Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last September 23, 2007.
One boring weeknight of July 2005. Yes, it was one of those nights when I was doing nothing but chatting with my friend in YM. Both of us were in one tough hell of a semester. I was probably cramming for a deliverable on my major subjects or I was doing nothing productive at all. She was doing a homework that would span up to midnight, and she was multitasking heavily at the same time because her YM replies were so quick that you wouldn’t even notice that she was busy at all. I guess that is what we learn in ME – YM and work can jive with each other. Nevertheless, we were both into emo songs that time so we were always talking about it. The emo mood suited me well because I had no girlfriend (as always) and my school work was a pain in the ass. That mood also fitted her because she broke up with her boyfriend two months ago and her semester was a nightmare. Those were the times when I really craved for emo/punk music so it was the topic of our conversation.
She asked me, “Jeff, have you tried listening to Fall Out Boy?”
Fall Out Boy? I have not heard of it then but the band name sounds cool. What made it notable was that my high school friends jokingly called me fall out boy because I was so into the Fallout RPG. After responding ‘no’ to her, she recommended me to download the songs from the albums Take This to Your Grave and their upcoming album From Under the Cork Tree. I quickly typed in the artist, ‘Fall Out Boy’ in my Limewire application then and I downloaded a couple of songs. If I remember correctly, it was Chicago was so Two Years Ago and Calm Before the Storm. Those two songs became an instant hit to me due to the great combination of Patrick Stump’s high vocals and the lively distorted guitar riffs. I guess I will always like high vocals and heavy instrumental sounds (how emo!). I soon got addicted to Fall Out Boy’s sound and I found myself downloading any song that was available in my Limewire search. Most of these songs were from Take This to Your Grave and Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out With Your Girl.
Oh, emo days! The funny thing about Fall Out Boy was that, I did not like them for their lyrics – I seldom searched for their lyrics at the Web but I basically loved their music because of the music as it is. The melodies, the tunes, the rhythms and Patrick Stump’s unique vocals were what made me search for a new song from them via Limewire. I almost downloaded the whole Take This To Your Grave album simply by downloading singles in Limewire. I liked Fall Out Boy even though I did not find them emo (except in Tell That Mick He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today). I even considered them a pop/punk band because their melodies, despite of Pete Wentz screams, sound mellow to my rock-aholic ears. What’s amazing though was that they were not in the mainstream scene then despite the fact that they had four albums.
Their long, strange titles make them further unique to other bands. Thus, I was liking each of their song even though I do not know the title. I usually have biases on songs that I know the titles so Fall Out Boy was really superb in making me like their song without biases and such. They were emo but you would not think of them as a hardcore or screamo band despite of Pete Wentz’s screams. High Vocals + Screams that sound like the guitar’s distortion + Heavy Guitar Riffs + Showmanship = Panalo!
CHECKPOINT
Most Played Fall Out Boy Songs:
Chicago was so Two Years Ago
Homesick at Spacecamp
Calm Before the Storm
Love Will Tear Us Apart
The Pros and Cons of Breathing
Then came the release of the Sugar We’re Going Down single. I saw a Fall Out Boy music video for the very first time in MTV Philippines. It made me cry a huge ‘Oh no! This band’s going to be mainstream.’ Pardon me but I do that all the time my underground bands have their music video played in national TV. Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree was more friendly to the masa and is sure to be a hit. I was frustrated when I saw their album being sold in the stores. Pete Wentz’s screams were less and he is starting to be a pop symbol for the band. It irks me when bands get loved by fans due someone in the band is hot, rather than the quality of music that they make. But I guess that is normal human tendency so I don’t hate the fans – I just hate the fact similar to the lyrics on A Little Less Sixteen Candles… “I don’t blame you for being you, but you can’t blame me for hating it.”
