Folie à Deux ([fɔli a dø]; French for "A Madness Shared by Two") is the fourth studio album by American rock band Fall Out Boy, released on December 10, 2008, by Island Records.

As with their previous two albums From Under the Cork Tree (2005) and Infinity on High (2007), its music was composed by lead vocalist and guitarist Patrick Stump, with lyrics penned by bassist Pete Wentz.

To promote the album, the band launched a viral campaign based around a Big Brother-type organization named "Citizens For Our Betterment" and embarked on an extensive tour schedule.

[11] With the help of Neal Avron, who produced Fall Out Boy's last two records, the quartet decided to simplify the music on Folie à Deux as opposed to the multi-layered sound of Infinity on High.

[10] Folie à Deux was intended to be very different from the previous three Fall Out Boy albums, which were all interconnected musically and thematically; Stump described the new songs as "having a lot of freedom [...] it's our first just plain old record in a while.

"[23] On Folie à Deux, Fall Out Boy continued its pattern of musical experimentation that began on the band's previous album, Infinity on High.

[26] Joey Rosen of Rolling Stone commented that "They further explore their funky side here: Stump is emerging as one of the world's most unlikely blue-eyed-soul stars, breathing life into classic R&B chord progressions and flaunting his agile voice.

"[27] Trohman drew influence from Queen while creating guitar harmonies to match Stump's vocals on the record, while his other styles were inspired by Metallica, Prince, and The Rolling Stones.

[21] The pregap hidden track "Lullabye" is an acoustic ballad influenced by Bob Dylan, written with the intention of helping Wentz' son, Bronx Mowgli, fall asleep.

[29] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly categorized the album's opener, "Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes", as a "towering guitar anthem built on wedding-march organs, thundering drums, and singer Patrick Stump's limber vocals.

[24] The first single "I Don't Care" has been described as "disco rockabilly", and contains a repeating blues riff throughout the song; Stump's vocal performance on the track has been compared to John Lee Hooker.

[27] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated "Fall Out Boy pile everything onto their fifth album: cameos from superstars and running mates, so many that Lil Wayne and Debbie Harry are barely heard; thundering arena rock rhythms and ultra-slick hair metal riffs; hints of soul and R&B.

"[24] Wentz, despite many recent personal developments (marriage to Ashlee Simpson, birth of his son, Bronx), desired to shift the focus away from himself and turn it outward onto the world.

"[15] The songs on the album explore decaying relationships, moral dilemmas, politics, and societal shortcomings, as well as concepts such as trust, infidelity, responsibility, and commitment.

[24] Stump tagged Folie à Deux as a "message record" that aims for "the materialistic dance between any two parties obsessed with each other, whether it's teenage girls and handbag makers, politicians and lobbyists or tabloids and stars.

"The title of the album is Folie à Deux, and when considering this with the band's popularity, I chose to focus on the idea of fandom, and how some people are willing to take their love/infatuation to levels that are obviously unhealthy.

[69] "Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet" impacted United States modern rock radio on June 15, 2009,[70] while "What a Catch, Donnie" was later issued as Folie à Deux's third and last single.

As part of it, Copeland launched a similarly named site, CitizensForOurBetterment.com, and spread links through various Fall Out Boy fan blogs to attract more people to the new website.

[71] While this mixing of campaigns was done without the knowledge of the members of Fall Out Boy, Wentz did post an acknowledgment on August 22, when CFOB again "hijacked" the Decaydance Records website.

[48] Fall Out Boy later announced on October 13 that the early November date was in doubt, citing concerns over the planned election day tie-in.

He compared the meaning of the term folie à deux ("a madness shared by two") to the two very distinct feelings expressed in the different sides of the record, calling the album a good representation of the band's career.

"[27] Spin's David Marchese complimented the album's forays into strange territories, calling tracks such as "I Don't Care" and "What a Catch, Donnie" impressive.

[25] Rock Sound's Faye Lewis also enjoyed the variety, calling the album "a non-stop exotic cabaret for the ears, delivering a far-reaching selection of songs that leap between a blend of catchy pop punk.

She called the album's sounds a "pleasure bot of right-now pop, adroitly programmed with crunchy '80s melodies, emo's dark prowess and symphonies à la Sgt.

Cataldo also expressed displeasure with Lil Wayne's performance as well as production from Pharrell Williams, which he deemed a "promising concept [...] quickly discarded", summarizing that, "Folie à Deux seems to prove, if nothing else, that Fall Out Boy is good at masking their best qualities and pushing forward their most annoying ones.

[87] Within two months of its release, Folie à Deux was certified Gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of 500,000 copies.

[citation needed] The day before Folie à Deux arrived in stores (December 15), Fall Out Boy had planned on staging an impromptu concert in New York City's Washington Square Park.

"[92] To promote the album, Fall Out Boy embarked on the Believers Never Die Tour Part Deux, which included dates in the United States and Canada.

[95] Wentz noted that the purpose of the formal dress was to demonstrate "how the rich rob the poor", and encouraged fans to direct attention to poverty-stricken nations such as Sri Lanka and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"[96] Due to the conflicting fan opinion regarding the album, concertgoers would "boo the band for performing numbers from the record in concert", leaving Stump to describe touring in support of Folie as like "being the last act at the vaudeville show: We were rotten vegetable targets in Clandestine hoods.