Mania review
by spencer wakefield
Fall Out Boy has changed the modern music scene with albums like Infinity On High, Folie A Deux, and From Under The Cork Tree, records full of angst and composed of a charming mixture of pop punk and rock.
Time after time, Fall Out Boy has made it work, carving out their own identity in such a way the band will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of their first album this year. Every single one of their previous albums had a unique appeal, creating more fans with every release. Unfortunately, with M A N I A, their newest album, Fall Out Boy has fallen short. The album opens with a cacophony of pop punk and EDM titled Young And Menace. From high intensity instrumentals to softer vocals, this song can’t seem to decide what it wants to be. The album then transitions to Champion, and while this song knows what it wants to be, it’s quite repetitive. Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea and the rest seem to play fine, though each sounds like something you’d hear on a Spotify station, with good pacing from song to song and lead singer Patrick Stump refraining from yelling into the mic a vast majority of the time, with certain segments of Young and Menace being glaring exceptions. Overall, this album is only appealing to die hard Fall Out Boy fans, and even then it is really a matter of taste. Many fans are split over whether the album is close to the “spirit” of previous Fall Out Boy works. If readers want to find out themselves, M A N I A is currently available for streaming on Spotify and Youtube. |