Story of the Year - Tear Me To Pieces

Story of the Year
Tear Me to Pieces
Release Date: March 10th, 2023
Label: Sharptone Records

Review by Jared Stossel

There are very few bands that have been able to consistently deliver material over the course of their career like Story of the Year. Beginning all the way back in 1995 under a different name before eventually morphing into their current form in 2002, the St. Louis-based four-piece has not made a bad record. It’s hard to believe that they’ve only made six albums, with Tear Me To Pieces being their latest effort and quite possibly their best yet. They have produced some of the most anthemic rock songs of our generation, making it seem effortless in their approach; this can be confirmed all the way back to the release of their iconic debut Page Avenue, boasting tracks like “Until The Day I Die” and “Anthem Of Our Dying Day”. Tear Me To Pieces feels like the spiritual sequel to Page Avenue: the songwriting, sound mixing, and musicianship are similar, yet manage to sound even better than its predecessor. The eponymous opening track sounds like something that might signal the beginning of a OneRepublic song, a pop-like acoustic guitar strum echoing through the soundscape as vocalist Dan Marsala sings lyrics born from misery and anxiety. Within seconds of the verse finishing, the band explodes through the speakers with the raw intensity that Story of the Year has become known for, a wall of sound punctuated only by layered harmonic vocals and poppy choruses that only this band could make work so well.

“Real Life” is a soaring pop-rock anthem more akin to the likes of Yellowcard, while “Glow” sounds like it was pulled straight from the cutting room floor of the Page Avenue sessions, reworked, and given a modern metalcore finish that would fit in perfectly in today’s scene. This is a band that has the ability to stay timeless, and it’s endlessly impressive throughout this album. “Glow” is followed by the fast-paced “Dead and Gone” before heading into “War”, seamlessly blending all of these aforementioned efforts with pulsating electronics that fill the space in the verses before building one of the best choruses on the album. My favorite track from this album (for now) is “Can’t Save You”; it reminds me so much of the heavier side that was showcased on albums like The Black Swan, and I can already see the circle pits it will conjure when they play it live. 

The only track that seems out of place, from a musical standpoint, is “2005”, a full-on pop track that sounds like it was pulled straight from…well, 2005. But the lyrics throughout Tear Me To Pieces deal with anxiety, inner pain, and a longing for days gone by. Story of the Year might be making material that rivals that of their earlier discography, but there’s no denying that the early 2000s was the absolute pinnacle of this music being represented in the mainstream. There are a few that broke through, yes, but “2005” does two things: 1) it gives the listener a chance to experience what this time was like from a musical and cultural standpoint, and 2) it gives those who lived through it the chance to remember what it felt like, a love letter to a time gone by. It fits perfectly within the context of an album like this one.

“2005” is followed by “Sorry About Me”, a ballad-like track with layered acoustic guitars that builds into a sweeping, anthemic chorus. Tear Me To Pieces begins to come to a close with the pop-punk-inspired “Take The Ride”, one of the album’s most powerful and heaviest moments in “Knives Out”, before concluding with the beautifully written “Use Me”. It closes the record out in an incredibly epic fashion, Marsala’s vocals sounding better than ever. 

It may have taken nearly half a decade for Story of the Year to produce its next triumph, but it was worth the wait. Tear Me To Pieces was created by one of rock’s best acts, and its production is near-immaculate. Josh Wills drum tracks, Adam Russell’s rhythmic bass lines, and Ryan Phillips’ crunching guitar riffs shine through the “wall-of-sound” mix on every track and blend perfectly with Marsala’s voice, which sounds like it hasn’t aged a day. Listen to this one with the speakers turned up loud. Then again, you should really listen to every Story of the Year album like that. It’s a given. 

Story of the Year
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