Taking Back Sunday Artistfacts

Taking Back Sunday song list

Taking Back Sunday Artistfacts

2000-
Adam LazzaraVocals2001-
Shaun CooperBass2000-2003, 2010-
Ed ReyesGuitar2000-2018
John NolanGuitar2000-2003, 2010-
Mark O'ConnellDrums2001-2024
Fred MascherinoGuitar2003-2007
Matt RubanoBass2003-2010
When frontman Adam Lazzara first joined Taking Back Sunday it was to replace founding member Jesse Lacey on bass. Not long after, they were left without a vocalist when their original lead singer, Antonio Longo, left the band. The rest of the guys invited him to step behind the mic and he nervously agreed. "I remember getting into his Windstar with that demo and just driving around singing those songs, just to make myself actually do it," he recalled to Alternative Press in 2011.
As a joke, the band used to say they got their name from the B-side of the Smiths' 1985 single "How Soon Is Now?" (the record has two songs on the flip side, neither of which is titled "Taking Back Sunday"). In reality, they took it from a song by fellow Long Island band The Waiting Process.
When Taking Back Sunday released their debut album, Tell All Your Friends, in 2002, the Long Island natives were hailed as key figures in the revival of emo - thanks to edgy tunes like "Cute Without The E (Cut from the Team)" and "You're So Last Summer" - though they'd prefer to be known as a rock band. The band was signed to the Chicago-based Victory Records for their first two albums, including their breakthrough sophomore release, Where You Want To Be (2004), and had their major-label debut via Warner Bros. with the hard-rocking Louder Now in 2006.
Taking Back Sunday's song titles usually have no relevance to the lyrics at all - they get them by flicking through the TV guide or other random places. For example, their 2002 song "Timberwolves At New Jersey" was inspired by an item about the Timberwolves NBA team facing off against the New Jersey Nets. Lazzara, who isn't much of a basketball fan, was scared by the news - he thought actual rabid wolves were on the attack in New Jersey.
Before joining Taking Back Sunday as a replacement for bass guitarist Shaun Cooper, who left the band with guitarist/vocalist John Nolan to form the group Straylight Run in 2003, Matt Rubano played bass on Lauryn Hill's debut solo album, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (1998).
Before signing with Warner Bros., Taking Back Sunday were courted by several other major labels, with record executives constantly showing up at their concerts and flying them on private jets to meetings. One of them was Gary Gersh, who signed Nirvana to Geffen. It was a tempting offer considering Nirvana was a huge influence on the band, particularly on Lazzara, who dreamed of forming his own band after listening to Nirvana's classic 1991 Nevermind album for the first time.
Lazzara grew up with a bad stutter that mostly went away as he got older, but he still deals with it sometimes.
Lots of bands include quirky requests on their tour rider because it lets them know if a venue will fulfill the more important details (Van Halen famously requested that no brown-colored M&Ms be allowed backstage at their shows). When Taking Back Sunday began touring, they asked that a pre-Dangerous poster of Michael Jackson be provided wherever they played. They weren't really serious, but some venues actually followed through. Lazzara told CBS News in a 2006 interview that the request "just takes the cake for the most ridiculous thing ever, 'cause you gotta go out and look for it."
Lazzara is known for his mic-swinging antics, which started at an early show because his microphone wouldn't work. He's knocked out his tooth and knocked himself out with the mic. It's not uncommon for him to hit other band members either.
Even people who don't listen to Taking Back Sunday know tunes like "MakeDamnSure" (2006), their first foray onto the Billboard Hot 100, but there are songs that even hardcore TBS fans might gloss over. In a 2019 Alternative Press TV interview, the band listed some of their favorite deep cuts, including "Slowdance On The Inside" (Where You Want To Be, 2004); "Everything Must Go" (New Again, 2009); "How I Met Your Mother," "Better Homes And Gardens" (Happiness Is, 2014); "Homecoming" (Tidal Wave, 2016); "El Paso," "Who Are You Anyway," "This Is All Now," "You Should Have Waited," "Since You're Gone," and "Call Me In The Morning" (Taking Back Sunday, 2019).
Jesse Lacey left Taking Back Sunday in 2000 because of a fight with John Nolan over a girl and formed his own alt-rock band, Brand New. The beef led to a number of musical disses lobbed between the two bands, with Brand New issuing the vicious "Seventy Times 7" and TBS responding with the same vengeful energy on "There's No I In Team." While Lacey and Nolan eventually made up, Lazzara still spoke negatively to the press about Lacey even years after the initial feud. Despite this, Lazzara told Kerrang in 2020 that the whole thing was made up to try to emulate the famous row between rappers Jay-Z and Nas.
Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 directed the music video for the Tell All Your Friends single "This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know)." Taking Back Sunday were a supporting act for Blink-182 on their 2003 tour.
Fred Mascherino, who replaced John Nolan as Taking Back Sunday's guitarist and co-vocalist in 2003, left the band in 2007 to pursue his solo project called The Color Fred. His bandmates weren't too happy with his exit, especially after he publicly said they were more interested in cooking food than making music. In response, they recorded the diss track "Capital M-E.," which compares Mascherino to a snake.

