Thnks Fr Nthn Spcl

Jay Z opens Fall Out Boy's latest Infinity on High with a triumph dedicated to all the critics who said this album couldn't happen. Who is he talking to? If Jay Z is your boss, then aren't you guaranteed to put out an album and be in EVERYONE's faces no matter if you're welcome or not? So, why the triumph? Why bother? I think it's to make the public think that there is some revolutionary countercultural thing about this body of work; that by listening to this album you're part of some special group telling someone to fuck off. Whatever. This album isn't bad, I happen to really like "I've Got This Ring…" and "Me & You", but as a complete body of work it's the farthest thing from unique or identifiable that I've come across in a while. If anything, this album proves to me that Fall Out Boy are suffering from an identity crisis by trying to reach too many people.
Infinity on High fuses drum tracks, keyboards, machine gun guitars, the whole "voice sounding like a vacuum" thing, a drum corps, and oh, Jay Z. Dear god- can you try to reach more people? And what's with sounding so much like Panic! At The Disco. The first album wasn't like this, was it? I realize their on your label, guys, but I was shocked how similar the vocals on "Hum Hallelujah," "Golden," and "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" were. Y'all, what's the deal? You look like you're trying to ride the Panic! wave and that's not a good thing. Panic! can do Panic! You can't and shouldn't. You're not androgynous or pretty enough to pull that kind of thing off!
J and I once had a discussion back when Fall Out Boy broke with "Sugar, We're Going Down" that this is not a band starting a trend; they're one that incorporates and perpetuates everything that is "now". Just take the track titles, for example. You've got the annoyingly long emo-like titles that are 25 words long, attempts at clever titles, then the one that I refer to above in text message-ese. Forget the titles, now. How is this cd going to guarantee a place in the annals of rock? Or, maybe who cares because they're laughing all the way to the bank? Tell you what, in my opinion, the band should thank their lucky stars every day Patrick Stump doesn't leave for something better. His vocals are the only thing keeping this band truly noteworthy these days.
Guys, stop being a pop culture's bitch. I expected more based on the media publicity train this album was on, no doubt thanks to whom you've been associated with in the business. However, in the end all I can say is that I don't hate it. It's good pop, but it's nothing to be proud of. -K