Musical Spotlight: Fall Out Boy

Image courtesy of @falloutboy on Instagram

By Angela Hickey

If you ever went through an “emo” phase in middle school, then you’re familiar with this band already. Fall Out Boy is pretty synonymous with the early 2000’s pop punk music and falls into the category with similar bands like Green Day and Panic! at the Disco. But Fall Out Boy wasn’t always as big in the music industry as they are now. 

The band was formed in Wilmette, Illinois in 2001, originating from Chicago’s hardcore punk scene which the members of the band were all a part of at some point. The band consists of four members: lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. They originally started as a side project of Wentz and Trohman’s original main bands. The group went through a succession of drummers before landing Hurley and recording their debut album, Take This to Your Grave, in 2003. 

Soon after, the band became an underground success, signing with their first major label, Fueled by Ramen. Their debut album helped them gain commercial success as well. After the band did some heavy touring and gained more commercial popularity, they released the band’s 2005 major-label breakthrough, From Under the Cork Tree. Fall Out Boy then produced two hit singles, “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” and “Dance, Dance“, which went double platinum, transforming the group into superstars and making Wentz, the band’s lyricist, a celebrity and tabloid fixture.

Then, at the 2006 Grammys, the band received a Best New Artist nomination. The band’s 2007 follow up album, Infinity on High, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 260,000 first week sales. This album produces two well known hit singles, “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” and “Thnks fr th Mmrs,” but this marked the beginning of the end for the band’s initial success.

Their fourth album,  Folie à Deux, didn’t receive a high praise like it’s predecessors, receiving a mixed response from fans and underselling their label’s expectations. Then, after the release of their 2009 album, Believers Never Die – Greatest Hits, the group decided to take a short hiatus in order for each member to work on individual side projects. 

But this wasn’t the end for the band, they eventually reconnected in 2012 and released their comeback album, Save Rock and Roll, one of my personal favorites, under their new label Island Records. The album became the band’s second career number one and included the top 20 single, “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”.

Fall Out Boy didn’t stop there, releasing their EP PAX AM Days, consisting of 8 punk-influenced tracks that were recorded during a two-day session with producer Ryan Adams. The band’s sixth studio album, American Beauty/American Psycho, released in 2015, peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, and gave fans the top-10 hit “Centuries” and their single “Uma Thurman”, which reached No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.

They then released their first remix album, Make America Psycho Again, on October 30th, 2015, featuring hit artists such as Migos and Wiz Khalifa. The band’s seventh studio album Mania, released in 2018, also peaked at No. 1, making it the band’s fourth No. 1 album and the group’s sixth consecutive top 10 album. In 2018, Fall Out Boy received their second Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album for Mania.

More recently the band announced the Hella Mega Tour with Green Day and Weezer as headliners with The Interrupters as an opening act. They also released “Dear Future Self (Hands Up)” off their upcoming second compilation album, Greatest Hits: Believers Never Die – Volume Two, set to release on November 15th, 2019. 

Their music is well known, not only due to their iconic discography and original sound, but also due to the band’s ability to try new styles of music and still keep an original and unique sound. Even though they began as another early 2000’s pop punk band, they grew and evolved beyond their original label. I definitely recommend Fall Out Boy to anyone who enjoys songs you can rock out to, for all people who are looking for a good taste breaker, or a gateway into the genre that is pop punk.