What if Fall Out Boy Never Got Big?

[sean-reid]

This might be a crap question but I've been thinking how Fall Out Boy would sound like or would they exist today?

What if "Sugar, We're Going Down" or "Dead on Arrival" had never received massive airplay? etc.

[wewascontenders]

they would have realized that those albums blow.

[wtfmates]

http://www.fan2band.com/di/epitaph/singitloud/180193_2396_43_3227.jpg (http://www.fan2band.com/dl/epitaph/singitloud/180193_2396_43_3227)

I completely agree with your view on the topic.

[funkel]

Ashley Simpson wouldn't have a son named Bronx Mowgli.

There'd be less scenesters.

[x togepi x]

there wouldn't be less scenesters but scene music would sound completely different.

[themadsilentist]

fbr_trash wouldn't exist.

[funkel]

there wouldn't be less scenesters but scene music would sound completely different.
Well I technically knew this, but less scenesters made me happier, ha.

[aoftbsten]

their last two albums probably would have sounded different

[game2go]

IOH and FAD would be completely different albums and Perez Hilton wouldn't piss himself every time Pete updates a blog.

[Chromefox]

I wouldn't be as sick of that "sound", since nobody would be capitalizing on it.

[theguy77]

i would have more hope for my upcoming album not to be ostracized, and be thrown into the shitty new stuff even though its only influenced by the better, less trendy old stuff.

[the thread]

the world would be a better place.

[robat19]

you wouldn't have made this thread.

[hockeyguitar99]

Clandestine Industries would just be some clothing company ran by some scene kids nobody cared about.

[sean-reid]

you wouldn't have made this thread.
haha very true.

[fly_guy]

A million other useless bands wouldnt be around. Think about how good that would be

[AussieBoy]

theyd sound like BrokenCyde

[hideurfeathers]

Gym Class Heroes would still be good.

[viva la cymche!]

They would still be making records like TTTYG, and the world be a better place.

[fadedmemories]

IOH and FAD would be TTYG part 2 AND 3

Every band on the FBR/Decaydance roster would still be playing small clubs

Faux post-hardcore/mallcore would rule the world :-(

[SaltyEyes]

Less Haters.

[HelpMeSleep]

decaydance wouldn't exist.

[Circa1628]

"dead on arrival" got a lot of airplay?

[Circa1628]

Gym Class Heroes would still be good.

I would kill for another album like The Papercut Chronicles

[Taniam]

Well i probably wouldn't currently be listening to Grand Theft Autumn right now....which is really funny cause i was listining to a completely different song and my itunes is on shuffle and when i was about to type it went to this song ooh itunes...but overall the rock music scene would be completely different, you wouldn't have panic, you wouldn't have decaydance as a whole...and pop-punk would still be good...dang...were is my time machine

[HelpMeSleep]

I wouldn't know about a lot of the bands I like and I probably wouldn't know about this website. FOB got me into a lot.

[dpetty21]

I def. don't think their sound would have progressed as much as it has. I still enjoy them quite a bit but I would of loved to have seen them stay relatively small. I'm very happy they have gotten the chance they did though.

[Naenia]

They certainly wouldn't have entirely unnecessary (and shit) guests on their albums

[hideurfeathers]

I would kill for another album like The Papercut Chronicles

Same. The ONLY song I like on As Cruel As School Children is "The Queen And I", and it's one of my least favorite GCH songs. And I like "Peace Sign/Index Down".

But, I love the entire Papercut Chronicles album...

[AussieBoy]

damn a lotta hate here

na but then i wouldnt probably heard of Four Yr Strong or Paramore, which would disapoint me greatly!

[UnderMyDreams]

We wouldn't have Decadence... Wouldn't know Panic, The Academy Is...., Gym Class Heroes, Four Year Strong etc.

Their sound wouldn't have changed so much without the funding for the different sounds... The media wouldn't obsess so much over Pete Wentz,

[llwilliamsll]

We wouldn't have Decadence... Wouldn't know Panic, The Academy Is...., Gym Class Heroes, Four Year Strong etc.

