“All my childhood heroes have fallen off or died,” Fall Out Boy singer Patrick Stump sings on “Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea,” the third track off of the band’s new album, “MANIA.” It’s an interesting statement considering Fall Out Boy’s slick and shiny new album will get curmudgeonly old fans to say the same thing about them.

Since Fall Out Boy came back in 2013, the band’s music has steadily moved farther away from the heartfelt punk rock it originally peddled, towards a more colorful, pop-oriented approach. “MANIA,” released Friday, represents the next stage in Fall Out Boy’s evolution into aspiring pop superstars.

Their change of sound shouldn’t surprise listeners. Even on their self-titled album, Fall Out Boy was a band interested only in writing anthems. They wrote relatable songs about relatable things like relationships, and they would play them like their lives depended on it. Most importantly, they had Stump to sing them until his vocal chords burst.

Bassist Pete Wentz might be the heartthrob who writes the lyrics and founded the band, but Stump’s voice has always been the key to their superstardom and that hasn’t changed on “MANIA.”

Dismissive fans will decry “MANIA” a cash grab, but that’s unfair. The album is anything but lazy, mostly thanks to Stump, who belts his way through the 35-minute runtime. His fire is undeniable on chargers like “Champion” and “Church,” even though the songs themselves are far from Fall Out Boy’s best.

On the eighth song, “Heaven’s Gate,” Fall Out Boy successfully melds pop instrumentation with gospel influence. It’s one of the album’s brightest triumphs and proves Fall Out Boy can rock some new threads. Punk purists beware though: “Heaven’s Gate” sounds more like Justin Timberlake than All Time Low.

It would be nice if the rest of the band showed up though. The songs are so awash with the trappings of modern pop, glossy keyboards and big dumb drum machines, it’s hard to identify any humanity besides Stump’s. Songs like “Hold Me Tight or Don’t” sound less like Fall Out Boy and more like Avicii featuring the singer of Fall Out Boy.

Drummer Andy Hurley gets some spotlight moments, like his tom rolls on glitchy opener “Young And Menace,” but the bass guitar is such a nonentity it’s as if Wentz couldn’t make it to the studio until the album was two-thirds done.

“MANIA” is clearly engineered for the concert experience. All the songs are so bombastic and over-the-top it’s easy to imagine the extravagant, hyper-light shows the band is likely devising to take on tour.

It’s also worth mentioning how lean the songwriting is. There are 10 tracks on the album and none of them run over four-and-a-half minutes. Fall Out Boy have been at this long enough to know how to keep the party moving.

“MANIA”’s chief failings are of pacing. When every song is a skyscraper-sized, mid-tempo stadium rocker, it’s easy to forget which one is which, especially since every chorus shares the same foot-stomping beat. It’s as if Queen released an album that was “We Will Rock You” 10 different times with adjusted lyrics.

For some people, “MANIA” will be a great party; it’s wild, colorful and eager to please. For others, it will too loud, too epileptic and too deeply exhausting.

The band shouldn’t be blamed for trying to expand their sound and stay relevant in a time where guitar bands are dying by the wayside. They’re still accomplished songwriters who toss out major hooks with ease, and Stump has never sounded better vocally. While “MANIA” is produced with the most sophisticated equipment money can buy, its songs don’t sink into the soul. They’re so glossy they just bump and slide down the surface.