Today's edition of Artist Profile is one of my favorite bands to come out of the Long Island rock scene, Taking Back Sunday. Taking Back Sunday were formed in 1999 in Amityville, Long Island, New York and the band consists of Adam Lazzara on lead vocals, John Nolan on lead guitar, backup vocals and keys, Eddie Reyes on rhythm guitar, Shaun Cooper on bass, and Mark O'Connell on drums. The band's name is derived from the title of a song from The Waiting Process, an acquaintance's band. One original member of the group who would go on to have success in another prominent Long Island area band was Jesse Lacey, who was originally brought on to play guitar and sing, but eventually switched over to bass. Jesse left the band during recording of the band's debut EP to form Brand New, but the band persevered and brought on Adam Lazzara to take over on lead vocals and the band released their self titled debut EP in 2001. The band was signed to Victory Records later on that year and immediately began work on their debut release, Tell All Your Friends. This album went on to become one of the hallmarks of the burgedoning alt-rock scene and immediately left an impression on its listeners when it was released in 2002, containing such powerful tracks like "You're So Last Summer" my favorite "Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)", and "Timberwolves in New Jersey". The band embarked on a string of tours such as the Vans Warped Tour among others, attracting a large contingent of fans in the process as well. In 2003, John Nolan and Shaun Cooper left the band to form Straylight Run, so the band replaced them with guitarist Fred Mascherino and bassist Matt Rubano. The new lineup went into the studio to begin work on their follow up effort, Where You Want To Be which was released in 2004. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 163,000 copies in its first week and producing memorable tracks like "A Decade Under The Influence", "This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know)", and "Set Phasers To Stun". The band embarked on a healthy tour schedule and made appearances on the late night talk show circuit on shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night With Conan O'Brien.
The band's next effort, Louder Now followed in 2006. This was also the first release on their new label Warner Bros. Records, whom they had signed a contract to before the album's release. The album was another step forward for the band, containing gritty tracks like "Makedamnsure", "Liar (It Takes One To Know One)", and "What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?". The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, selling 900,000 copies to date and becoming Taking Back Sunday's best selling album to date. The band embarked on a series of tour dates afterwards, then took a little breather before settling down to begin work on their next release, New Again which saw the light of day in 2009. Before the album's production, the band parted ways with Fred Mascherino so that he could focus on his solo career, and he was eventually replaced by Matt Fazzi. The album wasn't as successful as the past releases were, but still produced some solid tracks like "Sink Into Me", "Lonely, Lonely" and "Carpathia". In March 2010, Matt Rubano and Matt Fazzi were announced as having departed the group, and soon after it was announced that original members John Nolan and Shaun Cooper would be rejoining the band, and the newly reformed original lineup begun work on their brand new self titled release, which will be released tomorrow. Taking Back Sunday have evolved so much from when I first heard them several years back. They have always been that band that provided a much needed emotional intensity for all those spiraling, out of control moments and have provided for a good emotional release as well. I can't wait to hear their brand new album and hope it's as good as I imagined it would be!
Note: My review of the new Taking Back Sunday album will be up on the blog on Wednesday!
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