Their sound wouldn't have changed so much without the funding for the different sounds... The media wouldn't obsess so much over Pete Wentz,
So all would be well..

[underthetalking]

We wouldn't have Decadence... Wouldn't know Panic, The Academy Is...., Gym Class Heroes, Four Year Strong etc.

Their sound wouldn't have changed so much without the funding for the different sounds... The media wouldn't obsess so much over Pete Wentz,

Where is this magical world you speak of?

[Circa1628]

Same. The ONLY song I like on As Cruel As School Children is "The Queen And I", and it's one of my least favorite GCH songs. And I like "Peace Sign/Index Down".

But, I love the entire Papercut Chronicles album...

yeah I like Shoot Down The Stars, 7 Weeks, Like Father Like Son, and Blinded By The Sun

I kind of like a couple others, but they will never be the same

[Until The Bombs]

We wouldn't have Decadence... Wouldn't know Panic, The Academy Is...., Gym Class Heroes, Four Year Strong etc.

Their sound wouldn't have changed so much without the funding for the different sounds... The media wouldn't obsess so much over Pete Wentz,

The highlighted acts had already started gaining momentum/established themselves to a certain extent long before anything FOB related came along.

[kevinrocks409]

FBR wouldn't have signed a bunch of shitty bands that got good bands like Days Away fucked over.

[timbedinosaur]

The world's discontent without a major pop punk band to hate on would fall to ruins. A virus would escape from a collapsed medical lab. This virus would cause the dead to become zombies whose bite turns the victim into a zombie. This virus would run wild until Will Smith decides to do something about it. And this is what would happen if Fall Out Boy never got big.

[mimexcore]

I wouldn't be as sick of that "sound", since nobody would be capitalizing on it.
I'm pretty sure someone else would pop up with the same sound and make some dollar bills off of it; it's not like FOB found some ground breaking formula for pop rock sound

[mar.]

A million other useless bands wouldnt be around. Think about how good that would be

That would be very good indeed. Sadly, one can only dream...

[chipdip18]

If Fall Out Boy didn't make it anywhere off of From Under the Cork Tree, they would probably end up releasing one more album, which couldn't keep up with the mainstream trend and they'd all go their seperate ways. It wouldn't have stopped Panic from releasing anything, since i think that 2004 is when AFYCSO was released, and it wouldn't have stopped the following dance-pop-punk movement from occurring. Fall Out Boy just would have died off with the pop-punk trend of 2000-2005. Patrick would have gone into producing, Pete into design, and Andy and Joe would start some awesome metal band that would have mediocre success. Basically, i think that pop-punk from the early 00's would have died off 6 months sooner.

[thespearkid]

If Fall Out Boy didn't make it anywhere off of From Under the Cork Tree, they would probably end up releasing one more album, which couldn't keep up with the mainstream trend and they'd all go their seperate ways. It wouldn't have stopped Panic from releasing anything, since i think that 2004 is when AFYCSO was released, and it wouldn't have stopped the following dance-pop-punk movement from occurring. Fall Out Boy just would have died off with the pop-punk trend of 2000-2005. Patrick would have gone into producing, Pete into design, and Andy and Joe would start some awesome metal band that would have mediocre success. Basically, i think that pop-punk from the early 00's would have died off 6 months sooner.
Without Pete Wentz's fame, Decaydence would've never been founded so Pete finding Panic's purevolume would've meant nothing. Dance punk would've never blown up the way it has without Panic's success. Seems like the state of music would be a little more tolerable.

[TotalCollapse]

I still wouldn't have liked them and they probably would have already broken up. And they would have been on warped tour more, which I would have hated.

[chipdip18]

Without Pete Wentz's fame, Decaydence would've never been founded so Pete finding Panic's purevolume would've meant nothing. Dance punk would've never blown up the way it has without Panic's success. Seems like the state of music would be a little more tolerable.

