Fall Out Boy are back!
It's here. It's finally here! After three years of waiting, Fall Out Boy are back with their new album Save Rock and Roll. Quite a promising title from the Chicago foursome. They've been out of the limelight for all this time. How will they fend?
The amazing violin work on the catchy single Phoenix sounds like a war march, which is convenient as the first words uttered are "Put on your war paint" the music behind it is really getting you hyped for this whole album. The boys show they're truly back by displaying classic Fall Out Boy lyrics "We are the Jack-o-lanterns in July, setting fire to the sky".
Next up the single released the day Fall Out Boy announced their comeback, the lengthily titled My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark. Every warm blooded fan of Fall Out Boy will have played this as much as they can so there's not much to say about this apart from the addictive chorus of "woooooah, woaoooh" which really gets stuck in your head. The song fades into nothing and then the rest of the album begins. The parts we haven't heard yet. Now it's time to see if the emo heroes sink or swim.
"I don't know where you're going but do you got room for one more troubled soul?" is heard from the clearly matured voice of Patrick Stump. This is the first anthem on the album Alone Together. The lyrics are once again brilliant and the rhythm is catchy, what more could you want?
The rhythm behind Where Did the Party Go sounds like a rejected Katy Perry song, and the lyrics sound even more so "The boys are smoking menthols, girls are getting back rubs", but even despite this I have totally fallen in love with it. It's once again so different from what they used to do and just proves how diverse they are as a band. I just wish they'd got Katy Perry to sing on it.
Just One Yesterday sounds like it belongs on an Adele album rather than a Fall Out Boy album. The music behind the singing just sounds perfect for it. The addition from Foxes has a great contrast with Stump's voice but in a brilliant way Stump once again just makes this song his own.
Fall Out Boy getting back to hip hop, they've had help before from the mighty Jay Z and now they've enlisted the help of Big Sean. They're typically back on form, awesome guitar and drum work moulded with Stump's voice. Perfection. The addition of Big Sean is an absolutely fantastic fit to an already great puzzle. The Mighty Fall is pure brilliance. Miss Missing You's cheesy synth opening making me think I'd travelled back to the 80s. Another fantastic lyric is uttered on this song "The darkness gets bigger. The person that you'd take a bullet for is behind the trigger". Classic Fall Out Boy. The incredible Death Valley has some standard Andy Hurley drumming on it again - it builds up and up and then a single guitar and Stump singing, backed up slowly by bass provided by the great Pete Wentz. Stump's singing is reminiscent of Michael Jackson which sounds incredible.
Onto the song they released a couple of days before this stream. Young Volcanoes' starting like an African tribe dance it's hard to know what you're going to hear. Stump and an acoustic guitar is set upon us and from there drums are introduced and again the song comes out of nowhere and is suddenly huge. Clearly another anthem on this brilliant album!
This next song is excellent. The chorus of Rat A Tat is catchy and the lyrics are pure genius, there's just one problem - Courtney Love - she adds nothing aside from a bit of cringing. You can forgive Fall Out Boy for getting Courtney Love when you realise who is on the next song. The fantastically classic Elton John, finishing off this album with class. The piano playing is out of this world and the contrast between Stump and the legend is incredible! The song finishes with the lyrics that all Fall Out Boy fans want to hear "No, no, we won't go, cause we don't know when to quit oh no".
Save Rock and Roll was probably a bit too much to promise, this is more of a pop album than a rock album but that's not a bad thing. This album shows maturity from a band who did what they wanted to do. If you want another From Under the Cork Tree then you're in the wrong place but true Fall Out Boy fans will love this album.