Folie à Deux (album)

Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz performing in London on October 22, 2008. The two worked together at Stump's home during the early stages of the album's development.

Fall Out Boy began writing material for a possible successor shortly after the release of the 2007 album, Infinity on High. In March 2008, the band attempted to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for being the only musical act to perform in all seven continents in nine months, planning to perform in Antarctica for an audience of scientists.[2] However, the group was unable to make the flight from Punta Arenas, Chile to Antarctica due to poor weather.[3] Despite this unsuccessful attempt, the group felt energized from the experience and became inspired to write more music.[4] This led to more material to sift through when the band decided to enter the studio.[5] Fall Out Boy spent time during June 2008 formulating ideas at Avron's home, where "three to four" song ideas were developed.[6] Lead vocalist/guitarist Patrick Stump and bassist/lyricist Pete Wentz began turning these ideas into songs over the following month. Wentz explained that the process was the same as usual: "I'll go over to Patrick's house and he'll kind of just sit there and play songs, and I'll be like, 'Ah, that one's awesome!'"[7]

The band intended to work on new music sooner, but the release of its cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" as a single stood in the way. The single "stalled out" the label, who wanted the band to film a music video for further promotion.[7] Stump entered the studio with the intention of being less "self-indulgent", believing he dominated the band's previous record.[8] He wished to focus more on creating a cohesive album in which different sounds come together instead of featuring his vocals at the forefront.[9] With the help of Neal Avron, who produced Fall Out Boy's last two records, the quartet decided to simplify the music on Folie à Deux as opposed to the multi-layered sound of Infinity on High.[10] The band was interviewed about the album constantly before even a single note was recorded, leading to misconceptions about how the record would sound. The album was first rumored to consist of entirely acoustic folk music, while other sources later alleged it would delve into rap rock.[11]

The band members decided to keep publicity down during the album's recording, as they were taken aback by such press surrounding Infinity on High.[12] Stump entered the studio with music for almost 50 songs.[8] Folie à Deux was intended to be very different from the previous three Fall Out Boy albums, which were all interconnected musically and thematically; Stump described the new songs as "having a lot of freedom [...] it's our first just plain old record in a while."[5] However, the sessions proved to be difficult for the band. Stump called the making of the album "painful", noting that he and Wentz quarreled over many issues, revealing "I threw something across the room over a major-to-minor progression."[10] On previous albums, guitarist Joe Trohman felt that he and drummer Andy Hurley did not have enough musical freedom and that Stump and Wentz exerted too much control over the group: "I felt, 'Man, this isn't my band anymore.' It's no one's fault, and I don't want to make it seem that way. It was more of a complex I developed based off of [sic] stuff I was reading. It's hard to hear, 'Joe and Andy are just along for the ride.'"[13] To amend the situation, Trohman sat down with Stump to communicate his concerns, which led to more collaboration on Folie à Deux. "It made me feel like I owned the songs a lot more. It made me really excited about contributing to Fall Out Boy and made me find my role in the band," Trohman recalled.[13]

Fall Out Boy performing with Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie, who provided vocals for the songs "20 Dollar Nose Bleed" and "What a Catch, Donnie"

The group purposely cut short the amount of time set aside for recording the album and did not notify its label before beginning work on the record. The members hoped that these steps would bring them back to the days when they were a young, broke band who had to finish an album before the money ran out. "There was something really interesting about that creative process when we were starting," explained Stump. "The more time you have, the more potential you have for excess."[14] He felt that the process was reminiscent of the making of Take This to Your Grave because both albums were created using a "first-thought, best-thought" mentality: "I think we were trying to find what making a record that way would sound like now, but with four adult Fall Out Boys."[13] Trohman called the recording process "fun because [it] was so collaborative," but difficult because it was rushed.[15]

In September, the band was still finalizing cameos, recording with Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco and Pharrell Williams. The band desired to work with Kanye West, but ran out of time.[10] Pharrell laid down beats and Stump would add vocals and melodies for "w.a.m.s."[16] The collaboration with Elvis Costello in "What a Catch, Donnie" was spontaneous. The band sent Costello the song, and although he had been suffering from bronchitis, he decided to participate. Stump was particularly excited about the collaboration, as Hurley noted that "Elvis is Patrick's favorite person on earth as a musician, singer and songwriter."[16] Wentz felt that cameos were necessary to portray the album's messages, stating "More than anything, they serve the purpose of a character in a musical, where this character's voice makes the most sense...Certain lines need to be conveyed in certain ways."[17]

Folie à deux is a rare psychiatric syndrome in which symptoms of a delusional belief are transmitted from one individual to another. The same syndrome shared by more than two people may be called folie à trois, folie à quatre, folie en famille or even folie à plusieurs ("madness of many").[40] Recent psychiatric classifications refer to the syndrome as dependency psychotic disorder or induced delusional disorder, although the research literature largely uses the original name. The disorder was first conceptualized in 19th-century French psychiatry.[40] In keeping with the record's socially aware nature, the band felt that the term was relevant to the candidates in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.[41] Stump further clarified the title's meaning: "The irony is that people will probably mistake the title as something about romantic relationships in some way. And it's our only record where that theme is not touched upon."[13]

