Page Avenue is the debut album by American rock band Story of the Year. Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann, who served as a talent scout for Maverick Records, began working on demos with the band, and eventually for their debut album. Sessions took place at Feldmann's home studio, Foxy Studios in Marina del Rey, California; the group tracked three songs before guitarist Greg Haupt left in November 2002. Guitarist Philip Sneed was drafted in and sessions recommenced in early 2003. The album's release through Maverick Records was pushed back several times to September 16, 2003.

The band toured as part of the Warped Tour before "Until the Day I Die" was released as a radio single. In early 2004, the band supported Linkin Park on their US arena tour; they subsequently worked with Linkin Park's Joe Hahn on a music video for "Anthem of Our Dying Day". The track was released as a single in April 2004, and the group embarked on a headlining US tour. A second stint on the Warped Tour followed, taking a month-long break, and headlining the Nintendo Fusion Tour. A music video was released for "Sidewalks"; the track was released as a single in October.

Critics drew comparisons between the group and Thrice, Finch, and the Used, the lattermost being another act that Feldmann had produced. Page Avenue peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in April 2004, then platinum in March 2021, serving as one of the first post-hardcore albums to achieve either status. "Until the Day I Die", "Anthem of Our Dying Day" and "Sidewalks" all charted on the Alternative Songs chart, with the first two reaching the chart's top 20. "Until the Day I Die" also reached the top 75 in the UK. An acoustic version of the album was released in October 2013, which coincided with an anniversary tour.

Background

Prior to the formation of Story of the Year, its members had played in local bands as early as 1995: Dan Marsala and Ryan Phillips in 67 North, Phillips and Josh Wills in Means Well, and Phillips and Adam Russell in Locash. With Marsala on drums and Phillips on guitar, the pair formed Bigbluemonkey. Soon afterwards, John Taylor and Perry West joined the band on vocals and bass, respectively. After performing in St. Louis, Missouri, and touring the Midwest, the group released two EPs: Three Days Broken in 1998 and Truth in Separation in 1999. Following high school graduation, the members were able to focus on the band. Shortly afterwards, Taylor and West left the group resulting in Marsala shifting from drums to vocals. Wills and Russell joined the group on drums and bass, respectively. and released the Story of the Year EP. The group sneaked into Goldfinger's tour bus while the band was playing and left copies of a home video to Orange County, California, and built their own practice space. Two weeks later, they were contacted by Goldfinger's manager John Reese, who informed them the band wanted to take them on tour. and tracked demos of "Until the Day I Die" and "Anthem of Our Dying Day" in the process. at the urging of Feldmann, who disliked the name. Recording took place at Feldmann's home studio, Foxy Studios in Marina del Rey, California. Feldmann said the group, who were influenced by bands ranging from Pantera to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, wanted to sound heavier than the album's ultimate sound. He intended for the album to be highly vocal-driven. Marsala wanted it to be a metal record. Feldmann said people would not connect with that sound the same way they would if the band focused on the melodies and vocals. pop-punk, screamo, Alan Sculley of The Morning Call said the tracks were in "a middle ground between the heavy rock" style of the Deftones and the "poppier side" Story of the Year had developed prior to moving to California. Finch Feldmann tried to separate the sound of Marsala, who was more of a trained singer, from the sound he had previously achieved for the Used frontman Bert McCracken, who had a unique voice. He added that the band's riffs leaned to a more progressive sound than the Used, who were more chaotic.

Marsala came up with the guitar riff for "And the Hero Will Drown" and proceeded to show Phillips, who immediately suggested jamming. Wills wrote the first verse of "Anthem of Our Dying Day", before jamming out the rest of it with the band. Working on the lyrics, Russell had Saves the Day and Glassjaw in mind; and bongos. "Divide and Conquer" came about during a period where the band wrote several heavy songs in a row. "Razorblades" was one of the first tracks written by the group's new lineup.

Release and touring

thumb|right|alt=Photograph of Joe Hahn man looking down.|Story of the Year befriended [[Joe Hahn (pictured) while touring with Linkin Park. After learning he had directed some of his band's music videos, Story of the Year got him to direct a video for "Anthem of Our Dying Day".]]

