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Hi guys, this is a new category in the Pie Bakery (Aloo is a type of pie by the way) in which I will briefly review various forms of media and entertainment - generally music. Tonight I'm looking at the most recent album from punk-pop band Fall Out Boy, American Beauty/American Psycho.
I have mentioned before that I feel this album isn't as strong as Save Rock and Roll, and I stand by this statement. In general the songs from SRaR were better constructed, catchier and just generally more pleasant to listen to. However, I think I have been selling this album short a little bit. Whilst it might not be as good as the previous in my opinion, Save Rock and Roll was amazing and pretty hard to top so that's understandable and this album does have some great tracks on it.
If you wish to listen to the full album you can do so here, for this review however I'm just going to look at the couple of songs I feel are the strongest and the weakest on the album.Without further ado, let's take a bite.
This song is one of the strongest on the album and actually right up there with my favourite songs from Fall Out Boy. The vocals are strong, the song is catchy, the instrumentation isn't bad. What I really love about this song is quite hard to describe though - it has a very story-like and theatrical feel to it and whilst I haven't really grasped the story of it yet I can feel its presence in the song.
This song is by no means a bad one and it is growing on me, but it is one of the weakest on the album. I don't have any problems with the band experimenting with different sounds however the music in this song is quite uninteresting and overall I get bored of the repetitive background music (outside the chorus) and until it hits the chorus the song is quite bland by FoB standards.
This is probably the weakest on the album if you ask me, although it isn't necessarily a bad one either. It has a very dramatic lead-up into the song and what comes next just doesn't follow through. The vocal is fine and the music is fine but that's the problem. Everything about the song is just fine, it's too easy to tune the song out and forget its playing if you do anything else. It's not a bad song but it doesn't stack up with what I'm used to from this band.
In my opinion, this is actually the strongest song on the album along with Jet Pack Blues. The music and vocals are both excellent and the lyrics are decent too. This is one of the catchiest songs I know and I don't tire of. I also love that it samples the theme from The Munsters and references Pulp Fiction.
I haven't gone into detail on every song this time around, but I will leave you with a rating out of ten for each song.
Twin Skeleton's (A Hotel in NYC) - 8.5/10
Immortals - 6/10
Favourite Record - 8.5/10
Fourth of July - 5/10
Novocaine - 8/10
Uma Thurman - 9/10
Jet Pack Blues - 9/10
Irresistible - 8.5/10
The Kids Aren't Alright - 8.5/10
Centuries - 8.5/10
American Beauty/American Psycho - 6.5/10
Overall this isn't nearly as bad an album as the people who don't like the slight changes to Fall Out Boy's style might make out. There are a lot of really good tracks on this album and the quality of Fall Out Boy's performances on these tracks are up to their usual standard. Unfortunately there are a few tracks that whilst being solid enough are much weaker than the work Fall Out Boy usually put out which is probably a large part of the negative criticism for this album. I would definitely recommend that fans and non-fans alike do give this album a chance and have a listen because it is a lot better than people - including me - have made out in the past.
Overall this album scores an average of 7.8/10 from me, a score that would be much higher if it weren't for three tracks that are sub-par for this band.
Those are my thoughts, what do you guys think?
-Gimmepie
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Review Aloo - American Beauty/American Psycho
Hi guys, this is a new category in the Pie Bakery (Aloo is a type of pie by the way) in which I will briefly review various forms of media and entertainment - generally music. Tonight I'm looking at the most recent album from punk-pop band Fall Out Boy, American Beauty/American Psycho.
I have mentioned before that I feel this album isn't as strong as Save Rock and Roll, and I stand by this statement. In general the songs from SRaR were better constructed, catchier and just generally more pleasant to listen to. However, I think I have been selling this album short a little bit. Whilst it might not be as good as the previous in my opinion, Save Rock and Roll was amazing and pretty hard to top so that's understandable and this album does have some great tracks on it.
If you wish to listen to the full album you can do so here, for this review however I'm just going to look at the couple of songs I feel are the strongest and the weakest on the album.Without further ado, let's take a bite.
Twin Skeleton's (Hotel in NYC)
This song is one of the strongest on the album and actually right up there with my favourite songs from Fall Out Boy. The vocals are strong, the song is catchy, the instrumentation isn't bad. What I really love about this song is quite hard to describe though - it has a very story-like and theatrical feel to it and whilst I haven't really grasped the story of it yet I can feel its presence in the song.
Immortals
This song is by no means a bad one and it is growing on me, but it is one of the weakest on the album. I don't have any problems with the band experimenting with different sounds however the music in this song is quite uninteresting and overall I get bored of the repetitive background music (outside the chorus) and until it hits the chorus the song is quite bland by FoB standards.
Fourth of July
This is probably the weakest on the album if you ask me, although it isn't necessarily a bad one either. It has a very dramatic lead-up into the song and what comes next just doesn't follow through. The vocal is fine and the music is fine but that's the problem. Everything about the song is just fine, it's too easy to tune the song out and forget its playing if you do anything else. It's not a bad song but it doesn't stack up with what I'm used to from this band.
Uma Thurman
In my opinion, this is actually the strongest song on the album along with Jet Pack Blues. The music and vocals are both excellent and the lyrics are decent too. This is one of the catchiest songs I know and I don't tire of. I also love that it samples the theme from The Munsters and references Pulp Fiction.
Song Ratings
Subject to ChangeI haven't gone into detail on every song this time around, but I will leave you with a rating out of ten for each song.
Twin Skeleton's (A Hotel in NYC) - 8.5/10
Immortals - 6/10
Favourite Record - 8.5/10
Fourth of July - 5/10
Novocaine - 8/10
Uma Thurman - 9/10
Jet Pack Blues - 9/10
Irresistible - 8.5/10
The Kids Aren't Alright - 8.5/10
Centuries - 8.5/10
American Beauty/American Psycho - 6.5/10
Overall this isn't nearly as bad an album as the people who don't like the slight changes to Fall Out Boy's style might make out. There are a lot of really good tracks on this album and the quality of Fall Out Boy's performances on these tracks are up to their usual standard. Unfortunately there are a few tracks that whilst being solid enough are much weaker than the work Fall Out Boy usually put out which is probably a large part of the negative criticism for this album. I would definitely recommend that fans and non-fans alike do give this album a chance and have a listen because it is a lot better than people - including me - have made out in the past.
Overall this album scores an average of 7.8/10 from me, a score that would be much higher if it weren't for three tracks that are sub-par for this band.
Those are my thoughts, what do you guys think?
-Gimmepie
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