Ed Masley

The Republic | azcentral.com

They topped the Billboard album charts in 2013 with an effort called "Save Rock and Roll." And by the time they followed through with "American Beauty / American Psycho," a second consecutive platinum chart-topper, Fall Out Boy were well along the way to if not saving rock and roll at least proving to corporate bean counters that there was still an audience out there for it.

As they bring the "American Beauty / American Psycho" to Talking Stick Resort Arena, here's a countdown of their best singles, from "Dead on Arrival" to "Centuries" and "Uma Thurman."

20. "Alone Together" (2013)

Patrick Stump sets the tone with an urgent delivery of "I don't know where you're going / But do you got room for one more troubled soul?" as New Wave-flavored backing track offers the perfect blend of atmosphere and drama for the task at hand. Then the chorus kicks in with a throbbing bassline as Stump tells her, "Let's be alone together / We could stay young forever." The third single from "Save Rock and Roll," it was certified platinum and managed to go Top 20 on the Rock and Dance Club charts. And if I had to choose which chart it sounded more at home on, I'm not sure I could.

19. "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" (2013)

The first single from "Save Rock and Roll," this five-times-platinum smash remains their biggest-selling hit, although several songs, including the more recent "Centuries," have charted higher on the Hot 100 (where it somehow stalled at No. 13). And it sounds like it was meant to be their biggest-selling hit, bringing the drama like "Eye of the Tiger" on steroids with just enough of a hip-hop/R&B flavor to appeal to pop radio listeners. Plus, that chorus hook is undeniable, especially the "I'm on fire" part.

18. "America's Suitehearts" (2009)

It feels like a rock-and-roll cabaret as filtered through the blue-eyed soul of '80s Hall & Oates with backing vocals that sweeten the deal like a cross between Queen and the Beach Boys. Pete Wentz has said the lyrics aware inspired by our national obsession with celebrity and you can definitely hear that but it's subtle. Despite being one of their catchier songs, it didn't have much luck at radio, scraping its way to No. 78 on Billboard's Hot 100 on it's way to going gold.

17. "Saturday" (2003)

The third and final single from their first release is a spirited shot of classic pop-punk, filtering chainsaw guitars through the pop smarts of Green Day. It didn't chart but it stayed in the set for more than a decade for a reason. Great, great pop hooks and youthful abandon, it's everything a pop-punk anthem should be (although it does get a little too screamo for its own good at one point).

16. "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" (2007)

This platinum single from "Infinity on High" remains their highest-charting entry on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 2. At the time, Patrick Stump called this single "the funkiest thing we've ever done," and it's still on the funkier side of the Fall Out Boy spectrum. Lyrically, it uses Cold War imagery to weigh in on their mainstream breakthrough, emo's surging popularity and the idea of making music for all the wrong reasons.

15. "Centuries" (2014)

The lead single from their latest album, "American Beauty / American Psycho," is built on a well-chosen sample of the vocal hook to Suzanne Vega's "Tom Diner," re-recorded for the task at hand by Lolo. There's also a slight hint of Queen in the quasi-operatic vocal flourishes and an underlying sense of drama to the whole track, which features some excellent turns of phrase. It peaked at No. 10 on Billboard's Hot 100, going on to be certified quadruple-platinum.

14. "Young Volcanoes" (2013)

This didn't do nearly as well as the first single out of the box from "Save Rock and Roll." In fact, it never even hit the Hot 100. But this single plays to their strengths in ways the triple-platinum "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" could never hope to do. It starts off with handclaps and gang vocals, then brings in acoustic guitar as Stump sets the scene with his yearning delivery of "When Rome's in ruins, we are the lions, free of the coliseum." And even if the overall feel is much closer to Mumford & Sons than early Fall Out Boy, the pop sensibilities are closer to their comfort zone.

13. "Uma Thurman" (2015)

You may wonder what possible connection exists between the "Munsters" theme when the answer is staring you right in the face. This song is the only connection. It's a brilliantly sampled non sequitur, though. And the shout-out to Thurman is duly reinforced by a snatch of tremolo guitar that's clearly meant to echo Dick Dale's "Misirlou," as famously used in the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack. And it's easy enough to picture Thurman dancing to the end result. The second-biggest hit from "American Beauty / American Psycho," it peaked at No. 22 on Billboard's Hot 100 on its way to going double-platinum.

12. "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" (2007)

The opening sounds like a spy-movie theme, complete with strings (or maybe keyboard strings), the sense of drama heightened when the drums follow through with a four-on-the-floor momentum. After building all that tension, they deliver exactly the sort of release you'd expect from a Fall Out Boy single, an anthemic singalong chorus that finds singer Stump thanking her for the memories "even though they weren't so great." One of two songs Babyface -- yes, Babyface -- produced, the second single from "Infinity on High" peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100.

11. "Dance, Dance" (2005)

It kicks off with a subtle variation on the beat to David Bowie's "Modern Love" on what the Beatles once called prellies. Then the bass comes and the resulting groove feels more like what the Cure were doing right around that same point in the early '80s. Stump sets the scene here with "She's says she's no good with words but I'm worse" when truthfully, he's pretty good with words and even better with falsetto on the chorus hook that helped propel this song to No. 9 on Billboard's Hot 100. It also picked up two Teen Choice Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.

