I actually think it more has to do with drum sound than guitar sound on the teaser. Sounds like Andy has more to work with here, and I’m excited for him, as a fellow drummer lol. Not saying “drums didn’t exist” on the last three albums (Young and Menace had Andy going crazy which sounded awesome), it gives me IOH and Folie vibes for sure.
I kind of hate that everyone who doesn't like the sound of the post-hiatus albums has been generalized into "wanting more guitars." The songs on AB/AP have plenty of guitars but they're still bad
I think despite the fact at least some of the band isn’t happy with the more pop-leaning albums, none of them are bad. The only FOB album I don’t like is Take This To Your Grave and even then I think it’s a good album, just not my personal preference. Honestly, might be one of the hottest takes I share on this site, but most of my favorite FOB songs are post-hiatus even though I really like the stuff that came before.
well, then so you know it’s probably 99% of the time folks missing their pre hiatus sound. and if everyone here is being honest with themselves, those are two vastly different sounds obviously they had to change their sound when they got back together to reach the heights they wanted to reach (they were never going to play arenas doing another futct / ioh), but that doesn’t mean everyone has to like it ya know
This thread is just people saying “I think the post-hiatus music is bad/good” and the other side getting weirdly defensive. People can dislike music you enjoy without it invalidating your opinion. Not everyone enjoys everything and some people are attached to the older music. And on the other side, if someone likes something you don’t, that’s cool. They enjoy something. Let them.
The post-"hiatus" records all feature songs I will never listen to again ("The Mighty Fall", "Young Volcanoes", "Immortals", "Centuries", "AB/AP", "Champion", "Hold Me Tight...") and some of their best material ("Rat a Tat", "Phoenix", "SRNR", "Kids Aren't Alright", "Twin Skeletons", "Wilson", "Bishops Knife Trick"). Presence or absence of guitars, treated or otherwise, not really relevant imo! the one constant has been the fact that their best songs are rarely their singles
But I would add that I think people should think through what they are saying a little bit more when expressing their opinion. A little less “that is good/bad” and a little more “I’m not feeling it/it’s not for me/doesn’t do anything for me/etc.” Would “trigger” less people that way and be more likely lead to a discussion where someone can ask what turns them off or what were they hoping for with the song. I am super guilty of saying stuff like, “New Again is hot garbage.” But that doesn’t really say anything of substance and just dumps on an album some people like. Anyway, we should all choose our words a little better, in general.
I need to give the post-reunion albums another chance. Only one I've listened to is Save Rock & Roll. The singles for AB/AP and Mania never hooked me so I didn't bother checking out the rest :/
There has definitely been a change in sound from pre and post-reunion FOB (of course this was a result of natural progression from the early records). The newer songs might work for you, or might have strayed too far from the original sounds that you don’t like it. But let’s not stubbornly pretend a sonic change didn’t occur… might not be “the guitars” as people keep mentioning but in general the songs take on a different vibe. Seems obvious to me when you compare the instrumentation of nearly any song on the new to the old (there are some exceptions). I personally would love a simple, no frills pop-punk album by them again. That’s what they do best IMO. I don’t need them to reinvent the wheel and I actually don’t want them to. TTTYG to IOH are perfect records in my eyes.