Fall Out Boy caused the music world to get all hot and bothered yesterday by the announcement that they were getting back together to record new material for the first time since 2008 and the release of Folie a Deux.
Having already confirmed that both the album and the resulting tour will be rather ambitiously titled Save Rock And Roll, one question clearly emerges. Is rock and roll in need of saving, and are Fall Out Boy the ones to do it?
One the first point, they might have a point. Over the past few years, the power of the guitar has lessened, replaced by the synth as the instrument of the day and rock replaced by either throwback pop or new wave to female solo artists coming through. Gone are the days when Oasis and Blur fought it out for domination and the Arctic Monkeys used to scrap with The White Stripes.
Although Radio 1’s head of music telling Digital Spy told he “Fully expects that guitar-based acts to start rising in popularity”, what he calls ‘guitar-based’ isn’t even approaching the same brand of rock that Fall Out Boy will want to rise back to the top. It will be a whole group of pop bands that use the guitar as the focal point and while that’s nothing to be sneered at in any way, Haim or Kodaline aren’t going to be opening up Download Festival anytime soon.
Fall Out Boy were atop of the tree when ‘emo’ was a major player in the charts. Panic At The Disco, My Chemical Romance, All Time Low and Cobra Starship were all at the height of their powers and the market was filled with teens wanting to get their mascara out and rebel. Now though, emo has been brushed under the carpet and pushed into the shadows.
While it’s not all doom and gloom for the world of rock with Biffy Clyro having shot back to the top of the album charts this week, Muse took massive influences from the world of electronica and dubstep for their last album The 2nd Law, leaving the more hum-drum rock the first started with further back than ever before. The return of Paramore should help fuel the fire that Fall Out Boy are trying to rekindle, but Fall Out Boy could be fighting a losing battle when it comes to the mainstream.
While there will always be a thriving world of rock just out of the gaze of the spotlight, the return of such a marquee name like Fall Out Boy might just be the kick in the pants the radio crowd needs to grab their guitars again and make a shredding stand against the armies of electro.
Tagged in BBC Biffy Clyro Fall Out Boy Muse Paramore