The Return - Sofia Meredith

Four Boys, seventy-two different songs, and now five albums; Fall Out Boy has made their Return.
Their newest album, Folie à Deux, meaning a madness shared by two, was released in December and features artists such as Alex DeLeon, Brendon Urie, Travis McCoy, William Beckett Pharrell, Lil’ Wayne, Debbie Harry and Elvis Costello.
Even with their album dominated by so many different artists, the Fall Out Boy’s true feelings definitely shine through. With songs like “America’s Suitehearts” (Well I don’t know much about/ classic cars/ But I’ve got a lot of friend stuck on/ classic coke) and “I Don’t Care” (I don’t care what you think/ as long as it’s about me), which criticize America’s love and blind eye towards the stars in Hollywood, Fall Out Boy proves their love of making a statement.
My only complaint for this CD is about some of their “after-thoughts” or “after-nots”. After a few selected songs on the album, there seams to be a little piece of leftover music. Whether it’s a small interlude into one of Pete Wentz’s ramblings like in “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” or a minute and ten seconds of an entirely different song like in “w.a.m.s.”.
The CD overall is undeniably fantastic. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Panic! at the Disco’s two albums in that they are not afraid to try the untried. For instance in their song, “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” they use what could have a strange but pretty piano ballad, speed up the tempo and transform it into something else entirely. Making something normal all their own.
However, unlike Panic’s second album, Fall Out Boy managed to retain some of their old sound. Folie à Duex mixes Fall Out Boy’s old sound of raw, thrumming, bass lines, shredding guitars and crashing drum solos from their second album Take This To Your Grave. Now they incorporate a new sound of maturity and full band and orchestra back up. Folie à Duex is coated in thinly veiled metaphors such as “” from the song “”and even a tribute to Pete Wentz’s new baby boy, Bronx. This catchy album will keep you singing for days!
By Sofia Meredith