By December of 2005, Fall Out Boy was starting to conquer the Philippine airwaves by their smash hit, Dance Dance. I honestly did not like the song the first time I listened to it because it has ‘this song will put the band into mainstream and they will soon be pop’ written all over it. In addition, its music video was similar to the expensive videos that pop bands have. I had the same feeling on A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me video. I even said to myself then, “This guys will end up as the new Backstreet Boys with their dancing and choreography.” Nonetheless, I ended up listening and loving the aforementioned songs. I could easily relate to A Little Less Sixteen Candles, whenever these lyrics are played:
“You’re just the girl all the boys want to dance with
And I’m just the boy who’s had too many chances”
“I don’t blame you for being you
But you can’t blame me for hating it
So say what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I’ve set my clocks early ‘coz I know I’m always late”
“Write me off, give up on me
‘Coz Darling, what did you expect?
I’m just off a lost cause, a long shot
Don’t even take this bet.”
That happened on summer of 2006. I just graduated from college and I was falling for someone. Unfortunately, it had a bad ending so I ended up emo again. For what it’s worth, Fall Out Boy was still great in making me relate to their songs. From a notion that From Under the Cork Tree will make them mainstream and destroy their greatness, I ended up enjoying each song on that album. They are not yet sell outs after all. They may make catchy songs but these are still excellent.
CHECKPOINT
Most Played Fall Out Boy Songs:
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me
Sugar We’re Going Down
Grand Theft Autumn
Our Lawyers Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued
Dance Dance
Tell Mick That He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today
Yule Shoot Your Eye Out
You might wonder that I have a lot of songs in my ‘most played’ list. It was because I have been listening to Fall Out Boy at least once a day ever since I got to know the band. I could even listen to all of Fall Out Boy’s songs without skipping a song. That’s just how great the band is to me.
February 17, 2007. Fall Out Boy’s fifth album Infinity On High just got released. I rushed to download the album. However, I did not appreciate it that quickly. I did not like It Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race when it was such a big hit in the airwaves because it conjures memories of Backstreet Boys singing Backstreet’s Back. Patrick Stump’s once-incredibly unique vocals are starting to transform into a pop machine. I did like The Carpal Tunnel Of Love but I stopped listening to the album – even though I have not listened to all of the songs yet. I branded them Sell Out Boy last summer and I stuck with listening to their old songs. I almost puked when a radio station for the masses was playing Thnks fr th Mmrs.
One night last July. I was talking to my friend about music. We had just fixed our little fight/misunderstanding so I was trying to bring up something that we could converse on. I told her to try to listen to the String Quartet Tribute. We had few similarities on likes when it comes to music so Fall Out Boy became the easy topic. I gave her the string quartet tribute to Sugar We’re Going Down and she was amazed by it. That was the instance when she told me that Fall Out Boy will soon be going to Manila. I was surprised by the news because I never expected her to be so updated in such a thing. I quickly searched Fall Out Boy’s website as to when the tickets would be sold. I was surprised that it was already two days from that time. I called Ticketnet for it but they were knowledgeable of it. The ticket release date in Fall Out Boy’s site was not followed so I lost some determination in getting tickets. More than a week passed and I found out that they were already selling tickets. By the time I had the will to buy, only Upper B tickets were sold. I bought two tickets because it was too expensive. And besides, they were already sell outs so why would I be so fascinated in watching them play? I was there to watch them play their old songs.
Monday last week. I was in my car in heavy traffic and the radio was the only thing that would satisfy me from my boredom. The radio jock suddenly played The Take Over, The Break’s Over. I said to myself, “Oh no, not another Sell Out Boy song.” I even thought it was Thnks Fr Th Mmrs. But when Patrick starts to sing the chorus, I began to appreciate it. It was not bad at all. Then came the lead part. Holy Sh*t! It was short but it was one great solo. I always get some sort of musical orgasm (for a lack of the correct term) whenever I listen to the lead part of rock songs that’s why I liked progressive metal. The song was superb at the least. When I came home, I searched the Infinity On High album that I have in my PC and played it. I realized then that It Ain’t a Scene… was not bad either – it even proved that Patrick Stump’s vocals just get better after each album.
