This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply. The Academy Is… updated their Facebook profile picture with a photo from Santi today. That (still underrated) album turns ten this year. Expand - View Original
Santi is so good. I still listen to that record quite a bit. Best record from TAI as far as I'm concerned.
Woof. Great question. The only easy one for me is probably "After the Last Midtown Show." I consider that one of the greatest emo songs of all time, and it's also had a major impact on my own songwriting. Now I really want to listen to Santi again because I seriously can't pick. If anything, I'd probably call Santi the band's most consistent album. But I MIGHT go with "Unexpected Places." As for Almost Here, as near-perfect as the first few songs are, "Skeptics and True Believers" has always held a soft spot in my heart.
Fast Times is easily my least favorite from these guys but "After the Last Midtown Show" blew me away upon first listen and I still love it. Santi was a record that took me a year to appreciate. I was expecting, like everyone else, Almost Home: the sequel. However on all fronts it's their best/strongest work to date in my eyes. Production (thanks Butch!), Lyrically, and Musically, this record blows me away. Even the bsides are great; "Ghost" and "Toasted Skin" are both fun as hell and William sounds great on "40 Steps". Almost Home is a scene classic and overall a superb debut record in general. I still love "Checkmarks" so damn much.
My story's similar. When Santi released, I thought it was good, not great. The rough, un-pitched vocals really threw me for a loop, plus, like you said, it wasn't Almost Home the Sequel. So it fell off pretty quickly for me. When Fast Times released, I hated it. I liked "Midtown" and probably "Coppertone" but nothing else. It wasn't until 2011, when I came across copies of both CDs in a used-goods store that I decided to purchase both, just for the heck of it. I fell in looooooove with both albums simultaneously, which I imagine must be a pretty unique experience. I got the rough and rugged rock and roll of Santi and the polished pop prowess of Fast Times back-to-back, literally switching the CDs back in forth in my car for a few months straight. But, ironically enough, Fast Times was the one that stuck. Aside from "Paper Chase," probably the worst song in the band's whole discography, I think it's glorious. I particularly love pointing out that the album, especially the first 6 songs, displays some of the finest pre-chorus writing I've heard in my whole life.
Hmmm I think you inspired me to give the record a spin today and see if it grows a little more on me. I do love "Coppertone".
God, these guys. I'll always look back on the time they were just starting out fondly. First time I saw them they opened for Fall Out Boy... or possibly Mae (they opened for both bands, can't remember which show came first). I remember standing near the merch area not really paying attention and they started their set. It took just a few seconds for me to look up and see that they were something special. I was floored. The band was tight, the songs were so unique and polished, and William's stage presence was unbelievable. After the show, when everyone was filtering out, the whole band was out front meeting people and were just genuinely interested in getting their name out. I was a fan from that moment on.
My memory of TAI is when they played at my college William was schooling the rest of band in bball when we were tearing down the stage haha.
I didn't realize they did an Almost Here tour, so bummed I missed that. Going to listen to that album right now. I'd definitely go to a 10 year Santi tour though...
Santi was the first thing I ever heard by the Academy Is and I hated it/them at the time. My 7th grade girlfriend told me she was listening to them once and I said how much I hated them, then she pointed me to Almost Here, and it's pretty much been love since then (with the Academy Is, that is - I think I only "dated" the girl like 3 weeks). Anyway, pretty funny that I'm now drooling over the idea of seeing this album performed live all the way through. Favorite from each record: Almost Here - Slow Down Santi - Neighbors Fast Times - I've been a sucker for About a Girl from the first time I heard it. Wow realizing again just how good these guys really were (are?).