American Beauty/American Psycho (sometimes abbreviated as AB/AP) is the sixth studio album by American rock band Fall Out Boy, released on January 16, 2015 through Island Records as the follow-up to the band's comeback album Save Rock and Roll (2013). The band wrote music while on tour with Paramore mid-2014 and it developed into a new album.
The album's release was preceded by the 8× Platinum top 10 lead single "Centuries", released September 9, 2014 while the album was still being completed. The album's title track was released as the second single in the UK on December 15, 2014, receiving a radio premiere a month before on November 24, 2014. American Beauty/American Psycho debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, with 218,000 album-equivalent units in its first week alone and becoming the band's third No. 1 album, later being certified gold in the UK and Canada. On March 1, 2016, the album was certified platinum in the US for 1 million units.
In support of the record, Fall Out Boy played at Soundwave in Australia, made TV appearances, and embarked on three concert tours: the American Beauty/American Psycho Tour, the North American leg of which was named The Boys of Zummer Tour and featured rapper Wiz Khalifa as co-headliner, and the Wintour is Coming tour. On October 30, a remix album entitled Make America Psycho Again was released with a different rapper on each song, which drew in over 13,000 equivalent copies in its debut week.
Background and recording Fall Out Boy began writing for their sixth studio album in the summer of 2014 while still promoting their previous release Save Rock and Roll (2013) on the Monumentour concert tour with fellow American band Paramore. Recording began soon after, with the track "Centuries" being the first of the songs to be written and recorded. By late November, all the songs were written and the album was 80% complete but still needed finishing. While making their previous album, the band was just beginning to realize that music recording methods had changed since their hiatus, but have fully embraced the changes for recording American Beauty/American Psycho. Producer Jake Sinclair made the band realize that parts recorded as demos on laptops are able to make it to the final product.
Since the release of "Centuries", the band stated that the album could be released as early as "early 2015". Regarding its sound, bassist Pete Wentz described the new material as "David versus Goliath", as Wentz stated: "[Brian Hiatt] tweeted[,] "[The] problem with modern rock is it [isn't modern,]" something [I] and we had been feeling in general. [Rock] should not be relegated to a quaint little corner of Guitar Center for dads to find. [In] reaching out to SebastiAn we wanted to make something that was a throwback instead futuristic." According to Patrick Stump, "All I can say is, some people will love it. Some people will hate it. The four of us like it a lot, so we're happy".
Composition
Music The album's sound has been described as a genre-hopping pop record, incorporating the styles of pop-punkALBUM REVIEW: FALL OUT BOY – AMERICAN BEAUTY/AMERICAN PSYCHO . renownedforsound.com. Retrieved June 7, 2015. and pop rock It has also been described as arena rock. The band felt influences from playing with different artists and expanded on boundaries further than Save Rock and Roll did. Stump's goal was to make a more stylistically cohesive album than Save Rock and Roll, "where you pick any track and it sounds like it's from the same album". He wanted an album that "understood what it was the whole time". Meanwhile, Wentz was focused on making rock music relevant to pop culture (and thus requiring radio play) that could also be played in big venues; maintaining their legacy as a "big currently relevant rock band." Wentz said, "Rock 'n' roll is this progressive idea, [with] room to be dangerous and futuristic. To think it's this idea that has to be set in stone is just, like, making it not only not dangerous but this quaint little thing. It's not what it is to me. To fence yourself into this little area and chain yourself to the doghouse has never been what I thought rock music was." Guitarist Joe Trohman said of the album, "Musically, it has hip hop grooves with guitars on it," with "more in your face guitar than Save Rock and Roll". In an industry increasingly focused on singles, Stump still regards the music album as an important form of art—"I put a ton of thought into this new record, making sure it was an experience where the running order matters and the keys and tempo and everything. It all matters to me because records still matter to me."
"Centuries" contains a sample of the song "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega re-recorded by American singer Lolo for the track,Suzanne Vega tweet on Tom's Diner sample . Twitter.com/suzyv. Retrieved October 18, 2014.Suzanne Vega tweet on actual voice Twitter.com/suzyv. Retrieved October 18, 2014. which Stump described as "a tip of the hat" to, as the band wanted to "re-inject" it into pop culture. The song "American Beauty/American Psycho" samples Mötley Crüe's song "Too Fast for Love".Fall Out Boy Talk New Album, Mötley Crüe & Grateful Dead Billboard. Retrieved December 19, 2014. Annie Zaleski of Alternative Press described it as a "mix of fluid grooves, punky riffs and outré pop sensibilities." The title track is Patrick Stump's favorite track from the album; he stated, "It's the right level of artistically interesting, but also just fun." The track "Uma Thurman" is named after the American actress, and samples The Munsterss theme song. Thurman heard the song and allowed the band to legally use her name.Pete Wentz tweet on Uma Thurman https://twitter.com/petewentz . Retrieved December 19, 2014. "Irresistible" is an "arena-rocking" horn-driven song about deadly love, with lyricist Pete Wentz drawing inspiration from the fatal attraction between Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.Fall Out Boy Explore Deadly Romance on Horn-Driven 'Irresistible' Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 6, 2015. The track "Fourth of July" includes a heavy sample of the song "Lost It To Trying" by Son Lux from the 2013 album Lanterns. "Twin Skeleton's (Hotel in NYC)" contains a psychedelic bridge.
