''Direction'' is the third studio album by American

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

band

the Starting Line The Starting Line is an American pop punk band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 1999. History Early years (1999–2001) In 1999, the band that would become The Starting Line was initiated in Churchville, Pennsylvania via an e ...

, released on July 31, 2007 through

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. Following the lack of promotion for their 2005 album, ''

Based on a True Story Based on a True Story may refer to: Albums * ''Based on a T.R.U. Story'', by 2 Chainz, 2012 * '' Based on a True Story...'', by Blake Shelton, 2013 * ''Based on a True Story'' (The Del-Lords album), 1988 * ''Based on a True Story'' (Fat Freddy's ...

'', the band left

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

in late 2005. Early the following year, they signed to Virgin and spent the remainder of 2006 writing and touring. Sessions for the album were recorded at several studios in California from February to May 2007 with producer

Howard Benson Howard Benson is an American music producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was nominated for the Producer of the Year Grammy Award in 2007 and 2008. Early life and education Benson was born and raised in a middle-class family in greater Philadel ...

. Influenced by the work of

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, the Starting Line's vocalist and bassist

Kenny Vasoli Kenneth Robert "Kenny" Vasoli is an American singer and musician from Pennsylvania. Vasoli is currently the lead singer and songwriter of The Starting Line, Person L, and Vacationer. Biography Kenneth "Kenny" Robert Vasoli was born May 20, 198 ...

wrote music around simple grooves instead of the

uptempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

style of the band's earlier material. In June 2007, the track "

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

" was released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from ''Direction'' before the Starting Line embarked on the

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

the following month, during which a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the track was released. The album sold 20,000 first-week copies in the US, charting at number 30 on the ''Billboard'' 200, and received mostly positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, with some complimenting the Starting Line's growth and the catchy songs. Following the Warped Tour, the band went on a headlining US tour and co-headlined a tour in the country with

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...

, both of which were in the fall of 2007. In early 2008, the Starting Line performed at the Soundwave Festival in Australia, prior to another headlining US tour.

Background

were unhappy with the demos the Starting Line submitted for their second studio album, telling them to restart the writing process, preventing the band from touring for a year. The band's album ''

'' was ultimately released in May 2005. Shortly after its release, Geffen de-prioritized the album and despite the Starting Line's increasing popularity, a lack of promotion for the

. From late September to late November 2005, the band went on the

Nintendo Fusion Tour Nintendo Fusion Tour was a touring rock music and video game festival sponsored by Nintendo, which began in 2003. Nintendo's Fusion Tour provided early exposure for then-developing bands such as Evanescence, Story of the Year, My Chemical Roman ...

. Brian Schmutz of Inkling joined the Starting Line as a touring keyboardist. On November 3 of that year, the Starting Line announced they had left Geffen Records and were in discussions with other labels. The band were aiming to release another album by early 2006 and had already written 12–15 songs for it at the time, with them spending the next two months meeting with various labels. On January 3, 2006, it was announced the Starting Line had signed to

. Virgin president

Jason Flom Jason Flom (born c. 1961) is an American music industry executive, podcaster and philanthropist. He is the founder of Lava Records, and was previously the chairman of Atlantic Records and Virgin Records/ Capitol Music Group. He is also an advocat ...

signed the band after watching one of their live performances. Between the early periods of both February and April 2006, the Starting Line went on a headlining US "Screaming Is for Babies" tour. In an interview during the tour, the guitarist

Matt Watts Matt Watts (born May 31, 1975) is a Canadian comedian, actor and writer, best known for his work on Ken Finkleman's '' The Newsroom''. He was a writer, executive producer and the star of the Canadian television sitcom ''Michael, Tuesdays and Th ...

said Schmutz was still a touring member and was expected to appear on their next album. Following the tour's conclusion, the band took a one-to-two month break for writing the album. In June and July 2006, the Starting Line wrote new material and recorded demos of songs. By August of the year, they had written and demo-recorded 12 songs, and were planning to write around 10 more before recording them. In October and November, the band supported

the All-American Rejects The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999.

Production

In February 2007, the Starting Line started recording ''Direction'' and by May, they were in the final stages. Recording sessions took place at Bay 7 Studios in

Valley Village Valley Village is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, located within the San Fernando Valley. History Founding According to Elke Garman, co-president of the Valley Village Homeowners Association in 1991, the history of Valley Village wen ...

and Sparky Dark Studio in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish language, Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Monica and Santa Susana Mountains, Santa Susanna mounta ...

served as producer, while Mike Plotnioff was in charge of recording. Hatsukazu Inagaki was the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, with technical assistance from Chris Concepcion. During the sessions, Watts used a variety of

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

guitars he owned and some that were borrowed from Benson. The former used that brand of

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s because the sound "is so thick that I don’t need any pedals to fill it out". Benson added keyboards and programming to the recordings, while

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

Kenny Aronoff Kenny Aronoff (born March 7, 1953) is an American session drummer. Early life Aronoff grew up in Stockbridge, Massachusetts He developed an interest in music at an early age and gravitated to the drums as "drumming was one hundred percent ene ...

and

Jamie Muhoberac Benjamin Edward "Jamie" Muhoberac is an American session keyboardist with numerous credits. He is best known for his work with Seal and Was (Not Was). Biography Muhoberac has worked with acts including The All-American Rejects, Fleetwood Mac, Bob ...

were brought in; Aronoff added drums to "21", "

" and "What You Want", whereas Muhoberac added keyboards to "What You Want". Luis Conti contributed percussion to the track, alongside "21", "Island", "Hurry", "Something Left to Give" and "Need to Love".

