Fall Out Boy
Folie à Deux

THE REVIEW

Surely a highly anticipated album: the band made us wait for some time after the release of "Infinity On High," and at the end of 2008, they released this new work as a Christmas gift. The CD certainly contains the usual style of Fall Out Boy from their other records, but in my opinion, this time the tracks move somewhat away from this perspective to end up in perhaps a different genre: of course, the effect is always excellent, and when the album pleases old fans and attracts new ones, one can say that it was definitely not a wasted effort.

The album features some punchy tracks, in true Fall Out Boy style, like "Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes", "Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet", "West Coast Smoker" or "I Don't Care", the first successful single that certainly made the CD appreciated even by those who were not familiar with the band and undoubtedly contributed to the launch of the disc.

Then we find lighter and more elaborate tracks, like "America's Suitehearts", "The (Shipped) Gold Standard", or "What A Catch, Donnie". In the first two, despite the classic use of electric guitars and various instruments, with a typically rock sound, everything blends into a smooth track, creating a feeling that's hard to explain; however, the last track is definitely one of the strong points of the CD, where Patrick's voice conveys many emotions, and the small older song snippets at the end make you think of the years spent together, but also suggest a kind of farewell.

There are rather curious songs like "20 Dollar Nose Bleed" or "She's My Winona", to not mention them all, which might not immediately appeal, but by repeatedly listening to the album, they reveal interesting details and fascinating particularities.

We can thus say it is definitely a successful album, although for someone who was expecting the style of "Evening Out With Your Girlfriend" or "Take This To Your Grave", it might have been a difficult change. But occasionally, it is indeed good to change style, especially if for the better. One of the major particularities of the album, which for me occurs only a few times, is that it "lets itself be listened to." Let me explain. We can listen to these 13 tracks as often as we want without ever pressing the pause button, always listening from start to finish. This is because it is difficult to find the classic track "I don't like this, I'll skip it": if you notice, this happens with many CDs and quite often.

So let's hope that Fall Out Boy continue to write lyrics and music, but above all, to write them in this way.