Maps of Music

American Beauty/American Psycho (2015)

Where the lyrics of American Beauty/American Psycho take you, and where it was really made.

The title is split between a Grateful Dead album and a 1999 film on one side, and Bret Easton Ellis's novel on the other.

Key places

Cover photoshoot in Los Angeles (2015)

Album cover Los Angeles — The cover photoshoot for the album took place in Los Angeles. Only the city is known, so this point marks the city, not a specific studio or building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Sixth studio album by American rock band Fall Out Boy
• Released January 16, 2015 through Island Records
• Follow-up to the band's comeback album Save Rock and Roll (2013)
• Debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with 218,000 album-equivalent units in its first week
• The band's third No. 1 album
• Lead single 'Centuries' released September 2014, certified 8× Platinum

Background

• Writing began in summer 2014 while the band was still promoting Save Rock and Roll on the Monumentour with Paramore
• 'Centuries' was the first song written and recorded for the album
• By late November all songs were written and the album was 80% complete
• Producer Jake Sinclair showed the band that parts recorded as laptop demos could reach the final product
• The band had noticed music recording methods changed during their hiatus and fully embraced those changes for this album

Recording

• Bassist Pete Wentz described the new material as 'David versus Goliath'
• Patrick Stump aimed for a more stylistically cohesive album than Save Rock and Roll
• Guitarist Joe Trohman said the album has hip hop grooves with guitars on it

Cover

• The cover shows a teenage boy, Jake Karlen, with black stars and stripes painted on half of his face, standing in front of a white house
• Karlen auditioned to model for the cover, and the photoshoot took place in Los Angeles

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in 2001 in Wilmette, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.
• Pete Wentz and Joe Trohman began it as a pop-punk side project; Patrick Stump joined shortly after.
• Andy Hurley became the drummer after several earlier drummers.

Members

• Current members: Patrick Stump (lead vocals, guitar), Pete Wentz (bass), Joe Trohman (guitar), Andy Hurley (drums).
• Wentz writes the lyrics and Stump is the primary composer.

Career

• The debut album Take This to Your Grave (2003) became an underground success through heavy touring.
• From Under the Cork Tree (2005) brought mainstream success with the singles "Sugar, We're Goin Down" and "Dance, Dance", and earned a Best New Artist Grammy nomination.
• Infinity on High (2007) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
• After a hiatus from 2009 to 2012, the band returned with Save Rock and Roll (2013), its second number-one album.
• American Beauty/American Psycho (2015) and Mania (2018) also reached number one on the Billboard 200.
• So Much (for) Stardust (2023) marked a return to guitar-driven material.

Reception

At release

• Metacritic aggregate: 72 out of 100 from 15 reviews
• Entertainment Weekly (Kyle Anderson): gave it an A, praising big-venue sing-alongs that also reward deep headphone listening; singled out 'Favorite Record' and 'Fourth of July' as thrillingly layered
• Alternative Press (Evan Lucy): gave 4 stars out of 5, calling the heavy sampling the more interesting aspect of the album and praising Stump's vocals and Wentz's lyrics
• The Guardian (Caroline Sullivan): gave 4 stars out of 5, praising the band's nervy ambition and calling it one of their better releases
• The A.V. Club (Annie Zaleski): positive review, noting the playful musical vibe masks lyrics about failed relationships, with self-awareness instead of self-pity
• Los Angeles Times: highly positive about the first half, while criticizing the second half as the band running out of steam
• AllMusic: fairly positive, noting the album gives the band a kinetic kick by following the charts
• Consequence of Sound (Collin Brennan): mixed review, saying the album lacked direction and its songwriting suffered from heavy sampling
• Rolling Stone (Caryn Ganz): mixed review, saying the guitar playing is buried under blaring production, though 'Centuries' is praised as a glorious nexus of styles
• Alternative Press ranked it No. 5 in its '10 Essential Records of 2015' list
• AbsolutePunk ranked it No. 26 on its top albums of 2015 list

Records

• US Billboard 200: No. 1 debut with 192,000 first-week sales and 218,000 equivalent album units
• Band's third No. 1 album and second-highest sales week behind Infinity on High
• As of October 2015, sold 572,000 copies in the US
• US certified Gold on September 18, 2015; Platinum for 1 million units as of March 1, 2016
• Canada: No. 1 debut with 14,000 first-week sales; certified Gold on March 24, 2015 for 40,000 shipments
• New Zealand: No. 4 debut
• Australia: No. 3 debut
• UK Albums Chart: No. 2 debut with 31,497 first-week sales, 1,883 units behind No. 1; No. 1 on the UK Albums Download Chart
• UK: certified Gold by the BPI on June 8, 2015 for 100,000 shipped copies
• Ireland: No. 6 debut

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• 'Immortals' was released on October 14, 2014 and appears in the Disney film Big Hero 6, and an alternative version is on the album
• The title's 'American Beauty' half comes from a Grateful Dead album and a 1999 film; 'American Psycho' refers to the Bret Easton Ellis book and a 2000 film
• The album leaked online fifteen days early, and the band streamed it on its website and YouTube channel on January 13, 2015
• The album was made available on vinyl on May 4, 2015
• 'Uma Thurman' is named after the actress, who heard the song and allowed the band to legally use her name
• Fall Out Boy were the first inductees to the 'Hall of Wood' at the 2015 MtvU Woodie Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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