Unglued Reviews

How on earth did this get released? I’ve heard enough live b-sides and bootlegs from pop-punk band Fall Out Boy to verify that Patrick Stump can actually sing live, but you wouldn’t know it from this recording, where he spends most of the running time sounding like he couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.

No one expects live songs to sound exactly like their studio counterparts (it’s both pointless and often impossible), but vocals aside, this whole recording sounds horrible. The playing is sloppy, and the mix is murky and bass-heavy, particularly on recent tracks such as Thriller. Older songs, like Tell That Mick He Just Made My List of Things To Do Today, translate best to this recording, possibly because they were written when Fall Out Boy used to be a real band and not overproduced studio puppets.

**** Live In Phoenix is also available on DVD, which pretty much makes this CD superfluous – not only are many of the band’s fans most interested in watching bassist Pete Wentz, but the CD version excises five songs from the gig (three FOB originals and partial covers of Akon’s Don’t Matter and Timbaland’s One And Only). To add insult to injury, the CD sleeve still includes credits for these songs, as if rubbing in the fact that they’re not present.

Disappointing even to fans, this is utterly inessential for anything except proving that Wentz needs to be kept away from the microphone at all costs (witness his screams on set closer Saturday).

Owen Heitmann