the fray's history

The Fray
From Wikipedia
The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado. Formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King, they achieved success with the release of their debut album, How to Save a Life in 2005, which was certified double platinum by the RIAA and platinum in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. The Fray achieved national success with their first single, "Over My Head (Cable Car)", which became a top ten hit in the United States. The release of their second single, "How to Save a Life", brought the band worldwide fame. The song charted in the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 and was a top 5 single in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
The group's second self-titled album, released in 2009, debuted at number-one on the Billboard charts[1] and was certified gold in the United States, Australia and Canada. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2010.[2] While both the albums were commercially successful, critical reception was mixed. The Fray was ranked #84 on Billboard's "Artists of the Decade" list.[3]
The Fray's use of the piano as the lead instrument in their music has led critics to compare the band with English piano-driven bands like Coldplay and Keane.[4][5][6] However, the band lists its influences as The Wallflowers, Counting Crows, Better Than Ezra and U2.[7]

Scars and Stories (2011–present)
The Fray's third album, Scars and Stories, was produced by Brendan O'Brien (best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine) and was recorded in Blackbird studio, located in Nashville, Tennessee. During an interview with Colorado Daily, Isaac Slade explained why the band had recruited Brendan O'Brien as their producer; "Sonically, we wanted to make this record sound as close as possible to the live shows", citing Pearl Jam and Springsteen as influences, for the sound of the record, that they were trying to capture. The album will be released on February 7, 2012 and The Fray has begun promotional appearances for the record such as on The X Factor in Australia.
Slade has mentioned that the lyrics will capture a more aggressive tone than their previous records.[60] The official tracklist was announced on October 18, 2011 on the band's official website. Joe King will be recording both guitar (primary) and bass for several songs on the third album.
Mixing for the third record began on June 21, 2011. On July 14, 2011 Isaac Slade confirmed that the mixing and recording for the third album had been completed via Twitter: "Finished our third record about half an hour ago. -is".[61]
On August 5, 2011 The Fray had a photo-shoot for the third record, with photographer Danny Clinch.
On September 13, during a live performance at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, the band announced that the new album is titled Scars and Stories, and performed the first single from the new album titled "Heartbeat".[62] They also performed a song called "Run For Your Life," which is going to appear on the third record.
"Heartbeat" was released to radio on October 8, 2011 and was released for download October 11, 2011 on iTunes. The single debuted at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The band also contributed a cover of "Take Your Time" to the tribute album Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, released September 6, 2011, as well as a cover of "Mahna Mahna" for the album Muppets: The Green Album.

Christmas EP (2009-2010)
The Fray collaborated with Timbaland on his album, Shock Value II, which was released on December 8, 2009. The band was featured on the song "Undertow", which, despite not being released as a single, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #100, the week ending November 28, 2009. On December 22, 2009, the band released an EP, Christmas as a free download from the band's official website. The EP contained five acoustic covers of popular christmas carols.[58]
In an interview with Westword in June 2010, guitarist Dave Welsh announced that the band are currently working on an EP containing covers of songs by artists such as Annie Lennox, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Marley but did not give a specific release date

The Fray (2008–2009)
The band finished recording their self-titled second album at the end of July 2008 for a February 3, 2009 release.[34] The album was produced by Aaron Johnson and Mike Flynn, the same production duo from the band's debut album, and recorded by Warren Huart.[35] A documentary, Fair Fight, directed by Rod Blackhurst[36][37] was included with the first 300,000 copies of the second album.[38][39] The lead single from the album, "You Found Me" debuted online on December 9, 2009, on VH1.com,[40] and debuted at #28 on the Hot 100 chart, the band's highest debut on the chart to date. The song peaked at #7 on the chart, (making it the band's second highest charting single)[41] and topped the Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart[42] as well as the Australian Singles Chart, becoming the band's first song to reach number-one in Australia.[43] It is also the band's third song to sell 2 million digital downloads in the United States, after "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life".[44] Following the success of "You Found Me", the album, released on February 3, 2009, debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 179,000 copies in its first week of release. The music video was directed by fellow Denver native Josh Forbes. It was filmed in Chicago and was an homage to the Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire



