The advance word on Fall Out Boy’s fourth album was that it was a political affair, a rumour that gathered pace when the Chicago outfit announced it would be released on November 4, 2008—the same day Republican leader John McCain would face off against the incumbent Barack Obama in the US presidential election. (The release was later moved back to December, the band explaining they didn’t want to cheapen the election by using it as a promotional tool.) Rather than a comment on Left vs Right, Folie à Deux (a French phrase that translates as ‘folly of two’) is instead concerned with the politics of the personal, traversing themes such as infidelity (“Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On a Bad Bet”), commitment and responsibility (no doubt inspired by bassist Pete Wentz expecting the arrival of his first child) and the vapid nature of pop culture. The latter is lambasted in “I Don’t Care”, its chorus boasting the refrain, “I don’t care what you think/As long as it’s about me”. The album is also significant in that it was FOB’s first to feature lyrics by Wentz that were not autobiographical, the writer instead using an assortment of characters to represent the record’s themes. To bring these characters to life, the band painted with their most colourful musical palette to that point, employing vaudevillian flair and glam-stomp riffing in “I Don’t Care”, parping horns in “Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On a Bad Bet” and instruments such as violin and viola in “Coffee’s for Closers” and “What a Catch, Donnie”. They also enlisted a formidable cast of guest, including Elvis Costello (“What a Catch, Donnie”), Blondie’s Debbie Harry (“West Coast Smoker”), Pharrell (who produced the elastic “W.A.M.S.”) and, on the Bonus Track Version, John Mayer (the cover of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”). Upon its release the album received a lukewarm response from critics and fans alike, confused by its stylistic leaps and myriad guests. In hindsight it’s difficult to see why—despite its flamboyance, Folie à Deux remains disarmingly anthemic and blessed with a rich harvest of irresistible pop hooks. It would also prove instrumental in paving the way for the even grander creative leaps the band would take on future records, such as 2013’s Save Rock and Roll and, in particular, 2018’s M A N I A.