Fall Out Boy – Mania

By: Robert Warren

The pop-punk band Fall Out Boy takes their new album Mania into electropop, including a few soul risen/tropical songs and it works just beautifully. In their new studio album Mania, their variation of music is impressive and their delivery is just phenomenal. It`s got stellar sounds, great vocals and a ton of impressive elements that make this music great if not miraculous. Fall Out Boy really did a wonderful job on this album and the risks they took on changing up their sound makes this album truly worth listening to.

With Fall Out Boy releasing their ten-track album Mania, it really separates itself from the 2015 rock sounds that happened on hit album American Beauty/American Psycho. They venture into a new pop taste that really works well for this album. In an all-around more than satisfying listen, Mania pushes Fall Out Boy to their seventh album to date. Let’s take a look at the songs on this new album and examine how they fair:

1) Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea – In this song a narrator is reminding himself that the only thing that stops him from anything is himself. “The only thing that`s ever stopping me is me, hey” goes the catchy chorus as it pops to the upbeat melodies that keep the engagement going until a sound bolt of lightning beats into the melodies at the end. The sounds here are very punk, but pop-y.

2) The Last Of The Real Ones – Quicker in style and then building into the music, the song leaps into the classic Fall Out Boy sounds that make them special. More thought out on the lyrics, the song is very personal that engages lovers with, “I was just an only child of the universe and then I found you” and “Write our names in the wet concrete.” Tthis song is definitely pleasing to those entranced by the classic Fall Out Boy sounds that got them highly recognized. With quick insets of sound, fast beats, great melodies, turn your speakers up because this song is a great jam session and being one of the better songs on the brand new album. What`s not to love? This is the classic Fall Out Boy sound that made them special.

3) Hold Me Tight Or Don`t – In a new snappy tropical groove, Fall Out Boy rocks it by pulling in/out of sound and uses a quick catchy repetition of “Oh na na na na na na na na” in the lyrics. Departing from the typical sounds listeners have grown to love from Fall Out Boy, this song is new in its tropical groove and the rhythm is surprising in how pleasingly loveable it is.

4) Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) – With fast paced echoed sound/vocals, this track is a beautiful cave of echoed music that ring in a catchy tune. In a song about not having things together, it is brutal hit on the drunkenness that causes a lament to escape from the bar scene. This tune looks at mistakes that lead away from a goal driven paradise of a desire. Searching for an escape anywhere is this beautiful cave of musical sounds that just echoes beats in a song of escapism, as the narrator looks to get things back in order, in a not so together life.

5) Church – Ringing in with a few bells, the song begins with the catchy repeated vocals of Stump. Singing about what the artist would do if you were a church, the artist sings as instruments back him up and a church bell rings in the background timing it quite nicely. The song is catchy and very vocally powered. Thus tune is definitely worth a listen.

6) Heaven`s Gate – Straight from the start man, Stump comes in charging the song with the lighting of very impressive vocals. This song walks in a very soul driven style as it uses Stumps vocals as the main charger for the song. In a “stomp, stomp, listen to me, sort of way,” Stump takes a confident stance in the music he delivers in his vocals here, which he should. This song takes off right from the get-go and you do not lose the intensity of the song at any point. This has both a strong delivery and great performance in it. At the end, there is a beautiful surprise as you hear it – Stump’s falsetto, which is great, if not fabulous, upon delivery.

7) Champion – With more of an alternative-pop fashion, this song was the second single released in 2017 after “Young and Menace.” In a heavier get ready rock star melody, this song explores a confusion of beliefs and perseverance in a champion that survived through rough times. Now this champion knows they can do anything because they survived. It’s a look up from the rough times and push forward styled song. With a “get ready, you got this” beat, the song really fuels energy to just make you want to be a champion. Great listen of a tune full of high levels of energy.

8) Sunshine Riptide – Welcoming you in the song, you hear sounds similar to that of a satellite lost in outer space. Really pop-y in style, the tune is catchy. It`s a trip of a song talking about pills kicking in and just being lost in a spacious mind also known as the “sunshine riptide.” This is a good song, but not the best of the album. Swaying beats and decent hits of pop sound mixed with vocal manipulation are what set this song apart. It is real up and down in regards to the beat, a repeated high and low in regards to sound, and really catchy. The song is good but definitely not their best.

9) Young And Menace – The song, released as the first single to tease FOB`s Mania album, has more of an electronic dance music (EDM) taste to it. In spacy sounds and hushed vocals the song is a venture all on its own with a trippy ride of emotional waves using drums and steep breakdowns. It hits bass drops and has real emotional feelings going for it best represented by its music video. In the video a child explores a field, returning to his quite literal monsters of parents. The child tries to run away from home and is just searching for escapism wherever he can find it, lost in a world full of crazy things. Returning home to parents, fighting again, the child is just looking for an escape. There may be very hushed sounds, but it is an intense song. Definitely check out the music video!

10) Bishops Knife Trick – Ending the album is song “Bishops Knife Trick” with lyrics such as “the last blues we`re ever gonna have.” This song is the last wave of emotions on the album, which contains feelings that can`t be hidden, things that can`t be left unsaid and things that just need to be heard. It is a beautiful conclusion in the extraordinary album.

It is the electronic dance music tastes in the pop that get this album going as it uses repetitive beats and synthesized sounds that just swirl together so nicely. It is the pop-y beats, catchy rhythms, vocal manipulations, and huge sounds of drums with guitar that bring this album together. It isn’t what this album isn`t, but rather what it is that makes this album special.

With dancing beats and moving melodies it is definitely worth a listen. The album Mania deals with issues of anxiety, depression and deals with mental illness. The album has periods of excitement, enthusiasm, excessive desires and fascinations. The album is full of high energies, even when dealing with rough topics, and the album is a piece of beautifully crafted work.

Mania is more pop-y than FOB fans may be used to, but it is lovely what they compiled together. With some of their original sounds in songs like “Champion” and “The Last Of The Real Ones” and new sounds in songs like “Hold Me Tight Or Don`t,” there is music in here for everyone. It is truly a piece of work that is definitely worth a listen.