Fall Out Boy: a heavily influential emo band from the early 2000s. The band consists of 4 members, who have been mostly consistent over the years.
The current members of Fall Out Boy are Patrick Stump (lead singer and rhythm guitarist), Pete Wentz (bassist), Joe Trohman (lead guitarist), and Andy Hurley (the drummer). The only member that wasn’t there at the band’s origin was Andy Hurley, the band having gone through many drummers before settling on Hurley.
The band was formed in 2001 in Chicago, Illinois. It was originally a side project between Pete Wentz and Joe Trohman, Patrick Stump joining soon after.
Their first release, although not an album, was called Evening Out With Your Girlfriend. The mini-LP didn’t go anywhere. It was recorded in two days and released on March 25, 2003. It left the band not wanting it to be released, as they were not happy with it.
Their first album Take This To Your Grave was released on May 6, 2003. This was initially criticized, but it ended up being the basis for their current fanbase. According to Steve from Scene Point Blank, “Upon their beginning, they were just another band in the pack of Saves the Day and New Found Glory clones, but with this record they have come into their own sound both lyrically and musically.”
Some hits from this album include “Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy” and “The Pros and Cons of Breathing”.
After this, the album that shot them through the roof got released on May 3, 2005. By the name of From Under The Cork Tree, people took well to this album. It debuted at #9 on the Billboard Top 200. For their sophomore album, this is a fantastic achievement.
This album gave the band many hits, some being “Dance, Dance”, “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” and “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More ‘Touch Me’”. These hits were massive and are still played on the radio quite often to this day.
For their third album, Infinity on High, they start drifting away from their previous genre. Released on February 6, 2007, it went towards different styles of music, this album becoming a #1 hit on Billboard. The previous two albums had been in one style of music, while Infinity on High broke out of this mold.
The New York Times states about the album, “This time around Fall Out Boy’s music has broadened and the perspective of the lyrics has changed: from underdog to rock star.”
This album also gave way to some radio hits, including “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race”, “Thnks fr th Mmrs”, and “Hum Hallelujah”. These are very commonly known by people, even if they may not know the song name.
Their next album was called Folie a Deux, released on December 10, 2008. This was regarded as a disappointment in the eyes of many. It strayed from what people would expect from Fall Out Boy.
However, it did have one hit that most people liked. “I Don’t Care” was widely well received by the general public.
There were still some reviewers that did end up liking Folie a Deux. Mercury from The Guardian, states, “Having always eyed the glitz and gleam of the mainstream, it’s hard to begrudge them these overblown gestures at this stage in their career. They are, it would seem, finally coming out of themselves.”
Scarlett Smith, a junior at Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, enjoys the album as well. “I think that it’s really good, and I don’t know why people think it’s so controversial.”
The following year, 2009, Fall Out Boy went on hiatus. The members of the band worked on side projects throughout this time, to mixed reactions.
They got back together in 2013, with the album Save Rock and Roll. This album was their second #1 hit on Billboard, being released on April 12, 2013.
Popular songs from Save Rock and Roll include “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”, “The Phoenix” and “Alone Together”.
While most of their hits come from their earlier albums, there are some from the later few albums that are still widely spread to this day.
Their sixth album American Beauty/American Psycho, released on January 16, 2015, was again at #1 on the Billboard 200. This album gave us the song “Centuries” and the song “Uma Thurman”. These both are widely known, but “Centuries” in particular has been heavily used by many.
Their seventh album by the name of Mania released on January 19, 2018. This album peaked at #1 also, making it the fourth #1 album by Fall Out Boy. They later received a Grammy nomination for Mania, not winning it in the end. Mania was also a different style of music, while also staying within the typical “Fall Out Boy’-esque energy that they have.
Mania, much like Folie a Deux received many mixed opinions. Fall Out Boy was expected to sound one way, and these albums very much did not. While staying within a certain genre, they experimented as much as they were able to, seen primarily on those two albums.
Their most popular song from Mania is called “The Last of the Real Ones”. It ended up peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot Rock Chart.
Currently, as of November 2024, their most recent album is called So Much For Stardust, which was released on March 24, 2023. Being their first release in over 5 years, this marks the longest period that Fall Out Boy hadn’t released any new music.
The more popular songs from So Much For Stardust are the title track (“So Much (for) Stardust”) and “Love from the Other Side”.
The album was well-received by most reviewers. In people’s eyes, it blends both their original style and a lot of their newer stuff. It sounds a lot like Mania in particular, but there’s also elements of their first two albums in there.
When talking about Fall Out Boy and emo culture, they have been very influential on each other. During the mid 2000’s, the emo scene came to be very prevalent. A lot of emo people that grew up in the 2000s, and even who are growing up now consider Fall Out Boy’s albums to be essential to the scene.
Along with Panic! At the Disco and My Chemical Romance, they form the “emo trinity”. This was a very big thing that circulated throughout the internet a few years back. The “emo trinity” is widely known throughout the scene.
Overall, Fall Out Boy has been very influential to a lot of people. Since their origin, they’ve gained a large following and impacted many lives. Even though they may not be considered “emo” in the musical sense, they are still large in the emo scene, making them technically a part of it.
