By TAYLOR CASEY
Contributing Writer
Some of us know Fall Out Boy as the guys we will remember for “Centuries” or who like to dance like “Uma Thurman.” Some of us remember what it was like for Fall Out Boy to come off of their hiatus and to hit us hard with new music. Some of us may have been there since the beginning of their reign as one of the most influential bands of the early 2000s.
Whether you’re a diehard fan or a new one, no one can deny how much they’ve changed in the past 12 years. Fall Out Boy has been listed as one of the few bands that have survived from the 2000s punk scene and have created a new image for themselves.
Fall Out Boy (FOB) started off as an underground punk band. To find their first professionally produced album, “Take This To Your Grave,” you had to special-order it. TTTYG had some classic singles on there, like “Grand Theft Autumn (Where is Your Boy?),” “Dead on Arrival,” and “Saturday.” These were FOB’s most popular songs from that record, accurately representing their sound at that time. FOB channeled their inner Ramones and Blink182 to bring a new wave of punk music.
After touring relentlessly and gaining a small fan base, they recorded one of the most popular albums of the early 2000s, “From Under the Cork Tree.” While TTTYG had a more rushed feeling to it, as they only had a few weeks to record it, with “Cork Tree,” they created a more developed sound.
Songs were more layered, with harmonies and instruments creating the FOB sound and defining their own version of pop punk. Along with the music, their lyrics became more complex and expressive. While TTTYG was more about youthful cynicism, this new album mused on growing up, facing those cynicisms head on.
Not readily apparent in songs like “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down,” or “Dance, Dance,” after listening to the album in its entirety, a message begins to emerge of teen angst and regrets fueled by ADHD drugs and psychiatrist visits. Songs like “7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)” show this.
In 2007, FOB released their third studio album, “Infinity on High.” This album was noticeably different from their previous albums, as this album included musical genres other than pop punk. On this album they explored R&B, soul and flamenco. This can be heard in “Thnks fr th Mmrs,” “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race,” and “I’ve Got All This Ringing in My Ears and None on My Fingers.”
The album was criticized for straying away from their original sound, and for becoming increasingly more pop sounding. Critics lamented the loss of individualism that was Fall Out Boy, but on this album they were able to utilize more instruments, using strings and horns in some of their songs to create a larger, more diverse sound.
While it could be argued that they were no longer making the angst-filled music that their fans adored, they created their own sound while still using elements from previous albums. The lyrics were still well-written, with soaring anthemic themes.
These elements were used in FOB’s fourth studio album, “Folie a Deux.” Translated from French, it means “a madness shared by two.” This, in my opinion, is Fall Out Boy’s best album, bringing together many artists and genres.
This album used the same themes as “Infinity on High” while experimenting with new sounds and song structure. While it still had the signature big choruses, it is a big contrast from their first album, “Take This To Your Grave.”
This album takes inspiration from Queen, Metallica, Prince and The Rolling Stones while also incorporating R&B and funk. This can be heard in “She’s My Winona,” “W.A.M.S.” and “I Don’t Care.”
Not received well by fans, as they desperately missed the old sound, people were quick to write it off as a bad album because it sounded so different, when in reality, they were doing what they had been their entire career, expanding.
When they saw that fame and fans had become too much, they decided to take a break. A hiatus, if you will; leaving many of us in the dark for three years until they decided to grace us with their presence once again in 2013 with their album “Save Rock and Roll.”
Recorded in secret and released in the spring of 2013, the album was an attempt to reinvent their sound from scratch and take a more pop approach to their rock music, hence the title. With guest artists, including Elton John, this album marked the new beginning of FOB and their much different sound and appearance.
Songs like “Young Volcanoes,” “Alone Together,” and “The Phoenix” were able to show the equal blend of old FOB with new FOB. After the album’s huge success, and two tours along with it, FOB released their sixth studio album: “American Beauty/American Psycho,” giving us the more familiar, current sound with songs like “Centuries” and “Uma Thurman.”
This album really showed FOB’s transition to catchy, pop-like tunes, leaning away from the more verbose style of their previous songs. I’ll admit that this is one of the things I do miss about Fall Out Boy. I adored their constant cynicism and satire with their lyrics and I just didn’t see that as much with these songs.
These songs were more about empowering oneself and finally getting over that bridge of cynicism, which just adds more to the story of FOB. While AB/AP has received good and bad reviews, I think this album shows another layer of rock and punk that has never been used. This album was able to make rock music relevant to pop culture, while also being able to be played at large venues for fans.
All in all, I think AB/AP is just another album that shows FOB’s expanding sound, and I think most people will agree that we can’t wait to see what’s next from these four fellas.
