i have 2 disclaimers, though.




(1) this is not a classic. this isn't the second coming of *INSERT LEGEND*. but it's very good.




(2) if you thought 80's music was a pop wasteland,
this album isn't for you. but if you think that
1984 was one of the best years in pop music... keep reading,
b/c you might dig this album.





alright. onto my pitch for why you should
listen to the links below and give this album a chance.

patrick stump used to be the lead singer for fall out boy.
since i like pop and r&b more than rock, i always dug
a few songs from this band. mostly b/c their tunes were
usually fairly catchy, and their admittedly uncharismatic lead singer
always had a cool voice.


so when i heard he was going solo, i was curious.
i got excited when i saw the youtube link
that showed him building a pop track from the ground up
playing all of the instruments.

but this guy has 0 star power, so i forgot
that he was releasing a solo album. apparently, it debuted at
number 47 and promptly fell off the charts.


and i felt bad about that, b/c i bought the album earlier this month, and it's quite good.




here are some of the highlights.








here he is trying to break pop.
if you like any of those europop tunes out there,
you'll probablly like this one.


but if you've never heard a europop song that you like,
skip this one...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRQTWmmrNVo





and listen to THIS one...
here he is showing off some r&b vocal chops,
and playing synths that make it sound like he is a big fan of stevie wonder's "in square circle"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxwqAdcIBYk




here is another r&b song. the production
sounds like something you'd hear on a sleepy brown album.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNEP-lGFSQU




and here is one of my personal favorites,
although it starts off weird. if you liked anything else
that you heard above, hear this one out until it gets to the hook... the song takes flight.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaGJt7M43oM




and finally,
here's a song about regretting not having the balls
to seal the deal with a chick you had a chance w/ when you were 14.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGETs-Kt5Es


the drums sort of rock in the beginning.








i can't really sell you on it any more than this.
if you don't like it, that of course is your right.
but i just wanted to let folks know it was out there.



and for all of you rockists out there,
(and i am one, to a degree) he's playing all the instruments,
he wrote all the songs, he's singing all of the vocal parts,
and and he produced the entire thing by himself.




it's not "high art" but it's catchy as hell.

give it a try.

so I guess I'm not the audience you're trying to reach with this post... but props, nonetheless!

the album performed so poorly, i thought i was alone.

i always trust my ears...
but it's way easier to believe that something is really good
if you have a shit load of other people agreeing w/ you
when THEY say it's really good too.


glad to know at least one other "music snob" is feeling me on this one.

I wonder if FOB's legions of fans actually supported it or if they viewed it as a betrayal.

I hope that he's not discouraged, though... because I'd be down to hear some more stuff like this from him.

fall out boy used to play
to a teeny bopper market, so for all we know,
the vast majority of fall out boy fans
may not have even cared about fall out boy anymore
by the time this album was released.




and on top of that,
most music fans don't have ecelectic tastes...
so i doubt that most of the folks that were fans of fall out boy
would also be a fans of the type of music on this album.
similarly, most of the r&b fans that may dig theses songs
probably wouldn't even be up on fall out boy.






and i'd hate to say it,
but the truth is that patrick stump just doesn't look famous.
hell... i LIKED fall out boy, and when i first saw the
videos, i assumed that media whore pete wentz
was the lead singer... b/c he was the only person
that drew my eye in the videos.


even though he lost weight... he still doesn't look
famous, and that couldn't have helped anything in terms of
promotion. his look doesn't have that "it" factor...

which is a damn shame.
b/c he's a talented dude.


i hope to hear more from him.
but he needs a stylist or charm school or something.





>I wonder if FOB's legions of fans actually supported it or if
>they viewed it as a betrayal.
>
>I hope that he's not discouraged, though... because I'd be
>down to hear some more stuff like this from him.

i checked him out a few months ago. i was not interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKzINfNPsmk. I liked the album. Is it a banger? Nah...but I enjoy it, doe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGqqBzOWaA4




but let's see... when did i start fucking w/ fall out boy?
i used to like the video for "dance, dance."

but i think the song that made me really start checking for them
was "takeover the break's over" from infinity on high.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVbPvf2aYH4

i was like... fall out boy?

so i took a chance and bought the album,
mostly b/c i thought the cover art was cool and i liked the single.

and when i got to this interlude...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5dOHFE_WNo


i was like... okay, they're legit.

