Fall Out Boy identifies as being an American rock band. After their latest album, that’s questionable.
Their seventh studio album, “M A N I A,” was released just last week as a follow up to their last album released in 2015, “American Beauty/American Psycho.”
This album is their biggest disappointment yet.
“M A N I A” is a mess of electric beats that are so prominent in the songs that you can’t understand the lead singer, Patrick Stump’s, lyrics. Soon, all the songs start to sound the same.
One of the worst songs on this album by far was “Young and Menace” as it is absolutely tuneless and auto tunes Stump’s voice to an unrecognizable level. The electric beats and beat drops were overall so obnoxious as it drowned out the band’s authentic and original sound.
The song is an overall waste of four minutes.
However, even though most of them sound the same, there were some songs that did stand out in all of the mess.
Possibly the best song on the entire album is “Champion” as it presents the band’s true potential, both lyrically and musically. It also gives listeners a sense of confidence and power with its upbeat chorus and spirited lyrics. This song sounded the most like the Fall Out Boy fans know and love.
Two songs that were close to being authentic were “Church” with it’s spiritual confessions and “The Last of the Real Ones” with its punk rock influence. Both expressed Stump’s vocals at his full potential and were upbeat enough to be worth listening to.
Although, it is clear that Fall Out Boy is trying a new electric sound and most of it isn’t enjoyable.
Compared to the previous two albums, “Save Rock and Roll” and “American Beauty/American Psycho,” “M A N I A” seems to be both the least popular album for a reason. The sound is not as unique as the original Fall Out Boy, and it is clear that they are trying to keep up with the mainstream sound that has been popular recently.
Heavy electronic dance beats seem to be the base of the popular songs now as seen in Clean Bandit’s “Symphony” and Zedd’s “Stay.”
As a fan for years, Fall Out Boy was perfect just the way they were, and this album by far ruined them for me.
This further proves that mainstream music is ruining fantastic artists, and Fall Out Boy is just another victim.
[star rating=”2″]