On September 13, 2008, the album artwork was revealed on the band's website.[42] The cover of the album was painted by artist Luke Chueh. Wentz contacted Chueh and asked him to create the piece, to which the artist agreed. Chueh recalled of the situation, "They were great to work with, having given me full creative control over both the artwork and the final design of the cover."[43] Chueh used the title and underlying themes of the album as inspiration for the artwork. "The title of the album is Folie à Deux, and when considering this with the band's popularity, I chose to focus on the idea of fandom, and how some people are willing to take their love/infatuation to levels that are obviously unhealthy."[44] Wentz currently owns the original painting.[43] The disc's liner notes contain pictures of the band members with blank pages next to them; the group allowed fans to submit pictures they had drawn in the spaces and posted them to the band's website.[45]

Fall Out Boy performing in a secret show in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 4, 2008, shortly before the release of Folie à Deux

As the release of the new album approached, the band and its management found that they would have to navigate changes in the music industry, which Hurley described as "a completely different place."[16] Facing declining record sales, the lack of a proper outlet for an exhibition of music videos, and the economic crisis, Hurley commented that "people are buying things they need to survive rather than records and concert tickets."[16] The group's 2007 album Infinity on High sold one million copies, which was considered a disappointment compared to From Under the Cork Tree's sales of three million.[39] Trohman attributed this to "the same reason that nobody's records are selling that well: there's so much turmoil in the music industry, so much downsizing, and people are finding different ways to get their music more and more all the time. There's very little we can do about that as a band. All we can do is try to make great music and hope it connects with people."[39]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100[69]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[26]
The A.V. Club	A[70]
Entertainment Weekly	B[71]
The Guardian	[72]
Los Angeles Times	[20]
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)	B−[73]
NME	8/10[30]
The Observer	[74]
Rolling Stone	[21]
Spin	[19]

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics.[69] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73, based on 21 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[69] Dan Martin of NME gave the record a very positive review, calling a "defining statement" with the band's "most stylistically hatstand-but-indisputably-best songs yet." He wrote, "We're not saying it's as good as genre watermarks American Idiot or The Black Parade. We're just saying it comes close," closing with calling it a "staggering achievement."[30] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic rated the album four out of five stars and compared it to labelmate Panic! at the Disco's effort earlier in the year, Pretty. Odd. He wrote that "Fall Out Boy captures the Zeitgeist of the latter half of the 2000s better than any band: there's so much going on in Folie à Deux, you either choose to take it all seriously or take none of it. Fall Out Boy make as much sense when heard either way."[26] Scott Heisel wrote for Alternative Press, commending the band for its "creativity, ingenuity and willingness to try just about anything." He compared the meaning of the term folie à deux ("a madness shared by two") to the two very distinct feelings expressed in the different sides of the record, calling the album a good representation of the band's career.[31]

Many critics commented on the album's musical experimentation. Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone, in his review, stated that "the musical mix on Folie à Deux suggests a band with an advanced case of ADD, ricocheting between genres and eras, tempos and time signatures, often several times in a given song."[21] Spin's David Marchese complimented the album's forays into strange territories, calling tracks such as "I Don't Care" and "What a Catch, Donnie" impressive.[19] Rock Sound's Faye Lewis also enjoyed the variety, calling the album "a non-stop exotic cabaret for the ears, delivering a far-reaching selection of songs that leap between a blend of catchy pop punk."[32] However, some critics felt that the band was excessive in its attempts to create a diverse work. Margaret Wappler of the Los Angeles Times believed that "Folie à Deux imagines itself in the stadium. [...] It's not that FOB can't have grandiosity, but every stadium needs open air." She called the album's sounds a "pleasure bot of right-now pop, adroitly programmed with crunchy '80s melodies, emo's dark prowess and symphonies à la Sgt. Pepper's," while stating "For all the steps forward, Folie a Deux also seems to contain a microchip for its own destruction."[20]

Q called the album "a barrelling, hugely confident record that should see Fall Out Boy swiftly elevated into mainstream rock's premier league," and Blender called it "the brightest, breeziest, giddiest record Fall Out Boy have ever made."[75] Blender ranked Folie at number 10 on its 33 best albums of the year list.[76] Jaimie Hodgson of The Observer complimented producer Neal Avron's "squeaky clean" production.[74] In a more negative review of the album, Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine wrote that "the band's songs are catchy at heart, enjoyable in a trifling but substantial way, until they're smeared with layer after layer of smarm, nullifying any chance of their music being consumed as a simple, empty pleasure." Cataldo also expressed displeasure with Lil Wayne's performance as well as production from Pharrell Williams, which he deemed a "promising concept [...] quickly discarded", summarizing that, "Folie à Deux seems to prove, if nothing else, that Fall Out Boy is good at masking their best qualities and pushing forward their most annoying ones."[77]

