"Bike Scene" is a blasting, dynamic rocker featuring the aforementioned vocal stylings of frontman Adam Lazzara, with guitarist John Nolan providing some backup help as well on the mic and contributing a great deal to the soul and essence of this band that has made them one of the preeminent bands of this generation and one that a great deal of youth currently in their 20's still resonate with quite strongly today. My favorite song off the album and my favorite TBS song is "Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)" a melodic, non-stop thrill ride that will have you singing along from the moment the track first begins until the moment it ends, a perfect and concise song that is the defining track from the band's catalog and is also one of the genre defining tracks from the early 2000's where other bands in the scene also had songs permeating all throughout the subculture as well. "There's No 'I' In Team" is a chilling, low-key rocker that still packs a formidable punch thanks to Adam's dynamic vocal presence and John's backup of him providing a dual 1-2 punch that no other band out there today can replicate with such authenticity if they even tried. "Great Romances of the 20th Century" starts out on a low-key scale featuring a slow intro and vivacious, pounding rhythms that tug at your heartstrings almost immediately upon impact and leave a lasting impression on you once you've finished listening to it.
The second half of the disc starts off with "Ghost Man On Third" a mysterious, downtempo track featuring scaled down rhythms and Adam's vocals providing the emotional backdrop for one of the few low-key tracks found here on this effort that show off the diversity of the band and their capabilities of dabbling in varying degrees of tempos with remarkable ease. "Timberwolves at New Jersey" is a throbbing, melodic fueled thrill ride that will have you rocking along all the way through with Adam and John keeping everything in check with dual toned vocal harmonies that dazzle when they're combined together, and the impeccable bass work of Shaun Cooper provides instant gratification that you can't get from any other band out there today. "You're So Last Summer" starts out the album's end with Adam providing dynamic vocal lyricism with standout lyrics like, "Boys like you are a dime and dozen" and Shaun's fast paced bass work giving the album an emotional charge that is one of the most profoundly affecting tracks featured here on this album. The disc rounds out on "Head Club", a standard issue track that shows off all the band's unique and individual talents in one fell swoop and proves why they are one of the premiere bands of the early 2000's and one of only a handful of bands that are still active today that continue to influence the minds of music lovers and younger upstart bands out there today. I can't personally think of another album where people sang along to every single lyric on the album and bumped every person around in the mosh pit at one of their concerts. I saw TBS in concert two years ago at the House of Blues in Boston and was present to witness firsthand the range of ages of all the people in attendance from 18-26 years of age that just shows the full range of impact that Taking Back Sunday has had on the minds of concertgoers from yesterday and today.
All in all, a perfect and career defining effort from Taking Back Sunday, an album that started it all and a band that still to this day has a emotional charge that resonates with every single music listener around that identify with the album's message and how it makes them feel.
Album Score: 5/5
Track Listing:
- You Know How I Do
- Bike Scene
- Cute Without The "E" (Cut From The Team)
- There's No "I" In Team
- Great Romances of The 20th Century
- Ghost Man on Third
- Timberwolves at New Jersey
- The Blue Channel
- You're So Last Summer
- Head Club
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