Our look at the closing lines of reviews of the week’s biggest new music continues with a look at reactions to Fall Out Boy’s Folie A Deux, which arrives in stores today:
• “Some songs, like ‘Tiffany Blews,’ are meant to be vampy but suffocate instead. There are moments when the oxygen floods in—like the Pharrell-assisted ‘w.a.m.s.’ which unexpectedly ends in stripped-down a cappella blues—but they are all too rare. It’s not that FOB can’t have grandiosity, but every stadium needs open air.” [LA Times]
• “The unlikely highlight is the piano ballad, ‘What a Catch, Donnie,’ where Stump shows off his R&B vocal chops on some of Wentz’s most over-the-top lyrics. (’What a catch’ rhymes with ‘I’ve got troubled thoughts and the self-esteem to match.’) A backup choir features members of Panic at the Disco, Gym Class Heroes and The Academy Is … , and just when you think the song is over, Elvis Costello comes in to sing one line. Ridiculous? Very. Which makes it a very Fall Out Boy moment.” [Blender]
• “When in doubt, Fall Out Boy wants more, and the songs are packed to bursting with so many ideas (not all of them good) that the latter half of the album turns into a mess. Fall Out Boy conquered a segment of the world with pop songs that everyone can shout in their cars, and the band members should be applauded for wanting more out of their music as they mature. But sometimes more is simply too much.” [Chicago Tribune]
• “Rock stars have been making records about rock stardom for decades, but few have had such fun singing about the absurdities, the narcissism—and, as the album title suggests, the follies—of a life lived in fame’s strobelit glare. ‘I don’t care what you think/As long as it’s about me,” sings Stump in ‘I Don’t Care,’ adding what could be FOB’s credo, a summary of their trickster-ish approach to the emo game: ‘The best of us can find happiness in misery.’ ” [Rolling Stone]
@tim_loves_cats: I like “What a Catch,” mostly for the vocal prettiness, but it’s become a little too “Hey Jude” for my liking, especially after hearing the rest of the album. “America’s Suitehearts” is growing on me by leaps and bounds (thanks, Maura!).
What, no All-American Rejects or Saliva round-ups? They’re actually advertising on this here site.
@MrStarhead: I try to ignore the advertising when making “editorial” decisions. For the “last word” feature, when I write it up, I try to go by which albums have the most reviews (as somehow connected to people’s interest).
semi-related, but this is where i was yesterday afternoon (don’t tell anyone):
Fair enough, though AAR’s last two albums did go platinum. I would think people would be interested. I have noticed most reviews so far have been of the one-paragraph variety, rather than the multi-paragraph featured reviews of FOB.
Awesome! Good thing it wasn’t scheduled for today, what with this miserable rain-slush thing.
I gotta disagree with Blender completely. That limp, by the numbers ballad is the worst track on the album. Most of the rest of it’s pretty good, though. I wish I had Fuse, I think they show they taped that I was at is on tonight.
@drinkypuss: yeah, right? this weather is the pits.
@tim_loves_cats: yeah, that ballad is the worst thing on the album. Its a little too self-referential for my tastes, and that is saying something considering it is coming from a highly self-referential band.
@Maura Johnston: What else did The Boy do? Just general promotion things?
@drinkypuss: they were supposed to do a full set but it got shut down by the po po before it could happen. so the above performance was it.
afterward i went to otto with kate, in case you were wondering.
@MrStarhead: Yeah, the AAR reviews were on the brief end, otherwise they probably would have beat out Hamilton for the afternoon spot.