I spent the whole of last week listening to Infinity On High songs and a bit of the oldies. Nevertheless, it was Infinity On High’s turn for my ears to listen to. It was not a bad album at all. Most bands that become pop bands usually suck on their mainstream albums but Infinity on High was not disappointing at all. Take This To Your Grave still remains as my favorite but Infinity on High is above average so it deserves to get played in my MP3 list.
CHECKPOINT
Most Played Fall Out Boy Songs:
The Take Over, The Breaks Over
This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race
I’m Like a Lawyer With The Way I’m Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)
Hum Hallelujah
I’ve Got a Dark Alley And a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
Then came the Fall Out Boy night – Friday, September 21, 2007. I watched it with my friend in the Upper B section in Araneta. We were right at the center of the Upper B section so the view was really great. It was better that we were distanced from the standing crowd because I’m with a female so I really have no plans of joining a mosh pit. Anyway, there was no mosh pit at all because most were high school fan girls. I guess I am too old and mature for such carefree fun like that. I prefer to appreciate the music
The show started with Chicosci playing. They used to be one of my favorite bands but they started to suck when they moved away from their ala-Deftones style to ride with the flow with the emo bands. Anyway, at least they got lots of groupie chicks this time around as emo is more ear-friendly and had better lyrics than rap-metal / nu-metal was. It was, however, great to watch them play Paris for their finale. Mong can still play with his electric guitar by making it revolve around his body for five times (I once cheered hard when he did it once before). He ended destroying his electric guitar for showmanship’s sake. Now, that’s something I want to see happen in local rock gigs!
At Nine O’ Clock, Fall Out Boy began rocking the house. They exploded with a barrage of hard rocking songs – Grand Theft Autumn, Sugar We’re Going Down, Our Lawyers Made Us Change The Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued, I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy, and A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me. I could not help but head bang because when Fall Out Boy use distortions, they really rock hard.
What amazed me and my friend was that, Fall Out Boy seemed to be playing intensely without resting at all. After a song, Pete Wentz will just speak for thirty seconds and they will start playing again. There were even times when they would merge the next song to the current song. We can’t believe that the two guitarists would revolve with their guitars at least once in a song. We were wondering if they ever get tired or dizzy from doing it. I guess it is all because of adrenaline. Damn! This band has the best showmanship that I have ever seen. They can also play other songs like Don’t Matter, Basket Case, Beat It, and even Sexy Back. If they could have paced their concert to more than two hours, they would have been the best. They played seventeen songs in a span of one hour.
They have played songs from Take This To Your Grave and From Under The Cork Tree so I was indeed satisfied. It was actually funny because my friend likes those from Infinity On High so we were both contented at the end of the concert as songs from the three albums were played. It was really my dream to hear Patrick’s vocals live and he was able to live up to my expectations because he was able to sing non-stop. After more than two years of listening to Fall Out Boy, I realized that I have appreciated the band more.
They ended the concert playing The Take Over, The Breaks Over (from Infinity on High), Dance Dance (from From Under The Cork Tree), and Saturday (from Take This to Your Grave).
CHECKPOINT
Song Wishlist on the Concert:
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me
Sugar We’re Going Down
Dance Dance
Grand Theft Autumn
The Take Over, The Break’s Over
Chicago is so Two Years Ago
Our Lawyers Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued
Tell Mick That He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today
6/8 fulfilled. That’s great!
Call them sell out, showband, mainstream, and whatever sucky things you may say when an underground band becomes famous. Yeah, I laughed so hard when I viewed the music video on The Take Over, The Break’s Over when the emo fans threw tomatoes and screamed “Sell Out” to Fall Out Boy. Yes, it is so true that they are now Sell Out Boy but what the heck? Like what the bulldog said, “Give the boys a break, everybody changes. Look at me. I used to be tiny.” They still rock and I will still listen to them. And yeah, they will be up there in my favorites list.
“Don’t pretend you’ll ever forget about me.”
One boring weeknight of July 2005. Yes, it was one of those nights when I was doing nothing but chatting with my friend in YM. Both of us were in one tough hell of a semester. I was probably cramming for a deliverable on my major subjects or I was doing nothing productive at all. She was doing a homework that would span up to midnight, and she was multitasking heavily at the same time because her YM replies were so quick that you wouldn’t even notice that she was busy at all. I guess that is what we learn in ME – YM and work can jive with each other. Nevertheless, we were both into emo songs that time so we were always talking about it. The emo mood suited me well because I had no girlfriend (as always) and my school work was a pain in the ass. That mood also fitted her because she broke up with her boyfriend two months ago and her semester was a nightmare. Those were the times when I really craved for emo/punk music so it was the topic of our conversation.
She asked me, “Jeff, have you tried listening to Fall Out Boy?”
Fall Out Boy? I have not heard of it then but the band name sounds cool. What made it notable was that my high school friends jokingly called me fall out boy because I was so into the Fallout RPG. After responding ‘no’ to her, she recommended me to download the songs from the albums Take This to Your Grave and their upcoming album From Under the Cork Tree. I quickly typed in the artist, ‘Fall Out Boy’ in my Limewire application then and I downloaded a couple of songs. If I remember correctly, it was Chicago was so Two Years Ago and Calm Before the Storm. Those two songs became an instant hit to me due to the great combination of Patrick Stump’s high vocals and the lively distorted guitar riffs. I guess I will always like high vocals and heavy instrumental sounds (how emo!). I soon got addicted to Fall Out Boy’s sound and I found myself downloading any song that was available in my Limewire search. Most of these songs were from Take This to Your Grave and Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out With Your Girl.
Oh, emo days! The funny thing about Fall Out Boy was that, I did not like them for their lyrics – I seldom searched for their lyrics at the Web but I basically loved their music because of the music as it is. The melodies, the tunes, the rhythms and Patrick Stump’s unique vocals were what made me search for a new song from them via Limewire. I almost downloaded the whole Take This To Your Grave album simply by downloading singles in Limewire. I liked Fall Out Boy even though I did not find them emo (except in Tell That Mick He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today). I even considered them a pop/punk band because their melodies, despite of Pete Wentz screams, sound mellow to my rock-aholic ears. What’s amazing though was that they were not in the mainstream scene then despite the fact that they had four albums.
Their long, strange titles make them further unique to other bands. Thus, I was liking each of their song even though I do not know the title. I usually have biases on songs that I know the titles so Fall Out Boy was really superb in making me like their song without biases and such. They were emo but you would not think of them as a hardcore or screamo band despite of Pete Wentz’s screams. High Vocals + Screams that sound like the guitar’s distortion + Heavy Guitar Riffs + Showmanship = Panalo!
CHECKPOINT
Most Played Fall Out Boy Songs:
Chicago was so Two Years Ago
Homesick at Spacecamp
Calm Before the Storm
Love Will Tear Us Apart
The Pros and Cons of Breathing
Then came the release of the Sugar We’re Going Down single. I saw a Fall Out Boy music video for the very first time in MTV Philippines. It made me cry a huge ‘Oh no! This band’s going to be mainstream.’ Pardon me but I do that all the time my underground bands have their music video played in national TV. Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree was more friendly to the masa and is sure to be a hit. I was frustrated when I saw their album being sold in the stores. Pete Wentz’s screams were less and he is starting to be a pop symbol for the band. It irks me when bands get loved by fans due someone in the band is hot, rather than the quality of music that they make. But I guess that is normal human tendency so I don’t hate the fans – I just hate the fact similar to the lyrics on A Little Less Sixteen Candles… “I don’t blame you for being you, but you can’t blame me for hating it.”
