Despite the fact that Fall Out Boy is absolutely one of the most prolific pop punk bands of all-time and their debut album Take This To Your Grave was released only two years after Sum 41’s All Killer No Filler and four years following Blink-182’s 1999 album Enema of The State, in my mind the album exists in somewhat of a different era. The only explanation I can come up with is that by the time pop punk had truly taken off in the mainstream this album was sort of an underground cult-classic which cemented the band’s bonafides as a darling of the scene but didn’t have as much of the radio airplay of their contemporaries. That would all change in 2005 when Fall Out Boy released Under The Cork Tree and sent their career into the stratosphere, but in 2003 Patrick Stump and the boys were just amassing a hardcore following in preparation of what was to come.
History tells a similar story to this perception as well. After a tour with Spitalfield caught the eye of record execs, major label Island Records signed the band to an unusual deal that allowed them to release their first album with Indie punk label Fueled by Ramen before transitioning over to the parent label for their subsequent releases. This approach allowed Fall Out Boy to gain some street cred while they developed their craft ahead of making a more commercialized album.
The decision obviously paid off in spades. Take This To Your Grave remains an absolute classic in the genre, and just listening to the album (along with all its batshit insane song titles) has a way of transporting me back to middle school in a way few other albums have the capacity to do. It reminds me not only of youth but of the magic of discovering new music for the first time, something that feels almost like a secret language between you and the band and the select few others in your orbit who appreciate their music as well.
Standout Songs: “Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things to Do Today”, “Grand Theft Autumn”, “Saturday”, “Chicago IS So Two Years Ago”, “The Pros and Cons of Breathing”, “Grenade Jumper”, “The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes”
