Wrapping
up two months of blogging about music videos with two weeks on Fall Out Boy, I
guess that makes this the Fall Out Boy fortnight. We get to be a little bit
silly today. I like to be a little lighter every now and then on principle, but
it also fits with my thoughts for a couple of these videos.
All
the previous songs and videos written about last week were things that had been
done long before I saw or heard them. For me, it went as follows.
- Wow, I love this band!
- They're on hiatus?
- Oh, they're back!
So
it was exciting, and when they released their first song I went to listen to
it, and it was really disappointing. Other people said it was a remix, which
explained why it sounded so clubby, The video barely even showed them, but the thought
that stuck with me was three people destroyed albums and instruments while the
band was confined in a van was that maybe you have to destroy the past to move
forward. Or have 2 Chainz destroy your past for you. I wasn't sure I agreed
with the sentiment, but I could see how it would make sense in the context of
their reunion. Certainly the pyre did go with the song subtitle "Light Em
Up", and it's nice to see a flamethrower used correctly.
"My
Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" was released February 4th, 2013. The next release was "The Phoenix",
on March 24th, 2013. I mocked this one in
my head a lot.
It's
just that they get taken down so easily. Pete sees that Patrick's hand has been
removed from his body, and all he does is go up on a roof and send a falcon
flying? This is not effective leadership!
What
I did not understand at the time was that it was part of a series, so they
could not get everything resolved in a single video. That being said, I still
think they could have put up a little bit better resistance, but okay, all
members of the band are now in captivity, leading to their being drugged and
seduced and eating human organs, possibly removed from Patrick (though he is
still functioning) in "Young Volcanoes".
So
the warning that I should put here is that while only "Young
Volcanoes" is marked explicit, the series overall has a lot of
unpleasantness, which I will talk about more tomorrow, but I was not loving the
videos. It was not turning me against the band, but honestly, I wasn't focusing
on it too much. There were two things that were turning points.
One
was the concert. It was such a good show, and if the club mix of "My Songs
Know..." was not great, the live performance was amazing. I had only bought
the Save Rock And Roll CD a couple of days before the concert, so there
had not been this constant listening. When I did listen after that, I knew how
powerful the songs were. The concert was June 18th.
Then,
on July 1st, the fourth video "Alone Together" came out. That is my
favorite song from the album. There were irreverent thoughts about this video
too. One thing I had felt as I was reading about the band was that I wanted
there to be a round of Fall Out babies, and so when Joe is tortured by little
girls, are children his fear? That could be a problem. Is Pete's big weakness
seduction? It seemed reasonable, but since once she undid the straitjacket he
went on the attack, probably not. And why are all the torturers female and the
prisoners male? What are you trying to say exactly?
However,
as Pete nearly escapes, he releases another prisoner, Big Sean, and while Pete
is recaptured Big Sean gets away and watches as they are placed in the van. And
I thought, maybe that's going to be the answer, because they helped someone
else.
The
thing is, Save Rock And Roll has a lot of collaboration, and that has
felt like a big trend in music; everyone teaming up with everyone else.
I
don't really love that trend. I can see how it would be fun sometimes, but for
me it has seemed more like a way of diluting rock than saving it. Perhaps that
is because the pairings often lead to making something either more techno or
more hip-hop, which I usually do not love. Let's just add more country while
we're at it! It could be an answer, but one I had doubts about.
At
the same time, during the concert the montage they showed during "Save
Rock And Roll" really moved me. In a way that was more about our history
and influences, but if you feel connected to past musicians surely you can feel
connected to your contemporaries, and there can be good collaborations from
that. And Save Rock And Roll is a good album and that song is a good
song, and it is a collaboration.
Also,
then they did PAX AM Days, which was a completely different direction. And
of course, there were more videos coming.
The
next one did not go down as I had thought it might. The 2 Chainz thing was not
a rescue, but Big Sean did still show up and be helpful, though that got him
dismembered. It is a bloody series, that I only finished watching recently.
I
didn't deliberately avoid it, and I actually did see that "Where Did the
Party Go" was released and watched it then. However, I overreact to band
members dying in videos, and certainly I did not have time to write another 400
pages, so I waited until I could, and watched Part 11 first, then the rest, so
it could be a little less devastating when things happen like Andy getting his
throat slit.
Having
seen the whole series now, I can comment on that tomorrow.
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