The Fray is a popular rock band in the United States, whose members are originally from the city of Denver. The team was founded in 2002. The musicians managed to achieve huge success in a short time. And now millions of fans from all over the world know them.
The history of the formation of the group
The group members almost all met in the churches of the city of Denver, where they helped conduct worship services. The three members of the current line-up attended Sunday school regularly together. There are currently four members in the group.
Members Isaac Slade and Joe King knew Ben Wysotsky. Ben was a few years older and played drums in the church's worship band. The three of them often met with each other and worked together. The fourth participant, David Welsh, is a good friend of Ben, the guys were in the same church group. And so the acquaintance of all the guys took place.
Later, Isaac and Joe invited Mike Ayers (guitar) to their duet, Zach Johnson (drums). Caleb (Slade's brother) also joined the band and was in charge of bass. But his stay in the team was short-lived.
After the departure of the latter, the relationship between the brothers worsened, which can be heard in the song Over My Head. Then Zach Johnson left the group, as he studied at an art academy in another state.
Why did the musicians choose the name for The Fray?
The group members asked random passers-by to write any names on sheets of paper. Then they pulled out one sheet with the title with their eyes closed. Collectively, from the options received, the musicians chose The Fray.
The musicians conquered their first fans when they gave concerts in their hometown. In the first year of their activity, the group recorded the Movement EP mini-album, which included 4 songs. And in 2002, the guys released another mini-album Reason EP.
The song Over My Head became a hit on the local radio station. In this regard, the well-known record label Epic Records signed an agreement with the group in the winter of this year. In 2004, the group in the region received the title of "Best Young Musical Group".
Debut album The Fray
With Epic Records, the band recorded a full-length studio album, How to Save a Life. It came out in autumn 2005. The songs on the album had notes of both classic and alternative rock.
The musicians included the song Over My Head in the album, which refers to the official first single of the disc. She managed to conquer the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where she entered the top 10 best pieces of music. Later, she received a "platinum" status, and on the MySpace network she was listened to more than 1 million times. At the world level, the composition entered the top 25 hits in many countries of Europe, Canada, Australia. The composition became the fifth most downloaded in 2006.
The next single Look After You was not inferior in popularity to the previous work. This song was written by the leader of the group, where they sang his girlfriend, who later became his wife.
Criticism for the album was mixed. Allmusic magazine gave the album a low rating and stated that the band was not original enough. And the compositions from the album do not evoke feelings and emotions in the listeners.
Stylus magazine gave the album a poor rating, stating that the band was unlikely to appeal to a wider audience in the future. Many critics followed the magazine, giving the album only three stars. However, the album became influential among Christian listeners. One Christian magazine gave it a very high rating, saying that "the singles are almost perfect".
The Fray's second album
The second album was released in 2009. This album became successful thanks to the song You Found Me. It became the group's third song to have over 2 million downloads in America alone. The album was produced by Aaron Johnson and Mike Flynn and recorded by Warren Huart.
The album debuted immediately at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 200. The album sold 179 copies in its first week of release. Other songs in the collection were not very popular.
Third work Scars and Stories
In this collection, the musicians' compositions are performed in a more aggressive manner. While preparing the album, the guys traveled the world, met people, learned their problems and joys. The group demonstrated this experience in their lyrics.
The guys managed to compose 70 songs, but only 12 of them made it to the album, which was released in 2012. This album caused both indignation and joy among critics, but many compared the musicians to the Coldplay group.
The Fray's fourth album and current activities
The group released the Helios album in 2013. The team in this work combined different genres, but focused on the pop direction in the performance of songs. In 2016, the musicians released the compilation Through the Years: The Best of the Fray, which included the band's greatest hits, as well as the new song Singing Low. At the end of the year, The Fray went on tour in support of the album. This compilation is the last album in the band's work so far.
