Album of the Week: Folie a Deux by Fall Out Boy

Folie à Deux underperformed when it first came out and was hated by the band members, but it became a fan favorite almost 20 years later. Folie, Fall Out Boy’s fourth studio album released on December 16, 2008, drew heavy criticism at the time. But why? Fall Out Boy’s previous album, Infinity on High, was iconic and gave us Thnks fr th Mmrs and This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race. So if Fall Out Boy was on top of the world with this album, why did people hate Folie so much- so much that people booed Fall Out Boy on stage when they would play songs from Folie? Folie had a completely different vibe from their previous albums, and instead of being more “emo” or “punk,” it changed things up by not sticking to one genre. Folie wasn’t an “emo” album; Folie was a Fall Out Boy album. It mixed different genres, and they worked so well together, but it failed because it was different. People were expecting it to sound like their previous albums, and that’s why it failed then, but it is so loved now. The album of the week this week is Folie a Deux by Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy, formed in 2001, is a punk/ emo band from Chicago made up of Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman, and Andy Hurley. Fall Out Boy’s 2003 album Take This to Your Grave made them an underground success and gave them a name in the scene. Their next album, From Under the Cork Tree, was an even bigger hit, with iconic songs like Dance, Dance and Sugar, We’re Goin Down. Fall Out Boy grew bigger with each album until the release of Folie a Deux. The hate and stress from fans after the release of this album led to an almost five-year hiatus, and the band returned in 2013 with their album and mini-movie Save Rock and Roll. Fall Out Boy’s most recent album, So Much For Stardust, was released in 2023 and is the album Fall Out Boy is currently touring with. Pete Wentz, the band’s bassist, wrote most of Fall Out Boy’s songs.

The album opens with “Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes.” It begins slow-paced and picks up after the intro. The song is about struggle, burnout, and the endless cycle of numbing the pain. The first line of the song is “I’m coming apart at the seams,” which could suggest Pete Wentz is tired and burned out amid the band’s success. The chorus, “So boycott, love, detox just to retox, and I promise you anything for another shot at life.” I think Pete Wentz means he’s already been through so much in life, including the pain of loving something, and he wants to get away from it. But when he says “detox just to retox,” it means he’ll still go back and look for love. The next line in the chorus is “and perfect boys with their perfect lives/ nobody wants to hear you sing about tragedy,” which feels like foreshadowing for this album. The fans expected a different kind of album from Fall Out Boy, and the fans (at the time) did not want to hear about it.

The (shipped) Gold Standard is song six on the album and is great commentary on vulnerability in not feeling like yourself in the place you’re in now. The title is obviously a play on words with the common phrase “the gold standard,” which can mean either real physical gold or the idea that when something is “gold,” it is considered high quality. Adding “(shipped)” to the title implies that the feeling of being higher quality has been shipped away and is no longer there. The first line of the song is “Sometimes I want to quit this all and become an accountant now/ but I’m no good at math, and besides, the dollar is down,” implying he is overwhelmed with being in the band, overwhelmed with the industry, and would literally rather work a 9-5 job instead of touring the world and writing music. What he was once so passionate about is no longer fun. My all-time favorite line from this song, and something I quote regularly, is from the chorus: “You can only blame your problems on the world for so long before it becomes the same old song.” Pete says this references Rockstar’s backing track, the day being known for complaining about everything, and in this song, he complains and says he would much rather be an accountant. In my personal life, anytime something inconveniences me, or I want to complain about something, this lyric plays in my head. I remind myself that things just happen sometimes, and I can’t get upset or blame the world for my problems.

This album has so many great songs, like I Don’t Care and 20 Dollar Nose Bleed, to name a few. I am glad now, almost twenty years later, this album is finally getting the recognition it deserves. It wasn’t understood when it first came out, and I think that is because the world wasn’t ready for this album. Pete Wentz is a lyrical genius, and I think he was just ahead of his time.

I encourage you to sit down, listen to this album, and let me know what you think in the comments! Below, I have included the track list and highlighted the songs I think you should listen to, along with a link to the album. Liked this Album of the week? Check out what I wrote last week!

Folie a Deux

Album of the Week: Middle of Nowhere by Kacey Musgraves