Sorry, but FUTC came out in 2005, about 5 months before AFYCSO, and Panic by then had already a deal with Decaydance/FBR or whatever. Panic was recognized by Pete Wentz in 2004. Almost dodged a bullet there.

[Chris Fallon]

This reminds me of one of those Charlie Brown "Happiness Is..." books.

[HelpMeSleep]

This reminds me of one of those Charlie Brown "Happiness Is..." books.
haha. I've never read those.

[GuitarR0cker1]

If Fall Out Boy didn't make it anywhere off of From Under the Cork Tree, they would probably end up releasing one more album, which couldn't keep up with the mainstream trend and they'd all go their seperate ways. It wouldn't have stopped Panic from releasing anything, since i think that 2004 is when AFYCSO was released, and it wouldn't have stopped the following dance-pop-punk movement from occurring. Fall Out Boy just would have died off with the pop-punk trend of 2000-2005. Patrick would have gone into producing, Pete into design, and Andy and Joe would start some awesome metal band that would have mediocre success. Basically, i think that pop-punk from the early 00's would have died off 6 months sooner.
I really doubt that they wouldn't achieve any success with FUCT. Even in a worse case scenario they would still get MTV airplay and they had major label push on the radio so I'm sure at least Sugar We're Going Down would have a little alternative radio success. I would say Fall Out Boy releases two more albums. The first sounds like their b-sides from FUCT and has a harder sound than it. That album does slightly worse than FUCT but still respectable enough to them to have relativley large amounts of popularity in the scene. Their last album tries to capitalize on trends and fails miserably. Without their huge success I'm guessing Taking Back Sunday, Anberlin etc do slightly better sales wise but Panic still creates the shitty trend.

[chipdip18]

I really doubt that they wouldn't achieve any success with FUCT. Even in a worse case scenario they would still get MTV airplay and they had major label push on the radio so I'm sure at least Sugar We're Going Down would have a little alternative radio success. I would say Fall Out Boy releases two more albums. The first sounds like their b-sides from FUCT and has a harder sound than it. That album does slightly worse than FUCT but still respectable enough to them to have relativley large amounts of popularity in the scene. Their last album tries to capitalize on trends and fails miserably. Without their huge success I'm guessing Taking Back Sunday, Anberlin etc do slightly better sales wise but Panic still creates the shitty trend.

Well i was saying If, they didn't achieve great success on FUCT, but you're right, more realistically they would have achieved some level of success, since it was the right album for the right time, hence them skyrocketed to fame after that. I still think that they may only put out one more album after that, skipping to the part where they try to capitalize on the trend and failing miserably. If i remember right, during the post-Panic, every band changes their sound to more mainstream with synths and dance influence, (like 2006-2007), a lot of bands failed. I could see Fall Out Boy on Island records doing the same, and only putting out one more album.

[boxingwithstars]

hm, it's actually interesting to think about that because it could have really affected the music scene today. on the other hand, who's to say that just because they didn't make it big that doesn't mean some other band off FBR wouldn't have gotten the ball rolling? who knows.

but i know that it probably would have caused their sound to change less, or to take a different direction than it has.

[Khaos]

hm, it's actually interesting to think about that because it could have really affected the music scene today. on the other hand, who's to say that just because they didn't make it big that doesn't mean some other band off FBR wouldn't have gotten the ball rolling? who knows.

but i know that it probably would have caused their sound to change less, or to take a different direction than it has.

But Pete is the driving force behind Decaydance. And I am sure other labels wouldn't have put up with band like Panic! when they took forever for a new record and they would have never even given a band like panic! a shot in the first place. Pete took a huge leap of faith in those boys.

[chipdip18]

But Pete is the driving force behind Decaydance. And I am sure other labels wouldn't have put up with band like Panic! when they took forever for a new record and they would have never even given a band like panic! a shot in the first place. Pete took a huge leap of faith in those boys.

Well on the debut, i wouldn't say that Pete took a huge leap of faith. Although they were recruited onto Decaydance incredibly fast. Waiting around three years for the sophomore release was absolutely a leap of faith though. If they put out A Fever You Can't Sweat Out 2.0 in a year and a half we'd have a different story. But then again, after that debut they could put out anything and still make money. They were enormous in 2006. By far the commanding artist in the mainstream.