How to Save a Life (2005–2007)

Isaac Slade (front) and Ben Wysocki (back) performing in Chicago in 2006.
The band's debut album How to Save a Life was released on 13 September 2005. "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was released as the first single from the album, and it soon became a top 40 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in late 2005, peaking at #37.[15] The single gained airplay nationally, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the issue marked February 25, 2006. Fourteen weeks later, it reached its peak position at #8 on the Hot 100 chart.[16] On the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, the single reached the #2 position.[17] Internationally, the song was a Top 25 hit in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK. The song was the fifth-most downloaded single of 2006.[18]
While "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was rising on the charts, the song "How to Save a Life" was first featured during a second season episode ("Superstition", aired March 19, 2006) of Grey's Anatomy, and then on a fifth season episode ("My Lunch", aired April 25, 2006) of Scrubs.[19] Despite not having been originally released as a single, "How to Save a Life" entered the Hot 100 chart on the issue marked April 15, 2006. The song was released as the band's second single. On August 18, 2006, ABC announced that the song would be used for the main advertising promotion for the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy.[20]
Only weeks after this promotion started, the song became The Fray's second Top 40 hit in the United States. The song peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 chart, surpassing the peak position of "Over My Head (Cable Car)".[21] It tied for the seventh longest charting single of all time on the Hot 100 chart, with Santana's "Smooth", at 58 consecutive weeks.[11] The song also topped the Adult Top 40 chart for 15 consecutive weeks.[22] "How to Save a Life" was a major hit internationally, topping the singles chart in Ireland, Spain and Canada. The song also charted in the top five in Australia, Italy and Sweden and was the band's first hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at #4 on the UK Singles Chart.[23]

Formation and early years (2002–2004)
The band members' lives were largely formed in Denver churches where they helped lead worship, and in the Christian school three of them attended. Slade, 24, and guitarist Joe King, 25, were several years ahead of drummer Ben Wysocki, 21, at Faith Christian Academy. Wysocki and guitarist David Welsh, 21, played in the same worship band. In the spring of 2002, former schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King reconnected and began regular two-man jam sessions that led to writing songs. Isaac and Joe later added Zach Johnson on drums and Slade's younger brother Caleb on bass to the band. Caleb was also the band's bass player but was eventually asked to leave. Caleb's departure from the band caused a rift in his relationship with Isaac and this rift later became the inspiration for the song "Over My Head (Cable Car)", which is about the brothers' waning relationship.[8] Following this, Johnson eventually left the band as well to attend an art school in New York.
Ben Wysocki, a former band mate of Isaac Slade, joined as drummer and later, Dave Welsh, who was another former band mate of Slade and Wysocki, was added as lead guitarist to the band. The newly formed band was named "The Fray". The members of the band first claimed that they found the name suitable because they frequently quarreled about the composition of the lyrics in their songs, but they have since stated they are usually on good terms while composing music and acknowledges contributions from all of its members.[9]). The band has had no permanent bassist since Caleb, instead employing touring bassists on a temporary basis. The current bassist is Jeremy McCoy, who has been with the band since 2009.

Musical style and songwriting

How to Save a Life consisted of a mix of mid-tempo piano-driven pop rock tracks and power ballads.[63][64] The band's second album spread the spectrum of the music: the pop rock songs were faster and more energetic, while the ballads were softer than the ballads on the first album.[65]
Lead vocalist and pianist Isaac Slade's vocals feature falsetto and a strong American accent. His vocal style on the debut album was marked by a simple and emotive style.[citation needed] On the second album, his vocals, while retaining the basic style on the debut album, were stronger, edgier and more aggressive, most notably on the tracks "We Build Then We Break" and "Say When".[66] 

The lyrics on both albums revolve around life's problems and issues. Common themes include happiness, sadness, death, the problem of evil, relationships, and war. The honest and emotional nature of the lyrics[67][68] has also had critics labeling The Fray as emo, comparing them to mainstream emo acts like Jimmy Eat World.[26] The Fray's initial songs contained lyrics with strong messages. However, by the time they began work on their debut album, the band decided against being an entirely religious outfit because they believe that God has called them away from the, "Christian music genre and into a secular market".[69]