Fall Out Boy unfortunately fails to heed the title of their newest studio album.  “Save Rock and Roll” is an album that they intended to put out in order to revamp their long-dead alternative rock career.

Fall Out Boy was a very instrumental band for me in years past (no pun intended).  Seeing them in concert during “the good old days” and listening to their older albums bring back a great sense of nostalgia from the carefree days before college.

Fall Out Boy was simply that band that all kids could relate to, even if you couldn’t understand their outlandish lyrics.  All bands change or deteriorate over time, but most of us will agree that we blasted “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs” at least a few times back in the day.

Fall Out Boy’s Older albums were “Take This to Your Grave” (2003), “From Under the Cork Tree” (2005), and “Infinity on High” (2007).  At least for me, there is no denying that these albums were very characteristic of this band and the sound the we came to know and love from them.

“Folie a Deux,” Fall Out Boy’s second to newest album, was released in 2008.  This is where we start to get into the grey area.  This album was where listeners could see a definite change in the original sound of the band, but it was not so far out as to warrant any accusations of complete foreignness.

On to “Save Rock and Roll,” though.  This brand new album really does give us a stunning discrepancy between any original sound from the band that was more punk rock and actually original to this new bombardment of unwelcome sounds.

This album sounds like an incredibly loud and obnoxious rock anthem that was influenced by the “sing-songy” base that we can find in most of the current day (pre-2007) mess of songs and artists that call their work music.

The purpose here is not to belittle or criticize a band that was once very good and, in fact, original in their sound and identity, but simply to point out the disappointing change they have undergone.  Those lazy Saturdays we had while listening to Fall Out Boy are long gone.

The sound of this album is very “overplayed,” as in it sounds like the band is trying too hard to get out a big sound, in order to compensate for lack of substance. Patrick Stump, the lead singer, stresses his voice to near screaming.

The main single from this album, “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up),” is an embodiment of this idea of moving to a type of sound that is completely foreign from the original music that this band really allowed us to connect with.

The last song on the album, “Save Rock and Roll” with Elton John, is also no exception to this rule.  It is surprising that Sir Elton even went as far to put his name on this song that itself really needs saving.  This song is really quite unoriginal and also takes on this loud, treble-filled collage of electronic whining.

What happened to “Sugar We’re Going Down” or “Grand Theft Autumn?”  This is a perfect example of how change is not always bad, but in the world of music it often is, and Fall Out Boy was a victim of this case.

Fall Out Boy had been on a hiatus for four years, but they decided they wanted to make a comeback. This comeback is respected, but also regrettable.

We don’t aim to shoot down this once great band, just to show how it can often be unfortunate when the sound of a band you once admired can turn into something that you wish you did not hear.

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