Franz Ferdinand: How good are they?

Storming follow-up or a case of difficult-second-album syndrome? Our panel of experts assess the band's new record

I don't know what it is about Franz Ferdinand, but their music always makes me want to stamp my feet and wave my arms in the air. Of course I never do that - it would be tragically uncool. However, in the confines of my radio studio, when no one is watching, my rock-star posturing knows no bounds.

The first taster of the new album, "Do You Want To", was instantly exciting and a joy to play (twice in a row the first time, in fact), and the rest of the album didn't disappoint, which was such a relief after loving the first one so much. Favourite track at the moment is "Walk Away" (next single, I think). An excellent mix of rock-stomper love songs. Franz Ferdinand have balls, but are in touch with their softer, feminine side. And their self-belief on this album is huge, yet they do a nice line in self-deprecation, too. I always get positive vibes from FF - and look forward to a huge glut of demos from like-minded fans forming bands on the strength of their influence on the UK music scene.

Danny Eccleston
Consultant editor at Mojo

The songs are all strong and they've managed to shrug off the mantle of Britain's Trendiest Band, which would have killed them sooner rather than later. Whereas the last record drew comparisons with Orange Juice and Gang Of Four - angular, esoteric post-punk from the early Eighties - this one's more reminiscent of Blondie. It's swishy and glamorous but with a rock hard centre. It'll be massive.

Emily Eavis
Glastonbury organiser

I love the record. I like Franz Ferdinand - I think they've made a really good move. They're quite a smart band. They haven't hung around: this album is out really quickly. The single is just great. From the first listen, you know it's a brilliant hit. For me, they are a brilliant live band. I first saw them at Benicassim festival, just outside Barcelona, last year. That was when I really connected with them. They are foremost a live band. They're really good at writing brilliant hooks and good, poppy records, but ultimately they're a brilliant live band, I think. I love "Do You Want To" - it's just a brilliant radio hit, and they're a brilliant band. They're a one-off, and they've kicked off a scene of other bands in their wake. There's a whole wave of new music based around their look and sound.

Matt Lynch
Buyer for Fopp website

It's not that different from the first album, there is slightly different instrumentation. They've thought about it. The album is one of the highest pre-sales figures we've put in this year. It's in the top two of our pre-sales, just behind Coldplay. They've got the art-house thing going on, they seem intelligent enough to pull it off.

Paul Rees
Editor, Q magazine

The new album is immediate - full of potential singles. It is a development without straying too far from what they did on the first record. As with "Take Me Out" on the last album, they have picked the one track that will make the biggest impact - "Do You Want To" - and put that out as a single straightaway. They have been very smart.

A whole crop of bands have become very big very quickly - The Killers and Scissor Sisters - but Franz Ferdinand are the one who you think might not disappear.

Alex Needham
Deputy editor, NME

It's impressive how good the album is, given how quickly they've followed up the first one. It consolidates what is good about them but goes in different directions, which is what you want a second album to do.

"Walk Away" is good, slightly more acoustic, and is their first ballad. All the slower songs are good; they add a different tone to Franz Ferdinand's range. Before, everything was clipped and fast, but now they seem to have stretched out and have got a slight Bob Dylan influence. I think it's warmer and I like the song "Eleanor put your boots on", which is about a girlfriend, there's something more romantic about it, not in a nauseating way but in a way that is appropriately cool for them.

Critics like the fact that they are a band who are intelligent, knowing and who have that art school backing which has always been really popular in Britain, whether it's Pulp, Blur or Roxy Music. It's that British eccentricity that people have always liked in our pop stars.

Paul Lester
Deputy editor, Uncut

As second albums go from indie music press darlings, I'd say it was almost unsurpassed - if you compare it with their predecessors, The Roses and Oasis. Second albums by those groups are miserable about how awful the first album's fame has made them and how they wish they could go back to the glory days of the first album, when they had nothing. This album is just rejoicing in success, it's exuberant and so refreshing.

The single, "Do You Want To" is a staggeringly good pop song. It's majestic - pop music but with guitars. It's intelligent, but football crowds could chant it. It's also clever, and has sexually ambiguous lyrics. It's like Morrissey, if he had got off with a couple of people in his teenage years and enjoyed going to parties.

Andrew Collins
Presenter, BBC 6 Music

Franz Ferdinand had a lot to live up to. Their first LP almost singlehandedly restored my faith in intelligent British pop music and lost none of its elegant sheen through overplaying or its greedy amount of singles.

I was underwhelmed by "Do You Want To". It's choppy and catchy, with an audacious video, but simplistic and not as toweringly good as their previous work. However, it turns out to be the worst track on the new album, which is otherwise magnificent. The trick they've pulled off is retaining the early-Eighties angularity of the first album while expanding their palette into new areas.

The first album had novelty on its side; this one wants, and deserves, a deeper love.

Mel Armstrong
Rock and Pop manager, HMV

This album seems to feature a more eclectic mix of songs, including some very poppy material. This should allow the band to connect with an even bigger audience. The next single, "Walk Away", out on 28 November, is particularly radio friendly.You Could Have It So Much Better will go in at No1 in its first week.

'You Could Have It So Much Better' is out on Monday