Fall Out Boy: Folie A Deux
It's a Folie A Deux for Fall Out Boy on album five
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Friday, 12, Dec 2008 11:49
Fueled by Ramen/Island Records, out December 15th.
In a nutshell...
Experimental, wry, self-deprecating, uninvolving
What's it all about?
The follow-up to 2007's Infinity on High, Illinois-based emo/pop-punks return with more radio-friendly stadium-bound anthems with their fifth full-length album Folie a Deux, the name for a mental health condition which translates from French to a "madness shared by two". Includes the singles I Don't Care and a cover of Michael Jackson's smash hit Beat It, while guest appearances come from Lil Wayne, Panic at the Disco and Debbie Harry of Blondie, and a variety of singers including William Beckett of The Academy Is., Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy and Elvis Costello crop up on track What a Catch, Donnie. Meanwhile, Pharrell Williams takes a seat in the producer's chair as does long-time FOB collaborator Neal Avron.
Who's it by
Breaking through into the mainstream with 2005's From Under The Cork Tree - which included the smash hits Dance, Dance and Sugar We're Goin' Down - Fall Out Boy have gone on to become one of the biggest acts in the world, with their status being cemented by the more experimental Infinity on High.
Unusually for a rock band, most of the attention on the band is focused on devilishly-handsome bassist Pete Wentz, who in addition to writing most of FOB's lyrics, is often spotted on the red carpet with fiancee Ashlee Simpson. However, it isn't all about Wentz despite what some parts of the press may have you believe. The band also consists of lead singer/ guitarist Patrick Stump - who has also produced albums by fellow FBR groups Cobra Starship and Gym Class Heroes - drummer Andy Hurley and guitarist Joe Trohman.
As an example...
"Throw your cameras in the air and wave them like you just don't care/I will never believe in anything again." - Coffee's for Closers
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
It's possible, the band have in the past won awards from Kerrang! and MTV among others so a Grammy nomination wouldn't be entirely implausible.
What the others say
"There aren't any other groups who have achieved such widespread mainstream success but still tinker with their sound this much." - Alternative Press
"FOB have always strived for a hip-hop take on punk and, while they've pulled it off, they also suffer from the wildest excesses and flimsy quality control that most hip-hop albums do." - NME
So is it any good?
With guest appearances ranging from Lil Wayne to Elvis Costello (surely the first and last time these two artists will ever appear on the same album) and styles going from anthemic punk-pop to soul, Folie a Deux remains a rather familiar Fall Out Boy album. Riddled with Wentz's introspective and occasionally bemusing lyrics (although from someone who has just named his first-born Bronx Mowgli what can you expect?), Stump's impressive vocal range and irritatingly long song titles, the angst-ridden, yet radio-friendly tracks are here in abundance.
However, despite the range of styles and guest vocalists, there isn't too much on Folie a Deux that matches the quality of FOB's previous output. With the exception of the singles - the politically-charged I Don't Care and Beat It - the album often meanders along, pleasantly albeit, for too long. If anything, the band appear to be attempting to spread themselves too thinly across too much ground, although when they get it right, particularly on self-deprecating album opener Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes - which includes a lullaby-like intro - and stadium anthem Coffee's for Closers, the results can be thrilling.
However, the nod towards the band's roots in Chicago's metalcore scene (check out Wentz's old band Arma Angelus) that is given on previous records seems to be pushed further into the background, contributing to Folie a Deux's overall lack of bite to it.
Overall, this album's good, indeed very good in places, but does it grab you from start to finish and demand your full attention? Hardly. That said it will take at least half a dozen listens for its subtle pleasures - of which there are several - to become apparent.
If you already don't like Fall Out Boy, Folie a Deux is unlikely to change that for you, although those who are already fans of the Fueled by Ramen foursome are likely to pleased, if not thrilled, with this latest effort. One for the already converted, rather than the casual fan perhaps.
7.5/10
Ashley King