Expanded reissue of 'Tell All Your Friends' by Taking Back Sunday arrives in May

I've interviewed the band in the past and saw them in concert several times in the 2000s, so I'm looking forward to hearing this spruced-up version...

Craft Recordings celebrates the 20th anniversary of Taking Back Sunday’s landmark debut album, Tell All Your Friends, with a variety of special reissues and bonus content. Set for release on May 27 and available for pre-order today, all formats offer newly remastered audio, while the vinyl, CD and digital editions feature four previously unreleased demos of “Mutual Head Club,” “Bike Scene,” “The Blue Channel,” and “Great Romances of the 20th Century”—the latter of which is available across digital platforms (stream/pre-save now).

The deluxe, 2-LP vinyl set is housed in a gatefold jacket, offering the remastered original album plus a bonus etched 10-inch disc with the four demos. Various limited edition color pressings will also be available, each offering a unique color for LP1, along with the standard black 10-inch. Fans can pick these up via the band’s webstore and on tour (Blue Smoke and Forest Green vinyl), Craft Recordings (Fog vinyl), Revolver (Orange Crush vinyl), and Urban Outfitters (Sangria vinyl). Rounding out the LP and CD formats are new liner notes from journalist Glenn Gamboa, who covered music for the Long Island-based Newsday during the band’s rise to fame. Additionally, a limited cassette edition will deliver the classic 10-track album, which includes such iconic hits as “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)” and “You’re So Last Summer.”

Originally released in 2002, Tell All Your Friends not only propelled Taking Back Sunday to global stardom but also became a defining album in the alt-rock canon. Yet, as the Long Island band readied to record their debut, their expectations were modest—evidenced by the album’s tongue-in-cheek title. After solidifying their line-up in 2001 and recording a five-song demo, Adam Lazzara (vocals), Eddie Reyes (guitar), John Nolan (guitar + vocals), Mark O’Connell (drums), and Shaun Cooper (bass) caught the ears of Victory Records, who signed them promptly that December. Not long after, the band entered New Jersey’s Big Blue Meenie studio with producer Sal Villanueva (Thursday, Murphy’s Law) to record Tell All Your Friends.

“Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)” was the first track off Tell All Your Friends to be released online. Two more singles followed: “Great Romances of the 20th Century,” which chronicled the end of a doomed relationship, and “You’re So Last Summer,” which served as an ode to summer flings. Eventually, “Cute Without the ‘E’” was officially released as a single. 

In its first week, Tell All Your Friends sold nearly 2,400 copies—no small feat for a relatively unknown act. Over the following months, sales began to increase steadily, thanks to the grassroots efforts of the band, their label, and their fanbase. The album’s title proved to be eerily prophetic, as the emerging power of online fan communities (particularly on Myspace) and peer-to-peer sharing fueled the band’s popularity. Tastemakers took notice as well, including MTV and alternative radio stations across the country, while the band performed on late-night TV shows, including Last Call with Carson Daly and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, during breaks from their busy tour schedule.

Within a year of its release, Tell All Your Friends had surpassed 100,000 units—a number that would double by the end of 2003. In 2005, it was certified Gold by the RIAA. Today, Tell All Your Friends has sold over one million copies. The band revisited the title in 2012 with a 10th-anniversary tour, followed by a live, acoustic version of the album, TAYF10 Acoustic, a year later.

When reflecting on the last 20 years since the album’s release, Nolan says, “During our live shows, there is a part during ‘Cute Without the ‘E’' where we stop and let the crowd sing, ‘Why can’t I feel anything from anyone other than you.’ That has become an unbelievably moving moment for me. The connection between us and the audience is so apparent and so strong. The crowd screams it at us, we stand back from our mics screaming it at them, and the lyrics take on more significance than we ever imagined they could. In a lot of ways, that moment is a distillation of what Tell All Your Friends has meant. It sums up the mind-boggling psychological and emotional connection we made with people 20 years ago that’s still going strong today.”

