BY SARAI KELLEY MOSS
ALT AZ 93-3 put on 6 nights of festive, ugly sweater fashion, fun. Night 5 was an absolute party with Story Of The Year, playing all of their emo classics.
Story Of The Year is an alternative-rock band hailing from St Louis, Missouri. Formed in 1995 under the name 67 North, but like many bands, went through inevitable name changes. Through a musical exertion of understanding sound and what clicked for the members, Story Of The Year officially claimed their name in 2002. The musical group consists of lead vocalist Dan Marsala, guitarist Ryan Phillips, bassist Adam Russell, and drummer Josh Wills. It would not be until eight years after forming that the alt band 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.
In their nearly 30 year career, they have released 6 full length studio albums and 2 live and compilation albums, and 3 EPs; producing some if this scenes most iconic, exuberant, and volatile songs to jam out too.
Once music was made and released, the band seemingly took off without a hitch. Their first studio album under Maverick Records, Page Avenue, was recorded and released in 2003, peaking at number 51 in the Billboard 200 chart. The second single off of that album, “Anthem of Our Dying Day”, peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Alternative Chart and number 62 on the UK Singles Chart and featured a music video directed by Mr. Hahn of Linkin Park. Anthem of Our Dying Day has sold 900,000 copies world wide. The band toured with Linkin Park on the Meteora World Tour in 2004 along with support P.O.D. and Hoobastank. That same year, they were welcomed onto the Vans Warped Tour and were featured in the Warped Tour Documentary, Wake Up Screaming.
Story of The Year has been classified as a few different genres over the years as the music industry has shifted every which way, they’re often seen as alternative-rock, post-hardcore in their earlier days, post-grunge, and punk-metal. This mesh of emo blends wastes zero time for intensity, with impassioned lyrics and cutthroat screamo tunes, Dan Marsala often writes about the growing pains of life, fears of uneasiness, and battles of understanding depression. Their lyrics captivated young hearts as they mimicked frustrating tears and heartfelt insecurities. Shedding a glimpse of hope that everything might be just fine in the end. Their lyrics and tone spread like wildfire in the early 2000’s to a group of angsty teens having a story and longing to be understood- they were relatable, and the scene snatched their songs up in a heartbeat. Page Avenue, specifically, was a comfort blanket to many, becoming a massive success. The album became one of the first post-hardcore records to achieve a Gold certification by the RIAA at the time, peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard 200, and featured the band’s biggest hits to date. Story Of The Year is a savior too many, many might not have known in the moment but listening to their songs was like a form of therapy. Even over the years of transition and change, their music is a keep sake reminder of how far they’ve come.
The band will be releasing their 7th studio album, Tear Me To Pieces, on March 10th, 2023- you won’t won’t to miss what they put put out next! You can catch a preview to the song with their newest music video for the title track, catch it here: Tear Me To Pieces-Story Of The Year
