Folie à deux
At this point, everyone who pays attention has probably made up their minds about Fall Out Boy. After the band jumped into mainstream consciousness with 2005's From Under The Cork Tree, overexposure catalyzed an inevitable backlash, worsened by the tabloid escapades of bassist/lyricist Pete Wentz. While the adulation…
First, Panic at the Disco dropped the exclamation mark and donned trippy marching uniforms for the psychedelic pastiche Pretty, Odd, now Fall Out Boy follow with Folie à Deux, a record that doesn't attempt to re-create the sound but the spirit of 1967, when rock bands would try anything on their LPs, especially if it included lots of orchestration.
<p>They've swapped angst-fuelled punk for Eighties pop. Which is no bad thing, says <strong>Jaimie Hodgson</strong></p>
Folie à Deux seems to prove that Fall Out Boy is good at masking its best qualities and pushing forward its most annoying ones.
Perhaps Fall Out Boy's predicament can best be illustrated by the Alternative Press issue that appeared the month preceding Folie a Deux's release.
<p>Its guest list (Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry et al) trumps fellow emo-peddlers My Chemical Romance and Panic at the Disco</p>
Fall Out Boy - Folie a Deux review: Folie A Deux's A-material stands up alongside that of previous albums, but Infinity On High is still the standard-bearer.