Arguably one of pop-punk and emo’s most influential albums, Fall Out Boy’s sophomore record “From Under the Cork Tree”, had its 20th anniversary on May 3 of this year. Winning Best New Artist at the 2006 Grammy Awards and having six consecutive albums in the Billboard Top 10, the band consists of singer Patrick Stump, songwriter and bassist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley,
“From Under the Cork Tree” debuted at #9 in the Billboard Top 200 the week it was released, selling over 7 million copies worldwide. The album features hit singles such as “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”, which is often credited as being the song that led to Fall Out Boy’s acceptance into the mainstream, and “Dance, Dance”, a song narrating an awkward teen boy’s obsession with a girl he is in love with and a high school dance with a chance to confess. The album also features songs such as “Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner,” “Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year,” “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More ‘Touch Me’” and the shockingly simplistic title of the album closer “XO”.
The album begins with a tongue-in-cheek song with a title to match: “Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn’t Get Sued”. After the sound of several red-carpet cameras clicking, the first line of this song urges the listener to “Put this record down, take our advice, ‘cause we are bad news.” Fall Out Boy’s post-success slump from their debut album, “Take This to Your Grave,” left the band with a sense of self-depreciation for their own music. The song closes with a final repeat of its chorus, stating, “We’re only good for the latest trends; we’re only good so you can have almost-famous friends,” before adding an ironic, “besides, we’ve got such good fashion sense”.
The humorous title of “I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me” is followed by a not-so humorous song once again describing songwriter Pete Wentz’s insecurity about his new popularity. He feels as though he and the band do not deserve it, sarcastically stating, “I’m the first kid to write of hearts, lies, and friends.”
My personal favorite song off the album, “Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows),” offers a similar statement: “All us boys are just screaming into microphones for attention … We never knew that you would pick it apart; ‘Oh, I’m falling apart to songs about hips and hearts’”.
With more emotional songs such as “7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen),” “I’ve Got A Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song),” and “XO,” Fall Out Boy perfectly blends witty lyrics with self-reflection, romantic insecurity and the negatives that come with fame to create, in my opinion, one of the best alternative rock albums of all time.
If you enjoy rock, punk or any alternative genre, I urge you to give this album a listen. Ever since I listened to it about seven years ago, it has remained one of my favorite albums of all time and is still a staple in my playlists.
