Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust (March 24,2023) Band • Page 107

Guess that'd depend what you consider "unanimous" ... stream wise, sure seems like more people listened to the last three. Review wise, pretty on part with SRAR.

 

“Almost unanimous” as in the posts in here that weren’t about landlords. I haven’t looked at any numbers.

 

Might just be me and Tim that like SRAR more at the moment. I think I'd still put that one above. But, given time, I could see this competing heavily.

 

Feel like people complaining about the lack of guitars really mean the lack of power chord/distortion-driven guitar songs. Also, re-listened to this yesterday and the new Paramore at the gym and I think this album is much better than Paramore's recent.

 

so you admit the guitars never left and “the guitars are back” is indeed not true

 

It’s a cyclical conversation that never ends even though both pre-hiatus fans and post-hiatus fans could arguably see the other’s point.

Yes, they have changed their sound over the course of their albums. Yes, each album influences the sound of the next one. Guitars or not.

 

I was being hyperbolic. The role of the guitars on this album is much closer to their pre hiatus albums than the post hiatus albums. This forum is an offshoot of a forum called absolutepunk, named after a genre of music built around guitar-drums-bass. This community embraced Fall Out Boy when they were focused around guitar-drums-bass. The quality of the songwriting remains high here, as it was through most of the post hiatus albums. So songwriting being similar but the aesthetic switching back to something much more familiar and comfortable to the general population of this forum, it only makes sense that the prevailing opinion on this album would be that it’s an improvement.

“The guitars are back” is literally not true, but “the guitars are back to serving a more similar function to Fall Out Boy’s prehiatus music” makes a lot more sense than “the role of the guitars in Fall Out Boy never changed.” I mean, Joe even said in his book that as a guitarist he was frustrated by the amount of guitar he was able to play on Mania.

If SRAR-Mania had all the same songs with an aesthetic more similar to the prehiatus albums, they would have almost certainly been less popular in the mainstream, but probably more well liked on this forum. Again, I personally like the post hiatus albums, but it’s very very very easy to recognize the aesthetic shift and understand that some people may prefer the traditional Fall Out Boy sound.

 

I really don’t think the guitars are that much focused on here than SRAR. Maybe some. I’m not gonna go track by track. But there was a lot of guitar on SRAR.

 

Kinda painful that you needed to spell it out like this but glad you did.

 

He even explained what AbsolutePunk was. That was very helpful.

 

Listened to SRAR full today again.It’s flawless.

 

Did somebody say landlord

 

Rat a tat tat, rat a tat tat, hey!

 

I just think the progression from SRAR to this album is linear in every way, I don’t think this is a return to form so much as a progression of what was already there. The “guitars are back” narrative sells that too short in my personal opinion. And doesn’t give credit to the unique and detailed instrumentation (which included lots of guitars to be sure) of the previous three albums. I’ve always said MANIA doesn’t get nearly as much love as it should because a couple of the singles were abysmal but another couple singles (Wilson and Hold Me Tight or Don’t to be specific, as well as Church) and deeper cuts were the peak of their career. if anything “Wilson” is the biggest return to form song of all the post hiatus stuff and sounds like a Folie song with modern production. That’s all I’m trying to say here really.

 

I’ve even said earlier in this thread that I don’t understand how somebody could “like” Fall Out Boy and not like Wilson, which I guess is me riding both sides of the fence. Wilson is an incredible song that from a songwriting perspective absolutely stands toe to toe or surpasses much of the prehiatus stuff. I wish prehiatus fans could look past the aesthetic changes and appreciate the craft, but there are a TON of things aesthetically that just don’t sound like old Fall Out Boy.

The intro is layered guitars, synth stabs & a vocal sample, with the vocal sample in particular being totally unlike anything prehiatus. The drums in the verse are electronic and the hi hats read more like a trap beat than a rock song. Where a guitar lead would be in the second half of the verse, there’s very cool atmospheric synths. The guitar lead in the chorus is great playing, but the whammy pedal that’s used on it which makes it so cool is just completely unlike anything from the first four albums.

A great song with great guitar playing, but literally looking at it part by part as a guitar player (who picked up the instrument because of FUTCT and used to be able to play FUTCT & IOH cover to cover), a songwriter, a bandleader, somebody who has self recorded and self mixed, the aesthetic of the song is totally different from the prehiatus music.

 

This is sitting at solid 8.5/10 for me at the moment. Might be nudged up depending on how much the Kintsugi Kid/Fake Out grow on me. But a very good album nonetheless.

 

what the hell is a guitar

 

SMASH ALL THE GUITARS

 

calm down phoebe bridgers.

 

yes guitars are audibly present in the majority of songs on the 3 albums prior, also yes the way guitars are implemented and how they sit in the context of the mix is pretty noticeably different here than on those records. I can completely understand why, to the untrained ear, this album could be heard as a “return to guitars” since they are more of a driving force and from what I’ve gathered it seems a lot of people don’t realize they’re even present in a song when they’re used more texturally. but also the notion that they’re non-existent on the records since SRAR is literally factually inaccurate so I get why it bothers people when they see folks imply or outright state as much.

as far as the songwriting goes, sure I can hear plenty of shared DNA between a lot of these songs and their past few records, but I also hear differences as well and I think those differences are the clincher that make this record more up my alley than the others since their comeback. now maybe that is bewildering to some of you who are bigger fans of the past few than I am, and maybe you think I need to listen again but I gotta say I have been revisiting those records in the wake of this one and my feelings haven’t really changed much in doing so.there’s definitely stuff I like in those records but a lot of it I just don’t care for. and maybe you think I need to get my ears checked bc there’s no reason that should be the case and this album be mostly a winner for me but I don’t really know what to tell you; I’m pretty secure in my tastes and confident in my ears at this point.

personally, I am just elated to feel so positively about a FOB record again and stoked that it seems to be resonating similarly for a lot of folks!

 

i mean i definitely think this is the best post-hiatus album i just also love the others a lot so im not surprised someone might not like those as much as this one. but i'll always ride for those albums and encourage people to give em a shot. SRAR and MANIA are extremely important records to me. im not in love with every song on either but the ones that hit are some of my fav FOB tunes of all time. but, ive been a mega fan since i was 11 years old and dont dislike a single project they've done besides pax am days.

 

(tbh i love that there's a pre-hiatus and post-hiatus era to neatly split this band's discog into so i dont have to choose which is better and just love and appreciate both)

 

Preach

 

I didn't know it was possible those two songs could have to be growers for anybody lol

 

Kintsugi kid is one of my least favorites just because it feels like the style has been done to death by this band, idk the verses just sound way too familiar for this band especially compared to a lot of the other songs here. Fake Out took a couple listens but that’s my favorite now because again all I can think of is jimmy eat world when I hear it. Just has that cadence and feel about it.