Live in Phoenix (2008, Island) Fall Out Boy's first live album. **1/2Fall Out Boy are the heroes of emo, and its sole respectable artist. Panic, Plain White T's, whoever, Fall Out Boy are the only ones left standing who give the genre any credence (though one could certainly make an argument for Jimmy Eat World). And while Live in Phoenix will without a doubt entertain fans, it's still a compilation of uneven performances.
It opens with "Thriller," one of FOB's better and more underrated songs, but when it comes to the chorus, Stump sounds like he has a sock in his mouth. Worse yet, you can hear the media whore of a bassist Pete Wentz shouting in the background. Wentz occasionally butts in and shouts to the audience between songs, revealing a truth among fans; if you're an artist who has sold out a good sized venue, you can say anything - anything - and have the crowd go nuts.
There are decent numbers in here, especially towards the beginning. But none of them exceed what was done in the studio, and that hurts, especially when somewhat weaker songs show up and sag the middle. Even the cover of "Beat It" is less than spectacular; no one expects it to be better than Michael Jackson's, but what FOB have done with Mayer is the same approach that Alien Ant Farm took with "Smooth Criminal." None of this is to say that Fall Out Boy are poor in concert; I doubt that, it's far more likely that this was an unfortunately sub-par performance with a bit more than mediocre recording. (Stump's vocals are sometimes lost in the barrage of guitar tour-de-forces.) Live in Phoenix is not evidence for or against the band's credibility, and for fans it's a decent listen and enough to hold them over until November.
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