By December of 2005, Fall Out Boy was starting to conquer the Philippine airwaves by their smash hit, Dance Dance. I honestly did not like the song the first time I listened to it because it has ‘this song will put the band into mainstream and they will soon be pop’ written all over it. In addition, its music video was similar to the expensive videos that pop bands have. I had the same feeling on A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me video. I even said to myself then, “This guys will end up as the new Backstreet Boys with their dancing and choreography.” Nonetheless, I ended up listening and loving the aforementioned songs. I could easily relate to A Little Less Sixteen Candles, whenever these lyrics are played:
“You’re just the girl all the boys want to dance with
And I’m just the boy who’s had too many chances”
“I don’t blame you for being you
But you can’t blame me for hating it
So say what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I’ve set my clocks early ‘coz I know I’m always late”
“Write me off, give up on me
‘Coz Darling, what did you expect?
I’m just off a lost cause, a long shot
Don’t even take this bet.”
That happened on summer of 2006. I just graduated from college and I was falling for someone. Unfortunately, it had a bad ending so I ended up emo again. For what it’s worth, Fall Out Boy was still great in making me relate to their songs. From a notion that From Under the Cork Tree will make them mainstream and destroy their greatness, I ended up enjoying each song on that album. They are not yet sell outs after all. They may make catchy songs but these are still excellent.
CHECKPOINT
Most Played Fall Out Boy Songs:
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me
Sugar We’re Going Down
Grand Theft Autumn
Our Lawyers Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued
Dance Dance
Tell Mick That He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today
Yule Shoot Your Eye Out
You might wonder that I have a lot of songs in my ‘most played’ list. It was because I have been listening to Fall Out Boy at least once a day ever since I got to know the band. I could even listen to all of Fall Out Boy’s songs without skipping a song. That’s just how great the band is to me.
February 17, 2007. Fall Out Boy’s fifth album Infinity On High just got released. I rushed to download the album. However, I did not appreciate it that quickly. I did not like It Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race when it was such a big hit in the airwaves because it conjures memories of Backstreet Boys singing Backstreet’s Back. Patrick Stump’s once-incredibly unique vocals are starting to transform into a pop machine. I did like The Carpal Tunnel Of Love but I stopped listening to the album – even though I have not listened to all of the songs yet. I branded them Sell Out Boy last summer and I stuck with listening to their old songs. I almost puked when a radio station for the masses was playing Thnks fr th Mmrs.
One night last July. I was talking to my friend about music. We had just fixed our little fight/misunderstanding so I was trying to bring up something that we could converse on. I told her to try to listen to the String Quartet Tribute. We had few similarities on likes when it comes to music so Fall Out Boy became the easy topic. I gave her the string quartet tribute to Sugar We’re Going Down and she was amazed by it. That was the instance when she told me that Fall Out Boy will soon be going to Manila. I was surprised by the news because I never expected her to be so updated in such a thing. I quickly searched Fall Out Boy’s website as to when the tickets would be sold. I was surprised that it was already two days from that time. I called Ticketnet for it but they were knowledgeable of it. The ticket release date in Fall Out Boy’s site was not followed so I lost some determination in getting tickets. More than a week passed and I found out that they were already selling tickets. By the time I had the will to buy, only Upper B tickets were sold. I bought two tickets because it was too expensive. And besides, they were already sell outs so why would I be so fascinated in watching them play? I was there to watch them play their old songs.
Monday last week. I was in my car in heavy traffic and the radio was the only thing that would satisfy me from my boredom. The radio jock suddenly played The Take Over, The Break’s Over. I said to myself, “Oh no, not another Sell Out Boy song.” I even thought it was Thnks Fr Th Mmrs. But when Patrick starts to sing the chorus, I began to appreciate it. It was not bad at all. Then came the lead part. Holy Sh*t! It was short but it was one great solo. I always get some sort of musical orgasm (for a lack of the correct term) whenever I listen to the lead part of rock songs that’s why I liked progressive metal. The song was superb at the least. When I came home, I searched the Infinity On High album that I have in my PC and played it. I realized then that It Ain’t a Scene… was not bad either – it even proved that Patrick Stump’s vocals just get better after each album.
