SONG OF THE WEEK: Fall Out Boy
Has the success of My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade" (which even gets name-checked on Jay-Z's new album) driven Fall Out Boy crazy? "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race," the first single from Fall Out Boy's forthcoming album, is a grandiose clunker, puffed up like a John Mayer song at the beginning and then sped up and thrashy for no reason in the middle. Known for being clever while still writing memorable melodies, the band replaces the catchiness of its previous hits with simple repetition of the title. That won't fool anyone. If this is the best their "Infinity on High" (Island/Fueled by Ramen) album has to offer, sugar, they're going down.
Listen to "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" here.
Comments (31)
finally somebody who agrees with me.
Who cares what one person thinks? I am in love with this song and I can't wait until their new cd comes out. I think it's going to be amazing!
you seem to like to compare dissimilar bands. first you compare Brand New with System of a Down, and Coheed and Cambria. Now Fall Out Boy and John Mayer?
quit playing music-critic and do something worth your while.
So if they named their song something different than the chorus would it make the song better?
Dude, you should start posting reviews every couple of days. There are plenty of people out there just like me who would love to read you stumble your way through these reviews and you'd get more hits than you can imagine.
I can't stand this band, but there's no denying that this song is good, even the 'thrashy' parts. You're not a smart man, Glenn.
Fall out boy obviously has more fans than most bands...and most of these fans are somehow blind to how ridiculous this band is, but I still think they are better than most bands. It's hard for me to like this song too, but i really have no idea about what this guy is talking about.
um, there isn't a single second of this song that sounds even remotely like John Mayer.
Well, it's a fact that Fall Out Boy didn't write, record, master, and release this track in the, oh, 3 weeks or so between the release of "The Black Parade" and "Arms Race", so even though your attempt at being witty didn't make any sense before realizing this, afterwards you just look like any other mudslinging internet pseudo-journalist.
Anyone who thinks this song is good needs to plug their speakers in to their computer so they can actually hear it. Horrid, and this is coming from a fan of the band.
It does take alot of balls to step to the plate after your Brand New disaster. I am just curious because you must be well paid to inform the typical american reader what he or she should listen to.The inital musicianship and creativity are the only thing that hasnt been tainted by business. Although the musicans have to play the games with the big man to get exposure. Who gives you the permission to get up in the morning and write such horrid reviews. I could have your job and put you to shame. Sugar you re going Down
why is there screaming in this song ffs
but you dont know the whole story. they chose this for the single because it had a message worth telling. no matter if it was a simple song or a really great song they wanted this to be their single because it had an important message that we all needed to take in!!
one thing you dont realize is they recorded that song before my chems cd was even leaked. stop being an idiot
fall out boy is a gimmick band as far as im concerned, while comparing them to john mayer is pretty inane, i agree that the song/band is just bad.
sorry 13 year old girls with braces!
Good review.
I've never been a fan of this band, and this song just continues to prove why.
And Fall Out Boy doesn't have "more fans than most bands", it just has more screaming 12-year-olds who don't understand the meaning of masterful music.
Good luck finding it here. That's not going to happen.
somebody get this guy some new cds and/or taste in music. J. Mayer? wow.
i dont know a damn thing about jazz, i think i'll go buy some louie armstrong cds and write some reviews for newsday.
"....armstrong gives a great performance, but it sounds a bit too much like bon jovi, nice try louie"
haha you must not know what real music is.
Sure, it wasn't their best single, but that review was absolutely horrible. John Mayer? I mean come on now.
music is 100% subjective. there is absolutely no point in arguing over if a band is good or band. what i like is not going to be liked by every single person, and vice versa. there is plenty of music out there i do not like or dont listen to. this doesnt mean it is bad. SOMEONE likes it. and thats all that matters. people that come on here saying things like "fall out boy is a terrible band, etc, etc"...thanks. thanks for your one opinion. its pointless. my opinion is that they are a very very good band.
my point is, this going back and forth is meaningless. the review is one persons opinion. stop arguing about a topic that is unarguable. and yes, i just made that word up. "unarguable".
fall out boy has blown up so much that they could put whatever they wanted on to a cd and still sell over a million cd's to a bunch of scene kids. they just need to put a breakdown on the cd and they'll be fine.
1.MCR's new CD is actually music and is sweet in my opinion.
2.I dont know if you were down talking John Mayer, but he is a god of music in my eyes.
3.There is no way really that they were influenced by MCR because both albums probably overlapped on when they were recorded.
4.A drum machine intro in no way applies to John Mayer because he doesnt usually use them. And it is the same verse but has a drum machine instead of real drums.
5.I agree with the repetition. But that makes it a hook. I bet your sitting there with it stuck in your head right now.
6.The music someone likes is just their opinion like someone above said. There is no reason to trash something unless you actually back it up with things other than their fans are young.
You freaking idiots wouldn't know good music if it hit you in you stupid [expletive] faces! I love the way people put down music just because the band is popular. You probably are in some little band in your home town that can't make it so you're jumping on the bashing bandwagon. This band has talent that most bands can't touch. I grew up listening to strung out and big wig and stuff like that and when this band came out with their first couple albums they never left my cd player! So go smoke your cigarettes in your coffee shops and [expletive] to the girls you can't get and stop being critics because you suck at it!
That guy above put it absolutely perfect, this band is amazingly talented and deserve every bit of recognition they get. The man above is very smart and should have atleast an associates degree or something.
alright dumbasses. fall out boy fans aren't all "13 year old girls with braces!" or "screaming 12-year-olds"
the sugar we're going down video was debuted in TRL in 2005. so all these 12 and 13 year old fans you speak of would have been 11 and 12.
do you honestly think a bunch of 11 and 12 year olds are responsible for this band's success? they have 2 or 3 albums even BEFORE sugar.. which means all of the 12 and 13 year olds would have been ... 7 - 10 year olds? i don't think so.
Just because you don't like the song doesn't mean you have to go trash it. It just means you definatley don't have taste in good music. What's the point you you trashing their music anyway because it's not going to make them stop them from loving what they do. So why don't you just [expletive] because no one cares what you think. This song is amazing and i'm positive that the new album will be amazing. I'm going to be the first one to get it =)
i want to get a t shert of fall out boy. fall out boy is the best band in the world. fall out boy
fall out boy don't care whos songs are better. but in this case they are better any way so get ready for the real world dumbasses
fall out boy is the best band ever!!!!
my friend leaked the new cd to me today, and i must say it wasnt what i was expecting...a little of the original sound in there...i havent got a chance to listen to all 14 tracks yet, but it sounds like a pretty good cd to me....my chem's cd was quite the hype, as is any other cd out there...and so will any other cd you will ever come by that is as popular as either of these bands....
dont compare urself yall rock u dont have 2 wrry if ur named the best cause we know u r & yall know u r !!!!! I LUV U PETE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a retired Rocker and my son saw the fall out boys at the Garden last week and said it was a great show. I'm from the Glam era Here is my Scene Playing Drums.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfjfDq67EvY