DAD : It is probably apt that I'm listening to this mungy grungy stuff at my son's behest. At time of writing a bunch of numpties with various bits of metal hanging off their faces going by the name of Disturbed are likely to hit it big with a cover of S&Gs 'Sound Of Silence'. I'm surprised it hasn't been hijacked before by the emo generation. Gawd knows how you categorize all this stuff, I hear about nu-metal, death metal, I-don't-know-what-kind-of metal. Fall Out Boy appear to be top of my son's list of favourite bands, and I'm not surprised, he goes for the lighter side of thrashy grunge, which what it is. I like a spectrum, so let's put Napalm Death at one end and Busted at the other, with, oh I don't know, Nirvana somewhere in the middle. This places FOB among the higher frequencies, lets say heavier than Fountains Of Wayne but lighter than My Chemical Romance (getting to the end of my knowledge of angsty bands now). I can't say any of the songs stand out that much. This album is not on Spotify, but a few songs are available as live versions or on YouTube. I'll give them this, they are good at a song title, the opener is 'Tell That Mick He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today'. Other adventurous titles are 'Homesick At Space Camp' and 'Postcards From A Plane Crash (Wish You Were Here)' and credit must be given for the wit of 'Reinventing The Wheel To Run Myself Over'. If it is all like this I will get bored quickly, but let's see.
SON: The first album isn’t even on Spotify. This is a good
start. In any case, FOB is an early two thousand pop-punk group that never
seemed to take itself too seriously. At least, that’s what I find. I can say I
have listened to all but the first two albums before, so there may be some
prejudgements there, but what can I say? I like this band. In any case,
launching into it we have ‘Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do
Today’, and yes, most of the song titles (at least for this album, they get
more sensible later on) are like this. It starts with some kinda thrash
mettle-y guitars, and heavy drums. The lead singer Patrick Stump does a good
job conveying the lyrics. I think the time signature fluctuates. I did pick up
a point of 4/4, but I expect the rest is in compound time. Next ‘Dead On Arrival’.
If I did have to say something, I feel they sound a little too much like their
peers. That’s not to say it’s bad, But I don’t entirely feel like I am
listening to Fall Out Boy, and rather something like a relatively happy Three
Days Grace. 4/4, but, unlike my previous “subject” it’s not as noticeable.
“Grand Theft Autumn” is not a parody video game. I don’t have much to say.
Quite like this one, honestly. Nothing special, but it’s still decent.
Certainly 4/4 though. ‘Saturday’ is a bit too generic pop punk for me. It does
sound a little more Fall Out Boy though, while still not quite fitting in with
their later stuff. Can’t quite discern a time signature. Weird death mettle
lyrics a little way in though. ‘Homesick At Space Camp” is a little jumbled.
Patrick's singing is a little hard to hear at times, and it is another time that
I don’t entirely feel like I am listening to FOB. I still quite like this
though. 4/4. Took me a short while to figure that out though. ‘Send Postcards from
A Plane Crash Wish You Were Here’ as well as sporting the most amazing title
since ‘Tell that Mick’, also has some nice guitar riffs, and some almost rap
speed lyrics from Patrick. Shame it's likely sped up. Oh well. It’s another
break up song. I do have to say I am a little disheartened by the similarity
between all the tracks. Only the other day did I listen to one of their more recent
albums, and almost every song is distinct. Here, though, I couldn’t tell the
difference between this or the next track. Speaking of, ‘Chicago Is So Two
Years Ago’ is again nice riffs, more similarity to what came before, and more
lyrics about break ups. If I wanted to be writing about songs about break ups,
I would be doing this on Breaking Benjamin. Although, I must say that I am now
annoyed at Fall Out Boy, as it turns out that, ten years later, they would
sample lyrics from this song for a far better one, on a far better album. 8/8.
‘The Pros And Cons Of Breathing’ Is yet again closer to the later stuff they
would do, but is still 'hate breakup' nonsense. Will these four just grow up?
‘Grenade Jumper’ sounds more Green Day than FOB at the beginning, but it
settles down easily enough. I will admit, the guitar in this one can be really
real at times. Patrick obviously discovered voice modulation for this one, as he
seems to change it up often enough. ‘Calm Before The Storm’ Is where I feel
like I couldn’t care less. This is just a little to eh for even me. I can’t say
anything. Hoping the other guy can shine some light on it when it comes around.
