Folie a Deux is the Chicago rock band, Fall out Boy’s 4th studio album. It was released on
Dec. 10th, 2008, right before the band’s split in 2009. This had been by far their most
experimental album at the time and was the album that their lead vocalist, Patrick Stump truly
took the reigns on. This album is heavily about the bassist, Pete Wentz’s divorce to his ex-wife,
Ashlee Simpson, struggles with fame, drug abuse, and mental illness. Despite many of the darker
topics of this album, it’s still a happy-go-lucky banger. The title of this album, Folie a Deux is
French for “the madness of two.” Despite this album still being highly successful, it didn’t really
come close to the band’s previous two albums which were both certified double platinum records.
This marked the downward motion of pre-hiatus Fall Out Boy as Folie A Deux only reached
gold status.
This album overall is pretty different. Stumps’s vocal melodies were really pushing the
limits of what had previously been within the realm of pop-punk possibilities. Many songs
included slow piano, dreary vocal melodies, and upbeat guitar. It seems like there isn’t even
really a clear aesthetic and yet each song mixes so well together. There was also a variety of
guest singers on this album such as Lil Wayne, Debbie Harry, Pharrell Williams, Elvis Costello,
and Brendon Urie. Songs like Shes my Winona or Tiffany Blews are so endearing, but songs
like Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet, or Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes
give the album that darker more emotional feeling.
Overall this album definitely a 10/10 for me. I love it, it’s so raw and true. Anyone who
needs a good recommendation should listen to any of Fall Out Boy’s first four albums. I have
just been listening to Folie A Deux a lot lately because it has an awesome spring feeling.