After recording, Story of the Year moved back to St. Louis and immediately started touring. On May 16, the album's track listing was revealed; the album's release was pushed back to August 27. On June 13, the album's title was announced: Page Avenue. On June 22, the album's release was pushed back again, this time to mid-September. In July, the group appeared on the Warped Tour. Partway through, the group was moved to a bigger stage because of the large crowds they were drawing. On August 9, two songs from the album were posted online. "Until the Day I Die" was released to radio on August 12. The group wanted to tour for a year before their label Maverick Records started pushing a single. They grew up in the 1990s when labels were focused on investing in development. Russell, citing the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their song "Under the Bridge" as an example, said the band was afraid of being labelled sell-outs due to a big single. However, label executives was unwavering in their decision to release "Until the Day I Die". Maverick Records released Page Avenue on September 16. On November 21, the band appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly. In January and February 2004, the group supported Linkin Park on their US arena tour. During the tour, the band learned Joe Hahn of Linkin Park had directed their music videos, which they really liked. After talking to their management, the band befriended Hahn, who subsequently directed a music video for "Anthem of Our Dying Day".

Around this time, Maverick Records was using BigChampagne. The company had a top 20 downloads section, based on data culled from peer-to-peer networks, which featured "Until the Day I Die". However, the song was receiving less airplay on radio than other artists. Jeremy Welt, head of new media at Maverick Records, convinced radio stations in certain markets to play the band during prime-time listening hours, which helped increase sales. In April and May, the group went on a headlining US tour with support from Hazen Street, Letter Kills "Anthem of Our Dying Day" was released to radio on April 13; The group performed on the Warped Tour again. When it ended the group took a month's break. In September and October, the band headlined the 2004 edition of the Nintendo Fusion Tour, which also featured Lostprophets, My Chemical Romance, Letter Kills, Anberlin and Autopilot Off. "Sidewalks" was released to radio on October 5.

| rev2 = The AU Review

| rev2Score = Favorable

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| rev3Score = Favorable

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Critical response

AllMusic reviewer Stephen Cramer singled out Marsala's unwavering vocals as a highlight of the album.

Johan Wippsson of Melodic wrote that the band had made a refreshing take on punk, noting that they had the possibility to be as big as the Used. It reached number one on the Heatseekers Albums chart. By January 2004, it had sold close to 150,000 copies. By April, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), It also charted in the UK at number 62. "Anthem of Our Dying Day" charted at number 10 on the Alternative Songs chart. Cleveland.com ranked "Until the Day I Die" at number 79 on their list of the top 100 pop-punk songs.

In February 2011, the group performed Page Avenue in its entirety for a one-off hometown show. An acoustic re-make of the album was released in October 2013 to celebrate the album's 10th anniversary. The band decided to do this instead of simply re-recording, remixing or remastering the original. Most of the album focused around piano and string arrangements, instead of acoustic guitars as Marsala felt the piano gave a more dramatic vibe that fit better with the songs. They also headlined the Scream It Like You Mean It tour in the US playing Page Avenue in its entirety. During this tour, a limited number of copies of the anniversary release were made available. In November 2017, the album was released on vinyl by SRC Vinyl.

Track listing

All songs written by Story of the Year, except "Sidewalks" and "Swallow the Knife" co-written with John Feldmann. except where noted.

Story of the Year

  • Dan Marsala – lead vocals; drums <small>(track 12)</small>

| 13

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! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)

| 97

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Year-end charts

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

|+Year-end chart performance for Page Avenue

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! scope="col"| Chart (2004)

! scope="col"| Position

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!scope="row"|US Billboard 200

| 132

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Certifications

See also

  • The Artist in the Ambulance – the 2003 album by Thrice, the sound of which Page Avenue was compared to
  • What It Is to Burn – the 2002 album by Finch, the sound of which Page Avenue was compared to

References

Citations

Sources

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  • Page Avenue at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)