I spent the whole of last week listening to Infinity On High songs and a bit of the oldies. Nevertheless, it was Infinity On High’s turn for my ears to listen to. It was not a bad album at all. Most bands that become pop bands usually suck on their mainstream albums but Infinity on High was not disappointing at all. Take This To Your Grave still remains as my favorite but Infinity on High is above average so it deserves to get played in my MP3 list.
CHECKPOINT
Most Played Fall Out Boy Songs:
The Take Over, The Breaks Over
This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race
I’m Like a Lawyer With The Way I’m Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)
Hum Hallelujah
I’ve Got a Dark Alley And a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
Then came the Fall Out Boy night – Friday, September 21, 2007. I watched it with my friend in the Upper B section in Araneta. We were right at the center of the Upper B section so the view was really great. It was better that we were distanced from the standing crowd because I’m with a female so I really have no plans of joining a mosh pit. Anyway, there was no mosh pit at all because most were high school fan girls. I guess I am too old and mature for such carefree fun like that. I prefer to appreciate the music
The show started with Chicosci playing. They used to be one of my favorite bands but they started to suck when they moved away from their ala-Deftones style to ride with the flow with the emo bands. Anyway, at least they got lots of groupie chicks this time around as emo is more ear-friendly and had better lyrics than rap-metal / nu-metal was. It was, however, great to watch them play Paris for their finale. Mong can still play with his electric guitar by making it revolve around his body for five times (I once cheered hard when he did it once before). He ended destroying his electric guitar for showmanship’s sake. Now, that’s something I want to see happen in local rock gigs!
At Nine O’ Clock, Fall Out Boy began rocking the house. They exploded with a barrage of hard rocking songs – Grand Theft Autumn, Sugar We’re Going Down, Our Lawyers Made Us Change The Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued, I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy, and A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me. I could not help but head bang because when Fall Out Boy use distortions, they really rock hard.
What amazed me and my friend was that, Fall Out Boy seemed to be playing intensely without resting at all. After a song, Pete Wentz will just speak for thirty seconds and they will start playing again. There were even times when they would merge the next song to the current song. We can’t believe that the two guitarists would revolve with their guitars at least once in a song. We were wondering if they ever get tired or dizzy from doing it. I guess it is all because of adrenaline. Damn! This band has the best showmanship that I have ever seen. They can also play other songs like Don’t Matter, Basket Case, Beat It, and even Sexy Back. If they could have paced their concert to more than two hours, they would have been the best. They played seventeen songs in a span of one hour.
They have played songs from Take This To Your Grave and From Under The Cork Tree so I was indeed satisfied. It was actually funny because my friend likes those from Infinity On High so we were both contented at the end of the concert as songs from the three albums were played. It was really my dream to hear Patrick’s vocals live and he was able to live up to my expectations because he was able to sing non-stop. After more than two years of listening to Fall Out Boy, I realized that I have appreciated the band more.
They ended the concert playing The Take Over, The Breaks Over (from Infinity on High), Dance Dance (from From Under The Cork Tree), and Saturday (from Take This to Your Grave).
CHECKPOINT
Song Wishlist on the Concert:
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me
Sugar We’re Going Down
Dance Dance
Grand Theft Autumn
The Take Over, The Break’s Over
Chicago is so Two Years Ago
Our Lawyers Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued
Tell Mick That He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today
6/8 fulfilled. That’s great!
Call them sell out, showband, mainstream, and whatever sucky things you may say when an underground band becomes famous. Yeah, I laughed so hard when I viewed the music video on The Take Over, The Break’s Over when the emo fans threw tomatoes and screamed “Sell Out” to Fall Out Boy. Yes, it is so true that they are now Sell Out Boy but what the heck? Like what the bulldog said, “Give the boys a break, everybody changes. Look at me. I used to be tiny.” They still rock and I will still listen to them. And yeah, they will be up there in my favorites list.
“Don’t pretend you’ll ever forget about me.”
No comments:
Post a Comment