‘Reinventing The Wheel To Run Myself Over’ is a bit of a school ground
rebellion chant esque song. You know the ones. 'Another Brick' type thing. I have
very little too say at this point, but at least there are only two tracks left.
‘The Patron Saints of Liars And Fakes’ is very much a product of the early two
thousands. At least it’s not a break up. It’s a song about a couple who are
worried about a break up. Big difference. Still good Guitar ness, which just
sounds so good. I won’t pretend I haven’t enjoyed this album, even with its
lack of standout songs like in later ones. Finally, is ‘Roxanne’, which is a
cover of a ‘police’ song. Its quite different to the rest of the album, but,
honestly, kinda comes with covers. Unless you completely redo the entire thing.
For clarification of what I mean, see Katzenjammers cover of ‘Land Of Confusion’ as compared to Disturbed cover of the same song. For the record,
this one is a Disturbed, not a Katzenjammer. Not bad. Overall, the album
is…alright. Nothing too special, and none of it really stands out. Cover is the
four band members just sitting there. It’s a shame. The rejected cover is so
much more interesting.
FROM UNDER THE CORK TREE (2005)
DAD: OK. I'm beginning to sort of see the point. There's nothing wrong with this and it is quite uplifting. Very commercial though. Whatever happened to liking bands because they were a bit challenging. They maintain good song titling form, 'Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued', 'I've Got A Dark Alley And A Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth' and 'Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part To Save The Scene And Stop Going To Shows)' all show a need to provide a full and complete explanation of What The Song Is About. The more snappily monikered 'Dance Dance' is particularly good, but overall it becomes samey-samey. I'm sure the lyrics are meaningful if you are 15, but I'm nearly 50. It's not designed for me, and if you are not moved by the lyrics it really is just a procession of light thrashy teenage angst.
SON: Well, seeing as I have already finished with the first
album, and the second half of this duet has yet to even begin writing that, I
may as well cement my lead by jumping straight into Under The Cork Tree. I
think the drummer changed between Take This To Your Grave and Cork Tree, but I
don’t know. First up, and boy is this a fun title… ehem…. “Our Lawyer Made Us
Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued” … yea. They do seem to
have settled more into the Fall Out Boy style, with this song still having the
more punk elements of the last album, but they are still strong. Our Lawyer
does certainly embrace this. Its fairly heavy and rocky, but easily less so
than the last one. ‘Of All The Gin Joints In The World” is a bit more in your
face than Our Lawyer, But is still quite listenable. “Dance Dance” is the most
“Fall Out Boy” song yet, though the mix of styles and tones I tend to associate
with them still isn’t quite there. It still fits in with the rest of their
stuff though. I think I find it closer due to the more varied chorus/verse
structure. 8/8. ‘Sugar We’re Goin Down’
is a classic, In my opinion. It also does fit the pop structure more than the
punk side. The verses are very laid back, with the bridge dropping out almost
entirely and then a strong chorus. It finally feels like Fall Out Boy. It also
has a very sweet music video, which is surprisingly heartfelt. This also coined
what would become a sort of Fall Out Boy slogan/ tagline “going down swingin’”,
which later showed up in Save Rock And Roll. ‘Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner’,
however, is very much a rock track. Not really sure how to describe it. It’s
quite fast, with some nice guitar stuff going on. ‘I’ve Got A Dark Alley And A
Bad Idea’ feels almost like rock and roll. It isn’t. far from it. It’s not bad.
I must say I feel like I missed most of it. Patrick's lyrics are quite droney,
but it’s not as bad as certain other singers…anyway, ‘7 Minutes In Heaven
(Atavan Halen)’ sounds weird. Patrick’s singing is easily drowned out by the guitar. I guess this one is in the spirit of Green Day era grunge. If you like that stuff, this is your thing.
Otherwise, very ignorable. ‘Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of the Year’ kind of sounds
like proto “Hey Monday” and I have no idea why I think that. All I know is that
I like it. 4/4. ‘Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends’
has nothing to it. I can't say anything on it that’s meaningful. And I think we
have the new best song tittle ever, with ‘I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Love Song Written About Me’ both shows the high
self-awareness I mentioned a little way back, and also that the song is so
generic that they couldn’t come up with a good name. and then the death mettle
vocals come in. gahh! ‘A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More “touch me”’
reminds me of ‘The Girl All The Bad Guys Want’ and that’s about it. ‘Get Busy
Living Or Get Busy Dying’ sounds very dark from the beginning. So far the best
track. And the death mettle returns. FOB really needs to stop that. Overall its
not bad, but half way through it ends, and the speaking starts. Its…weird.
