Fall Out Boy which consists of singer Patrick Stump, drummer Andy Hurley, bassist Pete Wentz, and guitarist Joe Trohman released their seventh studio album MANIA, on January 19, 2018. MANIA was originally supposed to be released on September 15, 2017; the band released a statement through twitter that they would delay the album, due to the fact that, “The album just isn’t ready and it felt very rushed. We need a little bit of more time to properly and carefully record solid performances.”
Even though the band delayed the album, they still released a total of 5 songs over the course of a few months. The first single off of the album, “Young and a Menace” released on April 27, 2017 left fans wondering the direction of which the album would go in, as the song sounds very electronic. With this album they wanted to go in a different direction from their previous albums and experiment more.
When talking about the album bassist Pete Wentz tells how people asked the band to respond to what’s going on in the world today, “We’ve never been one of those bands that shoved our views down people’s throats, but I think everyone kinda knows our political views. I think the personal and political are so intensely tied now… it starts out like a euphoric feeling and the it kind of tidal waves into people not sleeping, manic behavior, and violence.” He continues by saying “[MANIA is] more like a reaction to the climate of people.”
After, months of waiting the album was finally released. It starts off with “Young and a Menace”, a good opener because it’s up-beat and hypes up the listener . “Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea” is not what I was expecting it to sound like, just like “Young and a Menace” it doesn’t sound anything like their old work. The album continues with 3 of the other songs that they released before the release date of the album. Fall Out Boy is known for their complex lyrics, however in this album the lyrics are quite repetitive during the songs. Like in “Champion”, a sports anthem song that repeats the lyrics, “If I can live through this, I can do anything” throughout the song. Most of the songs sound very different to their previous albums, the only songs that sound similar are “Expensive Mistakes (Wilson)” and “Last of the Real Ones”. Overall, the album achieved its goals, it sounds experimental but it’s still the classic Fall Out Boy vibe. I give MANIA a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Author: Dariana Garcia-Bernabe
