As someone who reviews albums, and takes a significant amount of pride in my work (no matter how bad it may actually be), I try and set guidelines for myself to make sure my writing is up to my own standards. One of them is to be wary of how often I bring in words that directly reflect my opinion on the album, and present an objective, professional approach. However, there are times when I can't help but bring in my personal experience with an album, and especially in this case, I think it reflects how a lot of us feel about the album I'm reviewing.
Because the truth is, when I started this blog, I never thought I would see the day where I could post a review of a new Fall Out Boy album. But here we are.
Save Rock and Roll is one of the most aggressive, in-your-face albums you will ever hear. While there is more of an emphasis on string arrangements and electronic production, the album is seething with swagger, and a confidence the band have always shown throughout their career. Fans of the band who endured their grueling hiatus will see this album as the full realization of what the band was trying to do on Folie a Deux, with influences from all over the musical spectrum driving the songs. This point is clear from the first time the strings come in, and Patrick Stump shouts "Put on your war paint" for the first time on the soaring opener "The Phoenix." The song has it all: a chorus ready to be screamed by crowds of countless thousands, one-liners you'll see on Twitter for years to come, and musicianship that showcases each individual member's stylings. With one fell swoop, Fall Out Boy, and everything you ever loved about them, is back. But the band are just getting warmed up.
Up next is the track the band deemed worthy of being the first new song anyone would hear in the last four years. In true Fall Out Boy fashion, the title is ridiculously long. "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light 'Em Up)" is a pulverizing track, and begins to showcase two of the major improvements that Fall Out Boy have made: Patrick Stump's ever-improving vocal prowess, and the gang vocals, which are provided by the entire band for the first time in their career. The result is an on-point "oh-oh" section, supporting Stump through a powerful, album-long assertion that he's got the best voice in rock music. And it might not be close.
After the one-two punch of pre-released singles, Save Rock and Roll begins to transition from Fall Out Boy's comeback album to Fall Out Boy's best album. The third track, "Alone Together," has one of the most invigorating choruses of the band's career, as Pete Wentz's lyrics continue to be a rallying cry for the outcasts. Arguably the quality of the band that set them apart from everyone else, Wentz's lyrical themes are on-par with all of the other releases, with standouts such as the 80s pop-influenced "Miss Missing You" and the track that will soon become a staple for any acoustic campfire sing-along, "Young Volcanoes." Wentz's lyrics are great, but what truly drives them home this time around is the all-out assault that Stump unleashes with his delivery of those lyrics. While it didn't gain much credibility at the time of its release, the singer's solo effort Soul Punk will prove vital to the growth Stump shows on Rock and Roll. Stump's intriguing and highly creative endeavor didn't strike the same chords with fans that songs like "Sugar, We're Going Down" did, but it allowed him to experiment and hone his voice, and that mastery is truly what sends Save Rock and Roll above and beyond anything the band have ever done. The discussion of this album would be incomplete, however, without noticing the often-overlooked work of Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman, who both turn in phenomenal backing vocals, and even bigger work with their instruments. With an album so driven by its arrangements and production, it would have been easy for the pair to be lost in the shuffle, but each member blends perfectly with the rest of the album, making Save Rock and Roll an all-around landmark effort.
Fall Out Boy are visionaries. This may be a moot point that many are already aware of, but it bears repeating. The band simply know what they're doing when it comes to creating an image for themselves when they release an album. This time around, the stakes were higher, and fan anticipation was at an all-time high. Based on the direction the band appeared to be going in after Folie was released, all bets were off for the band's sounds. And that was exactly what they wanted. Because of this mystery, the band's reunion album became more than just a release; it became an event. And Fall Out Boy treated it as such. This is readily seen from the four collaborations on the album, each of them progressively more absurd and amazing as its predecessor. Appearances by British folk singer Foxes, Kanye West prodigy and Commander-in-Swerve Big Sean, Queen of Controversy Courtney Love, and a man who needs no introduction, Sir Elton John. The presence of each artist is placed well in the context of the album, but it's the least-known of the group, Foxes, whose contribution to "Just One Yesterday" adds a breath of fresh air towards the end of the track that drives it straight into the listener's heart. Each of these collaborations add another layer of uniqueness to the album, and works toward building the album into the behemoth of ambition the band wanted it to be. This does have its drawbacks, however. If there is a flaw in Save Rock and Roll, it is that at times, Fall Out Boy's ambition outweighs their execution. Sure, it's a great idea to put a notoriously superficial rapper on a track with an emo band, but can it really work? Does adding a name as polarizing as Courtney Love's to a tracklist pose too much risk? Did there really need to be a dubstep interlude in "Death Valley"? These questions all merit some thought, but while you're asking yourself those questions, make sure you ask yourself this one, too: Does any other band in the world have the courage to pull any of that off? The answer is no. And that answer becomes abundantly clear when the album closer and title track comes to a close, with Patrick Stump harmonizing with Sir Elton John. It's a moment almost too surreal for words: a band that was once thought to be so buried in their hiatus that they may have never come back, releasing their best album to date, and achieving this new peak while making the exact album they wanted to make at this exact point in time, alongside one of the biggest artists and most creative minds of his generation. There is a feeling of pride instilled in the listener by the end of it all, as a band whose fans stuck it out as the rumors swirled of a reunion, and a band who wanted to make sure that reunion was done on their terms, at all costs. Now, everyone has what they want: the fans have their favorite band back, and the band has the piece of mind and creative control that only they can handle with such precision and perfect execution.
As Save Rock and Roll sees its release to the general public, many will look to the bold statement the album title makes, and measure the album by that claim. Given the ever-sarcastic nature of the band's titles, perhaps that's not the line that fans should measure the album up to. Instead, let it be a line from "The Phoenix": "I'm going to change you, like a remix. Then I'll raise you, like a phoenix." It's true, after all: the Fall Out Boy we remember is long gone, and likely never to come back. But in the sonic shifts of the band, they have changed forever, and for the better. And now, from the ashes of a hiatus that was the result of the band being crushed by the weight of their own ambition, Fall Out Boy have emerged with the album that just may define their career.
The Bottom Line: I have successfully run out of good things to say about this album, so I will put it as simply as possible: it is one of the best albums of the year, and any other year. You would be a fool not to get yourself a copy of it.
Recommended if you Rock: The Killers' Hot Fuss, Panic! at the Disco's A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'"
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