By Devin Dubon

Fall Out Boy dropped their long-awaited album, MANIA, on January 19th, and it definitely lived up to its hype.

The new album definitely shows fans that things have changed for the band. The songs in MANIA are completely different from those of their earlier albums – though that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The album has something for everyone, with forays into almost every genre – from the choir-like sound of “Church,” to the slow love song of “Heaven’s Gate,” and even some reggae with “Sunshine Riptide” featuring Burna Boy – however, the most prevalent element throughout the album is their experimentation with electronic pop.

Nearly every song features some amount of electronic sound elements, which has served for the better and worse. Although the small additions of EDM in the songs works and adds a certain rhythm that allows you to dance along, the attempts to create entire songs around EDM falter.

The album’s lead single, “Young and Menace,” made its entire chorus an EDM sequence and it just leaves the listener confused as to why they’re listening to dubstep all of a sudden. This is the one song that didn’t quite fit in the album and also it was the first one to be released, with the music video being uploaded way back in April 2017.

This disappointing single left a sour taste in several fans’ mouths, which resulted in some choosing to ignore the rest of the released songs. However, the remainder of the album is so much better.

“Champion” leaves you feeling hyped up and ready to take on the world, “Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea” gets you rocking out and head banging, and I often find myself singing along to “Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)” and “HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T.”

But quite possibly the best thing to come out from this video just might have to be the music videos, which will leave you confused, worried, a little scared, but nonetheless thoroughly satisfied.

Overall, the album is completely solid, with only one miscalculation. It’s well worth a listen, but if you’re only a fan of the old emo or punk rock Fall Out Boy you may want to give this a pass. It’s clear that the band and its sound has changed, but the result still gets you up and out of your seat and excited to see what other direction this band will take.