>and when i got to this interlude...
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5dOHFE_WNo

this is right up my alley. kind of makes me think of driving to the top of the hill and staring at all the lights below for about of an hour.

i'm always out of step.
i'm just glad i have a forum like the lesson
to ramble on about this stuff.

b/c i can't talk to "regular" people about music.



i have spent so much time
analyzing music that everybody else has forgotten about.

there are other forums that i can go to discuss "thriller" or "mothership connection."
but who else will listen to me sing the praises
of the rhythm guitar part on kool and the gang's "fresh?"




nobody.
even my parents' eyes will start to glaze over.







>>and when i got to this interlude...
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5dOHFE_WNo
>
>this is right up my alley. kind of makes me think of driving
>to the top of the hill and staring at all the lights below for
>about of an hour.

I kind of like "Allie", actually.

edit: he's channeling MJ on "Explode", LMAO

>edit: he's channeling MJ on "Explode", LMAO



but yeah. lol

the MJ-isms in a song like "The Bad Side of 25".

projects like this tend to catch my ear. It certainly bears a lot of resemblance to some of the more random records I have in my collection.

> It certainly bears a
>lot of resemblance to some of the more random records I have
>in my collection.




i get the distict impression that
this dude likes same obscure records i that do.

i mean, it's one thing for two people to like "innervisions."
but this is a dude that digs album cuts from "characters."

this is a dude that really groves out
to the rhythm guitar parts "tenderness" from
diana ross' solo album.



and i think he also is a fan of the r&b influenced
new wave/ rock records from the 80s...

so it comes together in a pop package that i just
can't resist.

and run the risk of adding to my substantial folder of outrageous Lesson statements, but certain moments on this album remind me of the feeling of hearing a classic MJ record for the first time and it's exhilarating because I haven't felt that way in such a long time, having heard all MJ's records so many times over. Like, I still enjoy them... but trying to go back and relive that experience of hearing Thriller or even Bad for the first time... it's like trying to lose your virginity over again.

Stump manages to really come close to making me feel that way all over again, though.

I knew there was a reason I just "enjoy" playing this album. It's just good music.

I expected to be tarred and feathered just for saying something like that... but it's real, man. Just something about the *energy* Stump invests in it, and also the way the album is engineered just takes me back to that time. It's not an official MJ tribute in anyway, but I think it serves as one because it reminds you (well... me, anyway) of some of the reasons MJ was great that went beyond just singing well or having good songs. It's just that hard-to-pin-down sense of *excitement* that Stump is reaching for here.

and i am half-tempted to send this post to
patrick stumps' twitter account or something so that
he knows that there are folks out there appreciates what he's doing.

i really hope he's not heartbroken
about the sales of this album.




>I expected to be tarred and feathered just for saying
>something like that... but it's real, man. Just something
>about the *energy* Stump invests in it, and also the way the
>album is engineered just takes me back to that time. It's not
>an official MJ tribute in anyway, but I think it serves as one
>because it reminds you (well... me, anyway) of some of the
>reasons MJ was great that went beyond just singing well or
>having good songs. It's just that hard-to-pin-down sense of
>*excitement* that Stump is reaching for here.

>certain moments on this
>album remind me of the feeling of hearing a classic MJ record
>for the first time and it's exhilarating because I haven't
>felt that way in such a long time, having heard all MJ's
>records so many times over. Like, I still enjoy them... but
>trying to go back and relive that experience of hearing
>Thriller or even Bad for the first time... it's like trying to
>lose your virginity over again.
>
>Stump manages to really come close to making me feel that way
>all over again, though.





yeah. and it's well known that i'm an MJ stan...
so it's a lot for me to think anything is in the same league as MJ.

but this album makes me FEEL the way i felt
when i listened to "thriller" as a kid.




it's like he went into the studio
and tried to load as many hooks as he possibly could
into every single song.

there is just so much to sink your ears into.




and vocally... he knocked it out the park.
because he shows an michael jackson INFLUENCE
w/o trying to bite him completely.


it's like he tailored MJ's mannerisms and phrasing
for the "limitations" of his own vocal range.




