I'm sure there is plenty to quibble with in this take, and it is 100% influenced by my own personal music tastes and such, but this album and MakeDamnSure as a single feel like the high water mark of the emo/pop punk/whatever you want to call it domination of the airwaves and popular music. Between Welcome to the Black Parade, Dusk and Summer, and then this coming out in that 2nd half of 2006/early 2007, it felt like the culmination of the popular run of the "scene", especially considering the bands and songs in the genre that came after that time stamp. The bands that kind of took the 'torch' from there (All Time Low being probably the most prominent I think?), never seemed hit the same popular heights as MakeDamnSure or Black Parade or Vindicated were able to hit (nor get the critical acclaim a certain other band got in that 2006/7 timefrime too). Felt like 2007/8 was a turning point when the 'scene' started to decline in popularity with some few exceptions (Fall out Boy and Paramore being the obvious exceptions, as well as My Chemical Romance still scoring some hits post-Black Parade). I was also getting less connected with the popular rock music of the time though because I was in college at that point and the songs being played at parties were the popular rap and pop songs, as it turns out that unless you're with certain groups of people, college party goers weren't into screaming along to Where You Want To Be in 2008 while trying to dance and hook up lol. But I remember in high school, it wasn't just the 'scene kids' that were listening to Dashboard or TBS, it was..well, all the kids. I don't know how much longer that lasted past my theorized high water mark.
i agree with all of this, and the college part is especially relatable bc I remember sitting in freshman chem lab in college (fall 08), the TA asked us to go around and say our favorite genre, and I heard one of the girls say “not screamo” and point her finger in her mouth/gag motion. Still hurts to think about.
Yeah there was a group of guys/girls I partied with once in a while that all grew up/loved that music so we'd listen to that music at their parties, but every other 'normal' college party I went to, that's when I really noticed a shift in what people were listening to that was 'popular'. Feels like it started in the 2nd half of 2007 and by 2008/9, pop punk and emo had been like wiped from the airwaves lol. I have very vivid memories of songs like Aye Bay Bay, Whatever You Like, Lollipop, etc. being played at all the parties and dancing to them and etc lol Yeah I kind of remember that turning point/phase where people didn't think of TBS or Dashboard or MCR when they heard "emo" or "screamo" or whatever, they thought of, like...I don't know, I don't know enough of the scene post those bands, but in my mind I feel like it'd like, Black Veil Brides and etc. Bands that really embraced the big ridiculous hair that only Hailey Williams could actually pull off and etc lol
2006 was a wild time for the scene. That momentum continued into 2007.. Taking Back Sunday, AFI, and Fall Out Boy played alongside some of the biggest names in music ever at Live Earth.
Had a beautiful moment of Long Beach, NY synchronicity on Saturday. I was walking down my block and there were a group of dudes drinking and blasting "Bonus Mosh Pt. II," all of them bellowing out "DEFENSELESS! DEPENDENT!" A split second later I look up and Mark O'Connell is biking past on the perpendicular street, blissfully unaware that 50 feet away a bunch of people were raging his music.
I remember in 2007 seeing TBS, My Chem, and Linkin park in a row back to back at projekt rev. That was mind blowing
I agree about it being the culmination and the shift to college parties bringing a different style of music. What I remember most in the years that came after this was that my music discovery really started to grow by leaps and bounds thanks to Last.fm, Soundcloud, and then Spotify. I wonder if that had anything to do with it as well
I remember when Makedamnsure came out as the single my first thought was that it had such a polished sound compared to the previous albums....and then seeing their faces on the cover of magazines...then being the featured review in magazines when the album came out....I guess that’s what happens when you sign with a major label...still listened to this album on repeat on my non ipod MP3 player walking around my college campus and loved it
I will say though the Louder Now co headline tour with Jimmy Eat World with The Format opening was the best lineup of any TBS tour I attended
Ha, I couldn't believe it. Mark definitely lives in LB and I think Shaun does too, but even so...the timing was just insane. What are the chances?
Reading that interview about Louder Now being 15 years old made me go back and listen to it and then WYWTB today and it's kind of unreal how every closing track on a TBS album does nothing for me except for Slowdance on the Inside, which is just incredible