Folie à Deux has sold 449,000 copies in the US to date February 2013,[78] but did not perform as well commercially as its predecessor, Infinity on High. It debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200 chart with first week sales of 149,000 copies during a highly competitive week with other big debuts, becoming Fall Out Boy's third consecutive top ten album.[79][80] This is in contrast to the band's more successful previous effort which shifted 260,000 copies in its opening week to debut at number one the chart.[80] Folie spent two weeks within the top 20 out of its 22 chart weeks.[79] It also entered Billboard's Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts at number three.[79] With 39,000 digital downloads as part of its sales totals in its debut week, the record opened at number one on Billboard Digital Albums chart, the band's second number one album on that chart. Fall Out Boy was bested in the group's chart debut by R&B singers Keyshia Cole—whose A Different Me landed at number two on sales of more than 321,000—and Jamie Foxx, whose Intuition logged 265,000 for a number three debut.[80] Taylor Swift's Fearless reigned at number one during that week.[80] Within two months of its release, Folie à Deux was certified Gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of 500,000 copies.[81]

Outside the United States, the album was also less widely successful than Infinity on High but managed to reach the top 10 in Australia where it received a Platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 70,000 units.[82] On the Australian chart, the record debuted and peaked at number nine and spent its first seven weeks within the top 20 out of its fifteen weeks in the top 40. In the United Kingdom, the album spent six weeks on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for the shipments of 60,000 units.[83] Folie logged 12 weeks on the New Zealand Albums Chart with a peak of 26. The album also peaked at number twenty-one on the Top Canadian Albums chart.

Joe Trohman performing on May 9, 2009, as part of the Believers Never Die Tour Part Deux. The formal attire, which differed from the band's usual wear, was typical of the tour and served as a commentary on corporate America.

The day before Folie à Deux arrived in stores (December 15), Fall Out Boy had planned on staging an impromptu concert in New York City's Washington Square Park. However, the band did not obtain a permit to do so.[84] Taking inspiration from Bob Dylan and similar folk singers from the 1960s, the group wanted to do something free and spontaneous as a gift to fans. The band and its management argued with the NYPD about allowing the show to go on.[84] In the end, they were told that picking up any instruments would earn them a trip to jail, so the band instead led the audience in a sing-along. Stump sang while Wentz and Trohman played air guitar and Hurley drummed on his knees. Stump later commented in an interview that "Those cops back there—and I have no problem with the cops, trust me—but those cops were like the Grinch. They just took all the presents."[84]

On January 20, 2009, Fall Out Boy performed at the 'Be the Change' Youth Ball, which celebrated the inauguration of President Barack Obama.[85] The group was invited to perform by Washington, D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, who was also a fan of the band.[86] At the ball, the band jokingly dedicated a performance of "Thnks fr th Mmrs" to former president George W. Bush.[85] Upon meeting Obama, Wentz remarked "It's mind-blowing. It's one of those things where it's such an amazing experience—just being in his presence is amazing."[85]

To promote the album, Fall Out Boy embarked on the Believers Never Die Tour Part Deux, which included dates in the United States and Canada. The name of the tour was based on the band's 2004 Believers Never Die Tour.[87] In keeping with the political themes of Folie à Deux, the tour featured symbolic commentary on the current state of corporate America.[88] The group began the sets with a "corporate retreat" in which the group performed in dress suits with policemen in riot gear playing drums by the side of the stage. Afterwards, the band would change to casual attire for the rest of the set.[88] Wentz noted that the purpose of the formal dress was to demonstrate "how the rich rob the poor", and encouraged fans to direct attention to poverty-stricken nations such as Sri Lanka and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[88]

The supporting acts on the tour were Cobra Starship, All Time Low, Metro Station, and Hey Monday. For five dates on the tour, Fall Out Boy brought along rapper 50 Cent. Wentz explained, "We've been fans of [him] since we heard 'Wanksta' in 8 Mile. We've wanted to do something with him for awhile [sic], and having him out on the tour is gonna take the show to a whole new level. It's exciting to bring two different genres together and give the fans a new experience".[89] The rapper had similar feelings about the situation: "This will be a major moment in music history. Joining forces with Fall Out Boy, one of the most dynamic rock bands in the industry, will be an exciting and historic event for rock and hip-hop."[89] Due to the conflicting fan opinion regarding the album, concertgoers would "boo the band for performing numbers from the record in concert", leaving Stump to describe touring in support of Folie as like "being the last act at the vaudeville show: We were rotten vegetable targets in Clandestine hoods."[90] "Some of us were miserable onstage," said Trohman. "Others were just drunk."[91]

Note

• All tracks are listed in mirror writing. For example, "America's Suitehearts" is listed as "straehetiuS s'aciremA".

• Folie à Deux (UK version) at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)