| So Long, Astoria | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 4, 2003 (2003-03-04) | |||
| Recorded | August 19 – November 1, 2002 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Pop punk | |||
| Length | 48:55 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer |
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| The Ataris chronology | ||||
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| Singles from So Long, Astoria | ||||
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So Long, Astoria is the fourth studio album by American rock bandThe Ataris, released on March 4, 2003. The album's title song alludes to the 1985 filmThe Goonies, which is set inAstoria, Oregon.
In February 2001, The Ataris released their third albumEnd Is Forever through independent labelKung Fu Records.[1] In May, vocalist/guitarist Kris Roe revealed that the group would start writing for their next album later in the year.[2] In June, guitarist Marco Peña left the group due to creative and personal differences. He was replaced by their guitar tech John Collura, formerly of the band Beefcake.[3] Roe said Collura "definitely brought us back to [being the] best of friends", as well making them "realize that this band has got a lot of life in it".[4] Also in June, the group contributed a new track to theWarped Tour 2001 compilation, "Looking Back on Today". The band signed with major labelColumbia Records in July.[2] Roe explained: "We wanted to go somewhere where we knew that even if our record didn't do well, that we would have a career still as a band".[4]
Later in July, Roe revealed that the group would be releasing their next album in mid-2002 and that it would be in the musical style of their second albumBlue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits (1999). In October, Roe said the album was tentatively titledDon't Ever Compromise What You Believe. In December, the group said they had 13 songs that they were working on, and were planning to record in March 2002. In January 2002, the group contributed a new song to theOrange County soundtrack. In April, Roe said the group were expected to begin recording in May.[2] When looking for producers, bassistMike Davenport said a few names came up: "Lou [Giordano] was always my choice.Ric Ocasek said [']I don't get it.' Mark Trombino told us to keep writing."[5] Davenport pushed for Giordano, "and the minute [Roe and Giordano] spoke, it worked."[5] In early July, Roe said the album would be titledSo Long, Astoria.[2] Later that month, Giordano was enlisted as the album's producer and that recording would finally occur in August.[6]
Demos were initially tracked at drummer Chris Knapp's house in Hollywood, California. Roe said they "never got anything done" and subsequently went to Orange Whip Recording in Santa Barbara, California to record more demos.[7] With the aid of Angus Cooke and Thom Flowers, demos were recorded live-in-the-studio with minimal overdubs. Roe said they spent "a lot of time fine tuning" the songs before the album sessions.[7] He added that the demos "capture[d] a certain honesty" and toyed with releasing the demos in lieu of recording a proper album.[7] The group went intopre-production with Giordano, despite him thinking that the songs were "already pretty complete '"as is'", according to Roe.[7] Recording began on August 19 and ended on November 1. Sessions took place at Ocean Studios inBurbank, California, Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood, California and Orange Whip Recording.[8]
Giordano produced all of the songs except for "Looking Back on Today", which was produced by Thom Flowers, Elissa Meihsner and Eric Palmquist. Bradley Cooke, Andrew Alekel and Flowers acted as engineers with assistance from Jason Nelson, Dean Cupp and Dave Ashton. Giordano mixed all of the songs, except for "The Saddest Song" and "My Reply", at Larrabee Studios in Hollywood, California. "The Saddest Song" and "My Reply" were mixed by Jack Joseph Puig. Additional tracking was done by Angus Cooke and Meihsner at Orange Whip Recording, while additional tracking was done by Ashton at Larrabee Studios. Several other people contributed to the album: James Muhawi (piano on "The Saddest Song"), Angus Cooke (cello), Jonathan Cox (programming), andGlen Phillips ofToad the Wet Sprocket,Mike Herrera ofMxPx and Tim Pagnotta ofSugarcult (backing vocals).[8]
Early in the writing process for the record, Roe found a book that gave him the theme for the album. The book, which wasGo Now byRichard Hell, contained a chapter "where he had a quote that said memories are better than life ... I wanted this record to portray, that life is only as good as the memories we make."[4] Roe said the group "focus[ed] on writing good songs [and] straightforward rock songs".[4] Musically, the album's sound has been described aspop punk,[9][10][11][12]pop rock,[13]punk rock[14] androck,[15] drawing comparison toBlink-182,Green Day,[14]Good Charlotte,New Found Glory,[13]Lit andA, with Roe sounding like A frontmanJason Perry.[16] All of the songs were written by Roe, except for "The Hero Dies in This One" and "All You Can Ever Learn Is What You Already Know" by Roe, Collura, Davenport and Knapp, and "The Boys of Summer" byDon Henley andMichael Campbell.[8]