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

mixed the recordings at the Resonate Music studio in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

, with assistance from Nik Karpen, and

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

then

mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

the recordings at

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

Music and lyrics

Taking influence from the work of

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer

, vocalist and bassist

wrote music for ''Direction'' that focused on simplistic grooves, rather than the fast-paced nature of the Starting Line's past work. He would show the other members a rough idea, which they would give their opinions of. From this, the bandwould work on the idea and develop it into a song. Watts wanted to break away from their

sound, incorporating

delay Delay (from Latin: dilatio) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Delay 1968'', a 1981 album by German experimental rock band Can * ''The Delay'', a 2012 Uruguayan film People * B. H. DeLay (1891–1923), American aviator and acto ...

-driven parts,

hammer-on A hammer-on is a playing technique performed on a stringed instrument (especially on a fretted string instrument, such as a guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. This ...

pull-off A pull-off is a stringed instrument playing and articulation technique performed by plucking or "pulling" the finger that is grasping the sounding part of a string off the fingerboard of either a fretted or unfretted instrument. This intermediate- ...

s, complex harmonies, and breakdowns similar to the work of

Shudder to Think Shudder to Think was an American alternative rock band. Formed in 1986, they released three albums on the Washington, D.C.-based label Dischord Records, and two on Epic Records. Their early work was largely influenced by post-hardcore although ...

. Vasoli waited until the drums had been recorded before he wrote any bass parts. Due to the drum parts going through a variety of changes, Vasoli thought it would be better to wait until he was recording the bass before writing parts for it. The album's sound has been described as pop punk,

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

, with comparisons being drawn to music by

Motion City Soundtrack Motion City Soundtrack is an American rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997. The band's line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Justin Courtney Pierre, lead guitarist Joshua Cain, keyboardist Jesse Johnson, bassist Matthew ...

and the All-American Rejects. "Direction" includes elements of

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

, with its distorted guitar work and pounding drums; the song discusses the themes of growing up and personal development. The

pop punk track "21" recalls the ''Based on a True Story'' song "Bedroom Talk" and was compared to the music of

Yellowcard Yellowcard is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997 and was based in Los Angeles beginning in 2000. The band is recognized for having a distinct sound in their genre, primarily due to the prominent use o ...

. On the track, Vasoli looks back on his age and questions the amount of responsibility he needs. "Are You Alone" is a slow-tempo song that displays Schmutz's piano skill and features layered vocal parts. "Island" started out as a

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

section, with what Vasoli called a "pretty-ugly chord" playing constantly, and the Starting Line planned to have White Zombie-esque chords playing over it. The band became stuck on the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

section and bought a

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

DX1 guitar in an attempt to complete the song, which they succeeded in doing after two days of thinking it over. Laura Marie Brown of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' said the lyrics detail "an image of a beautiful escape-turned-shipwreck and two lovers weathering the storm of poor timing". On "Hurry", Vasoli discusses

swollen glands A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphocytes that inclu ...

, stage presence, and the drafting of a note to his ghost. "Something Left to Give" is an acoustic

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, which Watts said is about people who expected the Starting Line to write "The Best of Me" again. "I Could Be Wrong" is about taking a chance with one's life and beliefs, regardless of others. The pop-influenced song "Somebody's Gonna Miss Us" was compared to the music of

Nada Surf Nada Surf is a New York City-based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals). History 199 ...

; the song is about people's yearning to hear more of the band's earlier sound and includes Vasoli singing the initials of their debut studio album ''

Say It Like You Mean It ''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...''. Background Guitarist Matt Watts and drummer Mike Golla met while at a mutual friend's ...

'' (2002). "Need to Love" was the first track written for ''Direction'', which Vasoli said was filled with "visualizations from riding a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

train to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

". On the album's closing track "What You Want", Vasoli laments about his songs.

Release and promotion

On May 3, 2007, "Direction" was made available for

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

through the Starting Line's Myspace profile. Four days later, ''Direction'' was announced for release in July of that year. "

" was made available for streaming on May 17, 2007; it was released as a US single on June 19, and serviced to

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

a week later. From early July to late August, the Starting Line went on the 2007

. On July 18 of that year, a

for "Island" that had been filmed in California during early June was released. ''Direction'' was made available for streaming on July 27, 2007, and was released in the US on July 31 through Virgin Records. The

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and Japanese editions, the latter of which was released in January 2008, both include "Pictures" as a bonus track. In September and October 2007, the Starting Line embarked on a headlining US tour, with support from Permanent Me and

Four Year Strong Four Year Strong is an American pop punk band from Worcester, Massachusetts, formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalists and guitarists Dan O'Connor and Alan Day, bassist Joe Weiss, and drummer Jake Massucco. They have released seven studio al ...