Finally ‘XO’ is the best song with an emoji as a tittle. Its fun and heavy. it
does fit in with the overall generic-other-than-the-singles flow this album has
had, but I can't complain. And that was it. I can defiantly see where its going,
but… it still isn’t quite there. That said, Its ‘Infinity On High’ next, which
is just…yes. Art is a movie thearter looking over a van in the snow. No cork
trees. Fall out boy, you disappoint me.
INFINITY ON HIGH (2007)
DAD: First track is 'Thriller'. A cover of Jacko's pinnacle of achievement might be interesting. He lends himself to this kind of stuff as evidenced by Alien Ant Farm's 'Smooth Criminal'. Alas, this is one of FOB's own compositions. It's OK, has a tiny hint of 'Strange Town' by the Jam about it, with that kind of fast drum/guitar intro. What astonishes me most about Fall Out Boy is that they don't get more mainstream airplay. They are right out of the Maroon 5 mould and you simply can't get away from that lot on the radio. Maybe they get onto Radio 1 a lot. I stopped listening to that in 1994. I do detect a degree of increased competence and commerciality in this album though. I bet the fans accused them of selling out, I would have if I was 15. Worse than that though is that they take on the most abused song of our times 'Hallelujah'. I've heard X-Factor versions, Gareth Malone TV Choir versions and Christian versions with the lyrics changed. If you bother listening to anything other than Leonard Cohen or Jeff Buckley then you're wasting everybody's time. In fairness this is just a section of a song called 'Hum Hallelujah', so I'll commit their sentence to manslaughter rather than murder of it. They have their Spinal Tap moment with 'Golden' which is clearly written in the "saddest key of all". Oooh, oooh, oooh! Recognizable hit time. 'Thnks fr th MMrs' (it's written in text speak see? which means vowels are frowned upon - Wikipedia calls it a 'disemvoweling', which I quite like ). I must know it from some TV montage. Anyway, it IS a good piece of punky pop. However it is followed by another good piece, and another and another. That's fine, but I'm not listening to the lyrics and I doubt they are interesting, so it may be good, but its also monotonous.
SON:
And we reach the point when Fall Out Boy became good. Well,
not good. They were always good. From ‘Infinity’ onwards though, it’s very
obvious they knew who they were. Punk guitars mixed in with lots and lots of
musical genres. The obvious examples of this on here are ‘This Ain’t A Scene, It’s
An Arms Race’ and ‘Thnks Fr Th Mmres’, but it’s all quite good, even if it is a
shame that the opening (‘Thriller’) song isn’t a cover of the Michael Jackson
classic. Patrick seems to be singing to a more pop tone now, as well, as with a
lot more “whoa” and “uh” stylings to make even the mighty Goldblum blush. If I
did have to file a complaint, though, it does all sound a bit too much like
“PANIC! At The Disco” which, I must stress, Is not bad. I love P!ATD as much as
the next angsty emo teen nutter, but I feel that they do them better than FOB
could ever do. Not a bad thing though. Fall Out Boy pull off this revamped sound
really well. Its shame the titles are kind of off with this one. Sure, you do
still get some good ones like the aforementioned ‘This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An
Arms race’ and ‘Thnks Fr Th Mmres’, as well as ‘I’m Like A Lawyer With The Way
I’m Always Trying To Get You Off’, but you also get the considerably crap ‘Golden’
and ‘Hum hallelujah’, which is also a good segueway to show that there are
still some forgettable tracks, such as ‘Hum Hallelujah’, and the salt is rubbed
in further when they start recreating the Jeff Buckley track of far better
quality. Maybe I should suggest Buckley as an artist. However, back to Fall Out
Boy. the track titling is not necessarily reminiscing of quality, as listening
to ‘Golden’ I can’t help but love it. Must quickly mention ‘Thnks Fr Th Mmres’,
due to its great use of Cellos and trumpets at the beginning. It even has a
castanet/ukulele solo mid-way through. The album plods on, and no where do I
feel I am hearing the same song as before. Goanna jump straight to the final
track of ‘G.I.N.A.S.F.S’ as, well, I don’t feel there is much more to say. This
is the closest this album seems to get to Cork tree or Grave, and even then,
this seems like a lullaby sung as a rock song, which…oddly works. And, for the
sake of my reputation: 6/8. Yea. We went there. Couldn’t help but chuckle when
a Steven Hawking style voice synth thing says “now press repeat” at the end.