[Taniam]

Yes, Fall Out Boy set off a domino affect and did virtually create a whole new music scene. And yes, they are some of the most polarizing figures in rock today( I personally think they are poppy but respect their willingness to try new things and get tied down to a signle genre.) Quite honostly though, the record labels were looking to chagne the sounds so if Fall Out Boy did not blow up we would be talking about someone else right now.

[kearn1tm]

Without Pete Wentz's fame, Decaydence would've never been founded so Pete finding Panic's purevolume would've meant nothing. Dance punk would've never blown up the way it has without Panic's success. Seems like the state of music would be a little more tolerable.

Your idea of what "Dance Punk" is is not correct. Go listen to late '70s Post-Punk post-haste.

EDIT - Contemporary Dance Punk enjoyed a resurgence in the early '00s with bands like The Rapture circa 2001. This predates whatever awfully produced synth-slosh Panic has deluded kids into thinking is "Dance Punk."

[steviestare]

We'd have one less dumbass of a bass player whoring around the internet/US/world.

[crappypunkrock]

If "FOB" never got big, the world would be a happier place :)

[crappypunkrock]

We'd have one less dumbass of a bass player whoring around the internet/US/world.
Most true statement i've heard this whole week.

[kearn1tm]

Oh, and if not for Fall Out Boy, some other band would have redefined "scene aesthetic and sound," and by that, I mean "would have sounded exactly like The Get Up Kids by way of Lifetime and threw on an argyle sweater with women's jeans."

If anything, they redefined the look. The whole scene fad of eyeliner, tight jeans and obnoxious hoodies may have been slightly modified or changed before being co-opted into the mainstream youth culture, but hideous powerpop that spawned from Midwestern Emo would have happened regardless.

[Circa1628]

if they never made it big they probably wouldn't have changed their music so dramatically from TTTYG and FUCT to what it is now and they would probably still be in my top 10 bands

[Boycott_Love]

I would still love them. I dont understand people not wanting their favorite bands to get big, yeah, selling out can get annoying but I like the sound of a band. Popularity and genre dont matter to me. just whatever sounds cool. sorry if there are spelling errors, dont have my glasses and this font is impossible for me to read.

[UnderMyDreams]

Well on the debut, i wouldn't say that Pete took a huge leap of faith. Although they were recruited onto Decaydance incredibly fast. Waiting around three years for the sophomore release was absolutely a leap of faith though. If they put out A Fever You Can't Sweat Out 2.0 in a year and a half we'd have a different story. But then again, after that debut they could put out anything and still make money. They were enormous in 2006. By far the commanding artist in the mainstream.

Panic for sure wouldn't have made it. Fall Out Boy found Panic and gave them their chance.

[chipdip18]

Panic for sure wouldn't have made it. Fall Out Boy found Panic and gave them their chance.

I already disproved this earlier in another post. Panic was signed by the time FUCT was released, and their (Panic's) debut come out about 5 months after FUCT, which means they were probably recording around FUCT's release.

[born to expire]

I would be much happier with them than I am now. Seeing them a ton in 2003 and 2004 was a blast. First time I saw them no one was into them. Second time I was pretty much on stage the entire time. Their shows were so fun. Their new material is absolute garbage. FUCT has a few decent ones, but other than that I don't listen to anything after the acoustic EP. I found out about them when "Dead on Arrival" was first posted on here via an mp3.com link. So that would have been late winter 2003, I guess. I cannot believe I have been reading this website that long. Jesus.

[xpriscilax]

i stopped lieking them because they got all big and liek
pop stations were playing 'em and they should have stayed
with the same style of their old stuff.

well done.

[TangledUp]

Ashley Simpson wouldn't have a son named Bronx Mowgli.

There'd be less scenesters.

Agreed. X-)

I also think it would've prevented a lot of shitty bands from coming out of the woodwork.