Say It Like You Mean It is the debut studio album by American rock band the Starting Line, following their debut EP With Hopes of Starting Over.... It was released on July 16, 2002.

Background

Guitarist Matt Watts and drummer Mike Golla met while at a mutual friend's band practice. He was drafted into Watts and Golla's band, which broke up after a week. The members remained in contact, and formed the Starting Line in mid-1999 under the name Sunday Drive. Golla subsequently moved to guitar. and signed them in mid-2000.

The band recorded an album's worth of material with producer Chris Badami, which was due for release in early 2001. However, it wasn't released due to the intervention of Drive-Thru Records, Following this, the band became a full-time touring act.

Recording

The Starting Line cancelled their tour dates in January 2002 due to Vasoli contracting mono. Later that month, the band began recording Say It Like You Mean It at Media Vortex with producer Mark Trombino, They went with him as all of the members' all-time favorite album was Clarity (1999) by Jimmy Eat World, which Trombino produced. Sessions were then delayed due to a family emergency, which resulted in a cancellation of tour dates. Vasoli remarked that he wished he was not sick during recording, "and I would have a voice to sing with. I didn't this time and it was the worst thing ever". "Leaving" and "Saddest Girl Story", two tracks that originally appeared on the With Hopes of Starting Over... EP, were re-recorded for Say It Like You Mean It. "Almost There, Going Nowhere", "Cheek to Cheek", "Left Coast Envy" and "The Drama Summer", which were originally recorded for the We the People album, were also re-recorded. In April 2002, the band toured Japan with The Planet Smashers and Nicotine. In April and May, the band went on tour with Brand New and Finch; the trek included an appearance at Skate and Surf Fest. Following this, the band went on a UK tour with New Found Glory and Finch. Between late June and mid-August, the band performed on the Warped Tour, appearing on the Drive-Thru stage. as a joint release by Drive-Thru and major label MCA Records. The band went on tour with Reel Big Fish in September and October. On October 27, a music video for "The Best of Me" was posted on Launch.com. The video starts with a guy attempting to impress a girl by playing music from a boombox outside of her residence. When the music stops, the band appear and start performing.

In early and mid-November, the band toured with Taking Back Sunday, the Early November and the Exit, before touring with Park, The Early November and Yellowcard for the remainder of the month. Further touring with Taking Back Sunday, alongside the Reunion Show and Northstar, followed in December. In January 2003, the band went on a tour of Japan with New Found Glory and Good Charlotte, before embarking on a European tour with Reel Big Fish and Sugarcult. To coincide with these shows, Say It Like You Mean It was released in those territories.

A new music video was posted online for "The Best of Me" through MTV.com on June 13. The band went on a UK tour in June with support from From Autumn to Ashes and The Reunion Show. The band performed a few shows with Mae and River City High and Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer in early and mid-July. In mid-July and early August, the band appeared on the Warped Tour, playing on the main stage. Between late August and mid-October, the band performed on the Drive-Thru Records 2003 Invasion Tour. On September 8, the band performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, which was followed by an appearance on IMX. In the same month, a music video was filmed for "Leaving"; it premiered during MTV2's Rock programme in November.

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AllMusic reviewer Kurt Morris said the record was "full of bubbly, positive lyrics", amidst "plenty of upbeats and catchy hooks." Despite the comparison to Green Day, he viewed the Starting Line as being more progressive musically and lyrically than them. In October 2012, independent label SRC Vinyl released the We the People album under the name The Early Years. Following this, the band went on an anniversary tour for Say It Like You Mean It, during which they performed it in its entirety, in December. In May 2014, the album was re-pressed on vinyl through SRC Vinyl with the bonus tracks "Greg's Last Day" and an acoustic version of "The Best of Me". Later that year, Rock Sound included the album on their The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time list at number 21. Kerrang! similarly included the album at number 27 on their 51 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums list. In a 2016 listicle, Rob Rousseau of A.Side TV viewed the album as a "masterwork" of the "era-defining Drive Thru Records ouvre." Cleveland.com ranked "The Best of Me" at number 33 on their list of the top 100 pop-punk songs. Alternative Press ranked "The Best of Me" at number 35 on their list of the best 100 singles from the 2000s. Writing in 2022, Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan said Vasoli's "yearning, yelpy delivery separated The Starting Line from their snot-nosed pop punk forebears, and when you listen the newer generation of pop punk and emo-pop bands, I'd say you hear even more echoes of Kenny's voice than of Tom DeLonge's or Jordan Pundik's".

Track listing

All songs written by the Starting Line, except "The Drama Summer" by Kenny Vasoli.

The Starting Line

  • Kenny Vasolivocals, bass guitar
  • Matt Wattsrhythm guitar
  • Tom Gryskiewiczdrums
  • Mike Gollalead guitar

Additional musicians

  • Nate Barcalowadditional vocals <small>(tracks 7 and 13)</small>
  • Keith Goodwinadditional vocals <small>(track 11)</small>

Production

  • Mark Trombinoproducer, engineer, mixing
  • Steven Marcussenmastering
  • Tim Stedmanart direction, design
  • Marco Orozcodesign
  • Micah Panzichdesign
  • Justin Stephensphotography

Charts

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References

Citations

Sources

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

  • Say It Like You Mean It at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)