Album art is a sheep with wings on fire in front of a handmade nativity scene
with a door to Narnia in the background. And you all think I am joking….
FOLIE A DEUX (2008)
DAD: Hmm. This is a little better. There are some Chilli Pepper pretensions at the start of the opening track 'Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes' and they use the old Spirit In The Sky riff trick on second track 'I Don't Care'. I may have noted this before, but if you want to hear a great take on that riff, see if you can find a version of Springsteen's 'Reason To Believe' as performed on the Magic tour (ca. 2007). As a whole this album is all much of a muchness however. There's a modicum of menace on 'Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet' and they mention "sandman", so I guess they are trying to intrude into Metallica's territory. On '(Coffee's For Closers)' they show a staggering lack of lyrical originality with a couplet urging us to do something in the air like we just don't care. Dear old Larry Blackmon's red codpiece must be spinning in his smalls drawer. Is that really Elvis Costello on 'What A Catch, Donnie'?. Well, apparently so. He does add a touch of class, but that almost goes without saying. On '27' I think there is an attempt to rhyme "rich" with "orphanage". I was moderately interested in what 'w.a.m.s' stood for, which led me to the Wikipedia entry, which is clearly written by a committed devotee. There's lots about the meaning of the songs and the literary references. Well you get a lot of that if you listen to loads of pompous concept albums from the early seventies too, but they have an air of absurdity as well, which helps to sugar the pill. This lot are too earnest for their own good. Anyway, back to 'w.a.m.s'. Couldn't commit enough interest to find out, but the closing a capella gospel section is the most interesting thing on the album. '20 Dollar Nose Bleed' seems to have drug-related theme, but I don't need to worry that my son will pick up any bad habits, he's far more puritanical than me. Last track 'West Coast Smoker' contains the rather good lyric "Don't feel bad for the suicidal cats; Gotta kill themselves nine times before they get it right"
However, ultimate verdict. I've listened to this once. It was enough.
SON: On the word document where I write these while on the train,
I made the working title ‘Let The Guitars Scream Like A Fascist’. That was due
to this album. While it is its own thing, certainly, listening to this does
feel a bit too much like the B-sides for Infinity On High. The most notable
track is ‘I Don’t Care’ which is so teenage stupid angst that it can’t help but
come off as cheesy and ironic, which I believe is how it’s meant to be. It also
has the aforementioned ‘fascist’ line. Honestly, this is a downgrade from
Infinity. It’s all a bit too similar for me. Even the naming has stopped, with
the closest to the previous albums being ‘Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A
Bad Bet’, and maybe ‘Twenty-Dollar Nose Bleed’. The album isn’t bad, but it
does tend to feel a bit, well, similar. Album art is a guy in a bear suit
giving a piggy back to a bear. And yes, I know this was short, but I am saving
up the deep, long winded analysis for the next two albums.
SAVE ROCK AND ROLL (2013)
DAD: Fall Out Boy are leaving me few options than to try and work out why I find this so uninspiring. My first theory is that every song is a guitar/drums thrash. Where are the cowbells, flutes, handclaps and whistling? I must assume that they know their market and exploit it to the full but I am proud to play the outraged middle-aged Dad and harrumph that it all sounds the same. Lyrically they aren't very interesting either. But, the songs are catchy, 'Where Did The Party Go' is particularly good in that respect. For a moment I thought they were covering Adele's 'Rolling In The Deep' when 'Just One Yesterday' started. 'Young Volcanoes' is SO like another piece of bland pop that it's almost frustrating that I can't remember what it is (ah, just got it: 'Hey Soul Sister' by doppelganger band Train). What surprises me the most however is that they seem to be quite well regarded in the music industry. Elvis Costello on the last album and Elton on this one. He crops up on the title track, which ends the album. Roping in Courtney Love on 'Rat-A-Tat' smacks of credibility seeking desperation. This counts as a comeback album, since it was their first in 5 years (Shhh! Don't tell them about Kate Bush).
SON: After five years in the break up vault, Fall Out Boy
reformed and gave us this: Save Rock and Roll. Honestly, I recommend that
everyone goes and quickly reads my thoughts on Gorillaz 'Plastic Beach', as this
album, at least to me, works as sort of the anti of that album. Why? Well, they
both feature heavy amounts of cameos and collaborations with other artists. The
difference? Save rock and roll is good. In fact, I dare to say great. This may
be my overall favourite album of all time. It’s certainly my favourite fall out
boy album. Before I finally stop rambling, I must mention that Fall Out Boy
made music videos for all of the songs on the album, using them to tell a story
called ‘The Young Blood Chronicles’, which is actually a pretty decent watch.