Comments: 17

Aimee from Edmonton , AbIt's appaling the ignorance of people. Bands (or good bands, I should say) right about what they're feeling. And everyone on the planet has weak moments of sadness or heart break, writing about them is the way that some people deal with these feelings, and out of this writing we are blessed with beautiful music. I am an extremely happy person, I participate in sports and hang with friends. I am the polar opposite of what you would call 'emo', and I enjoy this music. Shame on anyone who is using such rude, and ignorant terms. I am sure that you all have your fair share of problems.
Kyle from San Antonio, TxI like how eager you are to generalize bands "emo"bands of today when their subject matter is no different than classic rock bands that have inluenced pretty much every song you hear today. To say all they write about is "angst, teen emo love, how they wish someone out there would love them, and killing themselves under pressure" really shows your ignorance toward the meaning behind these songs. These artists are greaet lyricists who have multiple meanings behin every song. It may sound like it is about a girl, like 'A decade Under the Influence', when in actuallity it is about Nolan and Cooper leaving the band. I am baffled by the sheer stupidity of some poeple.
Dani from Chicago, Ili don't understand where this emo thing is coming from man. its just rock music really...each album has a different sound. but i mean they don't wear makeup or w/e emos do.
Autumn from Friendswood, Txok michael [[texarkana]] you are completely wrong. ok emo is not necesarily wrist cutting. ok. it is short for emotional. and its not only girls either. and the used, mcr, tbs, and hh do not suck. and they dont sing about the same things. taking back sunday doesnt say much about "wrist slitting" and neither do the others. they do some times but not all of their songs do. so you can just shut up. and you shouldnt say things about emos. i get called emo practically everyday and it hurts. so just shut up
Emma from Mt. Pleasant, Scokay-if a bad has semi-depressing lyrics they're emo?righttt.but its not fair to look at the people who listen to a band and judge a band's musical talents b/c of that. TBS is an very talented band.their main market is teenegers.what are teenagers going through?love,loss,depression,ect. so doesnt it make sense that they would sing about that?
Erika from Montebello, CaDown with labels people! They are what makes this world suck. No one's this or that because there's too much overlap. Taking Back Sunday doesn't even sub-catogorize themselves, they're just a good old rock band.
~EMR, CA
Caroline from Long Island, Nyhawhtorne hieghts does however suck
Chris from Derwood, MdMicheal your an idiot if you want to be a closed minded (deleted) and hate a whole genre of music because you think all that stuff you can just go to hell
Nikki from Brampton, Canadai love taking back sunday! they rock
Jeevan from Brampton, CanadaTaking Back Sunday rocks! I especially like their song You're So Last Summer. It rocks!
Jeff from Neenah, Wii agree with "bob dylan". im more of a classic rock/phychedelic rock fan but i still think TBS is some powerfull stuff
Bob Dylan from Detroit, Mitheir name did not come from a smiths song, they told me that they like to think it did because it sounds cool but read this interveiw Rough Edge: The name of the band, John. Is it true that it was the name of a Smith's B-Side?

John Nolan: That's actually not true, no. I think Ed (Reyes, guitarist), and Adam, (Lazzara, vocalist), said it a few times in previous interviews because it sounded cool. It's amazing, The Smith's have helped us out ... (laughs) but people are a little upset when they hear it's not true because it does sound cool
Bob Dylan from Detroit, Miemo, its just a label man, if you would actually listen to thier music and lyrics they are amazing. im a jock and prep and i love thier music so dont label artists
Jace from Brisbane, AustraliaTBS...ther my favourite band...ive seen them live and they kick ass...now as for this emo fight...just wanted to say that i dont mind emo but i dont hate it either...you guyz should calm down and stop bagging out talented artists...bet u guyz dont even play guiter...lol...k...well bi
Jim from Oxnard, CaYou want real emo? Listen to the blues.
Michael from Texarkana , TxEmo is for pubescent girls who cut their wrists because they say "My life is over because my boyfriend hates me and I can't take the pressure of being ignored by my parents." Along with The Used,My chemical Romance, Hawthorne Heights, and Taking back Sunday they all suck and sing about the same thing. ie: Angst, teen emo love, how they wish someone out there would love them, and my favorite: killing themselves under pressure. Emo is just plain crap.
Micah from Huntington Beach, Caif you like mo bands, it doesnt get any better than this

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