Showing posts with label Fall Out Boy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fall Out Boy. Show all posts

Thursday, October 21, 2010

What You Should Have Heard #34

My Mix CDs

I’ve got a lot of music but limited space to hold it in, especially in my car. So I’ve gone the old tried-and-true way of making mix CDs to have access to as many bands as possible while driving. I’m going slightly old-school since I’m a bit backwards and have no iPod.

Most of the songs will be more upbeat, with probably only the occasional ballad or slower song included. I like to sing in the car, and the more upbeat songs are more fun to sing.

I’ll be going in alpha-numeric order with these, so if you’re wanting to argue with me about what Weezer songs should be included, you’re going to be waiting for a while.

My only limitations are that I use 80 min. discs, and I’m only going to use one disc per band/artist. I will make exceptions for only my most favorite bands with huge playlists (Foo Fighters and Self, off the top of my head), but I’d really like to boil everything down to just one disc.

Here’s the list guide:

Track # - Song Name - Album Name [Artist if album is by a different artist]


Fall Out Boy Mix CD

  1. Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued – From Under the Cork Tree
  2. Of All the Gin Joints in All the World – From Under the Cork Tree
  3. Dance, Dance – From Under the Cork Tree
  4. Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down – From Under the Cork Tree
  5. Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner – From Under the Cork Tree
  6. 7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen) – From Under the Cork Tree
  7. Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year – From Under the Cork Tree
  8. Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends – From Under the Cork Tree
  9. I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song – From Under the Cork Tree
  10. A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me’ – From Under the Cork Tree
  11. Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows) – From Under the Cork Tree
  12. XO – From Under the Cork Tree
  13. Thriller – Infinity on High
  14. The Take Over, The Breaks Over – Infinity on High
  15. This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race – Infinity on High
  16. Hum Hallelujah – Infinity on High
  17. Thnks fr th Mmrs – Infinity on High
  18. What’s This – Nightmare Before Christmas
  19. I Don’t Care – Folie A Deux
  20. (Coffe’s for Closers) – Folie A Deux
  21. 20 Dollar Nose Bleed – Folie A Deux
  22. Beat It – Folie A Deux
After hearing “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” from Fall Out Boy’s break-out CD From Under the Cork Tree, I fell in love with the music, bought the CD just as quickly as I could, and I kept it in heavy rotation for quite a while. As you might be able to tell, all but one tracks from that CD are on this mix. Then I got wind of the release of Infinity on High and was excited for some new music from these guys. I ended up enjoying it, but not nearly as much as the previous offering. The same can be said for Folie a Deux: decent, but I liked it less than the previous release. Don’t even get me started on the releases before FUtCT. I don’t care for them at all.

FOB was the first time I really took a notice of the pop punk (punk pop?) genre, and I like it for the most part. FOB…evolved?...experimented?...really beginning with FUtCT and expanding with both successive albums. Each has less and less punk and more and more pop, as well as other influences. I don’t begrudge an artist or group for refusing to remain stagnant, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re doing something better than they’ve done in the past. FUtCT was definitely the high-water mark of this group’s career.


Here’s their cover of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” featuring Tony Hale (Arrested Development) and Donald Faison (Beat It).


Here’s the video for “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down,” the song that got me into the band in the first place.


Monday, January 5, 2009

Fall Out Boy: Folie A Deux (CD Review)

I don’t like Pearl Jam much anymore, but I really respect them. "Why is that?" you might ask? Well, it’s because they’re not afraid to evolve and change their musical style. I think it’s also one of the main reasons why I like Self. No two CDs sound alike. For me, each of Pearl Jam’s first three CDs was better than the previous, hitting the climax with Vitalogy. While I still enjoyed No Code, there was a definite downturn in enjoyment, and I haven’t really liked anything since. But I really respect the band for not sticking with what made them popular and experimenting with different sounds and styles.

Now, what does this have to do with the latest Fall Out Boy release? Well, we’ve got kind of the opposite effect going on here. Their first two full-length releases (Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out with Your Girlfriend and Take This to Your Grave) were craptastic, even though Take This to Your Grave wound up hitting Gold status. I think I read somewhere that for the next release (From Under the Cork Tree) songwriting duties switched from lead singer Patrick Stump to bass guitarist (and Mr. Ashley Simpson) Pete Wentz. I don’t know if I’m actually remembering this correctly, but something definitely changed. This CD is one of my favorites, and I can always pop it in the player and enjoy it.

So I was pretty excited when the follow-up, Infinity on High, was released. But it didn’t take me too long to get extremely tired of it. Other than the intro by Jay-Z and a few songs, nothing about it really grabbed me, and I really didn’t know why.

I figured it out with the release of Folie A Deux. The CDs all sound the same. FOB hit it big with FUtCT and pretty much stuck with that sound. Heck, in this CD they actually reference previous songs, and it’s pretty blatant. Check out the end of What a Catch, Donnie and you’ll hear some lines from earlier songs. And some of the singing is actually really bad. Again in What a Catch, Donnie, parts of it are just painful to listen to.

To give them a bit of credit, though, they at least started titling their songs better.

So whichever of the last three FOB CDs you like best, just keep listening to it. There’s nothing new or different (or memorable, or funny, or whatever) to justify buying all three.


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Listening to: Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend (DJ Echo Remix)
via FoxyTunes