Taking Back Sunday has grown one of the biggest fan following's in rock today. This is what started the band and really gave energy to there fan base. The emotion in all the songs, the screaming of Adam and John Nolan, The instrumental work was just done perfect in 2002. Victory Records sign the band after a 2001 EP of five songs from the album.
Tell All Your Friends:
1. You Know How I Do
The inverse of lyrics is so catchy in the begging of this song, "So sick so sick of being tired, and oh so tired of being sick". The rhyming scheme in this song is very good as John and Adam do perfect duel vocals "Were such magnificent liars, so crush me baby I’m all ears". After the electric start to what we know now as Taking Back Sunday, the band mellows down into a disappointing chorus "We won't stand for hazy eyes anymore" is repeated throughout the chorus with little emotion, but the duel vocals in the chorus still stand out. The end of the song which is kind of taking over by Adam as he repeats a brilliant lyrical session, "We smoked out of the back of your van", and many other fitting lines are put in, and the first song on Tell All Your Friends comes to an end, and a great start to the album. 4.5/5
2. Bike Scene
The lines in Bike Scene are often lazy and unprepared, the catchiest line in the song "I can be your best bet, let alone your worst ex" wasn't even written by the band. I also believe that the chorus is too much similar to the one in "You're So Last Summer" the ninth track on the album. Towards the end the song mellows out and drags on with some annoying female vocals. Not my favorite song on here. 3/5
3. "Cute Without The E"
The simplest way I can put this is, the best song Taking Back Sunday has ever recorded. The catchy riff, the screaming, the chorus that basically defines pop-punk combined into one song. This is what makes this song an absolute masterpiece. The first time I listen to it, was the first time I had listened to Taking Back Sunday so I had to get used to the duel vocals, but they are at there peak in this song as well. Something Taking Back Sunday has on here that no pop-punk band can ever match is the chemistry, it's almost like the two singers feed of each other and get their energy that way. The end of the song is absolutely unbelievable, Adam screams "Why Can't I feel anything from anyone other than you" and John continues his fast singing in the background of the song. The perfect track, absolutely perfect. 5/5
4. There's No "I" in Team
This song is just about as good as the last track; it has such a dark and sicotic feeling to it that we had never seen in this brand of music before. You really have to give props to the instrumental work in this song for creating such a "dark feel" to the song. You combine all of this with the spotless background vocals from John Nolan, and you have a complete song. The chorus in this song is great, it combines everything Taking Back Sunday is in a matter of a few lines. 5/5
5. Great Romances of the Twentieth Century
The next song was actually the first single of the album, it has it's moments but is really an up and down track. It doesn't have the dark feel of the last tracks, and is a little to poppy for this album. It would have probably have fit better on Where You Want To Be, than Tell All Your Friends. But the lines after the first chorus are just perfect for the song. "C'mon, C'mon lets get this over with”, the song is still worth an occasional listen, and is a pretty good calm after the storm track to "There's No "I" in Team.
6. Ghost Man On Third
This song really brings back the dark feel to the album. It has that mellow riff at the begging, and is accompanied by Adam's well-written vocals at the introduction of the song. This lead's into a pre-chorus were Adam and John scream "Silence means everything", and leads into a chorus that has to be one of my favorites from Taking Back Sunday. The wonder to what the chorus means when in the other songs in this album it's clear what the chorus means, the screaming of John Nolan. This chorus is followed by one of Taking Back Sunday's catchiest lyrical sessions, "inches from my waist it's my face versus the bottle", and that is followed by the chorus I talked about earlier. The female vocals in the background start, and Adam mumble in the background. This leads into another lyrical session by Adam, which is just brilliant. The song ends with the screaming of the same line, which is actually pretty well done. 5/5
7. Timberwolves at New Jersey
To make it clear, the title has absolutely nothing to do with the song. The song is probably the most similar to "Great Romances" earlier on the CD. It starts with Adam telling a crowd to "Get Up and Let's Go", and it develops into a few catchy and a few wasteful pop-punk lines. The chorus carries a little bit heavier but slower of a beat, and accompanies better lines with the better beat. The end of the song is absolutely epic. Adam Says "This is me with the words on the tip of my tongue and my eye down the scope of a barrel of a gun, remind me not to ever act this way again". John starts to scream and it leads into a more energetic chorus, and it makes it twice as good. 4/5
8. The Blue Channel
It seems like Taking Back Sunday comes after you with something new every song of this album, and this starts out with a very not rocking piano jam session and ends into the perfect dark song. The dark-not so dark-dark pattern on this album makes it really the perfect mix of songs. The screaming throughout the song is so half-hearted and well done. The end of the song doesn't make a lot of since though, but the song is still great. 4.5/5
9. You're So Last Summer
The lyrics in this song are so perfect and it's the first song on the album to be dark and not so dark at the same time. To explain myself, the riff is light and not dark, but the lyrics can still be dark "You could slit my throat", "Maybe I should hate you for this". The chorus in this song is very good, and the end of the song Adam sings, "If I’m just bad news, you're a liar", "If I’m just bad news, you had it right all along". Such catchy lyrics in this song and a mix of everything this album has brought to the listener. 5/5
10. Head Club
The dramatic last track on the album. The chorus is kind of expected and so are the lyrics and riffs but it still manages to stay true to the album so you have to respect it. The lyrics in this song are probably the best on the album even though they are still about a relationship, "Don't call my name out your window, I'm leaving", echoes towards the end of the song. What I really respect of this song is that the chorus is only repeated once. Why is this so important? They didn't try to over-use the chorus like they did in some other songs. A great closer to the album. 4.5/5
In conclusion, the album is probably Taking Back Sunday's best. It combines a dark song and a not so dark, pop-punky song element to it that gives you a perfect mix of songs. Most of the songs all have something different that makes them special. A great album.
