Fall Out Boy is a band that was formed back in 2001 and is comprised of lead singer Patrick Stump, drummer Andy Hurley, bassist Pete Wentz, and lead guitarist Joe Trohman. Over the years, they've had quite a number of hits over the course of their rather lengthly discography. Under the FOB belt, as of the day this blog was released, is seven studio albums, seven extended plays, a live album, a compilation album, and demo album. Thoughout the band's existence, they've garnered an equal number of fans and haters. As for me, I like them. I think they have a lot of enjoyable tunes. I like Patrick's voice, I think Joe is a great guitarist, and a good number of their songs are legitametly well-written in my opinion. They aren't the best band in the world, not by a longshot, but I do consider myself a fan of them. Because of this, I'd like to take this time to go through all of their albums and rank them in order of my least favorite to my favorite. Not "best to worst" because that's subjective. If I rank an album low on this list, it doesn't mean I think it's a bad album. Just gotta make that clear before we continue. I plan on doing this with other bands I like, so I figure that Fall Out Boy is a good place to start. Please keep in mind that these are just my opinions.
#7: Folie à Deux
I don't know how to pronounce that title, but, apparently, it's French for "a maddness shared by two", so that's cool. Folie à Deux is the band's fourth studio album, being released in 2008. It was also their last album that they released before their hiatus, that eventually ended in 2013 when Save Rock and Roll was made. Folie isn't a bad album, but I also don't particularly think it's a good one. Its overall sound is nice, but it ultimately didn't leave that big of an impact on me in the other regards. I will say, though: "I Don't Care" is one of my favorite FOB songs. It's well-written, the guitar riff is awesome, Patrick's vocals are at their best in it. It's a great song in an otherwise meh album. Patrick's vocals are very slurred and unintelligable, which is a problem that's present through most of Fall Out Boy's material. I also think that the songwriting takes a step-down from the album that came before it, Infinity on High. "I Don't Care" and "What a Catch, Donnie" are great, but every other song doesn't work all that well. I like the themes of a lot of the songs, such as "America's Suitehearts" and "27", l but I feel like more could've been done with them. I liked the guest stars that they got. Brendon Urie, Debbie Harry, Lil' Wayne, a couple others. They did good jobs with the material they had. Overall, it isn't a bad album, but it's one that I probably won't be going back to any time soon.
#6: Mania
Their most recent album, as of the day this blog was published, Mania was released on Janurary 19th of 2018. Mania features yet another change in the band's style, going as far as to have Pete Wentz describe it as "a big pallette cleanse". While previous FOB records mostly featured hard rock-styled electric guitars, this one had more of an EDM vibe to it, which is especially present in songs like "Young and Menace". I, personally, didn't mind it. It isn't in all of the songs, but, when it is, it's used rather nicely. The highlight of Mania, to me, is the song "Champion". It's got a really good guitar riff, it's catchy, it's the best written song on the whole thing, and Patrick's vocals fit very nicely in the whole thing. Unfortunately, however, the writing takes a step down in the rest of the songs, aside from the strangly titled "Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)". Odd, but it's still the second best song on here. Who is Wilson, though? The name is never mentioned. Is it about the ball from Cast Away? The song "Church", to me, is the only outright bad track on it, and the other seven are decent at best. There's more enjoyment to be found in this album than there was in Folie à Deux, but, ultimately, Mania could've been a lot better. I didn't hate what I heard, though.
#5: Take This to Your Grave
Don't yell at me for not putting it higher. I like this album, I just prefer the four that I'm putting above it. Take This to Your Grave was the very first Fall Out Boy album, and is one that has gone down in history since its release. This, alongside Panic! At the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, is considered to be the blueprint of "punk" and "emo pop". And this album is definitely "emo pop". Take This to Your Grave was released in 2003 and features multiple tracks that would go on to be some of the band's best known material: "Grenade Jumper", "Dead on Arrival", "Saturday", "Grand Theft Autumn", all of which are classics. This is arguably their most well-known album, but I don't think it's their best in terms of quality. The emo side of the album can sometimes be a little too much, whether it be from the lyrical content or the sound of the music itself. It doesn't happen very often, but, when it does, it's pretty jarring. But what can I expect? It was their first album. They hadn't yet discovered who they were as a group. For what it was, I like it.
