Fall Out Boy - MANIA (Jan 19, 2018) Album • Page 68

It sounds like the opening melody bites (if not directly samples) Paper Planes, which itself was built on a sample of The Clash's Straight to Hell. So there you go.

All I wanna do is *gunshot* *gunshot* *gunshot* *gunshot* *cash register noise* get blown out into space

 

in addition to pushing "hold me tight" more i really, really think they should push "church" as a single

 

The video for Church is amazing so I completely agree.

 

First spin thoughts

tl;dr: It's my favorite of the new stuff and one of the best of their career but feels more like a Stump solo album than After Laughter felt like a Williams solo album. The mix seems to prioritize Stump over everything else. It's also the strength of the album.

'Stay Frosty' is a great opener, it showcases that Stump's voice is the best it's ever been. I really like the guitar solo.

'Real Ones' standard radio track but I really love how the bridge picks up to the chorus.

'HOLD ME', again the bridge is the best part by far - I hope this doesn't become a trend on the album or for this band. I don't like the whatever spanish type tempo thing they're doing.

'Wilson', this is one of my favorite FOB songs of all time. It let's Stump shine like the bridges of the previous two tracks instead of being too "busy". I also just really love the guitar on this track. The lyrics are great too.

'Church', I'm a total sucker for aggressive use of choral vocals, love the groove going on here and how fresh it feels. lyrics are nice cause it matches the sonic theme of redemption they're going for.

'Heaven's Gate', the best execution of their infatuation with soul music.

'Champion' this track opens with Stump trying to sing with as 'black' an inflection as possible which he remarkably pulls off throughout the song lol They played this one live behind footage of Kapernick's protest. The "messy" approach to song writing really works for this track. The best of the 'radio rock' tracks on this album.

"Sunshine Riptide" I hate the lyrics shift from the sentiment that "the world tried to break me" to "but now I'm rich and popping pills riding down the coast" so I beat life. It comes off as trashy but damn this track is really heady musically.

'Young and Menace" is a much better track in the context of the album. I did not like this song before really at all. But it's the best example of Fall Out Boy pushing the limits of pop with the core of their sound. Solid use of the studio heavy approach they shifted to post hiatus.

"Bishops Knife" best guitar on the album even though its a bit buried in the mix. Glad all the parts of the song just blend together.

 

Does anyone know if the various sites will fix the tracklisting errors?

 

Church does nothing for me, reminds me of a b-side from Death Of A Bachelor (which I love). It’s not a bad song but definitely one of my least favorites from M A N I A.

If i has to choose the weakest streak, I would say tracks 5-7.

Also, bummer that they are playing Frank Erwin Center in Austin (basketball stadium).. The worst sounding venture I’ve ever been too.

 

@thenewmatthewperry

I’d have to disagree with After Laughter sounding like a solo album, the musicianship on that album is top notch.

 

Yeah, disagree with that AL sentiment. Especially since the sound change wasn't even Hayley's idea, haha.

 

Oh really? I didn't realize it used parts of the Clash. That's kind of cool!

 

Pop =/= solo endeavor.

 

I love After Laughter but I think the intensely personal lyrics made it feel more like a solo album in that sense to people. I agree with this kinda but as you pointed out it was musically it still a Paramore record. MANIA feels more like Stump took the reins musically though the lyrics are more universal, the opposite of AL. So I felt like this was a better example of a more solo slanted release from a band than AL which was really only called that because of the lyrics.

 

wait... After Laughter sounds like a Hayley Williams solo album? what?

 

For the record I don't feel like it was correct to call AL a Williams solo album but a ton of people said that when it came out. I was trying to compare how people reacted to that versus to how I reacted to MANIA.

 

All of the post-reunion FOB albums sound like P-Stump solo albums.

 

I feel like every time one of these bands goes in a more pop leaning direction people lazily say it sounds like a "solo album" from the group's frontman

it's like the idea of pop bands doesn't exist

to say nothing of the fact that paramore and FOB have been pop groups from the beginning

M A N I A has the most SOUL PUNK leaning stuff of the post-reunion albums for sure but idk weird comparison imo

 

the tldr is a bad take but some good points otherwise. It sounds like all the other band members were contributing a lot.

 

AL is totally a Paramore album and feels exactly as such to me...

 

I really liked Heavens Gate but the rest is just not my cup of tea ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Also: Maybe people think everything sounds like a Stump solo album simply because Soul Punk is an extremely impressive solo album considering Patrick played everything, It raised the bar for what a solo album could sound like in the context of FOB

 

For me it's the production signalling this more than the pop direction itself.

For example, my favorite pop band is The 1975 but the mix of their music picks up the personality of each of the dudes whereas the mix of MANIA buries the instruments with the synth so much that Stump's voice takes a priority.

 

Have any of you actually listened to Soul Punk?

 

It's bad take o clock in this thread

 

Well, I like it when you sleep was basically a Matty solo album so like it sucks

 

You don't know what you're talking about, respectfully

 

what the fuck is a jock jam