Fall Out Boy - Save Rock And Roll

'Cause Fall Out Boy are lovely, lovely people and their new image for their return appears to be "Just when you thought you knew the definition of absolute sweethearts who don't really give a shit about the money and just want to make fans happy . . .", they've streamed their upcoming album, Save Rock And Roll, online here.
Conveniently enough, I was looking for something to blog about this evening, and what better to talk about than this AMAAIZZZINNGGG AAALLBBUUIMMMM. Sorry. I listened to it once before and it blew my head off.

It's eleven tracks that sound like being punched in the face with magic, but like magic that came out of Patrick's mouth and Courtney Love's and Elton John's (they feature on the album) too, and then they stirred it with drum sticks and guitars and stuff and then grabbed all the Fall Out Boy fans and poured the gunge all over them, like the Kid's Choice Awards (that's where they do that, isn't it? Obviously I'm far too mature for such banal 'entertainment').

It starts off with the second single of the three they've released so far, The Phoenix. You (should) all know it by now. The big tension music at the beginning, Patrick being angry and rallying us to fight for something, presumably rock and roll, but using bleepy noises and something a little bit like dance music but not quite. Ugh, I love The Phoenix.

Then we go onto single number one, the one with the mysterious video signalling their return, My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark. That's like the first thing I blogged about on here, that song, and my love for it has only grown since then. It's this big massive chorus and craziness and FIYAAAAAHHH.

After that you get the first of the album tracks, the unreleased ones. Can they do it? Are the rest of the songs as good as the singles they've released, or are they a smokescreen for a mediocre return? It's the former. It's got a poppy start, and then kicks in with massive drums and guitars and it sounds like the kind of thing I should be marching to, not typing to, but I think the volume it's blasting out of my laptop at is already causing sufficient disturbance to the people upstairs. It's definitely different to their older stuff, but it's still so obviously Fall Out Boy. They've marked it. They've weed on it and left their special scenekid scent markers.

Where Did The Party Go. It has baaassssss. It's also got 'nanana'. It's got cynical lyrics that clash in a very nice way with the cheerful sound of the song. It is definitely the kind of thing you'd play at a party, it's very sort of flashy and not too fast to dance to, but not too slow to be interesting. It's got yet another chorus that just demands to be sung along to. I think this one's actually my favourite on the album.

Just One Yesterday (feat. Foxes) is different. There's not much to say about the start, but the chorus is another nice, big one. However, I can't find much to say about it. I don't know, I think it's definitely a grower, and it sounds great, but it's not really creating a picture in my mind like the others. The lyrics are great, but yeah, this one doesn't have quite the instant impact as the others.

The Mighty Fall starts off with what sounds sleigh bells, but it sounds a bit too badass to be Christmassy. It sounds more angry, and bitter, like an angry ex after being used and abused and dropped by someone, regretting it ever happened. I like the play on words in the rap though; "hell yeah I'm a dick, I'm addicted to you". Very clever.

I reeeaaaaallly like Miss Missing You. It sounds kind of like Dancing On My Own by Robyn at the start. The lyrics sound like the epilogue to The Mighty Fall, the low moments when you remember how lonely you are and the times when the person you were with wasn't a complete arsehole, and it's got a chorus that's going to get stuck into your head no matter what you do, so don't even try to ignore it.

Oooh yes, Death Valley picks up with a bit of fight to counteract the melancholy of the previous song. It's wild, it's about animals. It's got awesome drums, it's got a very Fall Out Boy chorus and awesome riffs. It's another song you will definitely try to sing along to, but you won't be able to keep up with Patrick's amazing singing, especially not while stamping up and down the room and kicking and punching things like I am. It has an unexpected dubsteppy bit in the middle, too, which I like. Everyone's doing dubstep these days, aren't they?

Young Volcanoes is the third released single. It's the kind of song you'd sing while dancing round a bonfire on a beach. In contrast to the big guitars and slamming choruses on the rest of the album, this is more acoustic. It's the hopeful song, and it sounds more personal. Lots of people are going to be quoting the lyrics from this for a while, I bet.

Rat A Tat's got Courtney Love on it, and there is no way you can avoid the fact, because of the furious shouting at the start. If you weren't paying attention, you are now. I'm not sure about this song though. I like it, but I dunno, not quite as much as the others. It's growing on me as it goes on though. I definitely like the bass. I always like bass.

The final song, Save Rock And Roll, starts quiet. It's got Elton John on it, and where Elton goes, piano follows. It seems like the What A Catch, Donnie of this album. It sounds kind of like Patrick's Soul Punk stuff. It's a cool, emotional sounding song, the perfect one to finish the album with. It's even got violins, what is this? I'm a bit dubious about Elton's input though. I don't feel like his voice is right for Fall Out Boy stuff. It doesn't sound quite right on this. Still, it doesn't sound massively wrong either. This is still a great song.

Altogether, this is an amazing album, and I don't think it would have been possible to come off hiatus with a better one without incorporating some kind of black magic. When I have the money, I am getting hold of this and annoying the neighbours with it - or possibly converting them, one of them's apparently a DJ.