"So Long, Astoria" is about Roe writing songs in his bedroom inAnderson, Indiana.[4] The track was reminiscent ofMatchbox Twenty;[13] its name is a reference to the town Astoria, Oregon in the filmThe Goonies (1985).[14] "Takeoffs and Landings" deals with saying goodbye to a long-distance partner.[17] "In This Diary", alongside "Summer '79" talk about nights out in town and pulling pranks.[4] Discussing "In This Diary", Roe said he attempted to "encapsulate one of the most fun summers we’ve had".[18] Roe wrote "My Reply" about a fan who was in a hospital and close to death.[19] "Unopened Letter to the World" details the life of American poetEmily Dickinson.[19] "The Saddest Song" is about Roe's relationship with his estranged daughter and his upbringing without a father.[20]
"Summer '79" sees Roe reminiscing on days when spent as a teenager sneaking into drive-in theatres and listening toQueen.[11] "The Hero Dies in This One" refers to past girlfriends that had been left behind.[4] Collura said "The Boys of Summer" was included due to Roe's nostalgia for it, and "it just kind of fit into the rest of the record."[21] He altered one line, switching a reference fromDeadhead toBlack Flag. "Radio #2" was indebted to "Radio" byTeenage Fanclub.[11] Roe wrote "Looking Back on Today" about his wife, and called it the sole relationship-centric song on the album. Roe said "Eight of Nine" is about a number of "really close calls that we've had with death."[19]
In October 2002, it was announced thatSo Long, Astoria would be released in March 2003.[22] On January 12, the group posted the songs "Takeoffs and Landings" and "In This Diary" online.[23] "In This Diary" was released to radio on February 11.[24]So Long, Astoria was released on March 4 through Columbia Records.[25] The Japanese version included the bonus tracks "A Beautiful Mistake" and "I Won't Spend Another Night Alone", an acoustic version of "The Saddest Song", and a cover of theRamones song "Rock 'N' Roll High School".[26] Amusic video for "In This Diary" was posted online on March 3,[27] directed by Steven Murashige. Roe said the video was mainly crowd-focused as the group wanted to channel their stage performance and energy.[28] On May 19, "In This Diary" was released as aCD single. It featured "A Beautiful Mistake", a demo of "Eight of Nine", a live version of "In This Diary", and "Rock 'N' Roll High School" as B-sides.[29]
"My Reply" was set to be the group's next single,[30] but "The Boys of Summer" was released to radio on June 3 instead.[24] This was a result of theK-Rock andKROQ radio stations playing the track, with others following shortly after.[30] Collura said the group did not want to release the track as a single. He added that they were naïve to assume it would be released as such, since it wasn't promoted as one, "That was all American radio doing that on its own".[21] Roe revealed Columbia Records had warned the band about including the track on the album in the first place as there would be "a chance that somebody's going to put it out as a single".[30] Thevideo treatment for the song's music video, which was directed by Murashige, was initially intended for "My Reply" until it was adjusted for "The Boys of Summer". Roe said the video was about "the story of a darker summer" and features "a girl trying to let go of a lot of the things she had in the summer."[30]
The Ataris released their first video albumLive at Capitol Milling in July 2003, which featured the music video for "In This Diary" (directed by Marc Smerling), the making-of video, and live performances taken from music video shoot.[31][32] In August, Davenport revealed a music video had been filmed for "My Reply", but was "so far from coming out".[20] He added, "It's animated, and it's likeA-ha meetsWhite Stripes."[20] On September 8, "The Boys of Summer" was released as a CD single. It featured live versions of "Takeoffs and Landings" and "Unopened Letter to the World", "A Beautiful Mistake" and an acoustic version of "In This Diary" as B-sides.[33] "The Saddest Song" was released to radio on September 9.[24] In February 2004, the band released the live albumLive at the Metro, which had been recorded the previous October. In addition to the show, it featured acoustic renditions, one of which was fromSo Long, Astoria.[34]
In November and December 2002, the group went on a US tour withSugarcult,Autopilot Off andRufio. During the tour, the group premiered material fromSo Long, Astoria.[22] In late December and January 2003, the group embarked on theAustralian leg of the Kung Fu Records Tour withthe Vandals.[35] The day following the album's release, an in-store performance was held at a record store inTempe, Arizona. However, due to 1,000 people showing up, the performance was moved to theArizona State University campus.[36] In mid-March, the band appeared onTotal Request Live andLate Night with Conan O'Brien.[37] Following this, they toured withthe Juliana Theory andFurther Seems Forever on a two-month tour of the US.[38] On May 8, the band appeared onThe Late Late Show.[39] In mid-June, the group performed atKROQ's Weenie Roast festival.[40]
