January 19, American Beauty/American Psycho by Fall Out Boy

Genre: Alternative rock but also really kind of pop too
Year: 2015
Runtime: 39:01
Total Number of Tracks: 11
Songs you might know:
– “Irresistible”
– “American Beauty/American Psycho”
– Centuries”
– “Uma Thurman”
– “Immortals”

My prior relationship with this album: I had never bothered to listen to this whole album. I do this weird thing sometimes where if I’m head over heels in love with an album the way I was with Save Rock And Roll I sometimes resist listening to other albums so as not to be disappointed. That being said, I had heard the four singles and I also saw Fall Out Boy live in 2015, which is to say I may have even heard more than I remember. So while it’s not entirely accurate to say I was unfamiliar with this album. . . it’s not entirely accurate to say I was familiar either.

My impression this time around: While the album is certainly enjoyable, there’s also something forgettable about it. I’m not sure it really breaks any new ground the way that Save Rock And Roll did, which is neither a good nor bad thing. The song that probably best encapsulates how I feel about this album is “Jet Pack Blues.” Each time I listened to the album, I would get to this song and think “damn, this is a good song. Why have I slept on it so long?” And yet when I WASN’T listening to the album, the song was not stuck in my head. On subsequent listens I would think “Oh yeah that’s right. This WAS a great song.”

 Who would enjoy it? People who like the less aggressive, more pop-friendly side of rock music.