Fall Out Boy American Beauty/American Psycho

American Beauty/American Psycho, the unwieldy title to Fall Out Boy’s latest album, actually seems appropriate when you consider that in one moment the band borrows from Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner” (in the vibrantly energetic “Centuries”) and in the next, it incorporates elements of Mötley Crüe’s “Too Fast for Love” (for the title track). That may sound like a schizophrenic disaster, but vocalist Patrick Stump has said FOB was after a stylistically cohesive work this time, and the band has actually achieved that here.

The album sounds massive from a recording standpoint, with layer upon layer of sounds and styles piled within each song in a way that would make Queen jealous, yet never feels like overkill. Moving from track to track, it’s clear that there was heavy thought invested into how it would all fit together, and it ultimately feels like an engaging experience that leaves you wanting more. By the time American Beauty/American Psycho wraps with the atmospherically dense closer “Twin Skeletons (Hotel in NYC),” the running time of nearly 40 minutes hardly feels like enough.