While walking across the stage to receive the MTV2 Award for "Sugar, We're Going Down," the only thing on Fall Out Boy bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz's mind was "please don't drop an f-bomb." Shortly thereafter the band, originally from suburban Chicago, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. But the accolades didn't stop there. Fall Out Boy won 3 Teen Choice Awards, and the video for "Dance, Dance" won the MTV Video Music Awards for Viewer's Choice, and was nominated for Best Group Video.
For all their success, the band members have stayed true to their roots; not in the sense that they haven't changed, but in the sense that they're making music they love to hear and aren't changing to appease the tides of trend. Fame has never been the driving force behind the music for the band, and all the recent success hasn't quite sunk in yet.
Self-described nerds, they'd still be working just as hard on their music whether they were playing for 5 thousand or 5. "The more you try to please everybody, the less you end up pleasing anybody," says Patrick Vaughn Stump, Fall Out Boy lead singer and guitarist.
The success of their mega hit album From Under the Cork Tree hasn't been taken for granted. Instead of resting on their laurels, Fall Out Boy has opted to go immediately back to work in spite of a hectic tour schedule by releasing their next album, Infinity on High.
The title of Infinity on High comes from a letter written by Vincent van Gogh in 1888. In the letter, Van Gogh describes the energy instilled in his work due to his new bill of health. "Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all."
The first single, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" is a tongue-in-cheek look at "the way we are so addicted and obsessed with new arts, cultures and loves" Wentz says. The chorus is a frenetic punk-rock double time, with thumping verses. Officially debuted at the American Music Awards, the song instantly climbed the Billboard Pop 100 airplay charts shortly after.
This album is a departure from the band's previous work, marking Cork Tree producer Neal Avron's return along with R&B producer Babyface. "We love his approach to melody," Wentz says on working with Babyface. "Patrick will sing with a greater range and more soul and we wanted to find someone to drive that."
In "Hum Hallelujah," the third verse is introduced with a choppy drum rhythm that sounds like an inspired American Indian tribal dance-sans tambourine-accompanied by a choir-like chorus which calls back to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," a reference to a deeply troubling time in Wentz's personal life when he struggled with and overcame the isolation he felt while recording Cork Tree.
The album has a nocturnal vibe to it, and at times touches on classical tonalities. "Golden," begins with a soft, minimalist piano chord that meanders throughout the first poignant verse, with Stump's voice sounding as sad as the underlying piano accompaniment sounds optimistic. "Thriller" is at once an appreciation for the fans who've been with Fall Out Boy since the beginning, and a response to all the critics who said the band would never make it.
"The ideal presentation for this album would be for someone to buy it, take it home and listen to it in the dark," Wentz says. "We love the songs that we play and sometimes that seems to transfer to the crowd, sincerely."
