Taking Back Sunday Band • Page 434

It’s wild in retrospect that they released New Again in June 2009, announced the reunion line-up the following spring, and had their self-titled out June 2011.

I’d say maybe the speed of all that is why the reunion album is a few top tier bangers and lot of mediocrity (maybe they were rediscovering how to be a band again)… Alas, those two follow-ups didn’t really leave much more of an impression on me. Hopefully this new one is the kinda focused, tight, catchy rock album I believe they still have in them!

 

Pleased by The One. A bit on the repetitive side but I love the production flourishes and John getting his own parts to shine is a good sign of things to come. The snippet at the end reminds me of the moodier stuff from Happiness Is even though the drum fill hints at a banger.

 

I'm getting deja vu from the conversation but I think S/T is such an overcooked album. The couple original demos they played on the 2010 tour were perfect and sounded like a more mature Tell All You Friends. Things went wrong once they went back to Eric Valentine and scrapped the bsides to make space for more mediocre material. Seems like they had a quick burst of creativity once John and Shaun came back but they then spent too long tinkering with everything, or weren't really sure where to go direction wise. Such a what if situation.

 

While I would have loved to see the band make at least one more record with Matt Fazzi - I think you’re 100% on the money here. They should have broken up and came back a few years later with the OG line up (or hell - even just Fred) and a stacked record.

 

Had this been properly recorded (with a more inspired choice of a Producer) and perhaps given another pass on the writing towards the end? This could have been an album highlight for sure.

 

Yeah the reunion was announced in March, they did shows together in June, and I think went to heavily record with Valentine in December. I also remember reading that Warner had a heavy hand in this record (it was their last with Warner) and what they wanted the band to sound like. I think not putting You Should’ve Waited on the record was a shame.

 

I didn’t get it at first but now I hear similarities to Read My Mind by The Killers. But I still don’t think “Killers song” when I listen to this

 

Lol annoying reading shit about how they should've broken up. No matter what, New Again was a poor follow up to Louder Now and their momentum was destroyed. Breaking up for a few years wouldn't have changed a thing

 

I mean, we’ll never know for sure. But going away for a bit could have made fans more excited for a comeback. It is what it is at this point.

 

Eh their peak was with Fred and he was never gonna be brought back. The most excitement they were ever gonna generate was the original lineup reuniting and they did that. Their mainstream moment just came and went, that's all

 

Idk, “MakeDamnSure” is better than anything on New Again, but New Again is a way more enjoyable start-to-finish listen for me than Louder Now.

Too bad much of the band’s audience, and the band itself, disagree.

 

Oof hard disagree for me lol

This thread should just be called Agree To Disagree tbh

 

Really weird in my opinion to think that a band would have been better off breaking up under the assumption that if they did, they'd end up writing "better" material.

 

Man, if they released an album called "Agree to Disagree" that would be rad

 

It's an interesting thought exercise. What's better, putting out multiple singles to create build-up and herald the album's arrival or releasing the album first and using the singles to promote the album while it's available for sale?

I wonder if there's any research comparing the two approaches?

 

No one said this though. I was trying to make a point about momentum and comparing them to other scene staples who have recently reunited and are suddenly pulling bigger venues, taking advantage of the nostalgia wave for 00s emo.

 

Maybe I didn't word my posts well but that's also not what I tried to say. I don't wish they had broken up lol

 

Probably? As a fan I definitely prefer the second approach but knowing how fickle the audience and how short attention spans can be for everyone these days, the first approach makes sense to me

 

Eh, Matty kind of leaned it in that direction with their post.

 

So that's why they kicked him out after New Again, got it

 

Will never understand the new again love haha. I swear I listen to the album at least once a year to see if it clicks but nothing. Oh well!

 

Weird trying to follow this discourse in this thread. This band is still playing bigger venues and getting higher billings than most of their scene counterparts are these days. Whether or not it’s deserved or not is a different question, but I think they’re perfectly fine with where they’re at. They lean enough into their earned nostalgia while still releasing and honoring their new material.

 

It would have been cool if the rollout of the self-titled wasn’t so prolonged, like imagine if TBS had the finished album ready for pre-order when they broke the internet with the reunion news. Fall Out Boy did it right when they came back from hiatus. Oh well, it is what it is. I don’t think the band is too worried about where they’re at either.

 

Maybe open your ears next time

 

Maybe take a science class because that’s literally impossible