Review - Folie a Deux

Artist: Fall Out Boy
Album: Folie a Deux
Record Label: Island
Producer(s): Neal Avron, Pharrell Williams
Release Date: December 13, 2008
Genre: Pop-punk
Strong Points: Great and catchy melody writing; some interesting and witty lyrics; a sound that is a change of pace for the band while continuing to be fun and enjoyable.
Weak Points: The sound on a few of the tracks feels overly derivative.
Technical Score: B+
Artistic Score: B-
Final Score (not an average): B+
Moral Warnings: Many of the songs have sexual themes ranging from prostitution to affairs; vague drug references are made on three tracks; hopelessness presents itself on a few tracks; the f-word shows up twice on one track; one track iterates "oh hell yes" throughout the chorus


In my social circles, few bands get quite the response that Fall Out Boy does. Somehow, Fall Out Boy has consistently been a favorite band for my friends to hate. The few of us who actually appreciate their music tend to keep our appreciation a secret for fear of ridicule. It seems silly that guys on the latter part of college would behave that way, but that seems to be exactly the kind of reaction Fall Out Boy has gotten.

Now, being a self-declared fan of Fall Out Boy, I was looking forward to Folie a Deux, even if I wouldn't be sharing my anticipated enjoyment of it with friends. I had become a fan of the band's previous album, Infinity on High, with hits like "Thnks fr th Mmrs" and "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race," so my hopes were high for their newest album.

With my expectations as they were, I honestly have to say that I was surprised by Folie a Deux when I started listening to it. In so many ways, the band shifted its sound in the new release. Granted, Fall Out Boy has a decent track record of musical evolution in their releases, but when the album kicked off hinting at a ballad ("Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes"), I was caught off guard. True, that song shifted into more familiar territory in a short bit into the song, but even that early on it's easy to tell that Folie a Deux shows a redefined direction for the band.

When the second track, "I Don't Care," starts off with a guitar riff that immediately reminded me of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love," I wondered what would follow for the rest of the album. What I found was a bit of a mixed bag.

See, Folie a Deux brought with it a number of new influences on the band's songwriting. In the case of "I Don't Care," this worked out well. In the case of other songs, however, the sense of musical influence comes across more as derivative than anything else. It's only on a couple of tracks that this is bothersome. In these cases, the band seems to take a few too many nods from their contemporaries, Panic at the Disco (especially that band's Beatles-influenced Pretty. Odd. album) and My Chemical Romance. Even in these cases, the songs are catchy and enjoyable; they just come off as too unoriginal for a band that is so prominent in the pop-punk arena.

Fortunately, Fall Out Boy continues to show songwriting talent. I can understand why it's considered cool to hate the band; they really are not pioneers in pop-punk music at all. Originality, in general, is not their strong suit. In spite of taking on numerous changes in musical direction, the band manages to keep a familiar feel that will not alienate their established fans. Still, the thing that sets Fall Out Boy apart as significant and successful in popular music is its melodic nature. The band's ability to get stuck in one's head for days at a time is a direct result of vocal melodies that are fun, interesting, and ridiculously catchy.

Then there is the lyrical aspect of Fall Out Boy's songwriting. In many songs, the lyrics are a bit ambiguous. The ideas songwriters Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump are trying to present are not exactly obvious. Much of the time, they seem to be writing in an ironic/satirical fashion. For example, the chorus on "Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes" says "Boycott love/detox just to retox," making a point of running right back into the trap one was running from. "America's Suitehearts" deals with pop-culture idolatry: "Down, set, one, hut, hut, hike/Media Blitz/Let's hear it for America's sweethearts/But I must confess,/I'm in love with my own sins." Even so, lyrical clarity is not one of Fall Out Boy's strong suits on Folie a Deux.

With the general vagueness of the lyrics comes a mixed bag for those concerned with the moral aspects of the lyrics. On the one hand, the lyrics contain many moral issues in them; on the other hand, it is rare for the lyrics to be close to explicit. Several songs deal with immoral sexuality. A few of those songs allude to (though not very explicitly) prostitution. Another song hints at desire for an affair with another man's wife. In these instances, however, it seems to me that these sexual acts are condemned rather than glorified. Likewise, a handful of possible drug references are made, though vaguely (terms like "coke" and "sunshine" are used in a fashion that drug references could be inferred). Though Folie a Deux is not an emo album, there are times when despair is presented (such as the iteration of "I will never believe in anything again" on the chorus of "Coffee's for Closers"). One song, "27," uses the f-word twice. "West Coast Smoker" iterates "Oh hell yes" on the chorus. Two songs refer to God in an ambiguous fashion. "What a Catch, Donnie" asks the question, "They say the captain/Goes down with the ship/So, when the world ends/Will God go down with it?" "West Coast Smoker" states on the chorus, "Knock once for the Father/Twice for the Son/Three times for the Holy Ghost." The intent in both of these lyrics is quite difficult to discern, though.

On the whole, Folie a Deux is pretty much what most could expect it to be. It's a fun album full of vocal and instrumental hooks that can get stuck in your head for days. In spite of trying new things, the band doesn't really break any new ground; then again, music written for the mainstream is rarely revolutionary. Dealing with sexual issues in a way that doesn't carry much of an explicit message with it, the album is rather ambiguous in moral terms. Some may be put off by the presence of the topics, others will find that the ambiguity makes them less of an issue in deciding whether or not to buy the album. Still, in album terms, Folie a Deux is an enjoyable and worthy successor to Infinity on High, and it shows that Fall Out Boy is not going away any time soon.

-Kenny Yeager (kenny@revolve21.com)