and the way he stacked his vox for the vocal harmonies?
that's MJ all the way.

it's on that "jimmy jam and terry lewis writing vocal arrangemnents
for janet jackson" level.

it's on that pharell "stacking his vocals on tracks
that he wrote for MJ" level.




i mean... i have heard indiviual songs
that gave me the same feeling i got from old school
MJ records (usher, u don't have to call; ne-yo, one in a million,
timberlake; like i love u)... but this is the first ALBUM i've heard
where ever song gives me the same type of chills i had
as a kid.

the album has Michael's sequins all over it

He and Pete Wentz are self proclaimed MJ stans and knowing how MJ influenced Patrick's singing and how they covered his songs in the past, I EXPECTED it to have MJ-isms.....

but not like this.

With Timberlake and others, it sounds like they went into the studio to make a Michael-esque song, with the MJ mannerisms are already mapped out on paper and a video already in mind. With Patrick and songs like Explode, This City, Dance Miserable, Everybody Wants Somebody, it sounds like someone who didn't set out to make Michael Jackson-ish songs, but someone who had Michael's music so embedded in him that it just turned out that way, if that makes any sense.

I could see Michael singing Everybody Wants Somebody and a couple more from Patrick's album

jaywonder.tumblr.com

Was in f.y.e. one day and his This City video was playing and i stopped to watch. At the end his name appeared and i was like "hold up, that's dude from that group, hm...interesting."

I have that Soul Punk album and Pete's EP

I need to listen to them more often

this album is really good. while im still hoping for a stripped down album with him and an acoustic guitar, I really enjoyed this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH-LqVpsC04

though maybe you're wishing for that because you've already heard this. I used to jam to this all the time in middle school, haha.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas

http://www.last.fm/user/NodimaChee
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Nodima/run_that_shit__nodimas_hip_hop_handbook

I should have never thought about it, but at least I'm getting a break from Tony Kornheiser's mailbag theme.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas

http://www.last.fm/user/NodimaChee
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Nodima/run_that_shit__nodimas_hip_hop_handbook

this shit wasn't even on my radar.. and if the post was something like, "this guy's got some heat on this album," i prob. wouldn't check for it... but letting me know exactly what you like about the album and then giving a little taste of what to expect.. that's good shit man, thanks!

and i've only listened to 2 of the tracks you linked to, but i'm def. gonna check for this... sounds cool as hell.. much appreciated..

like... when i thought about making this post,
this is exactly how it wanted to go...lol


>this shit wasn't even on my radar.. and if the post was
>something like, "this guy's got some heat on this album," i
>prob. wouldn't check for it... but letting me know exactly
>what you like about the album and then giving a little taste
>of what to expect.. that's good shit man, thanks!
>
>and i've only listened to 2 of the tracks you linked to, but
>i'm def. gonna check for this... sounds cool as hell.. much
>appreciated..

because they did the pop emo thing right where so many other bands got it wrong, or did it in a sort of sloppy, brooding way that would be channeled better by taking a less earnest approach (Brand New were the only guys out of this crop that grew up in the right ways, IMO)

but I REALLY couldn't get with them as they started trying to expand their sound and Infinity on High really bored me to pieces so I pretty much gave up on them. I never gave this solo album a chance because of that. Maybe I will sometime.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas

http://www.last.fm/user/NodimaChee
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Nodima/run_that_shit__nodimas_hip_hop_handbook

for who again?

i'll give pretty much anything a shot, and thanks for taking the effort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lkJkwnXQZ8&ob=av2e

and the live version proves he can actually sing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEM69KymiVM

I was impressed

However
I didn't even know dude released a solo album

So thanks for hipping me to this!

I knew dude was talented
but I didn't know he played this many instruments
(according to wikipedia)
guitar, bass guitar, piano, drums, percussion, keyboard, trombone, saxophone, trumpet, synthesizer, mandolin, guitalele

damn

Standout tracks

Dance Miserable
The "I" in Lie
Run Dry
Everybody Wants Somebody
Bad Side of 25
When I Made You Cry
Mad At Nothing

i like run dry quite a bit, it's good music but i dont feel too compelled to check out the album

might check out the album if i'm in a pop mood

...cool stuff however

but like you said,
it's good stuff.