Page Avenue by Story of the Year

Page Avenue is the debut studio album by American rock band Story of the Year. The band was originally called Bigbluemonkey; its members had played previously in separate groups. In early 2002, guitarist Greg Haupt joined the band, and shortly afterwards, the group played at Pointfest. While Goldfinger was playing there, the band sneaked on to their bus and left a home video. Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann, who served as a talent scout for Maverick Records, saw the video and soon began working on demos with the band. After changing their name to Story of the Year, the band signed to Maverick and began working on their debut album. Sessions took place at Feldmann's home studio, Foxy Studios in Marina del Rey, California; the group managed to track three songs before Haupt left in November 2002. After spending some more time writing, guitarist Philip Sneed was drafted in and sessions recommenced in early 2003. The group then went to Avex Studios in Waikiki, Hawaii, where they recorded strings for two songs. Though Page Avenue was initially announced in May 2003 for release in July, it was pushed back several times first to August and then to September, before eventually being released on September 16. During the release delays, the band had been touring as part of the Warped Tour before "Until the Day I Die" was released as a radio single. They had been moved to a larger stage to accommodate the bigger crows they were attracting. In early 2004, the band supported Linkin Park on their US arena tour. The band subsequently went on to work with Joe Hahn on a music video for their single "Anthem of Our Dying Day". The track was released as a single in April 2004, and the group embarked on a headlining US tour. They appeared again on the Warped Tour, taking a month-long break, before headlining the Nintendo Fusion Tour. A music video was released for "Sidewalks"; the track was released as a single in October. Musical comparisons were drawn between the group and Thrice, Finch, and the Used, another act that Feldmann had produced; a few critics also pointed out the Used comparison. Page Avenue peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in April 2004, serving as one of the first post-hardcore albums to achieve this status. "Until the Day I Die", "Anthem of Our Dying Day" and "Sidewalks" all charted on the Alternative Songs chart, with the first two reaching the chart's top 20. "Until the Day I Die" also reached the top 75 in the UK. An acoustic version of the album was released in October 2013, which coincided with an anniversary tour where the group played the album in its entirety.