There aren’t many bands acrossmusicthat have as varied and interesting a story asFall Out Boy. Hated, adored, never ignored, the Chicago band has one of the most eclectic back catalogs to ever emerge from the worlds of pop-punk and emo.
Now able to be seen as commercial equals to the legends in Green Day and Weezer,Fall Out Boy is one of 21st century rock music’s most endearing tales.
Having navigated everything from celebrity divorces to fairy tale redemption stories, Fall Out Boy tells a great story with their back catalog. From humble Chicago beginnings to international mega stardom, this is Fall Out Boy’s story as told through the magic of their music.
10Saturday
Take This to Your Grave (2003)
Before the millions of dollars, celebrity girlfriends, and having the budget to hire monkeys for their videos,“Saturday” always reminds fans of where Fall Out Boy came from. Formed from the ashes of local hardcore bands in Chicago, the band’sTake This To Your Gravebreakthrough was loaded with youthful energy, firecracker riffs, and unforgettable vocal melodies.
Pete Wentz was in a Chicago hardcore band with Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath before Fall Out Boy called Arma Angelus.
“Saturday” characterizes everything great about Fall Out Boy’s earliest days. It’s in the live environment that the song cements its place in FOB’s history.
If you ever take the time to see Wentz and the boys,“Saturday” is always the song that closes a Fall Out Boy show. It’s always been that way, and it will be until the very end; such is its importance to the band.
9Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy
Take This To Your Grave (2003)
The earliest sign that Fall Out Boy was going to go on to be world beaters can be found on this peppy anthem. Dripping in yearning lyrics and capturing the sad boy zeitgeist,“Grand Theft Autumn” is one of emo’s biggest anthems. It was also a sign of things to come on their future records.
Take This To Your Gravestands out so much in FOB’s back catalogue because of its jagged edges. The likes of “Dead On Arrival” and “Chicago Is So Two Years Ago” have lashings of attitude and a shoestring budget production that are unique to that record, but"Grand Theft Autumn" would prove to be the blueprint for their upcoming big break.
8Sugar, We’re Goin Down
From Under The Cork Tree (2005)
Making a divot rather than a dent, Fall Out Boy started making waves onTake This To Your Gravebut would arrive ready for world domination with its follow-up,From Under The Cork Tree.
Arriving with one of the finest choruses in 21st century rock music,“Sugar, We’re Goin Down” set Fall Out Boy on a path to superstardomthat has rarely slowed since. They could even shoot an avant-garde video with a guy in antlers ambling around, and it worked.
One of the distinct characteristics that sets Fall Out Boy apart from so many of their peers is Patrick Stump’s unfiltered love of Motown and classic pop. Carrying an old soul in a young body, Stump’s soulful take on rock vocals was a breath of fresh air.
He has amassed a superhuman number of great melodies, butthe build-up and explosion of the chorusof “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” will always be a career highlight.
7Dance, Dance
When MTV still held cultural relevance and a dedication to music,Fall Out Boy was one of the 2000s' most video-friendly artists. Loaded with iconic moments like Wentz’s nerdy attire and Patrick drawing a heart along with the word “love”, it’s a song that is synonymous with its music video.
Encouraged by Blink-182, Good Charlotte, and Sum 41 paving the way foriconic Warped Tour bandsto embrace big-budget videos, FOB and My Chemical Romance were among the last bands to be embraced by MTV.
The band found themselves pretty closely aligned with MCR, asFall Out Boy were one of the last bands to go mainstream on Warped Tour. Causing pandemonium at venues and stages that were nowhere near equipped for the whole audience to watch both bands, the ensuing chaos has gone down in Warped folklore.
Fall Out Boy would outgrow the whole scene and become bona fide pop stars from this moment on.
6This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race
Infinity On High (2007)
Following the double platinumFrom Under The Cork Treeand Pete Wentz becoming a pop culture figure for the tabloids,Fall Out Boy felt a backlash against their success. It may not appear like it on the surface in this era, but emo is still a subgenre of punk rock, and that community does not like bands who pander to the mainstream.
Few rock bands danced to pop’s tune like FOB, and it made some of the scene’s more sensitive folk uncomfortable. Rather than shy away from the feeling in the air,Fall Out Boy fought their detractors head-on.
Rolling Stonealleges that the song is influenced by Justin Timberlake’s “Señorita.”
