The James Logan Courier

By Asma Yasini, Courier Staff Writer

The pop-punk quartet Fall Out Boy released their fifth studio album entitled Folie À Deux (literally, the madness of two) in mid-December. While FOB fans had their hopes high for this album to be their best yet, after the disappointment of last year’s Infinity on High, they were once again let down. Don't waste your money buying this CD.

While trying not to re-create a sound that has already been heard, the band piles everything onto this CD. There are so many cameos that you wouldn’t know whose CD it was if the band's name wasn’t on the case.

Instrumentally, it’s all over the place. There’s everything from strings to synths. While the singing is decent and bearable, the lyrics lack substance and really make no sense at all. There is nothing new about the guitar riffs, the bass or the drumming.

And yet, occasionally you may find yourself singing along to the catchy, yet ridiculously tongue-in-cheek choruses, or even tapping your feet to the beat. Each song sounds like a cluster of hooks, and has no recognizable order to it. If each song were reconstructed into actual pop songs, then the CD wouldn’t be half as disappointing as it is.

While most of the songs on this CD turn out to be displeasing and nauseating to the ears, there are a few that are bearable, and even a few worth putting on your IPod. The first single off Folie, “I Don’t Care”, is arguably the best song on the album, with its big drums and chucking guitars. It is one of the few songs on the album with lyrics that actually mean something.

“America’s Suitehearts”, the band’s follow up single isn’t a bad second try either. It’s definitely one to be downloaded. Their CD opener, “Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes”, is definitely one to be looked over, with lyrics about nervous breakdowns and detox stints, that can really only be understood by the eyeliner wearing lyricist himself. Another song worth checking out would have to be “The (Shipped) Gold Standard”, a song about record sales and fear of commitment as well as responsibility.

This song shows the true talent behind the band’s tongue-in-cheek façade. It’s definitely more heart-on-sleeve, as every song on this album should be.