Growing up, I’ve always heard the phrase (and I’m sure you have too), “Don’t judge a book based on its cover!”. Let’s be honest… I definitely do that. Not only with books, but also with music. So in this article, I’m gonna be talking about some of my favorite album artwork, and of course I’ll say a few things about the album as well.

1.) Believers Never Die by Fall Out Boy

This greatest hits album from FOB is one of my favorite album covers. As you can see, it features two skeletons that appear to be hugging each other. There’s various things around the room, including musical instruments, clothing, and books. Paired with the title, “Believer’s Never Die”, this album offers a solemn vibe. The concept of this art is really cool, because clearly the skeletons represent the absence of life, and the title leads us to believe that the music follows us beyond just living. (Kind of a big concept to wrap your head around, I know. Just my interpretation!)

Favorite track: “I’m Like A Lawyer With The Way I’m Always Trying To Get You Off (Me and You)”

2.) Put Yourself Back Together by Real Friends

Real Friends is a Chicago-based pop punk band that has really been growing in the past couple of years. This EP, released in 2013, is kind of a concept album, in a way. Almost every song on this record mentions being broken, specifically broken hearted. This album art really backs up this album concept brilliantly. As you can see, there’s nothing in order in the picture. The phone is destroyed, the shoes look worn out, a glass lamp appears to be shattered. This album really deals with feeling lonely, broken, abandoned, which is perfectly illustrated by the album art.

Favorite track: “I’ve Given Up On You”

3.) Youth by Citizen

This indie-rock/emo album features a heavy and sometimes overwhelmingly somber tone, the lyrics dealing with isolation, angst, and self-doubt. A lot of people in their adolescence deal with emotions similar to this, which is why I think this album is titled “Youth”. The roses, which provide a small range of pinks and reds with the occasional yellow, might possibly represent the entire concept of youth. When roses, die, they shrivel up. In the same token, this could apply to adolescents. They’re budding roses, but paired with the deep concepts of this album, they can quickly shrivel up when exposed to these real life emotions. I think it’s a beautifully simple album cover.

Favorite track: “The Summer”

4.) White Noise by Pvris

A repeated theme throughout this album is a love-hate relationship, as well as supernatural spirits.

This album cover is a little bit more difficult to interpret. The black background could represent darkness. White noise is defined as “noise containing many frequencies with equal intensities”, so I think that the concept of looking in this mirror shows that there is many different “frequencies” and intensities within yourself, within a relationship, within spirits, or whatever else you interpret it to be.

Favorite track: “Smoke”

5.) Stories For Monday by The Summer Set

“Stories For Monday” is a collection of songs that are just that: post-party anthems that you can’t wait to tell your friends about when you get back to school or work on Monday.

The artwork features a single photo of a party, with the only people looking at the camera being the band members. The photo displays everything about your typical party — drinking, people mingling, a crowded room, and that one guy who’s always wearing something USA themed. A lot of the themes in this album deal with living in the now and not giving up. Typically, people at parties tend to let loose and live in the moment. The album and the artwork go together perfectly.

Favorite track: “All Downhill From Here”

6.) The Finer Things by State Champs

State Champs is a five man band that’s made their way up to the top of the pop punk scene. With two EP’s under their belt, they produced this kick-ass record driven by guitars and lead singer Derek Discanio’s incredible voice. This album demands to be played during the summer with all of the windows rolled down. The cover of this album reflects it: the warm color scheme, the person skateboarding down the road, the brightness of the photo. It’s a warm and welcoming cover that previews an amazing pop punk album.

Favorite track: “Nothing’s Wrong”

7.) The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me by Brand New

This album art never fails to give me the chills for obvious reasons. The music on this record itself is chilling, with death and illness being the main themes. What intrigues me the most is that there can be many different interpretations of this photograph. The chips in the house’s paint could take on a homey-vibe, or a feeling of abandonment. The berries could be food or poison. The masks are scary, but one of them is also wearing slippers. Overall, it’s an amazing album with intriguing artwork that opens the mind for exploration.

Favorite track: “Jesus Christ”

8.) Younger Dreams by Our Last Night

“Take me back to younger dreams / when times were easier and we believed” are the lyrics belted back on the title track of this album.

As seen in the picture, a young boy is holding a toy plane and is wearing a mask over his head. A theme in this album reminisces about the dreams and aspirations they had when they were younger. This photo is simple yet powerful paired with the music.

Favorite track: “White Tiger”

9.) You’re Gonna Miss It All by Modern Baseball

What captures me most about this is how simple this cover is. The white space around surrounding the photo leads our eye to the center of attention: the grayed out photo of a little girl walking away from a boy. The title of the album acts as a caption, and the music tells the story.

Favorite track: “Your Graduation”

10.) I’ll Keep You In Mind, From Time To Time by Moose Blood

Best for last! This is probably my favorite album cover of all time. I’ll be honest, the band’s name “Moose Blood” didn’t really appeal to me all that well. But when I saw this album artwork, I knew that I had to give it a listen.

What I love most about it is how candid it is. It’s a real photo of a woman sitting by a campfire poking at the fire. The dark colors mixed with the bright fire are very aesthetically pleasing. Of course, it’s a great listen, but I think my favorite part about it is the album cover.

Favorite track: “Cherry”

The post Jen’s Top Ten’s: Favorite Album Artwork appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The year is 2007. I’m sitting in the back of my dad’s truck gluing on fake nails that were painted black with silver skulls on them, making my sister put my hair up in a pony tail for me. This was also the time when I learned gel nails last how long. We arrived at the arena in Denver, Colorado, where we were seeing Fall Out Boy, a band I have heard on the radio a couple of times. This was my first concert ever, and I had no idea what to expect.

