Album Review: American Beauty/American Psycho, Fall Out Boy

I can't even describe to you how happy and emotional I was when Fall Out Boy came back from their hiatus. I woke up and suddenly, one of my favorite bands was back from the dead. I've been listening to them since I was in 8th Grade. The only reason I got to see them live (and meet them!) was because of this come back. I'm so thankful for that.

Shout out to my meet and greet photo from August.

Somehow, though, I never really thought of them having a second album after coming back with "Save Rock and Roll" - I was just living in the high of having them back for that. Then the announcement came around that this album was going to come out and I couldn't believe it. It does not disappoint.

So let's dive into a track by track review!

Track One: Irresistible

This is an immediate stand out for me. The sound, the lyrics - all of it just screams "HELL YES!" to me. One of my favorite lines is in this track: "You look so Seattle but feel so LA." You immediately get what the line means in today's culture and I like that this song opens the album. Fall Out Boy is known so much for their clever, turn of phrase lines like this. (Throwback: "I'm just a notch in your bedpost. But you're just a line in a song.")

Track Two: American Beauty/American Psycho

Oh man. So in an interview Patrick Stump said this is probably his favorite song from the record because it's one of their first "up tempo" songs for a long time. I think I get what he's saying here - it sort of reminds me of the frantic nature of "Dance, Dance" or "The Take Over, The Break's Over" - and seeing it live will be fantastic. I like it. I love the video, as well. It was definitely a different direction than "Save Rock and Roll," which featured the band members so heavily.

Track Three: Centuries

Oh man. So I listened to this song on repeat for days after they released it months ago. I was so thrilled I loved the song. If you're a fan of a long running band or artist, you know you hold your breath before listening to a new song. Not liking it is disappointing, but you don't want to force yourself to be into it either. Thankfully this didn't happen. It's just so damn catchy and so many lyrics stand out that it wasn't even a problem. I loved it within the first thirty seconds.

Also: how funny is it that this is the only song that "features" another artist (Lolo)? The last album had so many guests - Elton freaking John, Courtney Love, Big Sean - and I loved hearing Fall Out Boy with other people, but I like this step back. It might just come from having to throw the record together after they put out Centuries and were like, "shit, well now we have to make an album," but either way, I like the choice.

Track Four: The Kids Aren't Alright

I like this slower song on the album. While all the songs are emotional in their own ways, this just sticks out as a very youth anthem to me. Give me this song acoustic, with only a guitar or piano, covered by literally anyone and I'll listen to it. I just think it would be even more amazing stripped down. (If you saw Fall Out Boy on tour, you know that Patrick starts "Young Volcanos" off by himself with a guitar and this is the feel I'm getting at.)

Track Five: Uma Thurman

Holy shit let's dance. That's basically all there is to say here. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this song. I admit I don't think I've seen anything with Uma Thurman in it, but I imagine this song captures her well? If that makes any sense. It's a hot song and I look forward to seeing it performed live.

Track Six: Jet Pack Blues

Like "The Kids Aren't Alright," another slowed down, emotional song. It's a little surprising to me, if I'm being honest. It's such a "story like" song and I don't know if Fall Out Boy has done that before - or if they have, it's been years. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it stands out as having a different feel, but do I love it.

Track Seven: Novocaine 

This track was apparently cut from "Save Rock and Roll," and you can tell. It sounds like it wouldn't be out of place on that album at all - especially with the note Patrick holds on "vultures" sounding like the note he holds on "youngblood" in "The Phoenix."

Can I also get an amen for the ending note? Patrick Stump just continues to impress me with what he can do with his voice on this album. It's just fantastic. The sound and the music is one thing to grow upon, but I just feel like his voice is a fine wine.

Track Eight: Fourth of July

Okay, this might be my favorite song on the album. I know I love the first track, and I know I'm just going to keep switching what my "favorite" is, but that's a given. The sound and the lyrics of this one just make me want to punch the air in a dorky way. It's that good.

Stand out lyric: "I'm sorry every song's about you/The torture of small talk with someone you used to love."

Track Nine: Favorite Record

I can't believe this song was almost cut, to be honest. I love that Fall Out Boy decided to keep it on specifically for the fans. Although yes, I can understand why this was almost cut. It sounds so different to me, sort of like "Jet Pack Blues." Now I'm going to go on a weird tangent here and throw this out there: this sounds like it could be sung by Taylor Swift.

Hear me out. It has almost a "1989" feel to it to me. Throw Taylor Swift on this song and it would be a bit more pop-y, yes, but listen to the lyrics with her voice and background in mind and I swear with an open mind it will make sense.

The stand out lyric that makes me think this: "And when you asked, you asked me how I’m doing/Like you know, you know how much better off I am."

To me that screams Taylor's attitude in her own lyrics of "1989." I know, totally weird turn to this review, but hey, I love the song. I like how different it feels.

Track Ten: Immortals

I was so proud that the band had a song for a huge movie like "Big Hero 6." To top it off, it was so catchy and awesome. I'm sure it definitely brought a lot of fans to them. Also - do yourself a favor and listen to the previous track and wait for the transition between the two songs. We all know how amazing track transitions were for "Folie à Deux" and this is an example of that.

Track Eleven: Twin Skeleton's (Hotel In NYC)   

Finally, the end. I do love this song, but if I had to pick, it's my least favorite. That's not saying much, since I love the entire album so much. I'm sure it will move up in the ranks with time. I probably said every track on "Save Rock and Roll" was my "favorite" at least once. I do think the first and last tracks bookend the album well. I just wish there was more! Although I understand the choice to not overload the album.

I will leave you with a video from the last time I saw Fall Out Boy and hope to see them again, with this album live, at least once. (They'll be here in March, though Arizona isn't on their big summer tour). If you've never heard of Fall Out Boy, or beyond the radio tracks, definitely check them out!

Until next time,
Rose

Recipe: Beef Tortellini Soup

I thought it would be fun to have a short post every so often having to do with a recipe. I originally found this recipe in a book I was putting away at work, but ended up modifying it a bit.

It includes:

• ground beef
• cheese tortellini (refrigerated at the store, not a dried bag)
• condensed french onion soup
• a cup of water
• canned diced tomatoes 

The first thing you're going to do in a large pot is cook your ground beef until it's not pink. Then you're going to add the can of french onion soup, water, diced tomatoes and tortellini. I sort of just eye balled the water myself. Then, because I didn't feel like it was liquidy enough, added about half a can of chicken broth. My mom uses this for a lot of different things, just because it does add a lot of flavor. 

I also added some spices: italian seasoning and red pepper. 

Bring this to a boil and then cook for roughly ten minutes, or until the pasta is fully cooked. 

I really liked the final product - it's also great for leftovers!

You can definitely modify the recipe even further, depending on taste. Here are some examples:

• use ground turkey instead of beef to make it more lean (or skip on the meat entirely if you want to go vegetarian)
• instead of chicken broth, vegetable broth would probably taste amazing as well
• add vegetables - zucchini, green beans, etc - to add a "health factor" to it.  
• heck, even go for a different pasta entirely!

There are a lot of possibilities! I hope you enjoyed the post and if you try the recipe, I hope you enjoy that as well! Let me know if you tried anything different!

Until next time, 

Rose