From June to August, the Ataris toured as part of the 2003Warped Tour.[41] On July 11, the group appeared onJimmy Kimmel Live!.[42] The group performed at the2003 MLB All-Star Game in late July.[43] In August and September, the band embarked on a European tour, withMatchbook Romance.[44] In October and November 2003, the band embarked on the VW Music Ed Tour withVendetta Red.[45] In November, the group went on a US tour withPlanes Mistaken for Stars, Vendetta Red,Hopesfall, The Go Reflex andSquirtgun.[46] The group appeared onThe Late Late Show andThe Jay Leno Show on December 1 and December 29, respectively.[47][48] In February and March 2004, the group went on a UK tour withPlanes Mistaken for Stars andCursive.[49] In April, the group went on a tour of Canada.[50] In May, the group co-headlined the RiverFusion festival withSomething Corporate.[21] They then played a few shows with the National Trust, which consisted of Roe and Matt Hart of Squirtgun, and appeared atHellfest.[51][52]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 57/100[53] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [14] |
| CMJ New Music Report | Favorable[9] |
| Exclaim! | Favorable[10] |
| Ink 19 | Unfavorable[13] |
| Melodic |  [16] |
| The Morning Call | Mixed[54] |
| PopMatters | Favorable[11] |
| Punknews.org | [15] |
| Rolling Stone | [55] |
| Sputnikmusic | 4.0/5[12] |
Initial critical response toSo Long, Astoria was very average. AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received anaverage score of 57, based on seven reviews.[53]
So Long, Astoria sold 33,000 in its first week, debuting at number 24 on theBillboard 200.[56] It charted at number 38 in Australia[57] and number 92 in the UK.[58] "In This Diary" charted at number 11 on theAlternative Songs chart.[59] "The Saddest Song" charted at number 27 on the Alternative Songs chart.[59] "The Boys of Summer" charted at number two on the Alternative Songs chart,[59] number 10 on theMainstream Top 40 chart,[60] number 18 on theAdult Top 40 chart,[61] number 20 on theHot 100 chart,[62] number 22 on theRadio Songs chart,[63] number 36 on theMainstream Rock chart,[64] in the US. It also charted at number 17 in New Zealand,[65] number 24 in Australia,[66] number 49 in the UK,[58] and number 87 in Switzerland.[67] In August,So Long, Astoria was certified gold in the US.[68] By November, the album had sold 516,000 copies.[69] In March 2006, "The Boys of Summer" was certified gold in the US.[68] In December 2013, sales stood at 693,000 copies.[43]
The album was included at number 25 onRock Sound's "The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time" list.[70] They later ranked it at number 97 on the list of best albums in their lifetime.[71] In December 2013, the band released demos that had been recorded for the album.[72] In February and March 2014, the group performed the album in its entirety in the US.[43] They were supported byVersus the World,Authority Zero,Drag the River and Gasoline Heart.[73] To promote the tour, a short documentary was made in the style ofVH1's music documentary seriesClassic Albums.[74] In June 2016, the group performed in Australia, playing songs solely fromBlue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits andSo Long, Astoria.[75] In February 2018, the group went on a celebratory 15th anniversary tour for the album in the UK.[76]
All songs written byKris Roe, except where noted.[8]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "So Long, Astoria" | 3:22 | |
| 2. | "Takeoffs and Landings" | 3:56 | |
| 3. | "In This Diary" | 3:54 | |
| 4. | "My Reply" | 4:14 | |
| 5. | "Unopened Letter to the World" | 2:38 | |
| 6. | "The Saddest Song" | 4:15 | |
| 7. | "Summer '79" | 3:57 | |
| 8. | "The Hero Dies in This One" | Roe, John Collura,Mike Davenport, Chris Knapp | 4:07 |
| 9. | "All You Can Ever Learn Is What You Already Know" | Roe, Collura, Davenport, Knapp | 3:31 |
| 10. | "The Boys of Summer" | Don Henley,Michael Campbell | 4:18 |
| 11. | "Radio #2" | 3:27 | |
| 12. | "Looking Back on Today" | 3:53 | |
| 13. | "Eight of Nine" | 3:30 | |
| 14. | "I Won't Spend Another Night Alone" (hidden track) | 3:50 | |
| 15. | "The Saddest Song" (acoustic hidden track) | 4:09 | |
| Total length: | 48:55 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16. | "A Beautiful Mistake" | 3:13 | |
| 17. | "Rock 'N' Roll High School" | Joey Ramone,Dee Dee Ramone | 2:17 |
Credits adapted from liner notes.[8]
The Ataris
Additional musicians
| Production
Artwork
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Citations
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