Based on a True Story is the second studio album by American pop punk band the Starting Line. The group's label Drive-Thru Records had a distribution deal which allowed MCA Records to acquire their bands. After MCA Records was absorbed into Geffen Records in mid-2003, the band spent most of 2004 writing and demoing songs for their next album. Following pre-production in July 2004, the band began recording for Based on a True Story, finishing in September. The album was recorded at various studios in New York state and California. Separate sessions were produced by Tim O'Heir, Howard Benson and Eric Rachel.

Prior to the album's release, "Bedroom Talk" was issued as a single in April 2005, and the band went on tour debuting a handful of songs from the album. Based on a True Story was released through Drive-Thru and Geffen Records on May 10. Peaking at number 18 on the Billboard 200, the album received mixed to positive reviews. Following its release, the band went on the Warped Tour throughout the summer. While on the tour, a music video was released for "Bedroom Talk". Soon after, Geffen de-prioritized the album, which resulted in the band leaving the label in December. Further tours in the UK and the US followed.

Background

The Starting Line formed in 1999, signing with independent label Drive-Thru Records shortly afterwards. MCA's distribution deal allowed it to acquire Drive-Thru Records' bands over a period of time. By the time the group sold around 300,000 copies, the band was signed to MCA Records, Following the conclusion of a US tour with Sum 41 in April 2003, the band took a brief break before they started writing for their next album.

Say It Like You Mean It lone single "The Best of Me" received attention from MTV2, and was to be released to radio According to guitarist Matt Watts, "We ended up on Geffen, and it just seemed like no one there would assume responsibility for our band." Despite this earlier claim, the group said they had only finished writing in January 2004. They subsequently spent over half of the year writing new material and recording demos in Vasoli's basement. After the demos were unexpectedly leaked on the Internet, the band's fans thought it was their next album, but they were just "rough sketches" of what the band was going for. The label pushed the band to write singles, however, the group "fought to the death" to write the record they wanted rather than Say It Like You Mean It, Part 2. When asked about the allusions to cameras in the song titles, they said that they "didn't realize there were so many camera references, I thought it was just in 'Making Love' [...] I think it's just about being in the Spotlight, not necessarily the camera".

"Inspired by the $" came about when Vasoli attempted to write a song their record label would view as a hit. Fed up, he wrote "Inspired by the $", a song which satisfied his "musical needs more than theirs." In February 2005, the band embarked on a US tour with Days Away, JamisonParker and Further Seems Forever, which lasted for six weeks. In April, the group went on tour with Armor for Sleep, Mae, and Suicide Pack, and debuted several new songs: "Surprise, Surprise", "Bedroom Talk", "Ready", "Inspired by the $", and "Photography". Around this time, the band filmed a music video for "Bedroom Talk", which was done on a budget of $35,000. On April 12, 2005, "Bedroom Talk" was released as a single. On April 17, "Inspired by the $" was made available for streaming via the group's PureVolume account, followed by three more songs on April 22. Following this, they appeared at The Bamboozle and Flipside festivals. Based on a True Story was made available for streaming on May 1, 2005, before being released by Drive-Thru and Geffen Records nine days later. The Japanese edition of the album included "Nights and Weekends" as a bonus track. It was later released in Canada on May 24 and in the UK on August 15. Fans who ordered the album within a week of pre-orders being posted received an autographed booklet. Everyone who pre-ordered was entered in a contest to win a Fender Telecaster guitar, and a lesson from a band member. Two runners-up received an assortment of Nike clothing. On July 11, the music video for "Bedroom Talk", directed by Corey Petrick, was released. Shortly afterwards, Geffen Records de-prioritized the album and, as a result, despite the band's increasing popularity, provided very little promotion for the single. Vasoli said of the situation: "It was like to go from such a perfect high point and have momentum going so well, then have it slowed down so much by the label". From late-September to late-November, the group went on the 2005 edition of the Nintendo Fusion Tour. On November 3, Alternative Press reported that the band had left Geffen Records and was in discussion with other labels.

The band's departure from Geffen Records was made official in mid-December. According to Watts, the band talked with Geffen president Jordan Schur who understood their concerns and the reasons they wanted to leave the label. "He finally gave us the option to leave, and we did that." In January 2006, the band co-headlined a UK tour with MxPx, with support from the Matches and I Am the Avalanche. In February and March, the group headlined the Screaming Is for Babies tour, with support from Copeland, Gatsbys American Dream, Cartel, and New Atlantic. The album was released on vinyl in 2013.

Reception

Based on a True Story charted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The Starting Line

  • Kenny Vasoli – vocals, bass, guitar, Wurlitzer, piano, glockenspiel, bongos, synths, harpsichord
  • Matt Watts – guitar
  • Tom Gryskiewicz – drums, percussion
  • Mike Golla – guitar, percussion, celeste

Additional musicians

  • David "Garo" Yellin – string arranger and cello on "Photography"
  • David Gold – violin on "Photography"
  • Amy Kimbal – violin on "Photography"
  • Taguchi Hiroka – violin on "Photography"
  • Benjy King – Hammond B3 on "Photography" and "Cut! Print It"
  • Max Bemis – background vocals on "Ready"
  • Howard Benson – keyboards, programming

Production

  • Tim O'Heir – producer, engineer <small>(tracks 3, 5–10, 12 and 13)</small>
  • Oliver Strauss – additional engineer
  • Howard Benson – producer <small>(tracks 4 and 11)</small>
  • Mike Plotnikoff – recording
  • Eric Miller – additional engineer
  • Paul DeCarli – Pro-Tools editing
  • Jon Nicholson – drum tech
  • Keith Nelson – guitar tech
  • Eric Rachel – producer, engineer <small>(track 2)</small>
  • Shawn Corrigan – production assistant
  • Kenny Vasoli – additional production
  • Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
  • Dimtar Krnjaic – assistant engineer
  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Morning Breath Inc. – art direction, design
  • Josh Rothstein – photography

Chart positions

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (2005)

! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position

|-

!scope="row" | US Billboard 200

| 18

|}

References

Citations

Sources

<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->

  • Based on a True Story at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)