Brian personally got me into playing guitar in '96 via a report we had to do in English class (unbeknownst to him) and oddly my band started in '99 about the same time that TSL did even though he wasn't in that lineup.
Success isn't always measured in dollars and cents. The Starting Line was the soundtrack to my youth; got me through breakups, teenage angst and everything in between. Say It Like You Mean It got me into so many other pop-punk bands that I otherwise wouldn't even know today. I owe this band a lot, and I hope to see them perform live again someday. We'll never forget you.
One of them said that he hopes people don't forget about them. I bought say it like you mean it when I was 15. I'm 26 now and I still consider it the best pop punk album ever made.
Had no idea why Based on a True Story didn't hit harder. From front to back, one of the best albums of that decade. The Geffen story was new info for me.
“Say it like you mean it” is one of most high quality pop punk records I’ve ever heard. Ticks all the boxes - catchy , unique, relatable , and not corny
Strange how any single song from blink or new found glory or yellow card can get boring if played twice in a row, yet most songs from TSL don't get boring at all when listening on repeat continuously
Say It is their best album but I love Direction too. Based On a True Story is just more of a darker and slower album and those songs just don't have the charm of the first album.
say it like you mean it is still one of my favorite albums, ever. shame to hear these guys got screwed over. still incredibly successful in making awesome music in my books.
still miss these dudes. Great memories and totally the soundtrack to my youth. So sad my old bands Drive Thru Deal fell through, I would have loved to share the stage all those years ago.
My band back in the day just happened to cross paths with TSL on their first tour with RX Bandits... it was obvious even early on that these guys were going to be great. It's one of those things that stick out in my musical past
Direction is my favorite album no doubt about it and I appreciate that TSL didn't give up making album that what they really wanna do. :) def one of my favorite bands , way to go TSL !!
Feeling nostalgic I was watching some pop punk songs I grew up with as a teenager in Australia in the late 90's early 00's (New Found Glory, MxPx, Yellowcard, Sum 41 etc etc). "The Best of Me" came up on the list, I had a listen and instantly fell in love. I thought why didn't I hear of these guys back then? Then I watched this and realise why. My heart just breaks for them, they're so talented, they deserve everything they dreamed of.
i think what i meant by this is, like if you start watching at 25:04, it seems like kenny didnt care about the mainstream success, he just wanted to play to a room of kids that gave a shit, rather than the fame and forture that others wanted. idk man lol im just sad that i can only see them once a year at the holiday show
I feel that man. I've always wanted to see them live but they only play that one holiday show in PA every year. I don't live anywhere near there is the thing.
John McDonald. I definitely sense what you are saying. Kenny has such a different personality than the rest of these dudes...it’s almost like he was in the wrong band. Kenny seems like he would be fine eating Ramen and playing his guitar on a street corner somewhere. He’s a “happy with what I’ve got” guy, while the rest of the guys seem like “unhappy with what I don’t have” type personalities. I wish them all luck in their future ventures, but I will tell the band that if you spend your life constantly searching for “happiness” instead of realizing that it’s within you all along, you’ll never find true peace.
As someone myself who has done a lot in the entertainment industry (and quit when I finally found out the truth about Hollywood), you didn't fail. YOU MADE IT IT. You made it AS FAR AS TALENTED, NORMAL PEOPLE CAN that somehow stumbled into a nice amount of entertainment biz success that would be ALLOWED for you to have in have in that industry - and when they gave you a taste followed by approaching you with the opportunity to start selling out (industry standard, and the standard for something else entirely), but you instead chose to keep the project in-house and stay true to your art & fans (not treating them like cattle), then they cut you loose. No false advertising, pushing agendas, or contributing to the dishevelment of entertainment or what it's become today... That is some CAPITAL G ish right there, guys. Lol! Just be happy that you made it as far as you did... you made a little bit of money, changed people's lives for the better, created art we can all STILL appreciate to this day, made memories, travelled the country (and/or the world too), inspired others, and got out of the biz with your soul intact. Not to mention, you guys were on the beginning end of when the entertainment biz really started taking it's nosedive into darkness, especially it's public display thereof. That is more than you can ask for. :) 99% of the people who are insanely rich and successful in the biz come from a family history/background within politics, intelligence, military, and/or most commonly "Old Hollywood" etc... For example, Ariana Grande's Father makes sonar systems for military application, Adam22's Father was a politician involved in Watergate, Andrew Tate's Father was in the CIA, Sabrina Carpenter's (I used to be managed by her Manager and worked with her) Aunt works as the voice of Bart Simpson, and the list goes on and on and on. Those are the only people allowed in, period. I've got examples galore. Even myself to some extent, tbh. Anyways, don't wanna drown people with information or discourage people. It's just the way it is. Although, I'm sure at this point most people finally know this now (thank God). All of the people I actually WORKED with were cool... but that's because I had protective parents, management/agents/lawyers who actually cared for me (and protected me), and I was usually pretty street-smart in being a good judge of character - so I was always very careful and speculative of people. Obviously, I chose to only work with the coolest most down to Earth peeps... so, anything or anyone on my resume are particularly stellar people. But I have experienced POTENTIALLY terrible situations that COULD have been horrifying (that although would've likely led to much a much larger amount of success, I was lucky enough to dodge), and heard many equally terrifying stories from very successful (behind the scenes) peers of mine. Essentially, feel lucky you got out with what you did. Like I pretty much said before... you got out with 1.) your dignity intact & 2.) your soul intact. It's more than you can ask for, really. Wouldn't goof about that, I have no gain in doing so... it's 100% for real and this comes from the bottom of my heart... I've always been a huge fan of The Starting Line, and I am tremendously thankful for your integrity to yourselves, your bandmates, your supporters, and your art. Maybe one day when Googling yourselves, lol, you'll run into this comment - and I hope it will give you some reassurance and remind you to feel proud of yourselves, big time. Thanks for all the amazing songs that inspired me when I was young... and hey, "we got older, but we're still young - we never grew out of this feeling that we won't give... up..." Remember that always!!!
watching this waiting to see if kenny is going to say i was his crazy stalker again lmao i hope he does!!! =p miss those days of going to your shows i still listen to u guys xoxo
Awesome doc, thanks for upload! I haven't really heard anything apart from the 'Say It Like You Mean It' record, but will definitely check out their other records.
Them boys should of put up all of their money toward a dog ass lawyer n made sure they didn't get some boag contract again... such a shame they were just too young with no knowledge of the legalities
Didn't realize all this was going on when I saw them all 3 dates in FLA on that last tour. Direction got me through the time my girlfriend became a lesbian and left me. Glad she was at the ft Lauderdale show with me. One of my fav bands. Hope to hear new stuff in 2015
i still remember the day i heard starting line... it was 2000-2001 and me and a few of my friends would swap cds or tapes in class, my friend vinny had some how come across left coast envy and leaving on napster or something.. needless to say he didnt get that cd back... it was the original recordings too so when i hear the ones that ended up on the cd it doesnt sound even close to as good.
RC Codes I feel you on the original recordings of those songs..they are so much better imo but the good news is someone uploaded the original tracks here on RU-vid. Just search “left coast envy (old version)” and they should come up.
Tom Gryskewicz isn't doing anything to help break stereotypes. He seems like all he wanted was the fleeting fame and money of Fall Out Boy rather than being part of something timeless like TSL.
21:07 tom pretending to not remember NFGs record Catalyst is petty as shit. Even now hes probably bitter that NFG is still putting out records and touring meanwhile starting line has only done a 3 song ep since this documentary came out. Should've used Neal Averon after all. Lmao
Yeah, NFG is still the pop punk household. Running a band is an emotional thing and when you tasted the sweet fruit of success once you get addicted. When your band "failed" for whatever reasons but other band constellations still work out , you get bitter - thats a common thing. Some can handle, some can't.
@@posiXchris yeah, it's just silly that they made a bad decision and try to justify by saying "it wasnt the direction we wanted to go in". Lmao like seriously? You didnt want to go in a successful direction? Their pride and ego of not wanting to be associated with a superior band (NFG) lead to them going nowhere. Also blaming the firing of MCA staff and having to work with the terrible Geffen staff is bs as well because NFG went through the same label transition and released Catalyst on Geffen which debuted #3 on the billboard. You either have it or you dont. I like the starting line but they didnt have what it took to take their band to the so called "next level".
@@benlee7864 Well said - and TSl were not willing to make "a new start" and going a different way. NFG did that via the Hardcore Scene when releasing stuff through Bridge 9 records and working hard to release "Not Wihtout A Fight" on Epitaph . You cant deny that Chad Gilberts connections to various scenes and people helped a lot but being involved in the music scene for so long should at least benifit a bit i guess
I don’t sense that at all. They seem beaten and a little bitter, and can you blame them? They are playing in what seems like a very successful band, yet financially they were pushed to a point where they couldn’t continue doing what they wanted to do (tour and make music). It’s frustrating when your vision doesn’t turn out as planned despite years of hard work. It’s inderstandabke they’d be a bit cynical towards things at the point depicted in this video
