Millions of heart-strung teenage girls, love-struck punk boys, and I anxiously waited for the release of the new Fall Out Boy CD Infinity on High Feb. 6.
The wait was worth it. Once I got the CD, broke out the eyeliner and gelled a faux-hawk, I was ready to enjoy the ambiance the music created. Too bad all the cosmetology wasn't needed; the music stands for itself as a testament to a new sound. There have been constant debates as to whether Fall Out Boy can be called emo or punk. With their new CD, they could be called holy-roller rappers and the music would still be great, regardless of stereotyping.
Listeners who are unfamiliar with Fall Out Boy, who have just dragged themselves from under a rock, might not know such past hits as, "Sugar We're Going Down," "Dance, Dance" and "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More 'Touch Me.'" When comparing Infinity on High to the aforementioned hits, one could say that Infinity carries better beats, catchier lyrics and strength behind every song that their old hits are simply incomparable.
Another difference listeners will encounter is that rap star Jay-Z opens the first track.He addresses the FOB fans, "Yeah, what you critics said would never happen. We dedicate this album to anybody, people said couldn't make it. To the fans that held us down till everybody came around."Even though I did throw up in my mouth just a little after hearing this, the music far outweighs the clichés or sparse shoddy lyrics.
The first single the band released off of its new album was "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race." While some critics hailed the song for its "new" sound, I found it to be one of the least enjoyable on the album. Possibly because of the emo-tastic line, "All the boys who the dance floor didn't love / And all the girls whose lips couldn't move fast enough / Sing, until your lungs give out." Though they might have a strong message to all through this line, I found it annoying. Thankfully, this song doesn't represent the album as a whole.
Tracks like, "The Take Over, The Break's Over," one of the greatest songs on Infinity, has such a hypnotic beat and great lyrics that I found myself instantly addicted to it.
Not only does the album sound phenomenal, it also carries a deeper message. A theme of the new CD is a departure from the pessimistic, emo, "woe is me" and the arrival at "life sucks sometimes, but that doesn't mean you have to cry about it." Or in FOB's case, you could just write some catchy dance songs about it and make millions.
That is what I gathered as the viewpoint of FOB's new album, and I must say, "Thank God!" The band still sees itself as the emo-punk-rock leaders of the "scene" but with lyrics such as, "The best way / To make it through / With hearts and wrists intact / Is to realize / Two out of three ain't bad."
Much of the subject matter of the band's new CD is love, jilted love and all that ensues. The imagery in certain songs, however, creates great pictures of the often used (sometimes overused) teenage angst. In the song "I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me and You)," (yes, a humorous title that still proves its wit) the chorus opens with the line, "Me and you / Setting in a honeymoon / If I woke up next to you." These and other lines, amorously sung, give a great picture of falling in love/hooking up, possibly under a Cork Tree.
While the title of FOB's last album came from a children's book, the name of this CD comes from a letter Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother. But I don't think after listening to this CD that anyone will want to cut his ear off, his heart out, or his wrist. The CD is for the car-crashed hearts, those who've been hurt but can be fixed within 45 minutes on a shrink's couch or while listening to the CD from start to finish. So wipe off the eyeliner, flatten the faux hawk and enjoy the new Fall Out Boy.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
