Review of M A N I A by Fall Out Boy

"M A N I A" is the seventh studio album release from American rock band "Fall Out Boy" (although I would hardly consider them a rock band at this point.) Following in the footsteps of their 2015 release, "American Beauty/American Psycho," Fall Out Boy tries to reinvent themselves with this record. In doing so, they take a pretty terrible turn. 

I literally laughed out loud listening to the album opener, "Young and Menace." From that song alone, it was clear that Fall Out Boy had officially sold out. It sounds like a teenager took a song from "American Beauty/American Psycho" and made a trap remix of it on GarageBand for a Call of Duty Quick Scope montage. While I suppose they deserve some credit for constantly taking risks and trying to reinvent themselves, they don't really bring anything unique or original to the table. It sounds like they listened to a pop radio station for a few hours, took notes on every trope they heard, and crafted it into a formula for this album.  The track "HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON'T" sounds like what I think a collaboration between Maroon 5 and Pitbull would sound like (which is not a good sound). Every song lacks the catchiness and memorability of their previous work. Fall Out Boy has released their most generic and gentrified record to date. It's especially painful that they aren't playing to any of their strengths. 

The best songs on the album are "Church" and "Heaven's Gates," which are found in the latter half. They certainly sound more authentic than the rest of the album. Yet, they still suffer from a severe lack of originality. I felt like both tracks were written as spin-offs of Hozier's "Take Me To Church." Following "Heaven's Gates," we arrive at "Sunshine Riptide," which has the same "trappy" feel as "Young and Menace." The album closer "Bishops Knife Trick," was better than a large portion of the album—but it still wasn't good. 

While the second half is stronger than the first half, nothing in this album truly impressed me. It seemed like a mediocre blend of pop music trends that weren't even executed very well. I think it's safe to say M A N I A will not be remembered.I  wish there was more I could say about this album, but there's really not. I was let down.