The New Oldies: #9 Album of the Year 2023: Fall Out Boy – So Much (for) Stardust

Something seems to be missing these days. It seems that record companies, radio stations, and streaming services are pushing some the great established musicians to the background. As a result these veteran artists are not getting the attention they deserve. Enter the Top 10 Album Countdown: The New Oldies. The main point is simple – to make this list you must have at least 20 years of producing established music. The album by the artist must have been released between November 1st, 2022 and October 31st, 2023.

#9 Fall Out Boy – So Much (for) Stardust

Fall Out Boy on the New Oldies list? Yes it’s true. Fall Out Boy had their debut album on May 6, 2003 with Take This to Your Grave. That just comes in at the 20 year deadline and makes Fall Out Boy the fastest act to ever land on the New Oldies Countdown. This past year, the band that traces its roots to Illinois would release its 8th album, So Much (for) Stardust. This album lands at Number 9 on the 2023 New Oldies Countdown.

Fall Out Boy is a true 2000s decade artist. They really made their mark in the with a post punk rock sound. This album is goes beyond that genre as So Much (for) Stardust incorporates elements such as orchestral, disco, funk, R&B, soul, and spoken word. The vibe of this album could be compared to their 4th album Folie à Deux.

The more I listened, the more I enjoyed this album. The opening track Love from the Other Side kicks off with orchestral maneuvers before bringing in the band’s signature sound. The orchestral sound seemed to be the underlying framework to why this album delivers so strong. On top of that, What a Time to Be Alive‘s delivers a wonderful R&B vibe and the spoken word shines on the interlude The Pink Seashell.

In all honesty, this album caught my attention because of a bonus track that was an updated version of Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire. Joel released that song in 1989 and attempted to recap the history of the world from 1948 to 1989 in under five minutes. Fall Out Boy’s version picks up the historical events where Joel’s version left off. While the events were jumbled a bit in Fall Out Boy’s version, and the sound was more raw than the rest of the album, I still liked what they did.

But to land on the New Oldies list, it’s about the album, and the next step was to give So Much (for) Stardust a listen. The more I listened, the more I enjoyed this album. It’s so much more than pop-punk. In the end, I could have never seen this particular album landing on the New Oldies Countdown, but it did.