On October 31, 2011 Florence + The Machine released their second full length album, Ceremonials, after much anticipation. Their first album, Lungs, blew people away with Florence’s powerful voice, and impressive harmonies. So it was no wonder that the album is already number six on Itunes’ Top Albums list. However, after listening to the album myself, I can honestly say that although it is still amazing, I much prefer their first album.

Although Ceremonials still shares a similar sound to Lungs, the new album has nearly no power notes compared to the first. Lungs consisted only of  emotional songs, that got the listener to feel what the song was about, and relate it to their own life. Because it was able to conjure up such strong emotions from any listener, the second album was highly anticipated by music critics, as well as students in Franklin High. “It was actually really disappointing” says Nick Courtois, a Junior at FHS. “I really loved their first album, but the second one is way more mellow, with almost no emotion.”

Their new album is definitely worth listening to, however I wonder where the band plans to take their sound now, since they have deviated from the powerful tunes that they used to own. The new album is overall good, but has no ‘stand out’ songs, which is what I believe to be missing. Although full of great potential, no song sticks out in my mind as new and amazing.

Overall, the album is decent, but left me feeling disappointed that the band I relied on for strong hits has produced something so melancholy.  Ceremonials is worth a listen, but certainly not the praise I expected to give it.