On The 10 Year Anniversary of Infinity On High

Editor's Note: I'm beginning to feel quite old this year because many of the albums that I grew up with are turning 10. To celebrate the albums that helped shape my musical taste, I will be running a series called "On The 10 Year Anniversary" where I will discuss various albums that are celebrating the anniversary of their release. When this series draws to a close, I'll have a podcast where I'll discuss all the albums featured in more detail!

In 2006,Fall Out Boy received a Grammy nomination for “Best New Artist” after the successful release of their sophomore album From Under The Cork Tree. FUTCT launched Fall Out Boy into a limelight that they were not yet accustomed to. In a second they went from a band that had just broken out of their local scene to selling out amphitheaters around the world. While new found fame had its perks, the band also suddenly found themselves under an immense amount of pressure to please fans and critics alike. When their third studio album, Infinity On High, was released in 2007, a lot of things began to change for Fall Out Boy.

Someone once asked Patrick Stump what his favorite Fall Out Boy record was and he replied with something along the lines of, “I’m supposed to say Take This To You Grave, but I know that like most people I just listen to Infinity On High on repeat.” Stump’s comment paints the portrait of a large portion of Fall Out Boy’s fanbase. While many people say they love TTTYG for sake of being a “real fan,” IOH has stood the test of time and stands out as a fan favorite album. Listening to the album, it's not hard to see why. Although IOH was noticeably less pop punk than TTTYG, the album showcases the broad musical talents of the Chicago quartet and allowed for Stump to show off his vocal range in a way that pop punk songs couldn’t. Stump often says that IOH was the first Fall Out Boy album that allowed him to “sound like himself” when he sang and truly found his voice. A listen through of this album, particularly songs like “Golden” or “The (After) Life Of The Party,” highlight Stump’s improved vocal performance and also shows his capability to convey the emotional performance demanded by Pete Wentz’s lyrics.

IOH came out during a turbulent time of bassist and lyricist, Pete Wentz's life. As Wentz began to explore his fame, he crumbled under the pressure. With the demands a career in the music industry, Wentz began to struggle to cope with his own mental well-being. Wentz has a long history with battling depression which is discussed in great detail in his 2013 book Gray. Wentz has said that this struggle came to a climax in the time leading up to the recording of IOH. Rather than let the struggle with depression destroy him, Wentz took his pain and fueled it into his music. The lyrics on IOH are noticeably darker than anything on FUTCT or TTTYG. IOH grapples with topics like dealing with critics of their music, the headache of fame, disillusionment with reality, and suicide. In an interview about the ten year anniversary of the album, Wentz reflected on his lyrics and said,“This record more than any of the others has always reminded me of night time- both the anxiety of insomnia and the peace of being awake when everyone else is asleep. I remember before we released it I used like a security blanket listening and trying to fall asleep.” Perhaps the song on IOH that best represents Wentz’s personal struggles with the anxiety of fame is “Hum Hallelujah.” Years after IOH was released, Wentz stated that Hum Hallelujah was about his suicide attempt in a Best Buy parking lot. The song does not outright discuss the issue which calls for praise on Wentz’s part as he told the story in a creative way that required listeners to delve into the complexity of the lyrics. The song also features a bridge that pays homage to Lenoard Cohn’s song “Hallellujah” which Wentz divulged was playing in the car as he waited for the overdose of sleeping pills to take his life. The bridge in this song is one of the most emotional parts of the album, and in my opinion one of the most emotional moments in any Fall Out Boy song. It somehow manages to capture the anxiety and defeat Wentz was feeling but also the glimmer of hope that made him call his mom and have he come take him to the hospital. IOH is riddled with moments like that. The lyrics are incredibly powerful which stands testament to Wentz’s songwriting ability.

IOH was an album that marked growth for Fall Out Boy. At the heart of that album, they were still four kids from Chicago who were scared shitless by the expectations the music industry suddenly dumped upon them. They did what any one in their position would do: they made music that they felt was what they needed to make. The band themselves even bring this to attention during the opening song “Thriller.” There is a line in the song that says “Crowds are won and lost and won again, but our hearts beat for the die hards.” Fall Out Boy knew going into the release of IOH that they would lose some fans because of the change in sound. They knew they would win over some new fans as well. At the end of the day, all that mattered to them was that the people who believed in them from day one and continued to believe in them were happy (and for me I take that message to mean that the band took themselves into consideration).

IOH is an important album in Fall Out Boy’s history. It gave them two of their most iconic songs: “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs” and “It’s Not A Scene, It’s An Arms Race.” It was the final push necessary to launch them into stardom. It also marks the beginning of a dark time in the band’s career. This album called to attention the band’s struggle with fame. It was the beginning of tensions forming amongst members. It was the start of the band beginning to care more about what labels thought than fans. In many ways, IOH was a life preserver for a band that was struggling to stay afloat in a turbulent ocean of fame. But perhaps the most important implication of the release of IOH was that it set the stage for the controversial album that was Folie a Deux.

Following the release of IOH, Fall Out Boy’s battle with the demon of fame continued to grow, most noticeably for Wentz. Because of the continued struggle, Wentz used Folie a Deux to shine a magnifying glass on the issue he previously explored on IOH. Sadly, many fans missed out on Fall Out Boy’s commentary and focused on their change in sound instead. The band didn’t seem to mind; in fact it seems like they prepared for it. For example, “What A Catch, Donnie” is basically the swan song of Fall Out Boy. It's the equivalent of picking what song will play at your funeral. It was musical farewell to the band that once was. Folie a Deux marked the end of an era for Fall Out Boy. It launched the beginning of the infamous three year hiatus. It was the final nail in the coffin. But if Folie a Deux was the coffin, IOH was the cancer. With the noticeable change in sound, the lyrics that showed the band was falling apart, it really should have been no surprise that the band needed some time to breath. I often find myself wishing that Fall Out Boy took time off after IOH and never wrote Folie a Deux. Maybe if they had taken a breather and recentered themselves, they would have remembered who they were and wouldn't have gotten lost in the fame machine. Sadly, even after a three year hiatus, Fall Out Boy emerged rejuvenated, but chose to continue to cater to critics and abandoned their punk roots and a majority of their fanbase. It was disheartening to accept for many fans (myself included), but ultimately, as die hards often say, as long as the band was happy with what they were making, how could fans fault them? Art is a personal journey of self discovery and much like the self is continually changing, so does the art that comes with it so by that logic if the band wanted to sound like that, who were the fans to tell them no?

While there is truth to the claim that IOH began turning Fall Out Boy into “Sell Out Boy,” I still believe IOH is one of Fall Out Boy’s best works (Admittedly, my opinion is slightly I may be biased because IOH came into my life at a time when I really needed it and it holds a special place in my heart right next to...well basically all of Fall Out Boy’s work prior to 2008). In the grand scheme of it all, I feel that IOH stands testament to the strong legacy of Fall Out Boy. It portrays their honest struggle with fame and their failure to deal with it in a conducive manner. IOH was the last great Fall Out Boy album and on its ten year anniversary, I think I’ve finally come to terms with it.

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