Folie à Deux

by

Fall Out Boy

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Fall Out Boy is perhaps the one band that most defines what alternative punk/pop/emo rock is to today's record-buying public, with 2005's From Under The Cork Tree and 2007's Infinity On High garnering massive commercial success. On Folie A Deux, their 5th studio album, they've honed their formula for success and crafted songs that, to my ears, should satisfy core fans and newcomers alike.

On the majority of these tracks, the experimentation and mixing of musical styles and genres occur on either side of a very strong, melodic, mainstream rock chorus...in other words, F.O.B. has at least one section of every song they can hang their hat on; it doesn't seem to matter how far they stray from the 'conventional' approach to writing a rock song, at some point in each track you will hear familiarity (great sounding choruses).

The record's production is very "BIG"-sounding...typical F.O.B. trademarks, like multiple layers of vocals with plenty of "Whoa's" and "Oh's" and chants, tight harmonies, and great variety with instrumentation seem to have been emphasized...but I wouldn't necessarily say it's overproduced. Even though the arrangements can get a little 'busy' at times, Pete Wentz (bass guitar, lyrics) and Patrick Stump (vocals) somehow make the chaos work, and we end up hearing some very creative, interesting, and catchy music.

The first track, "Disloyal Order...", has about 4 different 'verse' sections, including an organ-based opening and a guitar chord progression reminiscent of The Who's "Teenage Wasteland", before it even gets to what might be considered the 'chorus'. But with each listen, this song just gets better and better, and I feel it's one of the album's best tracks.

On "America's Suitehearts", the verse gives you no clue as to the powerful, melodic rock chorus that follows it, and the album's first single, "I Don't Care", based on another classic guitar riff, is probably the most straight-forward, radio-friendly track. "What A Catch, Donnie" is a slower, piano-based, dramatically produced song that I find very moving. The first eight tracks are all solid, along with "Tiffany Blews" and "20 Dollar Nose Bleed".

The inclusion of what I consider to be 'just average' songs ("27", "w.a.m.s.", "West Coast Smoker") is the only reason I drop this from 5 stars to four; otherwise, I feel Folie A Deux is top-notch, and I would definitely recommend it.

With a lead-in track that sounds an awful lot like the first track from the previous album, Infinity on High, Fall Out Boy's latest effort quickly establishes and then repeatedly reinforces the notion that they peaked a few years ago, and aren't really doing anything new so much as they're doing the same things with more pomp and polish. I was quickly struck by how contrived and forced the lyrics seem on Folie à Deux, while similar sentiments were much more artfully expressed on every earlier effort.

Perhaps more importantly, the lyrics seemed effortless and therefore more genuine in previous collections; where Folie à Deux is trying desperately to sell you on the image and idea of angsty post-teen rockers (I Don't Care), From Under the Cork Tree was so wrapped up in itself, so utterly unconcerned about what you thought, that it didn't have to bother trying to sell you anything at all; it simply was.

It may come to be that I ultimately regard Folie à Deux from Fall Out Boy in much the same way I ultimately regarded Adore from Smashing Pumpkins; while I disliked Adore tremendously when it came out, in hindsight, I could pin much of the disappointment on the expectations that the band had set with their earlier work, and I was able to enjoy the album on its own merits. Here lies the rub for Fall Out Boy -- the arc of quality in their work has been so good for so long that it had to start dipping eventually.

There isn't really anything wrong with Folie à Deux, but that's only half the story. The other half, the half that matters, is that there isn't really anything right, either.

(Edit: I originally wrote this review for the MP3 download version of the album, and I should add that, if the price of that edition remains at $3.99, while you may come away disappointed, you practically cannot come away feeling ripped off.)