better with each listen; this EP shows Funeral's ability to interact and involve an audience, creating a celebratory atmosphere that is communicated very well here". Sebastian Wahle of

Ox-Fanzine ''Ox-Fanzine'' is a monthly punk zine from Solingen, Germany, founded in 1988. It is edited by Joachim Hiller and has had many contributors. Besides its focus on punk subculture, it also covers similar genres, reviews of comics, books and films, ...

said "this CD shows the development of the band very well, as well as their versatility, and the bottom line is that "The Great Wide Open" is certainly a nice Christmas present for your

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

friend. Alex Flecther wrote in

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

that "while it may lack the sneering, viciousness of some of their earlier works, 'The Great Wide Open' can't be knocked for its aspirations; and although the Welsh post-hardcore screamers may not be quite big enough to fill up football grounds yet, if they have a couple more of these chest-beating anthems locked up in a cupboard somewhere they might not be too far off. Trey Anastasio of

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic (abbreviated as Sputnik) is a music website that publishes music reviews and news entries. The site hosts both professional and amateur content, covering metal, punk, indie, rock, hip-hop, pop and other styles. Its reviews are us ...

gave it a 4.0 rating, stating; "whether this album was released for nostalgia or as kind of an apology to the fans, the end result is the same ... better sounding, heavier versions of the songs on their first two EPs that is well worth seeking out". He also noted that "the vibe is heavy and fun and it may be the last quality release that these guys ever put out".

References

External links

"The Great Wide Open" music video
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

"Mini-Album press release"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Wide Open Funeral for a Friend albums 2007 EPs Atlantic Records EPs Albums produced by Gil Norton Albums produced by Romesh Dodangoda