Save Rock and Roll

Fall Out Boy is def one of the most divisive bands of the last 20 years, while at first most people seemed to like them over time and especially after their hiatus, the popular opinion has become quite divisive...is that for good reason? Well...yes and no, (FOB are one of my fav bands so I'll try to be as unbiased as I can here) yes because their music has been getting quite worse since they came back and while them going pop is a genuine attempt at a new style it has not worked out as well as it should have, we all know how bad MANIA was... but also no because I still think they are more creative and interesting than your average pop group, lyrically it's gotten more basic but imo they are still a lot more compelling than most pop bands on that front and even if some of their lyrics do tend to be quite cringe...it's fall out boy, we know there are gonna be some cringe lines in there, that's part of the appeal at this point.

So Save Rock And Roll, how is this album, is it actually THAT bad?

Well not really, is it a good album? You know, after many listens of this album I want to say yes....but is it rock and roll? not really, which is one of the biggest issues with it, while I get that FOB say that *we* should be the ones to save Rock music with the title, putting that as the title for your pop (well pop-rock but it's more rock influenced pop) album isn't a very good idea. I really think (and rocked pointed it out in his review too) that this album should have been called Save Pop. Really, this album is blatantly pop most of the time and in 2013 FOB trying to "Save Pop" would have been more compelling then saving rock...by going pop. Anyways enough about the albums title, how is the actual music on here?

Well it starts really strong with The Phoenix, this song samples Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 and it's worked in amazingly into the song. The verses get you pumped up, the vocals fit in well with the symphony, the drumbeat is great and the chorus is pretty catchy. The issue is that the chorus is kinda overproduced and the guitars just aren't loud enough on the chorus, while in the verses it makes sense to make the guitars less audible to have the Symphony shine more, it doesn't work as well in the chorus when it's just a synth, fake sounding drums and his vocals. The bridge of the song is the highlight of the song imo, it builds up extremely well especially with the gang vocals in the background that get progressively louder as the bridge continues. While it's not a perfect song, The Phoenix is a perfect opener for the album and a great pop track. I think lyrically this song makes a lot more sense in the context of them trying to "save Rock and roll", you can def make a case for this song being about the state of rock music as a whole.

My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) is another song that I think is pretty great personally, it's where the album goes into being 100% pop but it still works. I think the song is about them returning to the music scene and is pleading their fans to forget the past and look at their new stuff as it is and not compare it to what they were before. The title of the song is pretty clever, basically it's them acknowledging the connection fans make to their songs and how they can often speak to them at their lowest (if that makes any sense), basically like saying, my songs know who you are.
I will say that chorus of the song gets extremely repetitive at the end and the way he says "IM ON FIREEE" sounds very fake and out of place with the rest of the chorus (not lyrically but sound-wise). Even with that the lyrics are pretty great in the verses imo, also the sound of the song is pretty enjoyable. I enjoy the song a lot despite it's flaws.

Alone Together is next and ah, the first 23 are just awful, Patricks vocals do NOT sound natural, they are very pitch corrected and it's in an obvious way, after that the song does start to sound a lot better. However this song is extremely repetitive and it's a major issue with this song. The best thing I can say about this song is that it def doesn't drag on. I wish there was more here lyrically as it sounds bland and that's something FOB should never be, I'd rather have them be cringe inducing than have them be bland honestly.

Where Did The Party Go starts with a pretty nice bassline and then...NA NA NAs, look I'm not the biggest fan of NA NA NAs but they don't sound very forced here, they fit in together nicely with the sound of the song, it's not just *shit idk how to finish off the lyrics on the chorus...LALALALA NANANANANAANANA* like in other songs. This was the first song they wrote for the album and it def sounds a lot more pop-rockish than the other songs on the album, lyrically I see it as them talking about how it feels like when they came back to the scene and a lot of the bands that went away while they themselves were gone, and also just how much the music scene changed while they were gone and it seems like "the party" is over now. It's def one of my fav songs on the album, not one of their best but it's a pretty good pop-rock track.

Just One Yesterday starts out fine with the bass and guitar, once keyboard kicks in the things start to build really nicely and it's got a really nice chorus honestly, Foxes' appearance on the track def makes it better, there is like a back and front between Patrick and Foxes in the chorus which def makes it more interesting then how it would have been otherwise. I will say this is one of the better proper relationship songs on the album.

