Story of the Year

Story of the Year is an American rock band formed in St. Louis, Missouri, Missouri, in 2000.^[2] The band was originally formed under the name Big Blue Monkey. They changed their name to Story of the Year in 2002 after the release of their EP titled Story of the Year on the indie label Criterion Records, after they realized a blues group of the name Big Blue Monkey had already existed.

It would not be until three years after forming that Story of the Year saw its first piece of commercial success in its major label debut, Page Avenue, containing the popular singles "Until the Day I Die" and "Anthem of Our Dying Day". A second album, In the Wake of Determination, followed in 2005, but did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The band released their third album, The Black Swan, on April 22, 2008, which was their first release on Epitaph Records, followed by 2010's The Constant.

On August 11, 2017, Story of the Year teased a 90 second clip of a new song off their crowd-funded fifth album. The teaser can only be accessed by those who have pledged to their album campaign. All content will be released on the pledge site before it is released to the public. The pledge campaign began in November of 2016 and was completely funded in less than 3 days. The band used high profile producer Aaron Sprinkle and mixers Tom Lord Alge & J Hall to complete their fifth studio album.

History

Page Avenue (2002–04)

After spending many years as a local band with different line-ups, recording three EPs and multiple demos, Story of the Year signed a deal with Maverick Records in 2002, then recorded and released their first album, Page Avenue, in September 2003. The first single from that album was "Until The Day I Die". It first received radio airplay around July–August 2003 on stations like KROQ-FM. The second single, "Anthem of Our Dying Day", featured a music video directed by Joe Hahn of Linkin Park.

MTV News reported on their website that during a radio show in May 2004, the band members of Story of the Year got into a fight with the roadies of metal band Godsmack.^[3] Pictures of the band members' bruised faces were posted on their homepage. The members of Godsmack were not involved in the fight.

Live in the Lou/Bassassins (a CD/DVD combo of live performances and touring video) was released on May 10, 2005. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in late 2005, indicating shipment of over 50,000 units as it is video longform format.^[4]

In the Wake of Determination (2004–06)

After the Page Avenue tour ended in late 2004, Story of the Year returned to the studio with producer Steve Evetts in 2005, to record their second studio album. In the Wake of Determination, released on October 11, 2005, is much heavier sounding than the previous album. As of March 2006, that album had only sold 150,698 units^[5] and has failed to achieve the gold certification that the band's two previous releases had, per the RIAA website.^[4] Although not as successful as its predecessor, the album debuted at No. 19 on the Billboard 200.

The Black Swan (2007–09)

Story of the Year released The Black Swan in 2008. For the album, they brought back producer John Feldmann and also they used producer Elvis Baskette. The album received praise from music critics and achieved decent commercial success, more so than the previous album. The success was led by the first single off album, "Wake Up".

For the recording of The Black Swan, Story of the Year decided to end their five-year relationship with Maverick and signed with Epitaph Records.^[6]

Story of the Year played on 2008's Taste of Chaos International tour with Atreyu.^[7]

The Constant (2009–10)

In May 2009, Story of the Year began work on another album.^[8] On December 31, the band released "I'm Alive" to radio airplay.

The Constant, was released on February 16, 2010, through Epitaph Records.^[9] The Deluxe Edition, available on iTunes, has two bonus tracks, "Your Unsung Friend" and "Tonight We Fall."

Story of the Year recorded a cover of Waterproof Blonde's song "Just Close Your Eyes" for the WWE wrestling star Christian Cage. Their cover version was included in WWE Music album A New Day, Vol. 10 that was released on January 28, 2010.

Side-projects and hiatus (2011–13)

Bassist Adam Russell was announced to be the bassist of post-hardcore band Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, along with Craig Owens (lead vocalist, Chiodos), Matt Good (guitarist, From First to Last), Nick Martin (guitarist, Underminded), and Aaron Stern (drummer, Matchbook Romance).^[10] Russell left Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows in 2012.

Singer Dan Marsala formed a fun, comedy punk rock side-project in 2010 named The Fuck Off And Dies. The band has gone on to release two full-length albums, Songs In The Key Of Fuck (2011) and Dear Liver (2015).

Guitarists Ryan Phillips and Philip Sneed continued to pursue their side project, Greek Fire. They have released a debut EP and two independent albums, Deus Ex Machina and Lost/Found.

Bassist Adam Russell and guitarist Ryan Phillips set out to make a movie about rise and fall of the music industry and where it stands today called "Who Killed (Or Saved!) The Music Industry". Funded by Kickstarter, they were filming in 2013.

On February 4, 2011, at The Pageant in their hometown of St. Louis, the band performed their first album, Page Avenue, in its entirety, as well as other fan favorites. They posted that this was a "thank you" show to all their dedicated fans for 10 years together. City Spud, of the St. Louis rap group St. Lunatics, made a guest appearance during the show.

Reunion, Page Avenue 10th anniversary tour, upcoming fifth studio album and departure of Adam Russell (2013–present)

On March 8, 2013, the band announced they reunited for a world tour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut album Page Avenue. It was also stated that the band has re-recorded Page Avenue, entitled Page Avenue: 10 Years and Counting with release date on October 8, 2013.^[11] Originally they planned it to be a full acoustic version of the album, but after the collaboration with City Spud during their concert in 2011 they decided to re-record the album with a different feel to each song rather than just acoustic versions.^[12]

On September 30, 2014, the band announced on their Facebook page that bass player Adam Russell was leaving the band. The band also said they were writing a fifth album.^[13] On November 7, 2016 the band announced they would be releasing a new album in 2017.

Musical style

Story of the Year is represented as a post-hardcore band by Epitaph, their record label.^[14] AllMusic says they play "emo-inflected post-grunge."^[2] The band's songs vary from hard rock to hardcore punk^[15] to pop punk.^[16]

Legacy

The band itself is known for energetic performances, with members bouncing around the stage. In particular, the guitarist in Story of the Year is known for spectacular acrobatics involving the guitar during performance. This can be seen in the videos for Anthem of Our Dying Day and Until the Day I Die.^[17]

Band members

Timeline

Discography

• Page Avenue (2003)
• In the Wake of Determination (2005)
• The Black Swan (2008)
• The Constant (2010)

References

External links

• Official website
• Story of the Year collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive