Taking Back Sunday - Tidal Wave (September 16, 2016) Album • Page 101

Those are the three I probably listen to the least. Aside from the singles and maybe a few other gems, those are the three albums with the largest number of tracks I'll skip.

 

if you go back to when I bumped this thread a few weeks ago it was clear plenty of fans are still paying attention even in this community.

 

I'd love an Adam solo record as well. Give me all those Tom Petty vibes.

 

Everyone I know who was a TBS fan in the heyday of emo, remains a TBS fan. I've had people I hadn't spoken to in years about the band message me to tell me how good Tidal Wave and Happiness Is were when they released.

TBS is still one of the larger bands in emo/punk/whateveryoucall it, and are still playing big stages to big crowds.

If you're intent on disliking the material, so be it. I just hope you're not one of the stuffy 30-somethings who insist the band will never be as good as tweenish billboard hits like 'Cute Without the E'

There are next to 0 bands from this particular scene that command the attention they commanded in 2003 to 2008. Let's be real. I actually can't really think of any that remain. FOB is still huge but they're a pop group now IMO

 

I get the love for Tidal Wave (and the other reunion lineup records. I think they're all pretty good overall) but its front heavy imo and not stylistically what the masses of their casual fan base want to hear from them. Too many slow songs too and not many fast/heavy sounding rock songs with the classic TBS guitar tones except for maybe Death Wolf which could probably pass as a LN or NA b-side. They're making more mature music than they were 10-15 years ago but that doesn't make it more enjoyable for casual listeners or fans of their older stuff. Its hard to gain many new fans when you don't change your sound to something more accessible to a wider audience being such a heavy nostalgia act. A band like FOB (I only bring them up because I saw them mentioned) is successfully gaining younger/newer fans with their post-hiatus music because its easily listenable, radio friendly pop music for the most part, at least their big singles are. Overall I'd say TBS hasn't necessarily lost fans over the years but they definitely plateaued at a certain point in their history, probably after S/T and I wouldn't say there's much wrong with that. I'm sure they know it and accept it for what it is. They just want to make music that feels most fulfilling for themselves at this point.

 

I think their fans have been very receptive to Happiness Is and Tidal Wave quite a bit. When I look around at shows there are still people singing to most of those songs.

They can't tour entirely off nostalgia. That's just not a thing. They wouldn't be able to play the venues they do entirely based on that.

Also, I think a lot of the people that don't like their newer material, or newer material of a lot of acts, are people who's music tastes haven't changed. As I've aged I've begun to listen to so much more. If you told the 18 - 20 year old version of myself that at 32 I'd love Drake, The 1975, Travis Scott, Harry Styles, Justin Timberlake, and Justin Bieber I would have told you I had a bridge to sell you. I've found that a lot of my friends that say "TAYF AND WYWTB are the only good albums" haven't listened to a new album from any other band in 10+ years either and are still telling me that "The Illusion of Safety" is the best Thrice album ever.

 

That's an unreasonable statement. You can also say "other bands in the scene decided to call it quits in the last 5 years because they couldn't sustain success and sell any tickets to shows". Can't compare one side without the other.

 

^Great points!

This is a band that in the course of 5 years did a tour entirely to support the 10th anniversary of their first album where they played it in full, and then a few years later did a tour where they played their brand new album in full that had been out 1 day when that tour started. I think they have this great, fair balance of lending to nostalgia while still being the band they want to be and playing the songs they want to play.

 

Y’all wanna complain fans don’t know new shit but there’s a very easy answer. It’s just not resonating with people. Deny it all you want I guess

 

"I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to too."

 

They have about 4-6 good songs an album.

 

Thanks for stopping by. What TBS songs do you find yourself still coming back to?

 

Yo, tell me more about this bridge you're selling.

 

@Connor how did they do last night? I know you're not a big fan, so I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

I wouldn’t wholly disagree with the statement that the new music doesn’t resonate with a lot of TBS fans (or more accurately, it doesn’t resonate with more casual/potential new fans), but that’s a very different statement than saying they’re not good anymore. As has been mentioned previously, scene staples that are still doing well are largely playing entirely different genres at this point, which also isn’t necessarily good either.

 

TBS has been one of my favorite bands since I got a hold of the TAYF demos back in early 2002?, and I personally love New Again, Tidal Wave, and Happiness Is.. I would say their self titled is the weakest next to Louder Now.

TAYF and WYWTB are always going to have a lot of nostalgia attatched to them, but Tidal Wave might be their best album. I love the direction they've taken and I really do want them to go more alt-country on the next one.

 

"The Union" is perfect.

 

I don’t think anyone is arguing that TBS is as popular as they were 12-14 years ago because they obviously are not but that doesn’t mean they aren’t making great music still.

 

there are old fans who don't care for the new stuff/haven't bothered to learn the lyrics at literally any show for any major pop punk/emo band, it's a really arbitrary and weird thing to hold up as proof new albums are somehow objectively worse or whatever

Tidal Wave single handedly made me a fan of this band and I know quite a few others in the same position or who got re invested after checking out around New Again, so I can confidently say that album absolutely resonates

 

So it was definitely the best I’ve seen from them. Adam sounded better than i have ever heard him sound. John continues to be the best part of the band. I love Adams transition into the southern preacher thing he has become. His new on stage accent is entertaining. And watching him grin while the crowd sing Cute Without The E is always heartwarming, even if I’m not a huge fan of Adam.

 

Also their best live songs are WYWTB songs and Happiness Is... at least I enjoyed those a lot last night! I wish they woulda played They Don’t Have Any Friends

 

First time i heard it was when they played it live on tour with Blink 182 and Cypress Hill. Also fun fact this was my first encounter with marijuana.

 

Same. Those 4 albums are gold. I think WYWTB is such a draw because it was such a huge improvment from TAYF in terms of song structure, musicianship and production. That, plus it features “One Eighty By Summer” so there’s that.

 

Agreed.
TAYF just isn't very good looking back and I feel like nostalgia is the only reason I still listen from time to time. I remember someone on here talking about how TAYF presented exciting possibilities and the band lost that with WYWTB but it was just a sad boi emo album written by teens that leaned heavily on At the Drive in influences.

I still like it, but it annoys me that it's held up as some sacred album of the scene when WYWTB is better in every way.

 

I think as far as lyrics go, it’s such a better written album too. I think the last time I listened I cringed at one line, in Bonus Mosh. To this day the songs still mean something to me, and I can’t really say that for anything on TAYF.