All American Rejects & Fall Out Boy

SteveK reviews the bands latest releases

Editor’s note: Because of the hiatus, we were not able to review these albums when they were released a few weeks ago but we wanted to get the chance to do so now.

Consistently, two things have become common prior to the release of a popular artist’s new album. The first, of course, is the leak. Weeks, sometimes months before an album drops, it almost invariably appears on the Internet. Given how few people have access to the master recordings prior to a launch, I find it unbelievable that the studios and record labels would allow so many countless “leaks” to occur without firing entire departments over failed security.  No, the “leaks” are part of the launch: they drive up buzz and hype surrounding a release, and that can only help sales down the road.

The second common occurrence is the delay. Evidently, the delay happens when an album’s release is pushed back, at least once, from the official release date. While I believe that in many cases the album is delayed for very real technical reasons, such as production issues, I do not think that album delays are always unintentional. I know what you’re thinking: Whoa, hold up Steve; how can an album being delayed help its sales? Well, call me paranoid, but when you consider how many ardent fans will go out and buy an album the first week, in some cases the first day it drops, and when you consider how important those first-week sales are, I think you begin to see the use of a launch delay. People intend to buy the album. The album is delayed, and these people become even more eager to buy it when it is finally released. The more delays, the longer the delays, the more eager the fans are to get their hands on the CD.

Both the leak and the delay are, therefore, nothing more than publicity tactics designed to boost an album’s popularity and sales. And the tactics work.

Now, you might wonder why I would preface my review with that little treatise on leaks and launch delays. Simple enough: the first album I will be reviewing this week, ‘When the World Comes Down’ by the All American Rejects was leaked, and Fall Out Boy’s ‘Folie a Deux’, the second album featured in this space this time out was both leaked and delayed.

Besides both being well hyped and promoted ahead of their release, the two albums I’m submitting for review this week also put to lie the statement I said in my last review about the end of the year being a bad time for new music. The All American Rejects and Fall Out Boy have both just released two of the best albums of the year.

In the case of ‘When the World Comes Down’, the All American Rejects have been diligently promoting the album since going back into studio to work on it, in November of last year. While I have not been able to pinpoint exactly when the album began to show up online, it has been out there for a little while, now. The Alternative Press has called ‘When the World Comes Down’ the most anticipated album of 2008, and with good reason. The band promised to deliver a different album, and this ‘When the World Comes Down’ does indeed depart from the established norm for the band.

It is still very much guitar rock, post-Emo Pop, but the sound is richer, more complex than before. Generally, there are tentative steps towards experimentation in the way the music is constructed and the way the songs are backed up. Most of the songs have complex lead-ins and though the tone is often light, there is an underlying passion, intensity to the music.

For me, the real standout is “Fallin’ Apart”, the second track on the album, though listeners may be more familiar with the lead single from the album, “Gives You Hell”, which was released back in September. While the latter is an entertaining little “Screw you I’m better off I hope you suffer” anti-ballad, it’s entirely too radio-ready for my tastes. “Fallin’ Apart” is similarly themed, with the “I love you even though you treat me like shit” theme, but the song is much more complex, musically speaking, than “Gives You Hell”.

All in all, ‘When the World Comes Down’ lives up to the hype and delivers a really good album. It has moments of greatness, but-typical of Geffen Records-as a whole it is just slightly over-produced, and the heavy production robs the album of some of its sincerity. However, ‘When the World Comes Down’ will easily be one of the top 10 albums of 2008, and deservedly so.

All American Rejects: When the World Comes Down
Geffen
Steve’s Rating: 8.5/10

Now, Fall Out Boy’s ‘Folie a Deux’ has also been available online for a tad. And it was originally to have been released on November 4th, but was pushed back because Fall Out Boy alleges that they did not want to “ride the wave” of the election. Disappointed fans waited with baited breath until the band posted the new launch date, December 16th, on their blog.

‘Folie a Deux’ offers very typical guitar driven anthem rock, but from the get-go on “Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes” the album delivers far more than most of the standard fare. The songs all feature elaborate layered music and vocals, cleverly-worded lyrics and Patrick Stump’s heartfelt voice. The album is incredibly well crafted, blending lighthearted sounds with intense lyrics and more than a few touches of whimsy that create an enjoyable and wholly original listening experience.

It’s much harder for me to pick out any one song on this one, because I was so impressed with the album, as a whole. “American Suitehearts” I liked, if only for its brief touches of Lennon/McCartney; “What A Catch, Donnie” is an elaborate, long demi-ballad (just over eight minutes in length) with very poignant lyrics.

And the whole album is much the same: a complex fusion of gracefully blended elements, creating an enjoyable, anthemic showcase of the band’s talents and love of their craft. Well worth adding to your music library, even if you aren’t necessarily a Fall Out Boy fan.

Fall Out Boy: Folie a Deux
Island
Steve’s Rating: 9/10