So Much (For) Stardust

by Fall Out Boy

Overview

With their eighth studio album, 2023's ebullient So Much (For) Stardust, Fall Out Boy fully re-embrace the emo and punk-pop dynamism of their classic work. It's a soaring style they've been threatening to unleash ever since returning to regular activity following their hiatus after 2008's Folie a Deux. Although their subsequent follow-ups like Save Rock and Roll, American Beauty/American Psycho, and Mania all topped the Billboard 200, the albums found the band experimenting, throwing their songs into a production blender of contemporary pop, hip-hop, and EDM sounds. Without ever sounding too much like a throwback, So Much (For) Stardust has a homecoming feeling, as if Fall Out Boy are getting back to their rock roots. It's a vibe that's underlined by the presence of producer Neal Avron, with whom they recorded the core of their most beloved albums, including 2005's From Under the Cork Tree. From the start, there's a balance of measured craftsmanship (they purportedly took their time in the studio) and big melodic hooks, all effusively delivered by singer Patrick Stump. It's an infectious combination the band perfect on the opening "Love from the Other Side," a song ostensibly about dealing with (and perhaps being the cause of) a bad breakup. That said, it could just as easily work as a metaphor for the group's attempts at transforming their sound coming off the emo highs of the early 2000s. Early in the song, Stump admits, "We were a hammer to the statue of David." There's a bittersweet nostalgia implied by the song, as if the band are looking back on their career and taking stock of where they (and by proxy their fans) find themselves in a post-emo, post-pandemic world. They return to that sentiment on "I Am My Own Muse," where Stump, bellowing against a symphonic string bombast and guitarist Joe Trohman's fiery riffs, sings, "Smash all the guitars 'til we see all the stars/Oh, we've got to throw this year away like a bad luck charm." This kind of bold rock affection drives much of the album, as on the '80s AOR of "Heartbreak Feels So Good," the Queen-meets-Michael Jackson post-punk stomp of "Hold Me Like a Grudge," and the dreamy new wave romanticism of "Fake Out." Adding to the emotional push of the album are several unabashed musical and pop-cultural references, including the Earth, Wind & Fire intimations of "What a Time to Be Alive," the Don Henley "Boys of Summer" flourishes at the center of "The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)," and even a snippet of Ethan Hawke's soliloquy about the meaning of life from Reality Bites in which his character offers up the adage "It's all just a random lottery of meaningless tragedy in a series of near escapes." Whether that's how Fall Out Boy feel about their career or not, So Much (For) Stardust is a gloriously welcome return to form. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	03/24/2023
Label:	Elektra / Fueled By Ramen Records
UPC:	0075678630699

Tracks

1. Love From the Other Side
2. Heartbreak Feels So Good
3. Hold Me Like a Grudge
4. Fake Out
5. Heaven, Iowa
6. So Good Right Now
7. The Pink Seashell
8. I Am My Own Muse
9. Flu Game
10. Baby Annihilation
11. The Kintsugi Kid (Ten Years)
12. What a Time to Be Alive
13. So Much (For) Stardust

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fall Out Boy   Primary Artist
Joe Trohman   Guitar
Pete Wentz   Bass,Vocals
William Frank "Bill" Reichenbach Jr.   Trombone,Trombone (Bass)
Wayne Bergeron   Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Jerry Hey   Orchestra Leader
Daniel Fornero   Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Dan Higgins   Woodwind
Alyssa Park   Violin
Timothy Loo   Celli,Cello
London Metropolitan Orchestra   Orchestra
Eun Mee Ahn   Violin
David Low   Celli,Cello
Patrick Stump   Guitar,Vocals
Ethan Hawke   Vocals,Featured Artist
Maxine Willard Waters   Choir/Chorus
Oren Waters   Choir/Chorus
Luther Waters   Choir/Chorus
Mark Robertson   Violin
Julia Tillman   Choir/Chorus
Julia Tillman Waters   Choir/Chorus
Andy Brown   Conductor,Conductor
Luke Maurer   Viola
Benjamin Jacobson   Violin
Jonathan Moerschel   Viola
Andrew Hurley   Drums
Marvel Jane Love Wentz   Vocals
Luke Mauter   Viola

Technical Credits

Steve McLaughlin   Engineer
Billy Joel   Composer
Joe Trohman   Composer,Group Member
Mike Fasano   Drum Technician
Evan Taubenfeld   A&R
Chris Gehringer   Mastering
Pete Wentz   Composer,Group Member,Creative Director
Fall Out Boy   Composer
Robert Byrd   Composer
Jerry Hey   Orchestration
Dustin Addis   Management
Patrick Stump   Arranger,Composer,Group Member,Horn Arrangements
Ben Young   Guitar Technician
Ethan Hawke   Composer
Neal Avron   Mixing,Producer
Erich Talaba   Engineer
Erich Tabala   Assistant Engineer
Brendan Walter   Cover Photo,Creative Director
Andrew Simon   Booking
Jeff Toyne   Orchestration
Mike Fassano "Saco Grande"   Drum Technician
Mr. Oz   Cover Text
Janice Graham   Leader
Bob McLynn   Management
Pamela Littky   Band Photo
Johnny Minardi   A&R
Alison Murphy   A&R
Nate Haessly   Assistant Engineer
Marlene Tsuchii   Booking
Jonathan Daniel   Management
Mark Ngui   Booking
Alex Miller   Assistant Engineer
Scott Skrzynski   Engineer,Mixing Assistant
Andrew Hurley   Composer,Group Member
Julian Anderson   Assistant Engineer
Jasper Graham   Art Direction
Thea Prevalsky   Assistant Engineer
Scott Skrzyski   Assistant Engineer
Meggie Lisha   Assistant Engineer
Safia Latif   Cover Painting
Charts of London   Music Copyist