Nobody Wants To Hear You Sing About Tragedy...

I realized that when I was writing a few posts ago about albums that I was getting into, I missed a few. So here goes another few blurbs about some albums you should check out.

Folie à Deux by Fall Out Boy - There are a lot of problems with bands these days over-producing albums, especially when a member of that band is getting into the producing business. Well, Fall Out Boy is a bit guilty on that count with their new album Folie à Deux, which is contains a few tracks that are a far cry from sounding like three dudes on guitar and one on drums. Nevertheless, I have to admit that the album has some real gems on it, if you can overlook the fact that this is the same band who produced a punk/indie epic Take This To Your Grave a few short years ago. But the evolution of Fall Out Boy has not been sudden. From Take This To Your Grave to From Under The Cork Tree to Infinity On High, there has been a noticeable change occurring, sending Fall Out Boy from being indie rock heroes to the dominate faces on the walls of thirteen year old girls who want to date Pete Wentz. With Folie à Deux, they take one more step in the pop direction, which actually works well for them. The album's opener Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes is one of those songs that I can play on repeat all day and still enjoy. It is admittedly a victim of the aforementioned over-production, but sheer adrenaline-laced triumphance of the song makes up for that. My other absolute favorite from the album is the ballad What A Catch, Donnie, which features guest vocals from other Fueled By Ramen labelmates and Elvis Costello. The whole song is simply beautiful, and kudos go to the band for having their labelmates sing snippets from past Fall Out Boy singles, which brings the whole song's charm full circle. Beginning with Elvis Costello singing a verse from Folie à Deux's Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet, and continuing with Cobra Starship's Gabe Saporta singing Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy, Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy singing Sugar, We're Goin' Down, Panic at the Disco's Brendon Urie singing Dance, Dance, Doug Newman singing This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race, The Cab's Alex DeLeon singing Thnks Fr Th Mmrs, and The Academy Is...'s William Beckett singing "Growing Up." The whole song is simply amazing, and a must hear for anyone. Other recommended songs include Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet, The (Shipped) Gold Standard, (Coffee's For Closers), and 20 Dollar Nose Bleed (which features Brendon Urie from Panic at the Disco). The one song on this album that I cannot bring myself to enjoy is Tiffany Blews. It's not because the song is bad even, but just that it is a hip-hop song more than anything, not recognizably Fall Out Boy. I know that is a little mean, and I am all about letting bands progress the way that they want to, but I personally don't like that kind of music, and hearing it come from one of my favorite bands makes me a little disappointed. All in all, the album is very good, and has some tracks that are essential Fall Out Boy favorites of mine.

Take This To Your Grave by Fall Out Boy - After writing about Folie à Deux and having mentioned Take This To Your Grave a few times, I thought that I would talk about it as well. This is by far my favorite Fall Out Boy album. There isn't one song on this album that I don't love and often my friends and I talk about the best track. I honestly cannot choose between five: Homesick At Space Camp, Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy, Chicago Is So Two Years Ago, Calm Before The Storm, and The Patron Saint Of Liars And Fakes. This is an amazing album that is light and happy, while at the same time made of mildly dark lyrics. My two best friends and I consider this our summer album. This is one of the only albums of which I love every song.

Put Up Or Shut Up [EP] by All Time Low - I was introduced to this album by one of my close friends a few weeks before an All Time Low concert we were going to, and unfortunately it took me until after seeing them live to really start listening to the album. I absolutely love it, disregarding the fact that it's only seven songs long. The opener, Coffee Shop Soundtrack is one of the greatest pop songs I have ever heard. It's one of those songs that you can listen to over and over because it is just really happy and puts you into a great mood no matter what kind of mood you start with. The other song on this album that always makes me happy is The Party Scene, a proud anthem about being young and alive. The whole EP runs a little over 23 minutes, and thus is not hard to get through. The sound of the songs is very poppy, quite similar to the other pop-punk bands that have been recently dominating the music scene. With this first batch of songs, All Time Low is memorable, but not necessarily very original or unique.


Currently Listening To: "Chicago Is So Two Years Ago" by Fall Out Boy from Take This To Your Grave