I think he means it in the sense that he doesn't agree with genre titles in general and he calls anything emotional "emo" - he's been saying the same thing for 10+ years. It's his view on it, who cares? I don't necessarily agree with it but I have no issue with him having that outlook on it.
I think most everyone is missing his point with that comment. Regardless of the "official" definition of emo, he's kind of showing how pointless it is to attribute music with that term. Emotion is still a key component of that definition
Really hoping for an interesting record this time. After really enjoying the self-titled album, I found Happiness Is... to be pretty boring, honestly. Especially considering they led with "Flicker, Fade," a song that screams classic TBS, only to deliver an album that I can't seem to get all the way through since the first couple times I heard it. Disappointing. I'll reserve judgment until I hear the whole album this time, rather than the first couple singles, because I'm not going to be fooled again.
It's confusing because the term has been used to refer to multiple genres that don't sound alike, i.e. The World Is... and Boys Like Girls have both been called emo before.
I don't think his quote was that offensive, his point was clear. That said, I don't get why people have to run from the emo name anyway. If someone on the street asked me what I listen to and I said emo, they'd have a rough idea what I'm talking about. Is there ambiguity? Sure. But they're genres, not definitions. Genres are not bad things. On a more important note, Happiness Is was terrific and I'm excited for this.
I really enjoyed HI as well. Excited to hear Tidal Wave, live recording sounds pretty different for TBS.
Ahem...TBS, you're supposed to drop the single when you announce an album. Sheesh. The live recording of "Tidal Wave" in my voice memos on my phone from the Chicago show earlier this month isn't doing enough for me. Good jam though, has a Ramones-y vibe and some good back and forths with Nolan.
Really excited to see that Americana influence shine a bit more than it has. Also very content with the evolution of their sound.
Didn't know they were writing new music. I feel like I should have given Happiness Is... more of a chance. I loved the self-titled album, but have only listened to HI one or two times and it didn't do much for me.
Art, track listing and the song Tidal Wave up on UK iTunes and Apple Music. Tidal Wave by Taking Back Sunday Tidal Wave by Taking Back Sunday on iTunes
Am I one of the only ones who like "New Again" more all these years later ? It's not a perfect record, but it's a good spin
Yellowcard, Bayside, TBS, Saosin and Blink all the in same year. This is amazing. Solid album. Always liked it, spent way too much time on ap.net talking to other people about how it wasn't trash.
Yeah, New Again is good. It's not perfect, but it was totally not worth the vitriol it got. It's definitely in the tier with the self-titled and Louder Now. Happiness Is... Was their best work in a decade. I'm optimistic about their new stuff - it seems like the third record in a row with this lineup could be really, really good.
HAHA maximum throwback. i miss how politically incorrect this video and time period were, this video would never gain traction today
I'm the complete opposite. I really don't like Self-Titled at all. In fact, considering the circumstances ('the reunion album'), it may be one of my most disappointing albums of all-time. Happiness Is... on first few listens, I started to feel the same way, but then for whatever reason, I really, really got into it. I still rank it their 4th best album, but it's a really, really good album imo. They did a lot of stuff on that record they never did before and to me, it was just a big step forward with a more mature sound.
Same way. Didn't like it much when it came out, but over the years, I've really grown fond of it. There are some great tracks on there. In my opinion, MUCH better than Self-Titled, which to me, is easily their worst record.