Jumping in is ‘The Phoenix’ which very much a large, cinematic, battle worthy
song. Is it bad that I can quote every line from every one of these songs?
‘cause I can. 4/4. Also, nice mix of violins and guitars. Oh, and yes, there
are no clever tittles. It’s a shame, but the music itself makes up for it. The
closest you get is the second track ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark
(Light ‘em Up)’, which is 4/4. This song is, again, quite cinematic, but in a
different way to ‘The Phoenix’. It’s very catchy. ‘Alone Together’ is 4/4, but
loses the cinematic edge that the others have. Got to love the lyric "my heart
is like a stallion; they love it more when its broken". The song also has a
sort of performed live edge, due to the crowdesque voices who pop in in the
chorus and bridge. ‘Where Did The Party Go’ is, yet again, 4/4, and now more of
a love song rather than break up one. It’s very easily hummable. The effect on
Patrick's voice is a bit distracting, but it doesn’t sound too bad. They leave
in a ‘still recording’ thing at the end, though. Not sure why. ‘Just One
Yesterday’ reminds me of something I can’t put my finger on. it feature’s
‘Foxes’, who at first I thought where a band, but are actually an artist from London.
UK FTW! They do a good voice. Her voice is very nice. Honestly, might look into
her now. ‘The Mighty Fall’ is a very angry sounding rock song, almost sounding
like the old stuff. There is a rap interlude by ‘Big Sean’, which, despite
sounding a tad forced, is still listenable, and very catchy. ‘Miss Missing You’
is defiantly embracing the fact that Fall Out Boy are now a pop band. Really
like this one, despite it not being that complicated. I think it might be 5/4.
‘Death Valley’ is the most forgettable song on here. Its not bad, just a bit
forgettable. The lyrics are also quite weird. "we are alive, here in Death
Valley, but don’t take love off the table yet"? I don’t get it. At least it
mixes in some weird dubstep elements. ‘Young Volcanoes’ is also a bit
forgettable, but the acoustic guitar sounds really great. Not much to say,
really. 8/8, if I am not mistaken. next is ‘Rat A Tat’, featuring Courtney
love, who sounds like a drag queen. Honestly, she is the worst collaborator on
this album. However, I still love this song. Sure, the lyrics are a bit odd,
but I still quite like it. Finally, the title track ‘Save Rock And Roll’, featuring
Elton John as god. Because of course. This features the samples from ‘Chicago
Is So Two Years Ago’. As well as the line ‘I will defend the faith, going down
swinging’. SAID IT WOULD COME BACK! Really love this song. It’s one of the few
songs that good ol’ Elton has done that I can say that for. His voice has
always been a bit strange. He does a stellar job here though. And that was
‘Save Rock And Roll’. Is it really poppy? Yep. Is it easy to listen to? Course.
But I love it. Always will. Cover is a guy smoking, holding hands with a…monk,
I think? It has nothing to do with the music. Ignore it.
DAD: This is better, but they are a bit obvious whenever they sample melodies from other artists. Here it is Suzanne Vega's 'Tom's Diner' on 'Centuries', which is top of their 'Popular' tunes on Spotify and The Munsters' theme tune on Uma Thurman and I know for a fact that Pat doesn't realize what it is. The title track is great actually, but let's not kid ourselves that this is anything other than a radio friendly pop-rock band. Suzzer does get a small sample on 'Centuries'. 'Novocaine' is a typical example of a pretty bland approach to what might appear to be an edgy subject, but if you want to listen to a song with Novocaine in the title, I would suggest 'Novocaine For The Soul' by Eels. Listening to all these albums there seems to be a lot of layering on the vocal, or they've turned the treble up, or something. It doesn't help to dismiss the notion that it all sounds the same. I can understand that it is uplifting and noisy and has a degree of cleverness about it at times, but there is so much more interesting stuff out there. In fairness, I didn't get Bowie until my thirties and the stuff I like now is as much to do with nostalgia as with musical merit. I'm sure he'll grow out of it.
