Review Summary: Fall Out Boy's first full length, (and arguably to many fans best album) is a far cry from the poppy sub-par crap found on their later releases (2005's From Under The Cork Tree, and 2007's Infinity On High). Fall out boy keep things fast and intense here,
From the first chord of Take This To Your Grave (in "Tell That Mick He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today") your in for a fast, melodic, hard hitting, emotional journey through the lives of four guys just doing what they love best. With lines like "Stop burning bridges, drive off of them" the opening track pretty well sets up the rest of the album. With bassist Pete Wentz's deep lyrics and singer Patrick Stump's trademark voice and knack for melody, the two combine to make a great songwriting unit, which really shows well with these tracks. With titles like "The Patron Saint Of Liars And Fakes" and "Reinventing The Wheel To Run Myself Over" Fall Out Boy carves out their own niche from the rest of the radio-friendly,overplayed on Mtv, world of pop punk that was going on at the time. Sure that would all come with later success, but here it seems Fall Out Boy are all about playing the music they love, and not so much worried about radio play or Mtv.
Fall Out Boy come their closest to mainstream singles with the tracks "Grand Theft Autumn (Where Is Your Boy)" and the fan favorite "Saturday". Both are perfect blends of past and future Fall Out Boy, great, catchy songs, but without being predictable, boring, and overplayed. Other highlights include the ever popular "Grenade Jumper" and the older song (Previously appearing on the "Evening Out With Your Girlfriend EP") "Calm Before The Storm. Nevertheless, all of the tracks deliver with a fast, in your face kinda feel to them.
Perhaps the only downfall to all of this, is the lack of variety. All of the songs are fast, melodic, pop punk songs with a little edge. There are no skip tracks here, but a little variety would've been nice. But Fall Out Boy know what they do best, and they deliver here. Each of the unique song titles and lyrics make each of the songs stand out on thier own, which can not be said for many other bands in the genre.
This album might not be a classic, and it might not be as commerically popular or successful as their later releases, but for me this is the definitive Fall Out Boy Album. Everything here shows what Fall Out Boy has to offer and this helped Fall Out Boy carve out their niche in the pop punk world, and they do it rather well here.