#4: From Under the Cork Tree
What do you know? I went from their first album to their second. I swear, it wasn't intentional. From Under the Cork Tree was released in 2005, two years after Take This to Your Grave. In my opinion: This album did everything that their first one did, but it did it so much better. That being said, I feel like these song titles are unnecessarily long. Some of these are major mouthfuls. "I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)". Good Lord. You could very easily just call it "Summer Song" and be done with it. I will admit, though, as awful as the titles are, "Our Lawyers Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued" is a really funny name. I can't be mad at that, it just sounds so genuine. Thankfully, with their future releases, the titles are toned down when it comes to length (for the most part). And, come on, "Sugar, We're Going Down" came from this album. That alone warrants it a "classic" label. But it still isn't perfect. The lyrics of the songs can sometimes come across as a bit much, even for the "emo pop" genre. And the movie references in some of the titles (i.e. "Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner", "Of All the Gin Joints in the World", "Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends") feel tagged on and unneeded. And the music can be a little loud sometimes. But, on the whole, this album is pretty good. I like it, warts and all. It's a classic FOB record.
#3: American Beauty/American Psycho
Okay, what did I just say about the movie references? Are you even listening to me? Probably not. Anyway, American Beauty/American Psycho is their sixth studio album, being released in 2015. This album gave birth to some of Fall Out Boy's best-known songs, including "Centuries," "Uma Thurman", "Immortals", and "Irresistable". This is a very good album that features some of the best guitar and drum parts in any FOB record ever, as well as some of the best writing and some of Patrick's best vocals. Note the word "some". Patrick screamed a lot on this record and, more often than not, it hurt to listen to. Take, for example, the song "Centuries". Every time he says "remember me", he yells at the top of his lungs. It's an obnoxious blemish on an otherwise great song. But, good golly, some of these songs are so good. "Fourth of July" is a highly underrated track off of this album. If you haven't heard it, look it up. It's great. If you can get past Patrick's screaming, then you'll find a very solid record in American Beauty/American Psycho. Also, that album cover is frickin' cool, okay? What do you want from me?
#2: Infinity on High
Here we go. This is a really solid early FOB record. Released in 2007, this album gave the world so many good songs: "Thks fr th Mmrs", "Hum Halelujah", "Thriller", "Me & You", and so many other classics. My persnal favorite track off of this album is "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race". It's one of their most popular songs for a reason. The overall sound of the music featured in this album is some of the best work they've ever done. Soaring guitar riffs, melodic piano tunes in a couple of the songs, and an overall softer feel to the music than what we heard in Take This to Your Grave and From Under the Cork Tree. I think it's a welcome change, and it led to some if their best songs. The overly-long song titles are toned down greatly in this album, with there being only two of them that test my patience this time. There's wordplay in a few of these titles, as there were in the previous albums' tracklists, but it's actually somewhat clever here, although I am glad that it's stopped being a thing with their songs. Titles like "The (After) Life of the Party" and "The Take Over, The Break's Over" promise something interesting, and then they deliver on it in a satisfying way. I adore this album, but not as much as the next one.
#1: Save Rock and Roll
Bet you didn't see this coming. Save Rock and Roll was the Fall Out Boy comeback album to end their hiatus in 2013, and boy did they come back with a bang. This, in my opinion, is their best work to date. I don't even know where to begin with this one, it's that good. The song-writing on every track is very good, the instrumentals are all catchy and tonally different, there's a very good assortment of guest vocalists (including friggin' Elton John). This album is awesome and I loved every minute of it. I don't think there's a bad track on it. My favorite tracks on here are "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light 'Em Up)", "Young Volcanoes", and the title track. Also of note is the movie Fall Out Boy made that ties into the album. It's called The Youngblood Chronicles and it's pretty cool. All the guest vocalists featured on the album appear in the movie as actors, as well as appearance by 2 Chainz. I also loved Patrick's vocals on this album. He poured his soul into these lyrics, and it shows. Good stuff. Here's hoping that their next music project comes close to Save Rock and Roll's level of quality.
And, there you have it. My ranking of every Fall Out Boy album. Again, this list is my opinion. You might have your own version, and that's okay. I am me and you are you. I don't speak for your brain. Fun fact: My original intention with this blog was to cover every Fall Out Boy record, including the albums, the EPs, and the miscellaneous releases, but I decided against that because that would've been way too long to read. I don't know which band I'm gonna cover next in a blog like this. I'm debating on either Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Panic! At the Disco. I'll think of something. Until then, I need to listen to something that isn't Fall Out Boy because I've been listening to them all day in order to do this blog and it's driving me insane. I like this band, but good Lord. I need a break from them.
