I was 12 years old when Taking Back Sunday’s second full length album Where You Want To Be was released. It wasn’t until a few years later when I first listened to their song “A Decade Under The Influence,” completely unaware of how it would change the way I felt about music forever.
A girl I was talking to at the time had a playlist of a mix of different songs on her Myspace page. Bands such Dashboard Confessional, Panic At The Disco, Secondhand Serenade, Motion City Soundtrack were included, but the song I remember the most was Taking Back Sunday’s “A Decade Under The Influence.” After discovering the song, I fell in love with Taking Back Sunday even deeper. I was devoted.
It was like I walked through a door into a completely new room. I had discovered a new passionate side of music that I had never felt before. Where You Want To Be was (and still is) full of exploding emotions anyone can relate to. It was from this single album that I realized great music can be made from people just like you and me, and just because certain songs you love aren’t playing on the radio doesn’t mean they aren’t meaningful pieces of art.
Ten years ago today TBS's "Where You Want to Be" came out and changed my life forever. As fate would… http://t.co/nmk5PDqlK1
— Fred Mascherino (@thecolorfred) July 27, 2014
More importantly, people like me were introduced to the amazing Fred Mascherino. A guitar player who made his way into the limelight through an up-and-coming band (at the time), pushed TBS into putting out an even better album than their debut, Tell All Your Friends. To me, that is inspirational. Frontman Adam Lazarra and Mascherino’s voices were meant to be together and if their song “One-Eighty By Summer” still doesn’t give you goosebumps, we’re just not on the same page. Mascherino brought a new element to Taking Back Sunday fans will never forget.
Even still, when I listen to Where You Want To Be, I get the chills. The feeling of the album rejuvenates myself with motivation and reminds me of why I fell in love with music from the start. There aren’t many albums that have the ability to make me feel this way but this album just has such a uniqueness to it that will never get old or outdated. This album changed the way I feel about music and I’m never going to forget the impact it will always have for me.
