Christmas is just around the corner so a slew of bands and artists are releasing compilations and special reissues. Madonna’s career-spanning “Celebration” came out at the end of September (September isn’t November or December, but certainly a lot of Madonna fans will have the CD and/or DVD under the tree this year). The Foo Fighters will release its first greatest hits package the first week of November. U2’s 25th anniversary box set remaster of “Unforgettable Fire” is out later this month.
On Nov. 17, Fall Out Boy will release its first greatest-hits package, complete with previously unreleased material and a DVD featuring all the band’s videos with commentary. Huh? The band was formed less than a decade ago and has released five studio albums, one B-sides collection and a live CD/DVD in very quick succession. Why does Fall Out Boy need to release a greatest-hits album now?
I am a Fall Out Boy fan. It took me a while to get there, I was too quick to dismiss the admiration the boys from Chicago got when “Dance, Dance” and “Sugar, We’re Going Down” made their third album their breakthrough in 2005. I was ready to do the same when fourth album “Infinity on High” came out two years later. Thankfully, I got over myself, remembered that popular music isn’t necessarily bad, and took a shine to the band.
I now proudly own the complete Fall Out Boy collection (I finally got the “Release the Bats” DVD used over the weekend at Second Spin. Yay!!), had a great time at the Young Wild Things Tour two Christmases ago (an outing that made me the best cousin in the world according to my then 17-year-old cousin), have met Pete Wentz twice (he was nice enough to sign a copy of his book for the African Well Fund) and own several things from the Clandestine Industries line.
So of course I know I’m going to buy the “Believers Never Die” CD and DVD when they come out next month. I want to hear the new songs and watch all the videos with commentary so I can pick up on all those little threads that I’ve been missing watching the videos on a computer screen instead of a TV. But just because I’m going to spend my money on this package, that doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s way too soon for the band to do this.
A greatest hits or best of usually caps something off, like the end of a decade or the breakup of a band. It’s also business move a lot of the time, a way for an artist to fulfill a contract or make some extra money over the holidays if they’re stuck in the studio or suffering from a creative block. I don’t think any of these things apply to Fall Out Boy, in fact the band is now going out of its way to say this isn’t the end, there is no break up on the horizon. If this package hadn’t just been announced, maybe the guys wouldn’t have to be answering these questions.
Fall Out Boy might be releasing this compilation now as “a gift to the fans,” which is very well could be (it’s funny how many band say that when it’s the fans having to buy their own gift). Or maybe it’s really directed at all the naysayers, the people who live to take cheap shots at the band, especially Wentz, a way for the band to let the music do the talking. It is great music and it has a lot to say, so maybe this Christmas a few people will decide to give it a listen and be pleasantly surprised by what they hear.
No comments:
Post a Comment