Maps of Music

Folie à Deux (2008)

Where the lyrics of Folie à Deux take you, and where it was really made.

Folie à Deux means 'madness of two', yet Stump said it is the only Fall Out Boy album where the romantic-relationship theme is not touched upon.

Key places

Recording location in Los Angeles (2008)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Sessions with producer Neal Avron ran from July to September 2008. The Pass Studios is named as a recording location; the marker sits at city-center level, not at the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Folie à Deux: fourth studio album by the American rock band Fall Out Boy
• First released in Japan on December 10, 2008, by Island Records
• Music composed by Patrick Stump; lyrics written by bassist Pete Wentz
• Band considered it their most collaborative record
• Recorded July to September 2008 with producer Neal Avron, in relative secrecy
• Last studio album before the band's hiatus from 2009 to 2013
• Greatest hits album Believers Never Die released November 2009, days before the hiatus was announced

Background

• Writing began shortly after the 2007 album Infinity on High
• March 2008: Guinness attempt to perform on all seven continents in nine months; the Antarctica flight from Punta Arenas was not possible due to poor weather
• June 2008: ideas developed at Avron's home
• Stump wanted to be less 'self-indulgent' and aimed for a cohesive album rather than his vocals at the forefront
• Sound simplified compared with the multi-layered sound of Infinity on High
• Before recording, rumors said the album would be entirely acoustic folk, and later that it would be rap rock
• The cover of Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' as a single stalled the label, delaying work on the new album
• Title refers to a rare psychiatric syndrome; the band felt it was relevant to the 2008 US presidential election

Recording

• Stump entered the studio with a large volume of material, reportedly 50 songs
• Band cut the recording time short and did not notify label executives before starting
• Goal: recreate the urgency of the band's early career
• Stump compared the process to the making of Take This to Your Grave, which used a 'first-thought, best-thought' mentality
• Recording location named as The Pass Studios in Los Angeles (city-level point on the map)
• New instruments for the band: synthesizers, sequenced drums, and strings

Cover

• Cover painted by artist Luke Chueh; revealed on the band's website on September 13, 2008
• Wentz contacted Chueh, who was given full creative control over the artwork and final design
• Chueh focused on fandom and how some fans take their infatuation to unhealthy levels
• Wentz owns the original painting
• Liner notes contain blank pages beside the band photos; fans were invited to submit their drawings for the band's website

Sources: en.wikipedia.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

• Generally positive reviews from critics, many focused on the creativity and range of styles
• Some critics felt the band was overly indulgent
• Metacritic average of 73 from 21 reviews, meaning 'generally favorable reviews'
• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): rated the album four out of five stars
• NME (Dan Martin): very positive review, calling it a 'staggering achievement'
• Rolling Stone (Jody Rosen): the musical mix suggests a band with an 'advanced case of ADD'
• Los Angeles Times (Margaret Wappler): said the album imagines itself in the stadium, and called its sound a 'pleasure bot of right-now pop'
• Q: called it 'a barrelling, hugely confident record'
• Blender: called it 'the brightest, breezest, giddiest record' the band ever made, and ranked it number 10 on its 33 best albums of the year list
• The Observer (Jaimie Hodgson): praised producer Neal Avron's 'squeaky clean' production
• Slant Magazine (Jesse Cataldo): negative review, saying the songs were smeared with layer after layer of smarm

Reappraisal

• The band distanced itself from the album at first
• Later the album received renewed acclaim and was widely described as ambitious
• Stereogum (Annie Zaleski) praised the 'gigantic leaps in songwriting'
• For the fifteenth anniversary, 'Pavlove', a deluxe-only song, was released to streaming services for the first time
• Vinyl reissue and anniversary merchandise were released
• The band resumed performing many of the album's songs live in 2023

Records

• US Billboard 200: debuted at number 8 with first-week sales of 149,000
• Billboard Digital Albums: opened at number one with 39,000 digital downloads in the debut week
• Billboard Rock Albums and Alternative Albums: debuted at number three
• US sales: 449,000 copies as of February 2013
• RIAA: Gold certification within two months of release, for 500,000 shipments
• Single 'I Don't Care': peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, certified Platinum by the RIAA
• Australia: peaked at number 9, ARIA Platinum for 70,000 units
• UK: six weeks on the UK Albums Chart, BPI Silver for 60,000 units
• New Zealand: 12 weeks on the chart, peak 26
• Canada: peaked at number 21 on the Top Canadian Albums chart

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

Trivia

• A planned impromptu concert in New York's Washington Square Park had no permit, and police warned that picking up instruments meant jail, so the band led a sing-along instead.
• The hidden pregap track 'Lullabye' was written to help Wentz's son fall asleep, and it is an acoustic ballad influenced by Bob Dylan.
• The release date moved from November 4, 2008 after the band said releasing it on election day was 'not the election to be cute'.
• The title 'Folie à Deux' refers to the 27 Club, and Wentz said he was 'stoked' to reach his 28th birthday.
• Band performed at the 'Be the Change' Youth Ball on January 20, 2009, celebrating the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

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

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact