Based on a True Story is the second studio album by American pop punk band the Starting Line. The group's label Drive-Thru Records had a distribution deal which allowed MCA Records to acquire their bands. After MCA Records was absorbed into Geffen Records in mid-2003, the band spent most of 2004 writing and demoing songs for their next album. Following pre-production in July 2004, the band began recording for Based on a True Story, finishing in September. The album was recorded at various studios in New York state and California. Separate sessions were produced by Tim O'Heir, Howard Benson and Eric Rachel.
Prior to the album's release, "Bedroom Talk" was issued as a single in April 2005, and the band went on tour debuting a handful of songs from the album. Based on a True Story was released through Drive-Thru and Geffen Records on May 10. Peaking at number 18 on the Billboard 200, the album received mixed to positive reviews. Following its release, the band went on the Warped Tour throughout the summer. While on the tour, a music video was released for "Bedroom Talk". Soon after, Geffen de-prioritized the album, which resulted in the band leaving the label in December. Further tours in the UK and the US followed.
Background
The Starting Line formed in 1999, signing with independent label Drive-Thru Records shortly afterwards.[1] The band's debut album Say It Like You Mean It, released in July 2002, was a joint release by Drive-Thru and major label MCA Records.[2] MCA's distribution deal allowed it to acquire Drive-Thru Records' bands over a period of time.[3] By the time the group sold around 300,000 copies, the band was signed to MCA Records,[4] who saw the group's potential. Vocalist Kenny Vasoli said they were content with the label, based on the label's success with contemporaries New Found Glory and Blink-182.[5] Following the conclusion of a US tour with Sum 41 in April 2003,[6] the band took a brief break before they started writing for their next album.[7]
Say It Like You Mean It's lone single "The Best of Me" received attention from MTV2, and was to be released to radio[4] while the group performed on the Warped Tour in the summer.[1] However, MCA Records was absorbed by Universal Music Group (UMG) subsidiary Geffen Records in mid-2003, which resulted in its staff and roster being moved to Geffen.[8] According to guitarist Matt Watts, "We ended up on Geffen, and it just seemed like no one there would assume responsibility for our band."[4] On meeting people from the label, the group were told they would be treated like a new act, which left them disappointed.[4]
In November, they finished writing and were aiming to record their next record in early 2004.[9] Despite this earlier claim, the group said they had only finished writing in January 2004.[10] They subsequently spent over half of the year writing new material[11] and recording demos in Vasoli's basement. After the demos were unexpectedly leaked on the Internet, the band's fans thought it was their next album, but they were just "rough sketches" of what the band was going for.[4] According to Watts, when the band played the demos for their label, the label responded by playing New Found Glory's Catalyst (2004). The label people said: "'These demos aren't this CD, you guys should sound like this.' And that's not us."[4]
Composition
According to Watts, Geffen Records wanted the band to write a Simple Plan-esque record that had a pop sensibility to it that the label could release to the radio.[4] The label pushed the band to write singles, however, the group "fought to the death" to write the record they wanted rather than Say It Like You Mean It, Part 2.[4] According to Vasoli, most of the themes on Based on a True Story stem from having the songs but being frustrated by having to wait to get into the studio to record them.[12] He thought the band had "definitely got more comfortable" with the songwriting process.[12] Vasoli claimed the band expanded their musicality with Based on a True Story.[12] When asked about the allusions to cameras in the song titles, they said that they "didn't realize there were so many camera references, I thought it was just in 'Making Love' [...] I think it's just about being in the Spotlight, not necessarily the camera".[13]
"Inspired by the $" came about when Vasoli attempted to write a song their record label would view as a hit.[14] Fed up, he wrote "Inspired by the $", a song which satisfied his "musical needs more than theirs."[14] According to Vasoli "Bedroom Talk" was inspired by the knowledge he would lose his virginity to someone who would "love me for longer than that night".[11] With this in mind, he wanted the song's lyrics to symbolize the "physical and passionate sides of love" while being honest.[11] Vasoli viewed "Photography" as a typical love song that he wanted to tell "the actual feeling of love".[14] Watts considered the song the band's "November Rain".[15] Similar to "Inspired by the $", "Ready" was another song Vasoli felt went against what the label wanted him to do.[14] They wanted the song to have a verse/chorus formula, which he refused to write.[14]