The current line-up—vocalist Adam Lazzara, guitarist and vocalist John Nolan, drummer Mark O’Connell, and bassist Shaun Cooper—have been through a lot together. The band, in its various formations, has released seven albums to date (four of which were in the Billboard 200 Top Ten and three of which earned gold records).

In 2018, Taking Back Sunday joined such iconic artists as Billy Joel, Joan Jett, and Lou Reed as inductees of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, while in 2019, they celebrated their 20th anniversary as a band with a tour and a career-spanning compilation, Twenty. In addition to working on a new album this year, the band is readying for a summer tour across the U.S. with Third Eye Blind (see dates below). They also perform at Las Vegas’ highly anticipated When We Were Young festival in October.

Click here to pre-order or pre-save Tell All Your Friends (20th Anniversary Edition).

Tour Dates (with Third Eye Blind):

22 June — Troutdale, OR — Edgefield
23 June — Auburn, WA — White River Amphitheatre
24 June — Bonner, MT — KettleHouse Amphitheater
25 June — Sandy, UT — Sandy Amphitheater
27 June — Morrison, CO — Red Rocks Amphitheatre
29 June — Council Bluffs, IA — Harrah’s Stir Concert Cove
30 June — Kansas City, MO — Starlight Theatre
1 July — Prior Lake, MN — Mystic Lake Casino Mystic Amphitheater
6 July — Newport, KY — Ovation
7 July — Indianapolis, IN — TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park
8 July — Chicago, IL — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
9 July — Sterling Heights, MI — Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
12 July — Columbus, OH — KEMBA Live! Outdoor Amphitheater
13 July — Pittsburgh, PA — Stage AE
15 July — Philadelphia, PA — The Mann Center Skyline Stage
16 July — Mansfield, MA — XFINITY Center
17 July — Wantagh, NY — Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
21 July — Uncasville, CT — Mohegan Sun Arena
22 July — Holmdel, NJ — PNC Bank Arts Center
23 July — Columbia, MD — Merriweather Post Pavilion
26 July — Atlanta, GA — Cadence Bank Amphitheatre
27 July — Franklin, TN — FirstBank Amphitheater
29 July — Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall
30 July — Del Valle, TX — Germania Insurance Amphitheater
31 July — Irving, TX — The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
1 Aug — Oklahoma City, OK — The Zoo Amphitheatre
4 Aug — Phoenix, AZ — Arizona Federal Theatre
5 Aug — Inglewood, CA — YouTube Theater
11 Aug — San Diego, CA — Cal Coast Credit Union Amphitheater
12 Aug — Las Vegas, NV — Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
13 Aug — Irvine, CA — FivePoint Amphitheatre

Track listing (CD/digital editions):

1. You Know How I Do
2. Bike Scene
3. Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From The Team)
4. There’s No ‘I’ In Team
5. Great Romances Of The 20th Century
6. Ghost Man On Third
7. Timberwolves At New Jersey
8. The Blue Channel
9. You’re So Last Summer
10. Head Club
11. Great Romances Of The 20th Century (Demo)
12. The Blue Channel (Demo)
13. Bike Scene (Demo)
14. Mutual Head Club (Demo)

(Vinyl edition):
A1. You Know How I Do
A2. Bike Scene
A3. Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From The Team)
A4. There’s No ‘I’ In Team
A5. Great Romances Of The 20th Century

B1. Ghost Man On Third
B2. Timberwolves At New Jersey
B3. The Blue Channel
B4. You’re So Last Summer
B5. Head Club

C1. Great Romances Of The 20th Century (Demo)
C2. The Blue Channel (Demo)
C3. Bike Scene (Demo)
C4. Mutual Head Club (Demo)

(Cassette edition):
1. You Know How I Do
2. Bike Scene
3. Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From The Team)
4. There’s No ‘I’ In Team
5. Great Romances Of The 20th Century
6. Ghost Man On Third
7. Timberwolves At New Jersey
8. The Blue Channel
9. You’re So Last Summer
10. Head Club