. In October and November 2007, the Starting Line went on a co-headlining US tour with

. Set Your Goals opened the first half of the tour, while

the Almost The Almost is an American rock band from Clearwater, Florida, fronted by Underoath drummer and vocalist Aaron Gillespie. Formed in 2005 as a solo project by Gillespie, the band currently includes guitarist Jay Vilardi, bassist Jon Thompson, and d ...

opened the second half. The Starting Line appeared at the Soundwave Festival in Australia, in February 2008, before returning to the US for a headlining tour in March and April, during which they were supported by Bayside, Four Year Strong, and

Steel Train Steel Train was an indie rock band from New Jersey. They have toured with The Juliana Theory, Tegan and Sara, Girl in a Coma, Ben Folds, The Fray, Silversun Pickups, Hanson, The Format, Gomez, O.A.R., Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin, Baren ...

. The Starting Line subsequently appeared at the

Bamboozle Left The Bamboozle Left was an annual two-day music festival held in California from 2006 to 2009, based on The Bamboozle festival on the Atlantic coast. 2006 The 2006 festival was held at the Cal Poly Pomona Athletic Field in Pomona, CA, on October 15 ...

and Bamboozle festivals. Following on from this, the band went on an indefinite hiatus, saying; "Imagine getting your first job ... and doing that exact same job for the rest of your life ... eventually you need to stop for a minute and see what else is out there".

Reception

''Direction'' was met with mostly positive reviews from

. ''

AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to fea ...

'' founder Jason Tate said the Starting Line conceptualized their vision "to its full potential. The music sounds natural while the songs contain enough to be instantly satisfying yet hold back enough to ensure rewarding repeat listens."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer William Ruhlmann noted that while it retained the pop punk sound of the band's past releases, the album came across as slightly more "sophisticated in certain ways, particularly in rhythmic terms". In a review for ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

'', Jonah Bayer found that while Vasoli lacks "the political prowess of Billie Joe Armstrong or the literary knowledge of Dustin Kensrue", he and the other members "prove they’re more than capable of crafting flawless pop-punk songs that should appeal to anyone with a pulse". ''

The Aquarian Weekly ''The Aquarian Weekly'' is a regional alternative weekly newspaper based in New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1969, its focus is rock music and related events in the New Jersey/New York City/Eastern Pennsylvania region. From 1986 to 1992, it ...

'' writer Courtney Muir said the "melody remains thick and the overall tune is catchy" throughout ''Direction'', referring to it as "a definite redemption for the band that has come a long way". ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' Aaron Burgess said: "Vasoli now sounds less concerned with impressing little girls and more interested in connecting with their older siblings as a legitimate artist. With more such surprises, he just might break out of character." ''

Melodic A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinat ...

'' reviewer Pär Winberg praised the album for being "a very good piece of plastic" and complimented Benson's "very good" production. Punk News staff member Tyler Barrett said "direction seems to be exactly what The Starting Line is lacking in their latest release" and that despite having "a handful of enjoyable rock and pop-punk tracks", the album includes "too many struggling grabs that come up empty for it to be considered the mature and developed achievement it was meant to be". Jon Young of ''Spin'' criticized the album as being "another formulaic record", but noted it has "compelling moments".

idobi Radio idobi Radio is one of the USA’s top modern rock Internet radio stations focusing on new pop punk and alternative music. The station broadcasts over the Internet via its website, app, iTunes and SHOUTcast. Established in 1999, idobi features ...

included ''Direction'' on their "Best of 2007" list. It has been cited as an influence on the music of the bands

State Champs State Champs is an American pop punk band from Albany, New York, formed in 2010. They are currently signed to Pure Noise Records and have released three EPs and four full-length albums. They released an acoustic EP titled ''The Acoustic Things' ...

and

Real Friends Real Friends may refer to: *Real Friends (band) Real Friends is an American pop punk band from Tinley Park, Illinois. To date, the band has released seven EPs and three studio albums. Previously signed to Fearless Records, the band is currentl ...

. The album debuted at number 30 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, with first-week sales of 20,000 copies.

Track listing

Track listing adapted from the booklet of ''Direction''. All songs produced by Howard Benson.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the booklet of ''Direction''. The Starting Line *

bass, lead vocals *Mike Gollalead guitar, backing vocals *Matt Wattsrhythm guitar *Tom Gryskiewiczdrums *Brian Schmutzkeyboards, backing vocals Additional musicians *

keyboards, programming *

drums (tracks 3, 4 and 12) *Luis Contipercussion (tracks 2, 4–6, 11 and 12) *

keyboards (track 12) Production *Howard Bensonproducer *Mike Plotnikoffrecording *Paul DeCarlidigital editing *Hatsukazu Inagakiengineer *Chris Concepciontechnical assistance *

mixing *Nik Karpenmixing assistant *

mastering *Sean Mosher-Smithcreative director *Mike Joyceart, design *Kate McGregorart coordinator *Justin Boruckiphotography

Charts

References

Citations Sources *

External links

''Direction''
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control 2007 albums Albums produced by Howard Benson The Starting Line albums Virgin Records albums