Lyrics As the band's primary lyricist, Wentz felt that he had "more perspective" on his personal life to write more about it. "The idea behind some of the songs is addressing modern love or what's going on with my head and my life [more] than Save Rock and Roll did. I think Save Rock and Roll was a little more broader when it came to that."http://www.fuse.tv/2014/11/fall-out-boy-american-beauty-american-psycho-complete-guide Stream Fall Out Boy 'American Beauty/American Psycho' Fuse. Retrieved January 13, 2015. "Centuries" was written with the aim to inspire. Some topical issues including the 2014 Ferguson unrest are addressed. Wentz stated, "as an artist that has a platform, there's certain things that if you believe, you should say." However, he restated that Fall Out Boy is not a political band.
Title and artwork The "American Beauty" half of the album's title comes from the album by the Grateful Dead and the 1999 film. The "American Psycho" half references the book by Bret Easton Ellis and the subsequent 2000 film. The album artwork features a teenage boy (Jake Karlen) with black stars and stripes painted on half of his face, standing in front of a white house. Karlen auditioned to model for the cover; the photoshoot took place in Los Angeles. Karlen said, "They wanted to see something very dark and angry, very angry. I think I pulled it off. I think I did pretty good."
Promotion
TV performances On November 24, 2014, the band announced the album's title and release details for January 20, 2015.Fall Out Boy Watch Fall Out Boy perform "Centuries" on 'Kimmel' . Alternative Press. Retrieved March 13, 2015. They next played it on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with Suzanne Vega as a special guest on October 29, 2014.Watch Fall Out Boy Perform 'Centuries' Live with Suzanne Vega Billboard Retrieved October 31, 2014. The band performed "Centuries" on The Voices season finale with contestant Matt McAndrew in December 2014.Fall Out Boy Performs With Matt McAndrew On 'The Voice' Finale Hollywood Life. Retrieved December 19, 2014. The band also performed "Centuries" at the People's Choice Awards on January 7, 2015, which Billboard called the "most memorable" performance of the night.Iggy Azalea, Fall Out Boy & Lady Antebellum Dominate People's Choice Awards Billboard. Retrieved January 17, 2015.'People's Choice Awards 2015′ Announces Attendees And Performances CBS. Retrieved December 25, 2014. To begin their album release week television blitz, the band played "Centuries" on the morning The Today Showplaying centuries this morning on the today show falloutboy.com. Retrieved January 23, 2015. and again on the late night talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on 21 January.Fall Out Boy's 'Tonight Show' Performance Will Be Remembered for 'Centuries' Billboard. Retrieved January 23, 2015.Fall Out Boy Tweet on Jimmy Fallon twitter.com/falloutboy. Retrieved January 2015. A guest appearance on the morning talk show Live! with Kelly and Michael was televised on January 23. On January 25, the band performed at the National Hockey League All-Star Game exhibition event.Fall Out Boy will light mups at the NHL All-Star Game Yahoo Sports. Retrieved January 17, 2015. A performance for troops at Luke Air Force Base as a pre-Super Bowl event was set for January 30 to air live on VH1.Fall Out Boy, Charli XCX to entertain troops in pre-Super Bowl event KTAR-FM. Retrieved January 17, 2015. Fall Out Boy starred in a Pepsi TV ad which aired during the 57th Grammy Awards, performing "Uma Thurman" in record-pressing plant.Iggy Azalea & Fall Out Boy to Perform at Universal Pre-Grammy Showcase Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2015.who saw us on tv? got to play inside of a vinyl falloutboy.com. Retrieved February 13, 2015. Fall Out Boy performed "Centuries" and "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" on CBS's The Talk on March 12 and it aired in Australia on March 29.Fall Out Boy performed on the March 12 edition of CBS' "The Talk." headlineplanet.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015. In early April the band performed "Immortals" on Japanese TV show Sukkiri!! ( スッキリ!!). Fall Out Boy will be the first inductees to the "Hall of Wood" at the 2015 MtvU Woodie Awards and will also perform. They had won the Streaming Woodie award for "Grand Theft Autumn" at the first ceremony in 2004.5 Mind-Blowing Reasons We Should Have Known All Along That Fall Out Boy Would Make Woodies History MTV. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
Tours
The band played several shows in support of the record, such as at the Soundwave in Australia and a headlining performance in a stadium at RodeoHouston. Moreover, the band planned a world tour, consisting of more than 50 dates across North America and Europe. The American leg will be co-headlining with American rapper Wiz Khalifa under the name The Boys of Zummer'''. The second American leg of the tour was announced October 2015, for Wintour. It began February 25th 2016, in Puerto Rico and ended on March 27 in San Francisco, California. Wintour was co-headlined with PVRIS and AWOLNATION, with a few other special guests during different dates.
The American Beauty / American Psycho touring cycle ended August 28, 2016 at the Reading and Leeds Festival. The show had a special clip of an upcoming short film called 'Bloom'. The show was performed with pyromaniacs and acrobatics.
Singles