To give a little background, I was a massive Fall Out Boy fan when they first came onto the music scene. I found them via MySpace when I was 14-15, when you could add music to your profile and had the MySpace "Most Popular" charts with all kinds of great emo and pop punk bands. One of my favorite bands before that was New Found Glory, and I loved all pop punk. So when I first heard "Chicago Was So Two Years Ago" by Fall Out Boy on someones MySpace I was blown away. It was great pop punk with really interesting lyrics, not to mention insanely catchy.

I downloaded their first album on Kazzaa/Limewire and played the songs on rotation on my iPod. When they came out with From Under The Cork Tree in 2005, I was a Sophomore in high school, and I thought it was an absolute classic. That was when they first had 'Sugar, I'm Going Down" go mainstream and start to get popular on the radio. I started losing interest after the "Infinity On High" Album, as I was more of a punk rock purist and their new sound didn't speak to me as much. Although I still rocked out to many of their hits over the years.

I threw on From Under The Cork tree recently and it still rocks. There are great guitar parts, catchy hooks, and every song speaks to that exact MySpace era of 2005. I also listened to their new album "So Much For Stardust", which is definitely new Fall Out Boy style, but delivers some great rock songs like "Hold Me Like A Grudge"

Recently Patrick Stump (lead singer of Fall Out Boy) went on the Podcast 'Tape Notes' to talk about the new album. Its a great episode that puts you into the mind of Patrick Stump and Fall Out Boy, and helped me understand why FOB made the shift away from the pure emo/pop punk sound they we're known for.

  • Pete Wentz Writes the Lyrics, Patrick Stump Writes the Music

This is something I never realized as a fan, but it was interesting to understand that Pete Wentz is the brain behind all the Fall Out Boy lyrics, which he then gives to Patrick to create the music. Patrick talks about how he still finds new meanings and wordplay in the lyrics, even with songs he's sung for 15+ years.

  • Fall Out Boy Tried To Tone Down Their "Wordiness" Until Recently

One of the big themes of the MySpace Music scene was weird long song titles. Fall Out Boy really started the whole phenominom, with songs like 'Reninventing The Wheel To Run Myself Over' and many other great titles.

Patrick talks about how this all comes from Pete Wentz, who's known for the very wordy lyrics which were a staple of the bands early work. Patrick talks about how he attempted to simplify they bands lyrics and sound to go back to the simplicity of early pop and rock music from the 60s and 70s for their last few albums.

Although this clearly helped them churn out radio hits all of the 2010s, they decided as a band they needed to let Pete's wordy lyrics fly again, which is showcased over the new album. I think they made a great move doing this. I think Patrick's gets bored when not constantly exploring new sounds, but the original pull of Fall Out Boy was 50% due to their complex and catchy lyrics.

  • Patrick Stump Is A Composer, Not Just a Rock Front Man.

In the episode, Patrick talks about how he has been composing for TV and Film for the last 8 years where he works with full orchestras. Listening to him detail his process for the latest album really shows how he has the mind of a composer beyond the pop punk genre.

When he is writing the music to a song, he's not just thinking about ripping guitar riffs. He's thinking about layering pianos and symphony sounds, and all the small things that come together to make the song. Understanding Patrick's mindset towords 'composing' for Fall Out Boy helps explain why FOB reinvented their sound so many times over the years.

Check out the episode of 'Tape Notes' below - Definitely worth a listen!