The Starting Line – Based On A True Story

Nice review. Interesting connection to "Photography," a track that I personally don't like at all. Glad to hear you came through it stronger! I've got other TSL songs that definitely bring out the tears though (especially hearing them live).

Have they confirmed that they're releasing an album?! That was thrown in there, but I haven't seen anything about that...

I'm looking forward to seeing these guys at Warped Tour 2025 Orlando!

 

Thanks! Pretty sure they're putting the pieces together to put an album out. Not sure of the timing tho...

 

Where's our damn repress?!

 

Interesting you think The World would have been the next single. I dont like that song at all lol.
I would have guessed Surprise Surprise or Stay Where I Can See You.

 

Seems like the label wanted it to be the next pick given that Howard Benson also produced that one too. Not sure what went on behind the scenes to make the label want to pull the promotion plug

 

Matt Watts of The Starting Line

I feel like the problem was, you know, we were a Drive Thru band and Drive Thru had the upstreaming thing to MCA, and we got to a certain point—we sold like 300,000 records on Drive Thru/MCA, and MCA upstreamed our band. At the time, we were really excited about it—essentially, it could’ve gotten us out to a lot more people. And we thought we grew organically and in the right way where everything was cool to do that. And MCA suddenly folded when “Best of Me” was ready to go to radio, and folded into Geffen. There was no radio staff, there was really no one to work the record, which was fine, we didn’t really care about that. And we ended up on Geffen, and it just seemed like no one there would assume responsibility for our band. No one there really came out to the shows, they didn’t know anything about our band. When we first met with them, they were like “We’re gonna take you guys as a brand new band and pretend you didn’t sell any records.” For a band who toured years in a van busting their ass to basically have a label tell you that none of that existed, that was pretty much a really low blow. And from that, it just totally bummed us out. Making the record was an uphill battle, communicating with them was an uphill battle, the whole thing, it just wasn’t a good relationship for us to be in. Fortunately when we talked to Jordan Schur, who is president of Geffen, he kind of understood our concerns after battling for months and months to get out, and telling him “This isn’t working,” and he finally gave us the option to leave, and we did that.

 

This record had the impossible task of living up to SILYMI which was probably my most played album in 2002-2003.

 

Typical label bullshit when taking on "pop punk" bands.

It was also sonically and thematically quite a departure from SILYMI. I'm not sure if that would have made a difference given the label turmoil described by Jason above, but there were far more radio friendly pop-punk hits on the preceding album.

 

This album is such a classic, and so inspirational to me. Obviously Fall Out Boy took the pop punk crown and ran away with it that summer, but I'd argue BOATS is a better album from front to back.

 

great album. the Benson songs they hate are my favorite lol

 

I wonder how much differently it woulda been received with a different lead single. "Surprise Surprise" woulda been my pick.

Fall Out Boy blew up while everyone was like "wtf is this ass line" and hating on BOATS.

 

I specifically remember hearing Bedroom Talk for the first time and immediately wrote this album off because I didn't like the song. Then I randomly heard Surprise, Surprise and Autography at Hollister and they flipped the script. I went up to the little touchscreen they had a Hollister to see who the band was...I was and wasn't shocked that it was TSL.... But I ended buying the cd right then and there at Hollister's check out haha.

 

I still wish they'd have kept the original bridge for "Surprise, Surprise". I loved that "when you left, my feet left the ground" line.

 

Surprise, Surprise should have definitely been the first single.

I'd say this is my least favourite album but there's some solid tracks, including the b-sides and demos.

 

I think "Surprise, Surprise" definitely would have been a better lead single choice. "Bedroom Talk" was/is so cringe. I felt it back then and still feel it now.

Thanks for posting this. It's been a while since I've heard it. I like both versions.

 

Totally agree! It might be an over-generalization, but I'm sure the "ass line" turned off a TON of potential fans.

 

Man, I still remember spinning this album nonstop in high school. It's wild how good it still sounds even after all the label drama. “Photography” and “Cut! Print It” always hit me the hardest — such an underrated record. Glad it’s finally getting more love.

 

I remember on their DVD they said they didn't get to work with Neal Avron who did Cork Tree instead, but if they had they might have been the next FOB. I never understood that. It's not like Neal would have rewritten their whole album to sound like Cork Tree.

 

c'mon Im gonna tear your ass up like we just got married is just stupid and audacious enough to rip. especially with that banger pop melody

what a song

 

i bought this on release day at circuit city for $6.99 (back when new music came out on tuesdays)

also in spring 05 i saw them on the tour for this album with Mae & Armor For Sleep opening, what a time to be alive! (i went by myself because my friends didn't like good music at the time)

 

I will forever love this band. I remember meeting Kenny out by some buses after a show during that time and he was gonzo. Still so sweet though. In my head he was almost floating.

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. I could cry thinking how much time has gone by so fast. If I close my eyes I’m still at my family’s computer hours into reading everything I could about BOATS before it was released.

 

I was in the same boat. Listened to that album nonstop.

 

This record falls flat in the second half in my opinion. Good, not great album that I think was a tad overrated and bit of a letdown after the potential they had with SILYMI.

 

I feel like both halves had good and bad tracks. The second half had "Stay Where I Can See You" and "The B-List" which are definitely my favorite back-to-back tracks on the album (the latter is probably my favorite). "Cut! Print It" is a great closer too.