The "Fall" of Fall Out Boy..

Fall Out Boy's 2009 Hiatus: the break the band needed.

Welcome to my final blog post about the band Fall Out Boy! I thought I would head for a wee 'change in direction' from the usual, happy and joyful side of the band. In this blog post, I'll be talking about the band's 4 year hiatus, their reasonings for such and how this was able to bring the members closer together.

FOB's Folie á Deux Album

In 2009, as one of the most successful pop-punk bands of the 2000s Fall Out Boy had released a statement exclaiming they would be on an indefinite hiatus. After 10 years of blood, sweat and tears (touring and releasing new albums) the band had come together and decided that it would be best for them to part ways. Little did they know that this would become a crucial event for each band member's personal and professional development. 

Following the release and potential downfall, of the band's most recent album Folie á Deux, Fall Out Boy had made their hiatus official on the date of November 20, 2009, almost 15 years ago today! The official statement was short and simple: "Thanks for the memories". The bittersweet moment had left fans wondering if the band simply just didn't have the motivation they once had, or if they had needed a change in direction. 

Perhaps the change in direction was needed? Folie á Deux was not the most loved FOB album at the time, and unfortunately had led to a lot of hate surrounding the band. When on tour, fans would "boo the band for performing numbers from the record in concert" and left the members feeling miserable. Trohman had even mentioned "Others were just drunk", potentially implying that this hatred had started to cause a rift within the band. 

From this, it had become clear that the band members had reached a point in which they felt it was best to take a break and step away from the band, not only to maintain their individual well-being but to also rediscover their love for playing and making music again. Being at the top of the charts for decades can be exhausting for a band, and perhaps Fall Out Boy was the best example of this. Each member left feeling as if they needed time to reconnect with themselves as musicians. 

This hiatus had eventually allowed each member to explore their own creative interests, take time to deal with personal struggles and grow as individuals. Having each explored different areas of interest apart from each other, their return could potentially have more meaning to them due to the fact that they were able to come back with a new perspective on what it meant to be a member of Fall Out Boy, giving them a new sense of purpose. 

Following the comeback, their newest album Save Rock and Roll was a commercial success, debuting at No.1 on the charts! It was able to show that after Folie á Deux, Fall Out Boy still had plenty of relevance within the pop-punk and alternative scenes, with the album also shifting towards a more mainstream rock sound with influences from many other genres. This could potentially be the work of each member branching out to different genres and interests during their hiatus.

Click below to watch the music video for the hit single "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark", the most popular song from Save Rock and Roll!!

In the end, this hiatus was a sign that Fall Out Boy wasn't going to disband, but rather a necessary change in direction that would eventually allow the band to evolve into newer genres of music, setting the stage for some of their most successful albums and songs yet. The band has had it's ups and downs, however is still going strong in recent years, following the release of the newest (and probably my most favourite) album - So much for Stardust!

Thank you so much to everyone who was able to read my blog, and even comment! I hope the content was interesting and perhaps you've maybe learnt a thing or two about Fall Out Boy!

What a Time To Be Alive!