SON: I own this one. I regret nothing. Honestly, I am not sure what to say about this album. It’s kind of similar to Folie, honestly. It feels kind of like the B-sides for Save Rock And Roll. The difference is that I think that this is of comparable quality to its predecessor. The album starts with 'Irresistible', which managed about three music videos. Why? Search me, but, for whatever reason, there is a version with Demi Lovato singing some of it. It’s not a remix, the music and arrangement is the exact same, it’s just demi singing some of it. ‘American beauty/American psycho’, as well as being the title track, isn’t that bad. It’s Quite punchy, and has some of the best lyrics on the album. ‘Centuries’ samples ‘Tom’s Diner’, but manages to still be its own thing. ‘Jet Pack Blues’ is a bit slower, and very hummable. ‘Novocaine’ starts of very misleadingly. Its actually a fairly relaxed song (compared to its bombastic opening). ‘Favourite Record’ is very catchy. Got some nice altered vocals in there. Ooo! Movie song here! ‘Immortals’ was used in Disney’s big hero six. Great movie, and really good song, In my humble opinion. Time signature wise, this one is oddly hard to pin. It’s not 4/4. Or is it. I keep counting 6/4, which, last I checked, isn’t actually a thing. The album closes with ‘Twin Skeletons (Hotel In NYC)’ which… I don’t have much to say on. It's Fall Out Boy doing Fall Out Boy. I am not sure of the significance of ‘Twin Skeletons’. It was the image on the front of the FOB greatest hits “Believers Never Die”. At least Patrick sings his heart out on this one. And that was Fall Out Boy. In my opinion, a rocky start, but a good ending. Technically they are still together, and given their tendencies to release albums at two year intervals, I will likely have to wait till next year for the next one. Oh well. I can wait, and that time spread is no-where as bad as some artists I know of. Cover is a kid with the American flag painted over half of his face. Now, bring on the next lot!
DAD: Quite a while since the last post. Pat has decided the time is right to dust off the blog, so we have a few post-post releases across a number of artists to look at. I find this stuff fairly difficult to get a grip on, so whereas my usual method now involves a week of repeated listens, I'm going more old school on this and will attempt a commentary based on just one or two hearings. For this particular album I did give it a decent crack of the whip earlier he year in advance of seeing the band live at the O2 in London. We'd been to see Linkin Park in 2017, about a month prior to Chester Beddington's suicide and I had to reluctantly admit that they did have a pretty visceral edge. Fall Out Boy? Not so much. The fan demographic is probably a good 10 years younger than Linkin Park and easily 25 years younger than me. It was a well put together show though, lots of fireworks, rising platforms and charging about. Video screens at live gigs are now constantly showing fast-edited images. It's all part of the dizzying assault. They flirt with risque language. 'Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea' is a decent album opener and a bit sweary, although I'm not sure even they know what they mean by "eau de resistance". Whatever, the kids lapped it up. They almost go reflective on 'Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)' and Pat's right, "I'll stop wearing black when they make a darker colour is a decent line", although I'm sure it must have originated on a T shirt. They do mix it up a bit, 'Heaven's Gate' is positively slow, kind of Rag'n'Bone Man when he's not really trying. I quite liked the collaboration with Burna Boy, 'Sunshine Riptide' and yes, the vocal effects on 'Young and Menace' are irritating.
SON: Right, enough time dicking about doing this again, let's dive in again. In no particular order, I am starting this round of housekeeping by doing the latest fallout boy album, Mania. and , honestly, I am kind of glad I took a while to get round to doing this, because I reckon that had I written about this album when it first came out, I would probably have given it an unfair beating. At first, I kinda hated this one. A lot of the tracks have a similar structure, which rubbed me the wrong way first time I heard them. But, then I went through it again… and again, and honestly I think that the album is far better than it appears at first glance. There are a few dud tracks (‘Bishop's Knife Trick’ and ‘Sunshine Riptide’, while neither are bad, spring to mind), but the album seems to have been built on the idea of “hype at all costs”, and from that perspective it's great. Most of the tracks are incredibly memorable, and are the kinda thing you just want to turn right up and sing along too, damn the neighbours. Special mention to ‘Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)’ for the genius Line of “I’ll Stop Wearing Black When They Make A Darker Colour”, which also serves to remind me that I am a disgusting emo. Hell. ‘Young and Menace’ is my favorite track of the album, though, despite the chorus annoying me at first, with its pitch-shifted vocals from Stump, But it did grow on me.so… yea… COVER: Purple corridor, funneling into a picture of a wave. Hey, it's far from the weirdest fall out boy cover…
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