Based on a True Story

The Starting Line | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 10, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drive-Thru
• ASIN: B0009AJK5M
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,822 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

'Based On A True Story' brilliantly blends the fresh and the familiar: 'Bedroom Talk' and 'The World' summons visions of thousands of fists in the air, while 'Surprise, Surprise' displays The Starting Line's uncanny ability to be at once contemplative. Produced by Tim O'Heir (All American Rejects,Say Anything),Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance) and Eric Rachell (Atreyu). MCA. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Give it a little time, December 10, 2005

By 

Mr. James N. Guyatt "Jimmy Nouveau" (Andover,UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Based on a True Story (Audio CD)

Yeah so this album isn't as instant as the older one but it really has a sound of a band who finally know what they wan't to sound like,before they could have just been tossed away into the pile of pop punk contempories but with this album i think they have shown a growth. Sure they havent exactly gone full circle and changed their sound but they have a lot more songs which require a little more thought that just catchness 'Photography' is the sort of song that would't go amiss on a Coldplay cd and 'Ready' has a dark broodyness to it that you would not associate with the Starting Line. But where they have mature songs thay also haven't lost their roots. 'Bedroom Talk' is a classic pop song as is 'The World'. Lyrically superior,musically superior and a very very underrated album.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Starting Line's, " Based on a True Story" is truly a musical maturation, March 16, 2006

By 

Brian K. Eicholtz "Avid listener" (VA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Based on a True Story (Audio CD)

From seeing The Starting Line at Skate and Surf Festival about 5 years ago to watching them perform on their headlining "Screaming is for Babies Tour," I have seen this amazingly talented and young group of individuals rise to be one of the most genuine rock bands of the decade. "Based on a True Story," their latest effort, has proved yet again that The Starting Line has what it takes to make the body move. And that is all you will do once you pop in this masterpiece of a compact disc. As a true TSL fan, I must be honest and admit that there is not one song on this cd that is not great. This band puts their heart, soul, and balls into making good music and BOATS proves just that. IF you don't believe me, just listen to "surprise, surprise" or "artistic license," a song that showcases Kenny's untouchable vocal range. No matter what, the bottom line is that The Starting Line have made a great album that everyone can love. Even with a huge corporate record label breathing down their neck, they have still managed to put out an album that expresses who they are and what they are all about. So with that said, there is nothing left to say except: If you don't already own this cd, add it to your shopping cart. Listening to it alone will make sitting in traffic seem unusally pleasant.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just OKAY, August 11, 2005

By 

crazy99_x - See all my reviews

This review is from: Based on a True Story (Audio CD)

Where to start...? Based on a True Story... an album that was obviously not written for the fans, or anyone for that matter. I understand TSL they wanted to show a more mature side, show that they've grown up and all, but usually a band does that with their music; the lyrics and the music in Based on a True Story are lacking to say the least, the songs are somewhat catchy but not the stuck-in-your-head type that previous TSL CD's had with abundance, and the CD isn't really "about" anything. Past songs were about love and friendships... some of the songs on Based on a True Story are about sex, but the rest of it just leaves you trying to figure out what the song is about in the grand scheme of things, and a general feeling of "what's the point?" The lyrics are just not something that a listener would care about, they probably don't even mean anything to the people that wrote them!

And I'm not trying to say that this CD doesn't have good poins. The song "Photography" could be a really amazing song. The music itself is amazing, I love the lyrics for the most part, and it creates an amazing visual image... however, in the middle of it you get lyrics like "i'll swing from a streetlight and sing oh oh oh" Which pretty much ruins the image the song was creating, and makes you wonder what they're trying to get at. "Suprise, Suprise" is one song that gets back to their roots, and it's one of the best songs on the CD, however it sounds a lot like many songs from Say Anything... "Cut! Print It" sounds hauntingly like it was taken from a Bayside CD. However, these are my favorite songs, and they're quite good songs. It just doesn't bode well for an artist when the best songs on a CD remind the listener of OTHER bands... The CD and songs are just not memorable the way songs and past CD's from TSL were.

Bottom line, die hard fans of TSL will give this CD a 5 star review and think it's the best CD since the last TSL one to come out (and they'll do the same thing when a new CD comes out). For everyone else the CD will be just okay. Perhaps not worth 13 bucks, but if you can find it for 7-9 i woudln't shy away from it. A lot of reviews would say it's a one month listen, but i think this CD could have some shelf life... you'll probably pull it out and listen to it once, remember why you had put it away the first place, and put it back on the shelf just to repeat the process next month. And there's nothing wrong with that, a lot of CD are like that... I was just expecting more from a band whose previous CD's could be played for days at a time and not get old or boring.