Fall Out Boy - Take This To Your Grave

Monday strikes back with a vengeance today. Not sure about you all - but I need some really good tunes to get me going this morning. My resident punk rock guru Shaqwanda tossed another Fall Out Boy record into the box. She states this is the only album they have that's worth listening to. Well, I'll be the judge of that! (I'm kidding, I'm not that self centered) FOB and I have an odd relationship. In general I don't care much for their music, but I do find myself listening to their stuff every so often. It's very strange. I don't know what it is about their sound - but it gets my toes tapping. I reviewed their 'Cork Tree' album months ago now, and it got a very average review from me. I brought up in that last review that they're no longer making music. That appears to be even more permanent now too. They've started other projects after the breakup, and I understand a couple of them are going pretty well. So for all you FOB fans (if there are any left) don't hold your breath for another record. This album dropped in 2003 and is a mere gold status. Normally when I listen to FOB - I don't listen to full albums, just a bunch of tracks on shuffle. There are two or three from this album that I recognized off the top of my head. Which was nice. It's surprising to me then, that this album saw such poor sales. Plus the fact Shaqwanda still enjoys it, and she loves this style of tuneage. I'm actually going to encourage you to pick this up today. It's pretty upbeat and not at all offensive. It's not amazing, but I'm tending to agree this might be their best work.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today
2. Dead on Arrival
3. Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy
4. Saturday
5. Homesick at Space Camp
6. Sending Postcards From a Plane Crash (Wish You Were Here)
7. Chicago Is So Two Years Ago
8. Pros and Cons of Breathing, The
9. Grenade Jumper
10. Calm Before the Storm
11. Reinventing the Wheel to Run Myself Over
12. Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes, The

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy
2. Saturday
3. Chicago Is So Two Years Ago

FINAL RATING:
3.25 out of 5 stars

Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree

Fall Out Boy not that long ago announced a permanent hiatus...aka, the band is no longer a band. I have to point to this album as both their commanding rise to stardom and also their demise. I knew a lot of people (myself included) that knew of FOB and enjoyed them before this album came out. When this record dropped, everyone and their brother suddenly loved Fall Out Boy. I know I ranted about this once, but then most of the old followers dropped off the map just leaving the 'pop' fans to buy their cd's and go to their shows. The problem with pop fans, is most of them are fickle. They just move on to the next big thing on the radio. FOB never reached the success of Cork Tree with subsequent records, and here we are...standing in the mess that was a pretty decent band. I was never a huge fan, but I have to give credit to this record specifically - because it got people who wouldn't dare listen to punk/emo type music to sit down and enjoy. I don't think you went anywhere in 2005 without hearing Sugar. Who knows what the future will bring for these gents, but until we know more - toss on their best cd available.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued
2. Of All the Gin Joints in All the World
3. Dance, Dance - (remix)
4. Sugar, We're Goin Down - (remix)
5. Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner
6. I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)
7. 7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)
8. Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year
9. Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends
10. I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me
11. Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me", A
12. Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows)
13. Xo

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Sugar, We're Goin Down
2. Dance, Dance
3. Of All The Gin Joints

FINAL RATING:
2.75 out of 5 stars