Taking Back Sunday – Self-Titled

Taking Back Sunday are the prime example of a band trying to grasp onto their past and ride the wave of nostalgia. Their break through album back in 2002, Tell All Your Friends, was raw, passionate and powerful; turning the New Jersey five-some into one of the front runners of the then nascent emo movement.

It was successful ride that they were unable to maintain and with each passing album (and line-up change), Taking Back Sunday became a sad imitation of itself. For their fifth album, their first self-titled album, the band once again tried to reclaim the glory days of their Tell All Your Friends era and promoted heavily the fact that Taking Back Sunday was the first record since TAYF that they actually had their original line-up in tact.

This gave them a refreshed sense of vitality that seeps into the album, ensuring that it is light-years better than the bland and forgettable New Again; but that’s not to say it’s anywhere near their landmark album.

Taking Back Sunday is a thickly produced, alternative album through and through. It’s full and crisp, better mixed than anything they’ve done before which, sadly, comes at a cost as Taking Back Sundaywould be better off with a bit more of an edge. TAYF was raw, spastic and sincere and Taking Back Sunday lacks some of that.  Even the signature duelling vocals of Adam Lazzara and John Nolan fails to be as striking as they originally were. While it’s nice to hear the two vocalists trade off lines, they’re no longer yelling over one another with alternating lines but rather doing slightly delayed harmonies repeating the same lines. It adds a little depth, yes, but no where near as striking as they could have been had they delivered different lyrical couplets.

Despite my generally negative tone, there are moments of entertainment scattered throughout Taking Back Sunday; and luckily, there’s enough of them to keep me coming back for more. The lead single, Faith (When I Let You Down), is a energetic, open-armed anthem; like a heavier-rock version of Angels & Airwaves with just the right amount of loud meets quiet sections. Formulaic? Perhaps, not that I really care.

Sad Savior slows it down, showcasing Lazzara’s vocals in it’s flowing chorus and This Is All Now is the first song that glints at the duelling vocals that make Taking Back Sunday a house hold name almost a decade ago. The sparse, four minute closer Call Me In The Morning could be described as the album’s must-have ballad, yet it doesn’t come off as overly cheesy but rather actually fairy moving.

Located throughout are a few duds – El Paso was a horrible choice to open the album with – and several forgettable tunes (Money (Let It Go) along with You Got Me are just two of the examples). Lazarra’s lyrics aren’t as striking as they once were, as he seems to be going through the motions at times. But when delivered with the right sense of passion (faked or not), even the most generic line has the potential to incite some sort of powerful response.

On Taking Back Sunday, Taking Back Sunday are attempting to re-create the glory days of Tell All Your Friends and are falling short of it by a long shot. Nevertheless, it still remains their strongest material in years – be it for the nostalgic element or the few odd gems hidden amongst all the rough.