“This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arm Race” served as the first single fromInfinity On Highand was a strong uppercut to the band’s haters. Bristling with attitude, Stump declares himself an arms dealer with weapons in the form of words before letting the world know what the band thought of their hot takes.
The result is a hip-swinging fight anthem that goes down as a scene classic. That’s irony, Alanis.
5Thriller
Much has been written about Fall Out Boy’s celebrity status during this era, and public attention would ultimately force the band’s temporary hiatus. As they enjoyed their commercial peak, FOB flexed their muscles in an iconic way. John Mayer, Elton John, Pharrell Williams and more would feature, butJay-Z symbolized Fall Out Boy’s celebrity glow-up. Pete Wentz said toMTV News:
It’s a snapshot of where we are right now, and years from now, when I’m laying in some gutter somewhere, Jay-Z will still be on this record.
While employing one of the most successful artists of the 21st century makes a statement,Jay-Z’s contribution worked artistically and commercially on “Thriller”. His voice is instantly recognizable, his “welcome…it’s here” intro ushers in the song’s crushing opening riff, and the shout-out of “Young FOB” that leads into “The Take Over, The Breaks Over” is sensational.
Not all celebrity hook-ups work, but this is outstanding.
4What A Catch, Donnie
Folie À Deux (2008)
It’s apparent even by looking at them, butFall Out Boy is made up of very different characters. While Pete Wentz’s million-dollar smile and marriage to Ashlee Simpson seemed to be his natural habitat, his band also features a straight-edge, hardcore punk drummer, a guitarist who’d soon form a band with members of Anthrax and Every Time I Die, and Patrick Stump.
This was a combustible group in an unenviable setting. As the mainstream shifted their attention to the likes of Coldplay and Kings Of Leon,Fall Out Boy were no longer pop culture’s flavor of the month. Their avant-garde and underratedFolie à deuxwas melancholic and found a public lacking sympathy for them.
Patrick Stump’s solo career felt inevitable, and"What A Catch, Donnie" felt like a song fit for the band’s funeral, an immense slow-burning track that recalled many of the band’s biggest vocal hooks sung in its outro, sung by guests ranging from Elvis Costello to Brendon Urie.
3My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark
Save Rock And Roll (2013)
Arriving with no fanfare or social media teasers,Fall Out Boy staged one of the best reemergences in rockas they returned with theirSave Rock and Rollalbum. Arriving with a global club tour that began the very next week, the band revealed the album with a new song called “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark”. They have never looked back since.
As was true to their vision throughout their career, Fall Out Boy made rock music that captured the zeitgeist once again. Powered by an irresistible vocal hook from Patrick,“My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark” is hard-hitting pop music.
The album was loaded with new fan favorites from “The Phoenix” to “Young Volcanoes”, and Fall Out Boy were playing the biggest shows of their career as fully fledged scene legends.
2Centuries
American Beauty/American Psycho (2015)
Fueled by an enormous vocal performance from Patrick Stump,“Centuries” is officially the biggest song of Fall Out Boy’s career. When you look at where most of the bands from their era of Warped are in 2025, that is a truly incredible feat.
As one of the few songs to have over abillion plays on Spotify, this stadium-sized sports anthem is in many respects everything the band set out to achieve.
The video for “Centuries” features rapper Rick Ross.
Certified quadruple platinum and counting, “Centuries” has been used as a soundtrack by everyone from Apple to ESPN.It has gone platinum in nine different countries, including the US and UK. The album it came from (2015’sAmerican Beauty/American Psycho) is largely terrible, but Fall Out Boy found themselves more popular than ever before.
1Hold Me Tight Or Don’t
Mania (2018)
It would be nice to sell a story with an entirely happy ending, butFall Out Boy has written some really bad music since returning. Sitting in a unique spot of being perfect for pop and rock audiences, some of the band’s music is now so removed from the material onTake This To Your Gravethat it sounds like an entirely different band.
Leading the charge, “Hold Me Tight Or Don’t” sounds like it was written to be reality TV transition music. Inoffensive to the point of nausea, its lead synth and breezy melody reeks of pandering to the masses with little artistic merit. They’ve got themselves back on track with 2023’s much-improvedSo Much (for) Stardust, butFall Out Boyhave become far more inconsistent in their later years.
