Taking Back Sunday begins North American tour

Taking Back Sunday, the rock band whose album Louder Now has been voted "Album Of The Year" by the prominent Kerrang! Magazine, will begin 2007 with their tour of North America.

Beginning February 22nd in Pennsylvania, the band's tour will lead them through many venues they have missed on previous tours, including an extended foray into Canada.

Taking Back Sunday came into the mainstream in August of last year with its third album and first major label release Louder Now.

The album landed Number Two on Billboard's Top 200 chart only a week after it's release.

The 157,000 sold copies of the album sent it to RIAA gold-certified status.

The band released their first DVD titled "Louder Now: Part One".

The band will also be releasing a second, and possibly a third DVD to follow up live tour coverage.

Louder Now, Taking Back Sunday's third album, contains an intensity unheard in the band's previous albums Where You Want To Be and Tell All Your Friends.

Producer Eric Valentine, who previously worked with Third Eye Blind and Queens of the Stone Age, was a determining factor in the explosive sounds of the new album.

The band's faster, harder paced new record also contains traditional Taking Back Sunday in the hit single "MakeDamnSure."

"When we were writing and recording, we knew that we wanted to make a rock record. The five of us knew what we meant to one another and knew what we wanted to accomplish. The sound of our band has changed," said drummer Matt Rubano.

Taking Back Sunday is highly acclaimed for their energetic live performances.

In their new album, they seem to have harnessed that vitality into a rich, musically filled soundtrack." This record is the singular biggest accomplishment of my life," Rubano said.

The upcoming tour, aside from including the significantly more rock-influenced record, will feature older Taking Back Sunday songs.

"Since Louder Now came out we've played varying amounts of songs from all the records. But on this tour we are getting ready to get rid of our current live playlist and play some things we haven't played in a long time," Rubano said.

Fans can look forward to songs from the band's early stages, including old EPs.

On their upcoming tour, look to see Taking Back Sunday drawing attention to the prevention of global warming.

In preparation, the band has re-fitted their tour buses with bio-diesel engines, and at each venue, will include stalls

linking fans to the issue and how to help. Rubano states "The main thing we've been doing is to try to use our website and any opportunities we have available to us to direct people to the issue. It's a bit of giving back to the global community."

Fans obviously have much to look forward to in the upcoming tour, which, unfortunately, will not be covering Georgia.

And as for new music from the band, hopefully fans will hear something in the next year or so. "I think we'll probably be going into the studio maybe some point in the end of 2007, But we would like to tour on Louder Now for as long as we possibly can," Rubano said.