ALBUM REVIEW: is “So Much (For) Stardust” too much from Fall Out Boy?

Fall Out Boy is a band that has been a staple since its debut in 2003. They come back from a five-year hiatus with a new album: “So Much (For) Stardust“.

“So Much (For) Stardust” is the band’s eighth studio album. It was released on March 24, with three singles that were put out to promote the album beforehand. Those singles were “Love From the Other Side“, “Heartbreak Feels So Good” and “Hold Me Like A Grudge“. Each single packs a different sound, but one more akin to their older work while still managing to introduce newer elements.

Before the hiatus

Fall Out Boy is a band from the suburbs of Chicago that got big in the early 2000s from albums such as “From Under the Cork Tree” and “Infinity on High”. They got popular off their catchy pop-punk sound thanks to singles like “Dance Dance“, “Sugar We’re Going Down” and “Thnks fr th Mmrs“. They took a bit of a hiatus after 2008 until their album in 2013, “Save Rock and Roll“.

First thoughts

Overall first thought on this album is that the band doesn’t seem to be trying to appeal to the charts. Many Fall Out Boy fans complained that the past few records were too generic and seemed to try too hard to appeal to the mainstream charts. This album doesn’t do that or doesn’t carry that feeling. It seems that the band members are having fun exploring music in the same vein as stadium rock or music of that kind of grandeur.

Diving into “emo island”

Getting into the album itself, the band opens it with the lead single, “Love From the Other Side”, which sets the album up strongly. Opening with this song gives off the power and grandeur that Fall Out Boy has been missing for a while.

One thing people can enjoy after the opener is that the band starts to meld the sounds of old with their newer on tracks like “Heartbreak Feels So Good” and the funk-inspired “Hold Me Like A Grudge”. Even though these include more contemporary sounds, the band does a great job of ensuring their older identity makes a strong comeback in their music.

Even though most times the combination of sounds work, there are times when it is questionable. One song in particular, “Heaven, Iowa“, highlights this issue. The song isn’t poor by any means; vocalist Patrick Stump gets to shine vocally and lyrically and does a good job on this operatic track. However, the issue is the sound of the song is quite different from the rest of the record.

This album includes some spoken word sections that came as a surprise to most listeners. One featured actor Ethan Hawke and bassist Pete Wentz. While these had the potential to take the listener out of the record, they ultimately don’t. They lead into their following songs respectively well. Wentz’s track, especially “The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years),” is about his past substance issues.

Other than some sounds not working, the only other issue with this album is the songs being a bit forgettable. Those tracks include “Flu Game” and “I Am My Own Muse“. These songs are not necessarily bad; they don’t shine amongst the rest of the record.

Wrap up

Many aspects of “So Much (For) Stardust” shine through. The guitars on the album are the best since “Folie à Deux”. Each section of the band seems to be at its most creative and it shows in this record. Other than a few misses on the album, the songs are solid. The songs are nothing amazing or groundbreaking, but they show that Fall Out Boy, musically, has a nice future ahead. If I were to grade this album, I would give it a 7/10.