genre jumps, devolution, and cover art.

I'm unhappy with Fueled by Ramen [and Fall Out Boy]. All their bands are changing their sounds. And yeah, sure, I'm cool with them maturing musically and everything, but most of the time it sounds like they're devolving. Panic[!] at the Disco, The Academy Is... - it's not that I don't love the bands [because I do]. It's just that I expect more from them. Quality stuff, not the somewhat cliche, not-entirely-pop-but-reminscient-of-it, slightly boring stuff they've put out recently.

Panic[!]'s newest CD, which they worked on for years [literally], was a disappointment. With the exclamation point went the energy of the music. Sure, I liked a few of the songs on Pretty. Odd. - We're So Starving, Pas de Cheval, sometimes Northern Downpour. It's certainly not as if the rest of the songs are bad, but they just don't catch my attention like their old music did. Honestly, if the CD hadn't been by Panic[!], I would never have bought it. I only listened to it when I was getting ready to see them, because I wanted to be able to still have fun if they only played songs off that. [Luckily, they played the old songs also and sounded better than ever.] I love the band, but I expected more from them.

The Academy Is...'s new CD isn't terrible. I still haven't listened to the whole thing, but I do like a fair amount of the songs I have heard. Paper Chase and His Girl Friday are my favorites off the album at the moment. But I would never specifically choose those songs to listen to. I'll listen to them if they come up on my playlist, but I'm not going to seek them out. Even in Santi, their previous album, it was a little hard for me to find the sound that I loved about them. I grew to love Santi though, especially after seeing them perform it live twice. It's a CD I probably would have bought even if I had no idea who the band was. Fast Times at Barrington High is a CD I wouldn't have looked twice at. The music isn't bad, but it doesn't catch my attention. I hear it, but I'm definitely not captured by it the way I was with their first album - which I discovered years late. The lyrics on some tracks are brilliant, but most are slightly cliche. [Not that I can even write cliche lyrics.] Again, I love the band. I just wanted more. However, considering how often they toured between Santi and this album, it's pretty impressive.

Fall Out Boy - who isn't on Fueled by Ramen, but whatever - has a new album coming out on Election Day. I've already made sure that the CD store that I go to is ordering it. I'm buying no matter what. I adore the cover art as well as the title. I liked the new songs on the free mixtape they put out. But "I Don't Care" just doesn't really meet my standards. As selfish as it sounds, I wish Patrick had never learned to sing; in my opinion, his voice is absolutely brilliant on Take This To Your Grave [which is my favorite CD anyway] and decreases from there. That's not to say that I don't love his voice, because I do. I just don't love it as much. The lyrics to I Don't Care aren't great, but I can deal with that. I wasn't worried, because I felt the same way with Infinity On High and still ended up really liking that CD. Besides, I'd already heard other new songs that I liked [despite the constant "GET FAMILIAR" crap]. It can't be all bad. They put out a new song on iTunes the other day, and I was totally ready to text my dad to ask if I could borrow a dollar to buy the song. I was even a little excited, but I ended up not even wanting to buy it. I was just like "Eh, it'll be on the CD... Why waste money?" I never like the singles though, so I still have faith in them. :)

I'm not giving up on these bands.

Y'know, maybe it's me.
Maybe I'm outgrowing them.