Fall Out Boy is an American pop punk rock band from Illinois that formed in 2001. The band consists of Patrick Stump (vocals and guitarist), Pete Wentz (bassist), Joe Trohman (guitarist) and Andy Hurley (drummer). The band has released six studio albums, with American Beauty/American Psycho (AB/AP) being their newest addition.
The album was released earlier this month on Jan. 15, but the first single,“Centuries,” was released in September 2014. Chances are, if you’ve gone to any Loyola basketball games this season (or even watched games on ESPN remotely) you’ve probably heard the song. It has already received a large amount of radio time, and is arguably the best song on the album.
The rest of the album is made up of a mix of pop dance music and Chicago-style punk rock. The pop songs consist of the same type of vocal lines, blasting synthesizers and a constant bass drum. Supposedly, there are guitars in these songs, but I couldn’t tell you for sure; the synths overpower everything except the vocals. The punk rock songs also consist of synths, but they’re not nearly as loud and the guitars shine through better here. The punk rock songs are more enjoyable, as they have better structures and less stereotypical dance rhythms.
The album cover is a picture of a young teenage boy in front of a large single-family house. Half of his face is normal while the other half has a black U.S. flag painted on. The first half of the album’s name references Grateful Dead’s album and the 1999 film, “American Beauty.” The other half is based on the famous book and movie, “American Psycho.”
AB/AP debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 1, which marks the third album that tops the chart for Fall Out Boy.
The album has received highly positive reviews from music critics. Metacritic gave it a 73/100, Entertainment Weekly gave it an A rating, and Rolling Stone gave it 3/5 stars.
Overall, the album is the type to blast during a summer day in the car or at a dance party, but not for the everyday, casual listener.
Image courtesy of: Flickr.com / Fernando Loz