Recording
Geffen Records attempted to force the group into a direction which they did not want to go in and wanted Neal Avron to produce the album, but the band was determined to do their "own thing" according to Watts.[4] Pre-production began on July 6 and lasted for two weeks while the band worked on 15 songs. During pre-production, Watts felt for the first time that the band was making a record as opposed to a bundle of songs that they simply liked.[11] On August 1, it was announced that the band was one week into recording. On the same day, drummer Tom Gryskiewicz' drum parts were completed. On September 22, following eight weeks of work, recording was finished. Watts called the process "great and really laid back".[11]
Tim O'Heir was enlisted as Vasoli enjoyed Say Anything's ...Is a Real Boy (2004), which O'Heir produced.[16] He produced and engineered "Inspired by the $", "Surprise, Surprise", "Photography", "Autography", "Artistic License", "Stay Where I Can See You", "The B-List", "Ready", "Cut! Print It"[17] and "The World".[18] These tracks were recorded at Mission Studios in Brooklyn, New York.[17] Watts said O'Heir gave the songs an "organic feel" where "it's not all computed and Pro Tools and stuff like that".[4] Additional engineering was done by Oliver Strauss. Additional recording took place at redruM Studios. David "Garo" Yellin arranged the strings on "Photography", and performed cello on the track. David Gold, Amy Kimbal and Taguchi Hiroka played violins on the track. Benjy King played the Hammond B3 organ on "Photography" and "Cut! Print It". Say Anything frontman Max Bemis contributed backing vocals on "Ready".[17] Watts said it was "an honor" to have Bemis sing on the track as the band were big fans of Say Anything.[4] Bemis was invited to sing after O'Heir learned that he was in the city for a gig.[16]
Vasoli said Geffen were not satisfied with how some songs sounded and wanted them to re-record the singles. The band then began working with Howard Benson.[19] Benson produced a new version of "The World",[18] and "Bedroom Talk", with recording taking place at Bay 7 Studios, Valley Village and Sparky Dark Studio in Calabasas, California. The tracks were recorded by Mike Plotnikoff, with additional engineering by Eric Miller. They were also edited using Pro-Tools by Paul DeCarli. Benson also played keyboards and provided programming on the tracks.[17] Eric Rachel produced and engineered "Making Love to the Camera" recorded at Trax East in New York. Shawn Corrigan served as production assistant. Additional production was done by Vasoli. All the recordings were mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, with assistance from Dimtar Krnjaic, at Resonate Music in Burbank, California. Greg Calbi mastered the recordings at Sterling Sound in New York City.[17]
Release
The Starting Line went on a brief tour with Park in October 2004.[20] In February 2005, the band embarked on a US tour with Days Away, JamisonParker and Further Seems Forever, which lasted for six weeks.[21] In April, the group went on tour with Armor for Sleep, Mae, and Suicide Pack,[22] and debuted several new songs: "Surprise, Surprise", "Bedroom Talk", "Ready", "Inspired by the $", and "Photography". Around this time, the band filmed a music video for "Bedroom Talk", which was done on a budget of $35,000.[15][16] On April 12, 2005, "Bedroom Talk" was released as a single.[23] On April 17, "Inspired by the $" was made available for streaming via the group's PureVolume account,[18] followed by three more songs on April 22.[24] Following this, they appeared at The Bamboozle and Flipside festivals.[25][26]Based on a True Story was made available for streaming on May 1, 2005, before being released by Drive-Thru and Geffen Records nine days later.[27][28] The Japanese edition of the album included "Nights and Weekends" as a bonus track. It was later released in Canada on May 24 and in the UK on August 15.[29] Fans who ordered the album within a week of pre-orders being posted received an autographed booklet. Everyone who pre-ordered was entered in a contest to win a Fender Telecaster guitar, and a lesson from a band member. Two runners-up received an assortment of Nike clothing.[18]
To promote its release, the group did a few in-store performances, and appeared at the Y100radio festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[18] Between mid-June and mid-August, the group went on the 2005 edition of Warped Tour.[30] On July 11, the music video for "Bedroom Talk", directed by Corey Petrick, was released.[31] Shortly afterwards, Geffen Records de-prioritized the album and, as a result, despite the band's increasing popularity, provided very little promotion for the single.[1] Vasoli said of the situation: "It was like to go from such a perfect high point and have momentum going so well, then have it slowed down so much by the label".[19] From late-September to late-November, the group went on the 2005 edition of the Nintendo Fusion Tour.[32] On November 3, Alternative Press reported that the band had left Geffen Records and was in discussion with other labels.[33]
