You have to be pretty ballsy if you are going to release an album entitled Save Rock and Roll, and Fall Out Boy aren’t exactly known for being such. Sure, they are coming off of one of those ‘indefinite’ hiatuses that many bands go through these days, which actually ended up being a break of only four years – an average amount of time between albums for other bands lacking in pseudo-breakup drama these days.
Now they are back and are apparently out to save probably the most popular of genres, which, if you look in the right places, doesn’t need saving at all, especially not from the likes of an emo-pop band like Fall Out Boy. And if you’re looking for proof of this attitude, read the lyrics to the album’s title track, featuring none other than Sir Elton John, another individual not exactly known for being rock and roll.
Based on all that, you might not guess it, but I actually enjoy Fall Out Boy quite a bit. Their last album, 2008’s Folie à Deux was chock full of catchy pop-rock songs that got better with every listen. Perhaps it was the lack of a truly standout single that made that album as a whole rather enjoyable. The album before that, 2007’s Infinity On High, had a few good tracks on it as well. So don’t mistake this for an all-out Fall Out Boy bashing session, it’s just a dose of reality regarding that they apparently think they can go away for a few years only to come back and be the most important thing in a genre their style of music doesn’t even fall into.
First up under the magnifying glass is the fact that they try their hand at a dirty rap song on “The Mighty Fall”. Big Sean is featured on this song, laying down some phat dirty lyrics such as, “Sometimes I swear I need a day just for me to lay with some T&A” or “Hell yeah I’m a dick, girl, I’m addicted to you.” If those lyrics don’t speak enough for themselves, they just come off as laughable. After all, isn’t this supposed to be rock and roll they are trying to save here? Who said anything about hip-hop?
Meanwhile, the song “Young Volcanoes” might see these Chicago boys getting sued by the members of Train for copying their 2009 hit “Hey, Soul Sister”.
Hopefully purely to be funny, Fall Out Boy used the ‘talents’ of Courtney Love on the song “Rat A Tat”. The song literally starts off with Love saying, “It’s Courtney, bitch.” Again, hopefully this is an attempt at purposeful ridiculousness because honestly, taking Love completely out of the equation, this is one of the strongest and catchiest songs on the album. But it’s also interesting how it includes the lyrics, “You need to lower your standards / ‘Cause it’s never getting any better than this.” Perhaps that is telling of the entire world has remaining for it to look forward to with Fall Out Boy.
