Fall Out Boy released their fourth album, entitled Infinity on High on February 6th. It isn’t the same old FOB and features a vocal style more like R&B or jazz and features rapper Jay-Z and singer/producer Babyface. The new album is okay; the only thing that really stands out is the vocals.

Fall Out Boy takes on a completely different feel in this album. It’s not just straight pop punk vocals like featured on previous releases Take This to Your Grave and From Under the Cork Tree. Patrick Stump, lead singer, has developed his voice into something much richer and deeper. Songs like “Golden” really focus on the amazing new vocal style that Stump is utilizing. Jay-Z’s guest appearance on the first track, “Thriller”, makes the song stand out because of his stellar voice.

Infinity on High is a lot different than everything else the band has ever done, and it isn’t all quality. With speculations on the band, mainly bassist, Pete Wentz, “selling out”, it would be nice to see FOB return a little more to their Chicago hardcore roots. Wentz sang/screamed/growled for Chicago hardcore band Arma Angelus with Rise Against’s singer, Tim Mcllrath. Wentz is currently refusing to talk to any of his former band mates) and step back from the cliché, over-used phrases that every pop punk band and their mom uses now. The lyrics from “Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am?” are an example of this. “A penny for your thoughts but a dollar for your insight. I’m just a painter and I’m drawing a blank.” Are you kidding me? This album does nothing but furthers the alienation that long time fans have felt that From Under the Cork Tree started, with the album peaking at #9 on the Billboard charts and videos being played in heavy rotation on MTV. Wentz, reportedly, doesn’t help fans feel closer to the band. It’s rumored that he has insulted fans both to their backs and to their faces.

Aside from the new vocals, this album isn’t anything special. Everything else has been over played and played out. The instrumental part of the album is the same old thing that every pop punk band rehashes over and over again, with the exception of songs “Golden,” which is a ballad. It leaves me wondering if on the next album, their will be the typically horrible power ballad that was repeatedly done by metal bands of the 80’s.

Buy this album for Stump’s vocals, break it for being exactly like every other pop punk album. It would be great to finally hear an album that is completely innovative, but that type of album is hard to come by in a genre that is forced to stay the same in order to keep fair weather fans and record labels happy.