The band's departure from Geffen Records was made official in mid-December.[34] According to Watts, the band talked with Geffen president Jordan Schur who understood their concerns and the reasons they wanted to leave the label. "He finally gave us the option to leave, and we did that."[4] Vasoli added that it was "probably like an hour[-long phone] call with them really hashing it out".[19] Vasoli also said that to be released from their contract with Geffen, the band "forfeited rights to the recordings of Based On A True Story. We might run into trouble if we ever try to re-record that stuff".[35] In January 2006, the band co-headlined a UK tour with MxPx, with support from the Matches and I Am the Avalanche.[36] In February and March, the group headlined the Screaming Is for Babies tour, with support from Copeland, Gatsbys American Dream, Cartel, and New Atlantic.[37][38] The album was released on vinyl in 2013.[39]
Based on a True Story charted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 chart.[45] The album received mixed to positive reviews from critics. AbsolutePunk founder Jason Tate wrote that the band's sound was "still catchy, the music still bouncy" with "plenty of guaranteed sing along choruses".[40] He considered it an unexpected release: "I figured it would be good, I never expected it to be great. I'm glad I was wrong."[40] He concluded by calling it "uplifting and incredibly fun to listen to".[40]AllMusic reviewer Johnny Loftus drew a comparison between the band's earlier release The Make Yourself at Home EP (2003) and Based on a True Story. He said the album incorporated acoustic instrumentation, placing focus on Vasoli's "edge-of-tears" vocals, as well as "favoring busy breaks that distract from actual rocking".[41] With this album, Loftus noted that the band "matured into a more grandiose version" of New Found Glory.[41]
Kaj Roth of Melodic magazine mentioned how the group mixed emo and pop punk on Based on a True Story, comparing it to "having Armor For Sleep and Autopilot Off making a record together".[42] Roth thought the album contained "some truly great stuff, a few ok songs and unfortunately 2-3 fillers," suggesting the band should have made an EP instead of an album.[42] Punknews.org reviewer Meg Reinecker noted how the group had used the preceding three years to mature "both vocally and instrumentally".[43] David Wild of Rolling Stone wrote that the band "made their sad songs much less cheesy" on the album.[44] He said the "fresh-faced punk ballads" were "way more palatable" compared to "most emo bloodletting, but it's still too depressive and not as songful as it ought to be".[44] Wild concluded by noting the band knows "how to make sweetly wordy pop out of over-the-top romantic naivete".[44]
Further Seems Forever is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Over its initial eight-year run the band experienced several lineup changes, resulting in a different lead vocalist performing on each of their first three studio albums. Original singer Chris Carrabba recorded The Moon Is Down (2001) with the group before leaving to start Dashboard Confessional. He was replaced by Jason Gleason, who performed on How to Start a Fire (2003) but left the band the following year. Former Sense Field vocalist Jon Bunch joined Further Seems Forever for Hide Nothing (2004). The band broke up in 2006 but reunited four years later with Carrabba on vocals. Their fourth studio album, Penny Black, was released in 2012.
Siren Song of the Counter Culture is the third studio album by American punk rock band Rise Against. Released on August 10, 2004, it was Rise Against's first album on a major record label, after the band signed with DreamWorks Records in September 2003. The recording sessions for the album with producer Garth Richardson were mostly split between two studios in British Columbia. These sessions were marred by numerous distractions and inconveniences, such as the absorption of DreamWorks into Geffen Records, the arrival of a new guitarist, accusations of the band selling out, and the birth of lead vocalist Tim McIlrath's child.
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardcore punk and melodic hardcore, Rise Against's music emphasizes melody, catchy hooks, an aggressive sound and playstyle, and rapid tempos. Lyrically, the band is known for their outspoken social commentary, covering a wide range of topics such as political injustice, animal rights, humanitarianism, and environmentalism.
