In just under a month my favourite band of my early teens that continues to be one of my favourite bands now will be playing just 2 miles up the road from my house.
The news that I'll be seeing them live (for the 4th time no less) has had me listening to FOB's entire discography again and had me thinking about what my favourite album was. It's often said that their old stuff is better than their new stuff but I don't think that's entirely the case- some of Fall Out Boy's best material is on their post-hiatus albums.
Getting a definitive ranking of all albums proved quite difficult so I took the scientific method and listed every song on all 6 FOB studio albums and listened to each one front to back. There are worse ways to spend a Tuesday night I'm sure. I then gave each song a mark out of 10 and took an average for each album.
This gave me a rundown of the top 6 Fall Out Boy albums and I have to say it's pretty close and not exactly as predicted.
And here's that rundown...here.
6. Folie A Deux
Score- 7.5/10
Sadly Folie A Deux appears at the bottom of this list due to a lackluster second half that slows the tempo and get's a bit dreary. It's an album they often avoid playing live other than 'I Don't Care' and is often regarded as their weakest album by fans making the hiatus seem like a logical next step.
That's not to say it's a bad album though- not at all. A pattern I noticed with FOB albums were their incredibly strong starting tracks- Disloyal Order is as strong as any album opener on this list and that's followed by the brilliant party anthem of the aforementioned I Don't Care.
What A Catch Donnie is one of the best of the band's slower efforts and acts as a small celebration of what the band had achieved up to that point.
Also the best album artwork of any album on this list. Don't beat yourself up Folie A Deux.
Best Song: Coffee's for Closers
An underrated gem and one of the best 'pick me up' songs of their back catalogue - the violin outro leaving the whole song feeling very grand.
Honorable Mention: I Don't Care
A party classic for me at secondary school house parties. Rebellious and fun.
Worst Song: West Coast Smoker
Ends the album on a low after several other forgettable songs.
5. American Beauty/American Psycho
Score- 7.8/10
The band's newest album while never suffering a big slide in really great songs doesn't really have a massive memorable track that truly defines it like some of the other albums.
That's not to say the title track American Beauty/American Psycho isn't a hugely catchy unique track on the album. And Immortals is part of what made Big Hero 6 as great as it was.
I look forward to hearing a lot of these tracks live on their tour- seeing certain songs live can change their meaning and lasting affect on me quite a bit.
Best song: Favourite Record
One of Fall Out Boy's best love songs in my opinion that just has a huge nostalgic feeling to being in the late years of secondary school.
Honorable Mention: Immortals
Uplifting with a bit of swagger if I'm using that term right. A great training montage song as shown in Big Hero 6.
Worst Song: Twin Skeletons
A weak note to end the album on- like the lyrics it tends to go 'on and on and on'.
4. Save Rock and Roll
Score- 7.9/10
Almost totally proving the opinion of 'the old stuff is better than the new stuff'' by front loading this list with the new albums it's not to say that when Fall Out Boy came back they came back with a bang.
An album that features artists like Foxes, Courtney Love and incredibly Elton John; it shows just how big Fall Out Boy still were in the music world even after a 4 year gap between albums which is considerable for Fall Out Boy and especially after the slight disappointment of Folie A Deux.
It's a definite change in tone for the band- the start of new Fall Out Boy which brings with it a decelerated pace but retains the power and catchy choruses present in every FOB album old or new.
Best Song: Alone Together
As mentioned in American Beauty/American Psycho- seeing a band live can often totally change a song for me. This was their most moving powerful songs of their 2014 set in Glasgow. Touching lyrics that Stump sings perfectly.
Honorable Mention: The Phoenix
Forget I Know What Your Songs Did - this is what cemented Fall Out Boy's triumphant return to music for me. It's one of the best fight songs ever written and again an awesome album opener for the band.
Worst Song: The Mighty Fall
I don't quite get this song and is probably my least favourite song on any album. It's a direction I'm glad the band don't appear to be pursuing. Not a Big Sean fan either.
3. Infinity On High
Score- 8.1/10
The album that made Fall out Boy truly mainstream with anthems like This Ain't A Scene and Thnks Fr Th Mmrs. From Under the Cork Tree was a success but Infinity gave Fall Out Boy legitimate chart success and they partially shed their image of 'an emo band for teens' to a 'band for everyone'.
Fitting with the Fall Out Boy tradition it has a powerful start and flows magnificently well to the incredible finish of GINASFS.
The album for the most part is very upbeat with the emotional interlude of Golden creating a nice break from the thrashing guitars.
Best Song: GINASFS
With an album with such massive hits on it I will always remember Infinity On High for how it ends- with this bouncy little track. It reminds me of growing up and how life can be tough sometimes. I'm not sure why the title stands for 'gay is not a synonym for shitty' but I agree with the message anyway.
Honourable Mention: Thriller
An opening so good the band often still use to open new shows.
Worst Song: I'm Like A Lawyer
The only song on the album I'm not crazy about. Just a bit of a letdown after the first few greats before it or ones that follow.
2. Take This To Your Grave
Score- 8.2/10
There's not a single 'skip' track on Fall Out Boy's first album- from start to finish it's just hugely enjoyable to listen to.
This is Fall Out Boy's true start- before this there was Evening Out With Your Girlfriend admittedly but that album (technically an EP) was still a bit rough round the edges- TTTYG is where they tightened everything up and started something fantastic.
Rolling Stone famously called this album 'like anything you can see on The Warped Tour' and I think this is anything but true. Fall Out Boy weren't just another emo band- they offered something more. The perfect voice blended with the pop punk rhythms gave it something more and was lacking in the whiney melodrama associated with the genre.
From Tell That Mick to The Patron Saint Of Liars And Fakes it leaves you with a massive smile on your face- it's about dealing with being a teenager and growing up in a way that's less 'life is so hard- let me tell you about it' and more 'life is hard- let's get on with it.'
Best Song: Grand Theft Autumn
So much fun to belt out and have a little mosh to. And takes on a beautiful quality when experienced acoustic. Lovely.
Honorable Mention: Grenade Jumper
I have a soft spot for Grenade Jumper due to it's main chorus line that features my name. It's a song about showing appreciation for a fan named Chris and there's something about that that just...speaks to me.
Worst Song: Reinventing The Wheel To Run Myself Over
At a push this is probably the least memorable song of the album but still loses none of the momentum that makes this album flow.
1. From Under The Cork Tree
Score- 8.4/10
My introduction to Fall Out Boy and the first time I felt really connected to music. In the days where a lot of my friends at school were very much into either rap and hip hop or at the other end the heaviest of metal, Fall out Boy just spoke to me and I knew I'd found the genre of music that fitted my way of life.
I'm getting a bit deep but it's essentially an album with some of my all time favourite songs on it. Dance Dance and Sugar We're Going down still get whoops and chairs when played in bars and clubs and they just have lasting appeal.
You could say this is Fall Out Boy at their peak- every song is catchy and bouncy, it's a showcase of Stump's fantastic voice and to me the soundtrack of my life in the mid to late 2000s.
Best Song: I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me
A hell of a title and a hell of a song. Among the classics on this album there appears this one which is to my delight usually performed live and has that almost aggressive edge as it teeters into slight screamo territory with Wentz's vocal. Needless to say it pays off.
Honorable Mention: Sugar We're Going Down
The first FOB song I ever heard and still one of my favourites. Sing it loud and let your problems disappear.
Worst song: Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying
The album's only dud- it loses tempo and lacks and the monologue at the end isn't entirely necessary.
See you next month Fall Out Boy and thanks for the memories (sorry).
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