New TBS falls short

Taking Back Sunday's third album, Louder Now, is an enjoyable record, but it falls short of expectations.Meg Walsh

By Meg Walsh

Published May 2, 2006

Taking Back Sunday is a band rich in history. The first major release by vocalist Adam Lazzara, singer/guitarist/songwriter John Nolan, bassist Shaun Cooper, guitarist Eddie Reyes and drummer Mark O'Connell was titled Tell All Your Friends, released in 2002.

Rumors of a complete breakup buzzed in 2003 after Nolan and Cooper left the band to pursue their own project, the pop-rock outfit Straylight Run.

Not until 2004, after guitarist and vocalist Fred Mascherino and bassist Matt Rubano stepped in to replace Nolan and Cooper, did TBS release its sophomore album, Where You Want To Be.

On April 25, Taking Back Sunday released its third album, Louder Now.

The album starts strong with the fast-paced track "What's It Feel Like To Be a Ghost?" asking listeners "Are you up for, are you up for this?" The entire album is polished, and the sound is a better quality than that on the band's first release.

But the passion in the songwriting on Tell All Your Friends might have left with Nolan. Lazzara used to scream lyrics about love strong enough to control and hate intense enough to kill.

The newest release lacks these intense emotions. The single from this album, entitled "Makedamnsure," is nowhere near as close to the aggression that attracted TBS's devoted fans with songs such as "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" and "You're So Last Summer." The song also doesn't have the impact felt in previous singles, such as "A Decade Under The Influence."

Louder Now also lacks the variation of Where You Want To Be, which featured fast-paced rock tracks including "The Union" and a beautiful, slow acoustic track entitled "New American Classic." Theoretically, a new album is supposed to show lessons learned. The band should progress and become better musicians and songwriters, but Louder Now only shows a loss of intensity.

But the album has its moments. "Spin" has a good beat, an edgy sound in the guitars and the back-and-forth lyrics between Lazzara and Mascherino for which TBS is known.

The chorus shows TBS's famous obsession with the unknown "you" and a writing quality that matches earlier albums: "You had your chance/Open arms reject assuming hands."

"Spin" also features some mature themes, including the beginning of the second verse that begins, "The abortion that you had left you clinically dead/And made it all that much easier to lie/But that's nothing that I'm proud of/I'm making an example out of you."

Tell All Your Friends was full of emotions and edgy music. Where You Want To Be featured songwriting that is still stellar, and the songs are different.

Although Louder Now is an enjoyable album, TBS has flat-lined in its progression.