bandwagon's full.

Damn, Beyonce IS a good actress.

I took the liberty of 'sampling' the new Fall Out Boy album last night and it is much better than what I thought it was going to be. If for nothing, they are consistent. You get the same infectious choruses, the same nonsensical song titles, the same unintelligible singing, and the self-referential, borderline retarded lyrics. That list might read like a bunch of qualities you don't want in a band, but this time it's OK. It's called a 'niche'.

I, for one, can't fathom how I used to take the lyrics so close to heart. All the horribly conceived metaphors that honestly don't really make sense unless you're in high school. I put them up on in my AIM profile and had away message wars of sorts with girls that I were too scared to say directly. Does it get more pathetic than that? I doubt it. The irony now is that for how much those lyrics meant to me back then, half the time I had to look them up cause I couldn't understand what the fat singer was saying. Enunciation was not part of the production process. Again, it's their niche.

Despite all that, applause is due for this band because now that I have gained some perspective and distance to where I can just listen with no emotional attachment, they still write some damn good tunes. Those choruses just soar with no end in sight. The instrumentation is tight and well orchestrated and executed. Some new r&b arrangements even show up, probably thanks to Babyface. Bashing Fall Out Boy isn't even hip anymore, they found what they're good at and became the best at it. I'll take a Fall Out Boy single repeatedly bashed into my skull over a John Mellencamp Chevy ad about our country any day of the week.