Taking Back Sunday 'Where You Want To Be' album

Back in late 2001, Taking Back Sunday's founding member Eddie Reyes could only imagine what his life would be like just 3 short years later. With new bass player Adam Lazzara moved up from North Carolina to sleep on his couch and share the Top Ramen, the world was theirs for the taking. After finalizing the initial line-up and moving Adam to lead vocals the band recorded a few demos and begged anyone and everyone to have a listen.

A record deal with Victory Records followed after their demo circulated to an east coast rep of the label.

Their debut album recorded a few short months later, Taking Back Sunday's TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS hit stores at the end of March 2002. The album sold over 2,300 copies in it's first week after the band had barely done more than hit up the local Long Island touring circuit, played a few weeks with indie favorites Rival Schools and spent a few weeks as the opener on a multi-band packaging of the Victory Records tour.

From there it just started to pick up momentum. “We played our first shows in California and one was at a venue called Chain Reaction in Anaheim . We're suddenly 3,000 miles from home and there are like 150 kids singing all of the words to our songs. That was when it hit us. What could really happen,” recalls Reyes.

Before they knew it, a sold out summer tour showed them and the indie label public the force they were about to become. Soon fans were singing along so fervently that it was sometimes hard to hear the stage sound. They continued touring and started playing with more national acts like The Used, Jimmy Eat World and Saves the Day. The cover of Alternative Press and features in Rolling Stone and Spin soon followed.

For the sophmore album, Taking Back Sunday enlisted veteran producer Lou Giordano (Sugar, Goo Goo Dolls, Sunny Day Real Estate) to come in and take five valid musical opinions and craft them into one cohesive album. “The songs really are written by all five of us. They may start with a part or an idea but it's the five of us that make it the song it ends up being,” states Fred. ‘It's fantastic,” recalls Lou “because they've grown so much and added such great musicianship, yet it's still very much Taking Back Sunday. I was honored to be a part of this record.”

Recorded during most of March and April of 2004, the 11-song album, titled WHERE YOU WANT TO BE, was released on July 27 th , 2004 on Victory Records. Filled with their trademark dual vocals and hook-filled, guitar driven songs of love, hate, blame, greed and non-apologetic calling out, this album connected with their audience much in the same way as their debut which has already scanned over 500,000 copies. “We didn't quite know what we were going to come out of the studio with,” remembered Adam. “The second we all heard it finished, I just can't describe the look on everyone's face...I can only explain it as shock; it was exactly what we wanted. I personally could not be happier to be a part of this record.”

The tracks range from solid opener “Set Phasers To Stun,” an urgent Police-like tune, to the hardcore finger-pointing song “The Union.” Acoustic string-laden “New American Classic” showcases the level of songwriting capabilities combined with the softer singing voices of the two vocalists while “One-Eighty By Summer” showcases much of their vocal range and repeats the unanswerable question we all pose “Why can't you just be happy?” The albums' first single was chosen immediately by the band, which sees it as a song that reflects all sides of Taking Back Sunday, musically and lyrically. Aptly titled “A Decade Under The Influence,” it's a biting number that starts out soft while telling an opposite tale, eventually confidently whispering and repeating the anthem “to hell with you and all your friends.” Add in a few more expertly crafted pop sounding songs and the album is complete with the trademark Taking Back Sunday curves that sometimes come back around and sometimes leave you off a different road. “It would be next to impossible to play anyone half of the album and still get a sense of the entire thing. We all have different favorite songs, it's a great problem to have,” recalls Mark. “There's a depth to this record that you always hope for when you start. Now that it's finished I hear more every time I listen” adds Fred.

With the often agonizing sophomore album complete and out of their hands, Adam, Matt, Eddie, Mark and Fred did not have much time to ponder its impact. “In 2004 we were not home at all, and that's exactly what I wanted,” states Adam. The band finished mixing the tracks just in time to start a month of North American dates with Blink 182, finding time to make a stop at the HFStival in Washington , DC . Then they headed out for their first trip overseas to play the Donnington Download festival (with headliners Metallica) and then headline their own sold out shows including their virgin London gig in the legendary 2,000 capacity Astoria .

They returned from that to play KROCK-NY's Dysfunctional Family Picnic with the Beastie Boys, The Strokes and a bunch of others in the band's hometown backyard amphitheater, Jones Beach . “We're in surreal pretend land,” exclaims Matt. With no rest in sight, they immediately flew to Texas to begin their entire summer run as one of the headliners on the 2004 Vans Warped Tour, and then back to the UK for a main stage stint on the infamous Reading and Leeds Carling weekend.

Prior to the albums' release, Taking Back Sunday released an album track titled “This Photograph is Proof (I Know You Know)” on the hugely successful Spider-man 2 Soundtrack. August 2004 found them on another Alternative Press cover, Rolling Stone's ‘Hot Band' and Launch's Emerging Artist just as their video for “A Decade Under The Influence” was declared Buzzworthy on MTV and M2.

On August 2, WHERE YOU WANT TO BE debuted in the #3 spot on the Billboard Top 200 Chart with 163,000 units in sales for the first week, making them the highest selling rock band in the United States for the week. It's hard not to imagine that this is exactly where they WOULD want to be. Matt put it best; “the band has focused all of its energy on the present and future...we're ready for anything.”

The band continued to tour, selling out their entire Fall Headlining run. 50 shows sold out in advance in larger venues than they had ever anticipated playing, let alone headlining. Selling out three solid nights at the Starland Ballroom in NJ during a holiday time where most shows were slow was one example of why promoters across the US's confidence in the band continues to grow. “We could have put three more on sale, the tickets would have just kept selling” says Stan Levinstone, Starland's promoter. Their insane touring schedule for 2004 didn't end there. A few weeks of radio shows with bands like Franz Ferdinand, Muse, The Killers, My Chemical Romance and Modest Mouse followed as Taking Back Sunday prepared to release “This Photograph is Proof (I Know You Know)” as their second single from WHERE YOU WANT TO BE in January of 2005. The video was directed by Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 fame and really showcases the bands' energetic live performance. MTV2 began airing a “Makes A Video” half hour special just before the new year.

“It's hard to believe that we've scanned over 550,000 copies of this album already and we've barely been on the radio,” remarks Reyes. “As a matter of fact it's really hard to imagine that we've scanned over a million records between the two albums. We know we are so lucky. Most bands don't get that lucky, and we appreciate it every day.” WHERE YOU WANT TO BE has in fact remained on the Billboard Chart for 24 weeks straight and was the #3 Independent Album of 2004. FUSE and MAXIM Magazine declared Taking Back Sunday 2004's #1 Rising Star.
As they headed to Europe in January of 2005 for their third UK run, now selling out 5,000 tickets at the legendary Brixton Academy in advance, the past year seems like a blur. Year end accomplishments like “Band of the Year” and “Artist of the Year” from the College Music Awards and Alternative Press's Readers Poll and inclusion in numerous Year End countdowns including Rolling Stone's Top 50 albums of 2004 and FUSE TV's year end Top 10 Rock Countdown still take the band by surprise. “My wife's mom called me and woke me up because we had the #1 song on 89X Detroit's year end countdown,” remembers Reyes. “It's still pretty unreal.” “I've accomplished more than my wildest dreams,” adds Adam. If I wasn't doing this, I have no idea what I would be doing. I want to do this for the rest of my life.”

Adam Lazzara – lead vocals
Fred Mascherino – guitar, vocals
Eddie Reyes – guitar
Mark O’Connell – drums
Matt Rubano – bass

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Taking Back Sunday - Where You Want To Be