American Beauty / American Psycho
The band’s sixth album finds them cementing their own legacy in an era when careers often last as long as a day’s Twitter feed. “Centuries” is all about cultural staying power, while the poppy “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and the perfect “Favorite Record” advance similar pop-culture themes but with melancholic underscores. Overall, the set’s a sweetly unhinged collection of rock riffs, hip-hop grooves, Indian music motifs, gang vocals, aged electronica, pop-punk refrains gone Hollywood, and nods to everyone from Uma Thurman to Suzanne Vega to Mötley Crüe. Patrick Stump’s full-bodied voice and the band’s pure songwriting acumen handily hold the disparities together.
Fall Out Boy ended their four-year hiatus with 2013's immodestly titled Save Rock and Roll—but these days, the bombastic wise-asses are as much a rock band as OneRepublic.
Check out our album review of Artist's American Beauty/American Psycho on Rolling Stone.com.
Chicago’s pop-punk stadium-fillers manage to maintain their appeal with one of their strongest albums to date, writes <strong>Caroline Sullivan</strong>