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Taking Back Sunday

Notes From The Past

Written by: PP on 02/12/2007 06:50:49

Lets start with stating the obvious: Taking Back Sunday's "Notes From The Past" is the latest attempt by Victory Records to grab some extra cash. It is a compilation (best of?) record consisting of material from the band's fantastic debut "Tell All Your Friends" and the equally good sophomore album "Where You Want To Be", with a couple of b-sides tracks thrown into the mix to try and fool people into thinking they are buying something that they don't already own. Taking Back Sunday signed onto Warner Bros Records for their third album "Louder Now", and in a desperate attempt at maximizing their income from their past artist, the Victory Records thought pattern probably went a little bit like this: "How can we make some more money now that all of our big-money artists have either sued us or left the label? Oh I know, lets release a best of album consisting of only songs from two records!".

But as disgusting and insulting to the band as it is (my guess is they won't be receiving any royalties for this one, knowing Victory), there's no way around the fact that the record comprises a bunch of freaking awesome songs that shaped the emotionally charged rock scene significantly around their release. Bands like The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus or A Heartwell Ending probably wouldn't exist if it wouldn't be for these two records, just to name a few bands influenced by them.

Taking Back Sunday's unique combination of melodic riffs, ultra catchy songs and beautiful dynamic vocal interplay between singer Lazzara and backing vocalist Nolan (who left and was replaced with Mascherino, who by now have also left and hasn't been replaced yet) helped launch what is today known as the 'emo' movement into the mainstream.

It's not difficult to see why. Not only does the five piece excel musically in terms of melody and unforgettable choruses, their lyrics are out of this world, describing broken relationships better than any band that I know of. I, for one, can't get tired of the classic lines "So sick, so sick of being tired, And oh, so tired of being sick [...] So obviously desperate, so desperately obvious" in "You Know How I Do", arguably the best song the band has written to date (you know, the 'hazy eyes' song). The witty title "Cute Without The E (Cut From The Team)" says it all.

So ignoring the superficiality of Victory Records in releasing this cash-grab, we can safely conclude that these are some of the best emo songs written to date. The best part is that they are likable whether you like the genre or not, because they don't come across as cheezy crybaby music made for teenage girls - these are real stories about relationships that can be related to regardless of your age. So without further ado, I'm just gonna slap a rating of 'great' onto this CD with the recommendation that you'll download this release, and go to the band website and buy the two records from the band - this release only has half of both albums and you really need to own them in full, if you don't already.

Download: You Know How I Do, Cute Without The E (Cut From The Team)
For the fans of: My Chemical Romance, A Heartwell Ending, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Finch
Listen: Myspace

Release date 30.10.2007
Victory Records