A ranking of Fall Out Boy's albums
In honor of Fall Out Boy's upcoming new album, I figured it was a good time to take a trip down memory lane and re-listen to their entire discography. Listing to the classics in Take This to Your Grave to going to Infinity on High and the bold title of Save Rock and Roll , then fast forwarding to MANIA I can see why they have been in the game so long.
So I then decided why not try to rank them from my least to favorite album in their entire discography. Nostalgia aside, I want to rank them sonically and lyrically and see how they continue to produce bangers every single time. So here's a list no one asked for Fall Out Boy edition!
Starting the list out at Number 7: Take This To Your Grave
[embed]https://open.spotify.com/album/7l4nnHG7upOnUM4WvAjToY?si=s89WhOTQS82chVVlBkqcXg[/embed]
It was an awesome debut album. It has great songs like “Grand Theft Autumn/ Where is You Boy”, “Dead on Arrival”, and my personal favorite “The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes”. The issue is they have grown so much lyrically and sonically that if I was to rank this higher would be for nostalgic reasons. Great debut album though and always fun to hear. You can revisit your favorite bangers from this album here.
Coming in at Number 6: Save Rock And Roll
[embed]https://open.spotify.com/album/0EVJX4RlYKuApsAN5CaDa3?si=iTZlMZ03Qz2LUZn6NUOFtA[/embed]
This one I feel like a very hot take but for such a bold title I felt like it fell kind of flat, in my opinion. It has great songs like “The Phoenix”, “Just One Yesterday”, and my personal favorite “Alone Together”. I wish the energy from these 3 could have been continued throughout the whole album. With that being said, I do like that this was their new sound. I see this one as the building block for their newer stuff. Also the collab with Elton John is very much iconic! A great album to play live and have the crowd sing back to you, and you can prep by visiting the album here!
Entering at Number 5: From Under The Cork Tree
[embed]https://open.spotify.com/album/5nkUSlIhtoJZMOUlB0sNCp?si=3Cb5vQ1ZQTqR-uJrE1z29g[/embed]
This album holds “Dance Dance” and “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”. When you haven’t listened to these singles in a while, they hit as if you heard them for the first time. The reason the album falls in the middle is because of the song titles. I love them but my puny brain cannot remember the song titles. I can sing the songs but not name them. My personal favorite “Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going To Shows)”, whew a mouthful, is the one that gets me out of my seat. The lyric “all us boys screaming into microphones for attention because we’re just so bored” gets me every time and I love it. Relive the nostalgia here!
At the halfway mark of the list Number 4: MANIA
[embed]https://open.spotify.com/album/16xtTZvPH6PXcwSqYqJHHG?si=4oJjAOdyQFGbyGDz1Kih-Q[/embed]
I wanted to tie it for number 3 but that wouldn’t be fair and not a true ranking. After listening to this album repeatedly for a few days and comparing it with other albums, it has a few more skips in my opinion. Vocally though, this album is definitely the top. “Church” and my favorite “Heaven’s Gate” proved the vocal range of lead singer Patrick Stump. I feel this has a few more techno beats that I am not personally a fan of, but ties in perfectly with the album and connects to modern day pop-punk. Nonetheless, this album was made with love and care because while I may not like all the songs on there, none of them feel like fillers. Every song on this album feels like they belong. If you haven’t listened to it already, listen now!
We are reaching the top 3, if you don't hate the list yet!
At Number 3: American Beauty / American Psycho
[embed]https://open.spotify.com/album/022DrG7Wp2PSCwzuD0bSzT?si=TZfjFdwYSiabBDK5vkGmrQ[/embed]
This what Save Rock and Roll should’ve been. The album plays on the “traditional American” riffs that we always hear and then adds their own twist on it. The name of the album itself really touches on that historical “punk” culture serving as the anti-culture. The singles on the album also don’t get tiring. “Centuries” and “Uma Thurman” are still bangers even after you hear them multiple times. My personal favorite “Novocaine” is the song of the summer. This album just produced banger after banger. The true summer album is this one! If you aren’t playing any of these songs in your current playlists, add them right now!
For Number 2: Infinity on High
[embed]https://open.spotify.com/album/0hHopYqXhuvYSHtVyrcb1g?si=ED1YxJxARaSjdUx4cguRNg[/embed]
Finally, the moment of truth. At the Number 1 Spot: Folie a Deux
[embed]https://open.spotify.com/album/6KOWjVP0mh5rOqmzm4tkPD?si=o6QNKkXsTsu-pouIVm4EzQ[/embed]
There is not a single skip on this album. It was crafted greatly and is the right amount of pop and punk. I feel like this album wasn’t liked solely because the singles were not all that great, but “I Don’t Care” really hits different when 1: you haven’t heard it in a while, or 2: really feel like playing a song that allows you to shout “I Don’t Care" at the top of your lungs. Then you have songs like “20 Dollar Nose Bleed” that transitions to “West Coast Smoker” and my personal favorites "America's Sweethearts” and “What a Catch, Donnie” are brilliant and never get old. I feel like this is the perfect album you can use to introduce a friend to Fall Out Boy. Relisten to my favorite album from theirs here!
If you made it this far and don't hate me or the list then thank you! If you do hate the list, you have the right to your own opinion. As a reminder Fall Out Boy's new album So Much (for) Stardust out March 24! It was fun to do and let me know what other albums I should do next.