The Mighty Fall starts out really interesting with some like child voices singing NA NA NAs which works better than it should, then the guitar and drums kick in and the song already starts coming together nicely, but...Big Sean RUINS this song haaaard, I mean come the way he introduces the band is so awful (I shouldn't even have to explain why "fall out, boy" is an awful line btw) his appearance on the song is uselessly, without it this song would have been pretty good. The chorus is catchy, the verses sound great, Patrick kills it, hearing more organic instrumentation on the album is pretty good and helps justify the album as a proper rock album. The sound of this song is more creative and interesting than on some of the earlier tracks like Alone Together. So... how bad is that rap verse from Big Sean?
"And, hell yeah, I'm a dick, girl, addicted to you"
That is simple plan bad, because it's literally from a simple plan song, the rap verse is bad enough to where I don't end up coming back to this song at all mainly because of it.

Miss Missing You has some pretty outdated electronics on it which just do not sound good, the whole song just sounds uninteresting. It was originally gonna be a song for Patricks solo album but he choose to save it for when the band would come back and it's pretty clear that this scrapped song given another chance material, should have remained scrapped tbh, it's not bad but it's pretty mediocre and the worst song here so far (emphasis on so far). The best part of the song are honestly the last 20 seconds when the song turns acoustic right at the end for no reason. Still that works better than the rest of it so can't complain.

Death Valley is the most guitar driven song on the album and it's def a highlight because of it, the kickdrum add a lot to the verses but in the chorus they should be turned down to make the other instruments be more audible honestly, I can see it getting more annoying eventually but atm it doesn't bother me THAT much, I just wish it was a bit more quieter. At 2:45 the song takes a weird turn into dubstep for a bit just before the drums and guitar kick in and it goes back to that pop-rock sound. Idk how I feel about that honestly, it's completely unnecessary and out of place but at the same time it makes the most feel more unpredictable and interesting.

Young Volcano is... the acoustic track on the album, the production on this song is way too loud and the vocals when he says WEEEE AREEE sound very pitch corrected. The lyrics however...
"We will teach you
How to make boys next door
Out of -ssholes (Ha ha ha)"
"Americana, exotica do you wanna feel a little beautiful oh baby ah!"
ah... yeah they aren't very good, also they already asked "do you want to feel beautiful" on another song iirc so it feels like they're repeating themselves which is not very good...This is def the song with the most cringe inducing lines and the worst song on the album imo.

Then Rat A Rat starts and... wow. This is another case of great song ruined by the feature on it, Courtney Love shouldn't have been here, the organic instrumentation on this song sounds great here, the song moves at a fast pace, the drumbeat is great, the RAT A RAT RAT A RAT thing sounds good, Patrick sounds good on the song here and the chorus is great. The issue? Courtney Love pops in every once in a while to just... rant and she sounds awful, it completely ruins the song. If there is a version of this song without Courtney then I need to hear it because it's probably extremely better than this version.

The title track ends the album in a fantastic way, hearing Elton John on the piano is great. The chorus is an amazing singalong chorus, the guitar in the background sounds great. When the strings come in after the first chorus and Elton John starts singing it sounds almost surreal. This is how you do a great feature, Elton Johns appearance here elevates the song, he is there for a reason, this song wouldn't have worked as well without him. Hearing them singing *NOO WE WON'T GO CUZ WE DON'T KNOW WHEN TO QUIT* in the bridge is amazing and last chorus is a very powerful one, it ends the album on a great note. This is how you end an album. Maybe this album as a whole isn't very rock, but this song actually sounds like it's trying to Save Rock and Roll.

Is this album perfect? Hell no
So I think that it's an enjoyable pop album? Yes

This is def not my favourite fall out boy album but I think this is the album that grows on you the most from them. They didn't "save" rock and roll but hey they at least gave us some nice pop songs. There are some misses and bad songs here but the great tracks make up for it imo.

Do I think this album deserves to be regretted?
Not really, Fall Out Boy came back into the music world in a very strong way and while this album is def more mainstream than their older stuff that doesn't mean it's bad. Whether you like the album or not I think that it's undeniable that this is a case of a band going pop because it suits their style and because that's what they want to do and not because it'll make them more money. 

Fav Tracks: The Phoenix, My songs, Where did the party go, Death Valley, Save Rock and roll and Just one yesterday