Top 10 Favorite Albums of the 00's: #7

Taking Back Sunday-Tell All Your Friends (2002)

Genre: Alt. Rock, Post-hardcore, Emo

Label: Victory Records

Producer: Sal Villanueva

For those who don’t know, Taking Back Sunday is a band from Long Island who recently re-formed their “original line-up” that they has in their debut album Tell All Your Friends. Released in 2002, Tell All Your Friends still remains a fan favorite. Personally, it is my favorite Taking Back Sunday album. What set the album apart from other’s in their scene of music are the passionate vocals from the lead vocalist Adam Lazarra and backing vocals from John Nolan.  For me, the two vocalist tandem of Adam and Nolan rivals that of the popular Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus combination in blink-182. They compliment each other perfectly and it really makes it unique. I have yet to hear a duo work so well together in a hardcore band (Underoath comes very close).

            Tell All Your Friends kicks off with the frantic track “You Know How I Do”. The song sets the tone an amazing fast pace of the album perfectly. Adam Lazarra

roars:

“So sick, so sick of being tired
And oh so tired of being sick
We’re both such magnifacent liars
So crush me baby, I’m all ears…”

 the lyrics on this album are really standout. They help make each of the ten tracks on the album memorable. The song also gives you a taste of the back-and-forth vocal delivery of Adam and John, which consists throughout the album:

“We won’t stand for hazy eyes anymore,”

 are sung repeatedly by Adam and John tacking turns to make the chorus of the track. It should be noted here that I am a huge fan of layered lyrics. What I mean by layered lyrics is one vocalist sings one thing, while the other sings something else. When done right it sounds epic. If you’re a fan of this than you are in luck, it’s done throughout the album. The next song in titled “Bike Scene”. The song shows off Adam’s killer vocals with a pretty breakdown sung by John Nolan, accompanied by his sister’s, Michelle Nolan, talented vocals singing in the background. The song then explodes to an emotion closure where Adam and John sings back-and-forth:

 “I didn’t want it to mean that much to me.”           

            Next up is one  of the album’s two stand-out tracks, “Cute without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team).” The track drips emotion and has impressive lyrics. The song is a tale about a girl who takes advantage of a guy and basically ruins his life. At the breakdown John Nolan sings: 

 “Hoping for the best just hoping nothing happens
A thousand clever lines unread on clever napkins
I will never ask if you don’t ever tell me
I know you well enough to know you never loved me,”

 with Adam singing in the background,

 “Why can’t I feel anything
from anyone other than you?”

 It adds up to one of the most impressive sections of the album. You definitely feel the emotion coming out of both of them. The song ends with Adam singing:

 “I stay wrecked and jealous for this,
for this simple reason
I just need to keep you in mind
as something larger than life!”

 As the song reaches it’s climax right at it’s end. Following up is the song “There’s No “I” in Team” which is a song that responds to the band’s Brand new song “Seventy Times Seven.” Basically it addresses the falling out of John Nolan and Brand New lead vocalist Jesse Lacy. Very cool song with back-and-forth vocals.

             The album rolls on with the beautiful song “Great Romances of the 20^th Centenary.” John Nolan sings:

 

 “You always come close but this never comes easy,”

 the line is simple but probably is one that everyone can relates to. The song is always a fun one to listen to. A little later is the song “Timberwolves at New Jersey”. The song sounds really raw and comes across as very genuine. The chorus goes: 

“Literate and stylish (literate and Stylish)
Kissable and quiet (kissable and quiet)
Well that’s what girls dreams are made of…”

 It’s a fun song to sing along to. The other stand-out track, and my personal favorite, is “You’re So Last Summer.” It is a really fun and catchy song. The lyrics are also amazing. The best line off the entire album is:

“the truth, is you could slit my throat
And with my one last gasping breath
I’d apologize for bleeding on your shirt,”

sings Lazarra. The song is about someone who genuinely cares about the girl but it just gets lost in translation along the way. The ending erupts to Adam:

 “If I’m just bad news, then you’re a liar,”

 the song is just amazing. I always find myself listening to it.

 This 34 minutes-or-so album of pure energy and emotion will leave you wanting to listen to it again and again. Some tracks are not the best or sound like they could have been done better (“The Blue Channel” and “Head Club”) but overall it’s amazing. One of, if not the most, energetic album I have ever heard. They have recorded one album since getting together, a self-titled “Taking Back Sunday”.  It is not as memorable as Tell All Your Friends and they’ve moved more towards alt. rock rather than hardcore, but I am hopeful that they are on the threshold of making their best album yet.

Standout tracks:

“You Know How I Do”

“Cute without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team).”*

“Great Romances of the 20^th Centenary.”

“You’re So Last Summer.”*

Listen to it from start to finish.