The Starting Line is an American pop-punk band formed in Churchville, Pennsylvania in 1999. They are currently based in Philadelphia.
Let It Enfold You is the debut studio album by American rock band Senses Fail, released on September 7, 2004, through Vagrant Records. After finalizing their line-up, the band released their debut EP, From the Depths of Dreams, in 2002, which attracted the attention of Drive-Thru Records. The label signed Senses Fail; it had a distribution deal with MCA Records, which allowed them to acquire acts from Drive-Thru. Recording for the band's debut occurred at several studios in New Jersey in April 2003 with producer Steve Evetts. Additional recording took place at the end of the year. Described as an emo and screamo record, several of the songs on Let It Enfold You were influenced by poetry and literature.
Say Hello to Sunshine is the second studio album by American post-hardcore band Finch. Following the release of their debut album What It Is to Burn (2002), the group signed to MCA Records, which soon afterwards was absorbed into Geffen Records. Drummer Alex Pappas left the band in early 2004 and was replaced by Marc Allen. Sessions for the next album took place at a variety of studios with Jason Cupp, Ben Moore and the band producing the proceedings. Prior to the album's release, the band went on tour in the US and Europe, and "Bitemarks and Bloodstains" was released as a single in May 2005. Say Hello to Sunshine was released in June; further tours of the US, the UK and Japan followed soon after.
Say It Like You Mean It is the debut studio album by American rock band the Starting Line, following their debut EP With Hopes of Starting Over.... It was released on July 16, 2002.
The Make Yourself at Home EP is an acoustic EP by American pop punk band The Starting Line released on 25 November 2003.
Kenneth Robert "Kenny" Vasoli is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vasoli is currently the lead singer and songwriter of pop-punk band The Starting Line and psychedelic pop band Vacationer. From 2006 to 2010, Vasoli was also the lead vocalist and chief songwriter of alternative rock band Person L.
Halifax is a four-piece rock band from Thousand Oaks, California. They formed in 2003 and are currently unsigned. Their 2004 EP A Writer's Reference has sold over 60,000 copies to date, after making a cameo appearance on MTV's The Real World: Austin. The band's second full-length album, The Inevitability of a Strange World, was released in May 2006 and charted on the Billboard 200, and debuted #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers In December 2006, they won MTV2's Dew Circuit Breakout competition.
The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path is The Early November's second studio album. The triple disc concept album was released on July 11, 2006, via Drive-Thru Records.
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"Give It All" is a song by American rock band Rise Against. It was originally recorded for the 2004 compilation album Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1, while a slightly altered version appeared on the band's third studio album Siren Song of the Counter Culture later that year. It is a hardcore punk song, with lyrics that are about "being a punk rocker in today's world," according to lead vocalist Tim McIlrath. It was released as Siren Song of the Counter Culture's first single in October 2004.
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Southern Weather is the debut album by Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie's solo-project, the Almost.
Direction is the third studio album by American pop punk band the Starting Line, released on July 31, 2007 through Virgin Records. Following the lack of promotion for their 2005 album, Based on a True Story, the band left Geffen Records in late 2005. Early the following year, they signed to Virgin and spent the remainder of 2006 writing and touring. Sessions for the album were recorded at several studios in California from February to May 2007 with producer Howard Benson. Influenced by the work of James Brown, the Starting Line's vocalist and bassist Kenny Vasoli wrote music around simple grooves instead of the uptempo style of the band's earlier material.
Person L was an American rock band fronted by Kenny Vasoli, of the pop punk band The Starting Line. Vasoli formed Person L in the winter of 2006 as an outlet to explore other musical styles. The group also consisted of drummers Brian Medlin and Ryan Zimmaro, bassist Charles Schneider and keyboardist and guitarist Nate Vaeth.
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Vacationer is an American electropop and dream pop band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is composed of Kenny Vasoli, Ryan Zimmaro (drums), Michael Mullin, Greg Altman. Song writing is done primarily by Kenny Vasoli.
↑ Kohli, Rohan (December 19, 2005). "Good Riddance". AbsolutePunk. SpinMedia. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
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