“Save Rock and Roll” is Fall Out Boy’s first new music in three-and-a-half years, and its second No. 1 album. It’s consistently listenable rock-pop with catchy, yet thought-provoking lyrics and melodies, offering only a few instances of bad music.

“The Phoenix” starts off the album with a strings and percussion intro reminiscent of Fall Out Boy’s 2007 single “Thnks fr th Mmrs.” The lead single, “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up),” is vocally driven, but has steady and engaging instrumentation. Its wordy verses contrast the lyrically simple chorus nicely.

My main complaint about the album is the similarity between songs. They’re all one-two-three-four, guitar-bass-and-drums, wide-ranging-vocals and cryptic-yet-catchy lyrics in classic Fall Out Boy style. The main way to tell a difference is listening to which mysterious metaphor (“Your crooked love is just a pyramid scheme/And I’m dizzy on dreams”) or words of wisdom (“You are what you love/Not who loves you”) Patrick Stump is singing at the moment.

I’m unsure about some risks taken on this album. I never thought I’d hear a rap break in a Fall Out Boy song, and yet, I did in “The Mighty Fall (feat. Big Sean),” as well as spoken-word sections by Courtney Love in “Rat A Tat (feat. Courtney Love),” a song with unnervingly timely lyrics(“So they just DIY’d that s*** and they built their own bombs/She’s his suicide blonde”). If you make it to the album’s end, though, you’ll hear its gem of a title track, featuring Sir Elton John.

Rating 3/5 stars