Bedroom Talk Most bands wouldn’t survive the label turmoil that went on during the promotional period of Based On A True Story, the sophomore record from The Starting Line. Despite reaching as high as #18 on the Billboard 200 upon its release in May of 2005, the album was basically shelved once Geffen Records decided that they were not going to make the LP one of their priorities. It’s a shame that only one single (“Bedroom Talk”) was released from this album since there really are a lot of gems to be found in The Starting Line’s songwriting here. Tim O’Heir produced the majority of the songs on Based On A True Story, but the label wasn’t thrilled with the sound found on the songs they were hoping would take off on radio, so they recruited veteran hitmaker Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance) to provide some guidance on “The World” as well as “Bedroom Talk.” A third producer, Eric Rachel, was enlisted for “Making Love To The Camera”, which would explain some of the unbalanced production elements when played from front to back. The Starting Line battled with their label to the bitter end to ensure they could release the record that the band wanted to make, even if it led to them forfeiting the rights to the recordings themselves. Ultimately, this is what happened, leaving some uncertainty to the future of the album for vinyl represses and so forth. With so much drama going on behind the scenes, it’s truly a miracle that this record saw the light of day, yet fans have adored Based On a True Story for a reason: the songs are really great.
After a brief introductory track called “Action” that goes along with the movie-making theme of the album, “Making Love To The Camera” starts off with a quietly strummed guitar before lead vocalist/bassist Kenny Vasoli declares, “This is the distance between point A and point B / Thus a completion meeting the goal we’ve achieved / And it’s the best thing to ever enter my life / After all this time, I’m still taken by surprise / Every time that a stranger calls my name / For a picture to take, if it happens every day.” The song is largely about being in the spotlight, whereas “Inspired By The $” was the band’s negative reaction to their label chasing a radio-ready pop-punk sound similar to Simple Plan by writing the antithesis to that type of song. The Starting Line felt trapped as they sing, “This is a call from my cage / Through the bars / Inspired by the dollar sign / That’s dangling outside,” and it was crystal clear the band felt fed up with the label meddling in their creative process.
”Bedroom Talk” still hits its intended target today as a strong lead single from the record, and sounds great to this day. The song is about Vasoli’s anticipation of losing his virginity to someone who wanted to be with him for longer than just a one-night stand. The punchy production from Benson accentuates each of Vasoli’s lyrics while the drumming from Tom Gryskiewicz is really well-recorded and he adds some great fills. “Surprise, Surprise” takes a little bit of time setting off, but when it does, Gryskiewicz’s performance behind the kit remains a standout part of the track.
When I first heard the ballad of “Photography”, it truly brought out some key emotions in me, and I recall nearly tearing up at the heartfelt chorus of, “I’ll swing from a streetlight / As I will sing oh, oh, oh / I’m stuck in the meantime / But we’re so oh, oh, oh close,” as I imagined what my life would be like if things worked out with my fiancée who I would be marrying just three months later. Luckily, things worked out for both me and my lifetime partner, as The Starting Line provided the right soundtrack for our journey together.
”Autography” rocks along with a nice bounce to it, and features some cool starts and stops in the instrumentation of the verses, while the chorus is a little less catchy than what fans had grown accustomed to on the infectious debut of Say It Like You Mean It. “Artistic License” is another one of those songs that was a direct reaction from The Starting Line telling their label to “trust the process” and let them just be a band and figure out their sound. Whereas “Stay Where I Can See You” has that classic Starting Line charm to it and is more in the same vein of Drive-Thru pop-punk.
”The B-List” puts more emphasis on the improved musicianship of the four band members, while the chorus of “She walks on red carpets all the time / In my eyes / Others will scoff at her clothes coming off / They will talk, let ’em talk / Because you’re giving them just what they want,” adds more context to the movie theme of the record. “The World” sounds like it would have been the logical second single from the set had the label decided to promote Based On a True Story more, and Benson’s steady hand in the production makes for a memorable part of the record.
”Ready” is another ballad that sounded similar to the acoustic-driven sound on the band’s great EP, Make Yourself At Home, that preceded this record, and does a nice job building up to the big payoff in the bridge. “Cut! Print It” is one of my favorite songs that The Starting Line wrote during this era, and it does a nice job of tying the thematic elements together on Based On A True Story. The fact that The Starting Line are gearing up for their long-awaited fourth full-length record soon only speaks to the mettle this band has shown throughout their career, and their songs still stand the test of time to this day. The band would breathe new life into the songs found on this album through their Live At Studio 4 performance during the middle of the pandemic and remind their fans of the magic that happens when these musicians get in a room together.