Fall Out Boy's musical style has remained wholly unique to them despite the reinvention of their sound with this album. A sharp contrast to their earlier material, which had a slightly rawer edge to it, Save Rock And Roll is their declaration of identity, fueled by a burning passion to reclaim their music and relight the path.
With a decade of tenure under their belt, Fall Out Boy had developed some iconic creative choices over the years. All of that goodness was infused into this album, revitalised with a modern twist. Their embracing of electronics with wide, open arms gave rise to this unique taste that I've grown to know as the modern Fall Out Boy sound: An anthemic pop-rock flavour signature of arena choruses, catchy riffs and minimalistically poetic lyrics. Arguably, this album is not only the most perfect and complete collection of songs, but a notable peak in their discography.
The heavy hitters in this album definitely take the spotlight in this record. Tracks like The Pheonix and My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) not only took the world by storm, it was the centerpiece of their new sound. This cinematically intense sound design, paired with an impressively renewed powerful voice of vocalist Patrick Stump, was like a red-hot brand ready to sear a permanent impression to any listener. Although I greatly appreciate the diversity of sound in this record, I cannot deny how critical these songs were in representing their new sound and cementing their renaissance.
But obviously, I greatly appreciate the diversity of sound in this record :P. The more heartthrob tracks like Just One Yesterday and Miss Missing You and the more electronically experimental tracks like Where Did The Party Go and Death Valley bring so much taste into this record. I'm always all for artists trying new things, and even when it doesn't turn out amazing I admire the attempt, but their venture into electronic territory is no B-grade mix. Whatever their soul-searching was about in their 4-year hiatus, they came out of it as experts of this new musical ground.
The features on this monumental album in their discography is no trivial matter either. Big names in their own genres, it's an absolute marvel how seamlessly Fall Out Boy incorporated all of their styles and glamours. A part-rap part-rock song doesn't sound like it should work, but they put Big Sean on a track and it's still a better track than most of 2013's releases, and Elton John on the titular track only reinforces the power ballad-esque declaration of love to the genre and the sentiment of the record as a whole.
I have to give a shoutout to Alone Together, not only is it the song that's most reminiscent of their older style, it also feels the most homely, without much of the wild creative choices that make the other songs less replayable, keeping only the simple yet important things about a Fall Out Boy song: singing about love, lyrics soaked in metaphors and a pure concentrate of their broken-youth sound. It's a personal favourite, easy to sing along with and never losing any replay value.
If it isn't clear already, I think this is their best album. They have a lot of songs that, as standalones, easily rank higher than most songs on this record, but I never fail to be amazed at how complete this album feels. No song on the tracklist is a flop and the soundscape of the album doesn't feel jagged even though it's so diverse. Listening to the album as a whole is an experience worth reliving, and the music video series The Youngblood Chronicles is just lovely icing on the cake.
Rating: 10/10