Klatzke
01/30/09, 11:57 AM
Story Of the Year - Page Avenue
Release Date: September 2003
Record Label: Maverick Records
Page Avenue is, in a way, a sleeper hit. Everyone heard "Until the Day I Die" when it hit mainstream radio, and even more were caught in Story of the Year's web with "Anthem Of Our Dying Day." The number of people that actually know the marvel that is Page Avenue in it's entirety seem fairly slim, however.
Their radio hits were, well, radio-hit songs. Dan Marsalla has a singing voice that seems to go over well with the overall masses of listeners, and the soaring choruses in these two tracks were all too easy to sing along with. Sure, one of the greatest things about this album was their knack for throwing catchy hooks together. However, what tends to go unnoticed is the shear aggression they harness in other places. Ryan Phillips can throw out some deadly riffs, and in the places where they utilize them, Marsalla can rip out a vicious scream. Neither of these, on their own, is where Page Avenue succeeds. Instead, the attraction of these tracks lie in Story of the Year's ability to strike a seemingly perfect balance between aggression and their much more pop-oriented side. There are tracks that go one way or another; "Until the Day I Die" is basically just straight up pop-rock, while "Divide and Conquer" is dominated by Marsalla's screaming and Josh Wills' frenetic drumming. More of them seem to lend towards the lighter side, but if it wasn't for the doses of heaviness scattered throughout the album, I doubt it would have had half the impact on me it did. Not only is it catchy, their tunes are fairly intelligent throughout. While they do delve a bit into the cliche lyrically, for the most part the structures are interesting and this just comes across as one hell of a debut album.
Story of the Year's Page Avenue was a crowning achievement in this bursting scene. It was catchy, radio friendly, and displayed an enormous amount of potential that you can see being put to in their albums to date. This was short and sweet, but if it was required of me, I could spend 2000 words on this album (you got off easy). I don't think Story of the Year has yet to surpass the simple charm of Page Avenue with their following albums, and it's going to be a hard feat to accomplish.
Senses Fail's Life Is Not A Waiting Room; Lostprophet's Start Something
myspace.com/storyoftheyear
Release Date: September 2003
Record Label: Maverick Records
Page Avenue is, in a way, a sleeper hit. Everyone heard "Until the Day I Die" when it hit mainstream radio, and even more were caught in Story of the Year's web with "Anthem Of Our Dying Day." The number of people that actually know the marvel that is Page Avenue in it's entirety seem fairly slim, however.
Their radio hits were, well, radio-hit songs. Dan Marsalla has a singing voice that seems to go over well with the overall masses of listeners, and the soaring choruses in these two tracks were all too easy to sing along with. Sure, one of the greatest things about this album was their knack for throwing catchy hooks together. However, what tends to go unnoticed is the shear aggression they harness in other places. Ryan Phillips can throw out some deadly riffs, and in the places where they utilize them, Marsalla can rip out a vicious scream. Neither of these, on their own, is where Page Avenue succeeds. Instead, the attraction of these tracks lie in Story of the Year's ability to strike a seemingly perfect balance between aggression and their much more pop-oriented side. There are tracks that go one way or another; "Until the Day I Die" is basically just straight up pop-rock, while "Divide and Conquer" is dominated by Marsalla's screaming and Josh Wills' frenetic drumming. More of them seem to lend towards the lighter side, but if it wasn't for the doses of heaviness scattered throughout the album, I doubt it would have had half the impact on me it did. Not only is it catchy, their tunes are fairly intelligent throughout. While they do delve a bit into the cliche lyrically, for the most part the structures are interesting and this just comes across as one hell of a debut album.
Story of the Year's Page Avenue was a crowning achievement in this bursting scene. It was catchy, radio friendly, and displayed an enormous amount of potential that you can see being put to in their albums to date. This was short and sweet, but if it was required of me, I could spend 2000 words on this album (you got off easy). I don't think Story of the Year has yet to surpass the simple charm of Page Avenue with their following albums, and it's going to be a hard feat to accomplish.
Senses Fail's Life Is Not A Waiting Room; Lostprophet's Start Something
myspace.com/storyoftheyear