The year is now 2016. Fall Out Boy have reigned my number one favorite band for 9 years now, and this is the fourth time that I’m seeing them live. My sister, Amanda, and I arrived at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, and this time I knew all too well what to expect.

Thousands of people gathered to welcome Fall Out Boy to our beautiful state, their first time being here since 2007. All sorts of people were here: parents who brought their children to see their favorite band, punk angsty teens with half shaved heads and pink hair, girls dressed up in sundresses, and hardcore fans decked out head to toe in Fall Out Boy gear. Fall Out Boy used to have a certain niche, but now that their music is getting more radio play, more and more diversity is added in to the FOB family.

Amanda and I found our seats high up in the nosebleeds of the arena. I wasn’t particularly thrilled about being so far away from the stage, considering I’m the type of fan that loves to crowd surf, mosh, and stand in with the crowd. These nosebleeds consisted of the people who weren’t really big fans of any of the bands, but were just there because it was either something to do, they were with someone who wanted to go, or they are a broke college kid (aka me). We settled in our seats after buying some merch and a slice of pizza. The stage wasn’t too far, and we could hear the bands just fine.

The first band to come out is a band named PVRIS (pronounced “Paris”), an up and coming electro-pop/post-hardcore band from Massachusetts. I’ve seen PVRIS before when they opened for Mayday Parade in 2014 and again at Warped Tour in 2015.

Every time I’ve seen PVRIS live (and this time was no exception) their vibe has been so exuberant. Their frontwoman Lynn Gunn is known for her remarkable vocal chords that can hit some deep, forceful tones as well as a softer side. All band members stand out, but Lynn Gunn keeps the crowds energy up by talking between songs and getting the crowd to interact with them. PVRIS fuels the crowd with adrenaline, keeping them pumped up for the bands to come. Their all too short 6 song setlist consisted of their biggest hits off their album White Noise: White Noise, St. Patrick, Smoke, Fire, You and I, and My House.

Up next was Awolnation. Now, to be completely honest, I’m not really a fan of Awolnation, an alternative dance/indie rock band. I found a set list of this concert beforehand and listened to the stuff I knew they were gonna play, and I was not looking forward to it. When the lights dimmed and fans started screaming, I sighed and sat back in my seat, planning on just waiting it out.

I wasn’t blown away by their performance. But, I’m a sucker for live music. While I probably won’t listen to their music on my own time, I was enjoying myself. The lead singer, Aaron Bruno, sent a lively energy through the arena that echoed throughout. He appeared to be barefoot (I could be wrong considering how far up we sat) and danced all around the stage. He danced like no one was watching, and sang his soul out. Their entire set had a very spiritual vibe and it was easy to listen to. For their set, it was easy to forget all of my problems and just simply enjoy music. Their 9 song set list included Run, Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf), Not Your Fault, Windows, Kill Your Heroes, Woman Woman, I Am, Burn It Down, and their most famous tune, Sail.

Finally, it was the moment we were all waiting for. The trumpets from the intro of “Irresistible” echoed throughout the arena, and Patrick, Pete, Joe, and Andy all took positions on stage. Fans all across the arena (including myself) belted the lyrics back to them as each of them ran around on stage and onto the v-shaped catwalk extending into the crowd. They then threw it back to “Sugar, We’re Going Down”, a hit off of their 2005 record From Under The Cork Tree. Out of the 4 FOB concerts I’ve been to, they always know how to shake up their setlist and incorporate new and old songs. Their 22 song set list contains 8 songs from their 6th studio album American Beauty/American Psycho (Irresistible, The Kids Aren’t Alright, Novocaine, Fourth of July, Uma Thurman, American Beauty/American Psycho, Jet Pack Blues, and Centuries), 4 off of their 3rd studio album Infinity On High (Hum Hallelujah, “The Take Over, The Breaks Over”, This Ain’t A Scene It’s An Arms Race, Thnks fr th Mmrs), 4 from their 5th studio album Save Rock and Roll (The Phoenix, Alone Together, Save Rock and Rolle, My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark), 2 off of their studio album Folie a Deux (Disloyal Order of Water Buffalos, I Don’t Care), 2 off of their 2nd studio album From Under The Cork Tree (Sugar We’re Going Down, Dance Dance) and 2 off of their first full length album Take This To Your Grave (Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy, Saturday).

Throughout the show, the guys all moved around onstage, tossed their pics into the crowd, and rocked out. They always throw epic concerts, and this one contained a lot of blue and white confetti, beach balls, and fire.

They slowed it down about halfway through when they brought a piano out and Patrick performed an acoustic version of “Disloyal Order of Water Buffalos” followed by “Save Rock and Roll”, which they played as a tribute to David Bowie. Even though these songs were a little bit slower, the emotions of the song and the energy from the entire night was still lingering in the arena. After taking a short breather, they went right back into their set and played their hearts out.

They all left the stage after “Centuries”, and the arena was almost completely black besides the lit walkways. For their encore, they performed “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark” and “Saturday”, a song off of their first album. I wasn’t surprised to see that people were already getting up to leave during Saturday, since it isn’t a song known by casual fans, and also because this has happened at previous concerts too. Fall Out Boy is notorious for closing with Saturday, while bassist Pete Wentz reaches into the crowd and holds hands with the luckiest crowd members.

All in all, it was an exciting concert and all of the performers put on amazing performances. Till next time!

Click here to listen to a playlist of all of the songs from the concert on Spotify!

Feel free to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr where I upload concert pictures and you can be up-to-date on where I’ll be next.

The post Concert Review: Fall Out Boy appeared first on KRUI Radio.