10. "Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet" (2009)

There's a funky New Wave vibe to this one, with obvious echoes of Peter Gabriel in his "Sledgehammer" days on the verses before shifting gears into more of a bittersweet Elvis Costello-style melody on the song's best line: "But I will never end up like him / Behind my back I already am / Keep a calendar, this way you will always know." The third single from "Folie à Deux," it lost steam at a disappointing No. 74 on Billboard's Hot 100. The title, of course, is a reference to the great Pete Rose.

9. "American Beauty / American Psycho" (2014)

It says a lot about the steps these guys have taken in the past few years to make the mainstream safe rock and roll that the song on the album that's closest in spirit to classic early Fall Out Boy has yet to be released here as a proper single. This is Stump's favorite song on the album, though, which speaks well of his taste, because as he explained to fans on Twitter, "It's the right level of artistically interesting, but also just fun." And part of that fun is apparently sampled from no lesser an authority on all things fun than Motley Crue. That snare roll may be Tommy Lee himself playing "Too Fast for Love."

8. "I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me and You)" (2007)

Even by Fall Out Boy standards, the title of this one might strike anyone who's old enough to have a senior picture as a bit too jokey for its own good. But the song itself is cut from more sophisticated cloth, a soulful stab at old-school power-pop produced by Babyface with indelible hooks and some well-written lyrics, including the opening salvo ("Last year's wishes are this year's apologies"). And that Stump vocal is among his best. The fourth and final single from "Infinity on High," it peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100.

7. "What a Catch, Donnie" (2009)

This soaring power ballad is equally indebted to the early days of glam and classic Elton John, It eases in all soft and understated, just voice and piano, but soon emerges as some kind of self-referential "We Are the World" for Alternative Press subscribers with cameo vocals by Gabe Saporta of Midtown, Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco, William Beckett of The Academy Is... and Elvis Costello. Yes, Elvis Costello. It's all completely overdone, but endearingly so, with a soulful lead vocal from Stump and Fall Out Boy's most instantly engaging chorus hook. And "I've got troubled thoughts with the self-esteem to match" is a really nice line. The third radio single from "Folie à Deux," it peaked at No. 94 on Billboard's Hot 100.

6. "The Take Over, the Breaks Over" (2007)

The third single from "Infinity on High," this track is built on a twitchy dance-punk guitar riff, Stump making the most of an infectious pop hook as he sets the tone with "Baby, seasons change but people don't and I'll always be waiting in the back-a-room." The pre-chorus of "Don't pretend you'll ever forget about me" makes excellent use of Stump's falsetto. And although the singer says it was inspired by his love of David Bowie, it feels more like the kind of hook you'd get from Squeeze -- at least until you hit the streamlined pop-punk chorus.

5. "Sugar, We're Goin Down" (2005)

Their double-platinum mainstream breakthrough, this one peaked at No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100. And it feels like a hit, from the headbobbing churn of those heavy, distorted guitars on the intro to the universal heartache and resentment of the lyrics. "I'm just a notch in your bedpost but you're just a line in a song"? That had to hurt. And the anthemic chorus hook is custom-made for earnest arena singalongs.

4. "I Don't Care" (2008)

The lead single from "Folie à Deux," this single peaked at No. 21 on Billboard's Hot 100. The groove is either ripping off or paying tribute to the Norman Greenbaum classic "Spirit in the Sky," but it's delivered with a swagger that places it closer to a Black Keys single as Stump sets the scene with a sneer of "Say my name and his in the same breath / I dare you to say they taste the same." The chorus hook is where they really leave a mark, though, the harmonies kicking in as Stump sings, "I don't care what you think as long as it's about me."

3. "Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy" (2003)

Their second single eases the listener in with an a cappella reading of "Where is your boy tonight? / I hope he is a gentleman / Maybe he won't find out what I know / You were the last good thing about this part of town." Then, the rhythm guitar kicks in, followed by everything else, as Stump casts more suspicions on the boyfriend and drummer Andy Hurley underscores the urgency of Stump's delivery with a raucous performance that kicks the whole thing into overdrive.

2. "A Little Less 'Sixteen Candles,' a Little More 'Touch Me'" (2006)

The final single released from 2005's "From Under The Cork Tree," "A Little Less 'Sixteen Candles'" peaked at No. 65 on Billboard's Hot 100, which is pretty low for a pop-punk song as infectious as this. That opening guitar riff would have been enough to take this single Top 10 in the days of "Sixteen Candles." And Stump follows through on that promise by urgently pleading, "I confess / I'm messed up / Dropping 'I'm sorry' like you're still around," before nailing the essence of young-love-gone-wrong with "You're just the girl all the boys want to dance with and I'm just the boy who's had too many chances."

1. "Dead on Arrival" (2003)

This is where it all began, a debut single on blue vinyl that races alongs with a reckless abandon that most producers would have tried to temper by getting the drummer to slow it down and let it groove more. Thankfully, producer Sean O'Keefe was okay with the damn-the-torpedoes-and-full-speed-ahead approach because all the forward momentum is what gives this songs its sense of urgency -- that and the buzzsaw guitars and the youthful pleading of the lyrics. And then there's the chorus, where the chug gives way to power chords to underscore their most infectious hook as Stump sings, "This is side one/ Flip me over / I know I'm not your favorite record / But the songs you grow to like never stick at first / So I'm writing you a chorus and here is your verse."

Details: 7 p.m. Friday, March 25. Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. $25-$405. 602-379-7800, ticketmaster.com.